”Vi vill placera ett barn i en så normal familj som möjligt” : En kvalitativ studie om familjehemssekreterares erfarenheter av samkönade familjehem

Sammanfattning: Authors: Linn Andersson and Malin Olsson Title: “We want to place a child in such a normal family as possible”- A qualitative study of social workers experiences of same-sex foster care parents. [Translated title] Supervisor: Kristina Göransson Assessor: Gabriella Scaramuzzino In contemporary swedish society there are many different ways of “making” family beyond the so-called nuclear family, such as single parent families or same sex families. In what ways are these variations of family formation visible in the foster care system? The aim of this study was to examine social workers´ experiences of working with same sex families in the foster care system. The purpose was also to analyze how social workers define and conceptualize the notion of a “suitable” foster care home. To obtain our results, we used a qualitative method containing semi-structured interviews with seven social workers in two cities located in the south of sweden. Our theoretical framework was informed by a social constructivist approach and in particular the analytical notions of heteronormativity, queer theory and intersectionality. The analysis of the empirical data indicates a relative shortage of same-sex foster homes in general and limited experiences among the social workers of handling same-sex families. Challenges that the social workers faced when seeking to place a child in a same-sex family include prejudices against homosexuals from the birth parents. In this regard, cultural and religious differences may be an aggravating factor. Although the social workers had a positive attitude towards same-sex couples as foster caregivers, they recognized that norms and prejudices in society impacts the foster care system.