"Om inte vi frågar, vem ska då göra det?" En studie om socialarbetares beskrivningar av arbetet med barn som utsatts för sexuella övergrepp

Sammanfattning: Child sexual abuse is a global public health problem. In Sweden, the social services have the ultimate responsibility to support and protect these children. This study examines social workers' experiences of the challenges and dilemmas that arise in their daily work with children who have been sexually abused. The method used was of a qualitative nature and the respondents were chosen by purposive sampling. Eight semi-structured interviews with social workers, in various fields of social work, were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed by using the theoretical concepts of street-level bureaucracy and discretion. We found that various factors affect the social workers’ work with children who have been sexually abused. Organizational challenges that were expressed by the respondents were their lack of knowledge, heavy workload, and the intersection between the legal system and the needs of the children. We also found individual challenges posed by the complexity of the target group, due to inexplicit symptoms, the shame attached to the issue by social norms, and difficulties to deal with their own feelings when confronted with the experiences of the traumatized children. These challenges may implicate that questions about sexual abuse never is asked by socialworkers and that the abused children continue to live silent.