Det tredelade föräldraskapet - begreppet utan definition. En kvantitativ studie om yrkesverksammas kunskapsläge, arbetssätt och attityd till det tredelade föräldraskapet

Sammanfattning: Three-part parenting is an approach that social services in Sweden should use in collaboration around a child placed in foster care. It describes how foster home, parents and social services share responsibilities for the welfare of the child. The purpose of this study was to illuminate the state of knowledge about the approach among social workers working with children and adolescents in Sweden. The method used was a web-survey with questions divided into the main categories attitudes and state of knowledge, as well as about working methods to illustrate how the approach is used in practice. Theories applied were Pierre Bourdieu’s field analysis, Herbert Blumer's clarifications on how new social problems are created, and Michael Lipsky’s analysis of street-level bureaucrats to look at the social workers room for manoeuvre. The results of the study show that social workers estimate themselves and their colleagues as having very high or high knowledge about the approach. Furthermore, that among half of the respondents' municipalities there are no specific routines regarding support or work aimed at parents whose children are placed. Although the social workers estimate themselves to have high knowledge of the three-part parenting approach they see themselves in great need of information and competence improvement to fully understand what they are working with. An interesting discovery was that the approach, which the professionals are supposed use in their line of work, is not clearly defined in Sweden, thus the "pyramid" model used to illustrate the three-part parenting approach is open to interpret for all and everyone involved in a foster placement. This is lifted in the analysis as a crossroad between difficulties in observing the social problem of asymmetric power relationships between parties in the approach, allowing existing power structures in the field control over the agenda, and unclear regulations from within which social workers can use their competencies to manoeuvre and protect the children and support the other parties involved.