Den ideella aktörens potential : En kvalitativ studie om volontärarbetares perspektiv på att förebygga problem bland unga

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to investigate in what ways volunteers at local youth empowerment organizations can contribute to the prevention of adversity and intimate partner violence among youths, as well as their perception of the needs of their target group. Another aim is to discuss the possibilities of cooperation between different agents working to support adolescents, which includes volunteers, schools, parents and other adults. This subject is relevant for social work as organizations in the nonprofit sector can be established as producers of welfare services. The investigation is conducted through qualitative thematic analyses of interviews with four volunteers from two different organizations, and the analysis is presented in three themes. The theoretical perspectives applied are street-level bureaucracy, ecological system theory, stigma, and gender theory. The empirical body describes both opportunities and limitations of the preventative work, and the result implies that no single agent has enough resources to decrease adolescents’ social vulnerability by their own means. Therefore, the possibility of cooperation between agents in various levels of the ecological system is discussed. The conclusion of this study is that all agencies need to contribute to create more effective prevention and support measures to reduce youth adversity and intimate partner violence, and volunteers can play a key role in this work.