”Jag blir arg, frustrerad, ledsen, rädd och upprörd” : En kvalitativ intervjustudie om socialarbetares erfarenheter av relationen mellan emotionellt arbete och ett professionellt förhållningssätt i arbetet med utövare av sexuellt våld

Sammanfattning: The aim of the study was to examine social workers experiences regarding the relationship between emotional labor and professional approach as well as the importance of the professional approach to sexual offenders. The used method was a qualitative interview study with a targeted selection of seven social workers who had experiences of working with sexual offenders. The study was implemented by semi-structured interviews and the emipirical data was analyzed through a thematic analysis. The study’s result showed that a professional approach was indeed a important part of their work, especially when it came to being objective and respectful despite the clients violent crimes of a sexual nature. It was also found that the social workers felt that the professional approach could be affected by the emotional challenges that came with their work. The social workers used strategies to maintain their professional approach in situations that were found emotionally challenging.