Säker i det osäkra – Att göra mognadsbedömningar av barn i socialtjänstens utredningsarbete

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to understand the reasoning of professionals in the Swedish social work practice in the children and adolescents department, regarding assessment of the complex phenomenon of maturity and maturity assessment. The method conducted was qualitative interviews with eight professionals in the Swedish social service system for children and adolescents. The interviews were analyzed with a perspective of professional uncertainty in assessment and with a perspective of the increasing demand of using quantifiable systematic processes in social work. The findings were that many of the professionals used quantifiable attributes, mainly in the form of age to understand the abstract attributes of children's maturity. Another finding were that leadership is important for the professionals when it comes to legitimize demands of usage of systematic processes from policy makers. It was also concluded that a certain amount of uncertainty is necessary and unavoidable in the process of assessing children's maturity.