Socionomens delaktighet i risksamhället - En studie av socionomers bedömning och förhållningssätt till ungas användande av internet och sociala medier

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how social workers in the social child and youth care in Sweden relate to young people's use of social media and the internet. We also intended to understand the potential consequences of the social workers assessments regarding young people’s use of the internet and social media. The methods used in this study are both semi-structured interviews as well as two short vignettes. Our empirical basis consists of eight social workers, active in the social child and youth care in Sweden. Our main analytical tool in this study has been Ulrich Beck's theory of the risk society. In this study, we concluded that social workers in the social child and youth care has a fragmented approach to young people's use of social media and the internet, they highlight both positive and negative aspects. It also emerged that the social worker made use of assessment templates to make an estimation of the young person’s use of the Internet and social media. This meant that the responsibility for young people's use is placed mostly on the parents. It also led to an inertial revision of the decisions. We also came to the conclusion that the Internet can be seen as an institution of society, the consequences of this can be a clash between old and new institutions, such as internet and family. The social worker sees the Internet and social media as a tool which the young person can use to harm themselves with and they argue that even if the Internet did not exist, the young people would still expose themselves to danger.