UngDOK - stödjande eller styrande? Socialarbetares erfarenhet av att använda bedömningsinstrumentet UngDOK

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to explore social workers’ experiences with the assessment tool UngDOK at Maria clinics in Skane. The past 30 years has seen a rise in popularity of evidence based practices and increased requirements for scientific evidence of the effects of various treatments. Several manual based evaluation and assessment instruments have been implemented in the field of social work in order to enable qualitative measurements. This leads to complex situations in which the task of the social worker is to apply standard documents and directives to individuals with different needs. UngDOK is an example of such an evaluation instrument used at Maria clinics. A qualitative study method was chosen in the form of interviews. We carried out interviews with nine social workers at five separate Maria clinics in Skane to generate empirical data. To answer the study's questions regarding the obstacles and opportunities that social workers experience with UngDOK we used Michael Lipsky's theory of street level bureaucracy. The results of the study prove that it is possible to regard UngDOK as a professional instrument offering both possibilities and obstacles. Possibilities in that social workers have a degree of discretion in relation to the document. That discretion is conditional, however, influenced by external organisational pressure, which can create obstacles for the social worker. This conditional degree of discretion risks creating a discussion which is overly focused on the document, which in turn can inhibit relationships. Where social workers utilise the discretion they actually have in relation to the document, our study shows it is possible that the document becomes a useful foundation for building and improving relationships. That the document is a guiding document does not necessarily mean obstacles for the social worker. Its guiding structure may also be considered to support working practices.