Ålder är inte bara en siffra : En kvalitativ studie om socialsekreterares attityder gentemot åldersbedömning av asylsökande ensamkommande barn

Sammanfattning: Author(s): Hanna Kartano & Linnea Johnsson Title: Age is not just a number – a qualitative study about the attitudes that social worker have towards the request from the Migrations office regarding age assasement of unaccompanied children seeking asylum. Supervisor: Roberto Scaramuzzino Assessor: Elizabeth Martinell Barfoed This study explores the attitudes among social workers that are working with unaccompanied children seeking asylum concerning the request from the Migration Agency regarding the age assessment of unaccompanied children. The sample is based on social workers in the Swedish social services working with unaccompanied children seeking asylum. The sample is based on both convenience- and targeted selection. Semi-structured interview is the method of choice which has been used with the social workers. The empirically gathered material has been analyzed based on the theoretical concepts of ethics and discretion as well as organization theory. In the gathered material the authors of this study have found that the attitudes among social workers differ regarding their competence as well as the room for subjective opinions. Furthermore, it has been shown that there is an absence of discussion concerning age assessments within the group and that there is a difference of opinion regarding the need for it. The likelihood of avoiding to give information to the Migration Agency that could potentially be to the child’s disadvantage in the age assessment differed among the social workers of this study. The arguments used were, among others, the law as well as the social workers’ lack of competence in the matter. theory, discretion.