"Ni är faktiskt föräldrar. Ni har satt det här barnet till världen så ni har ett ansvar att uppfostra barnet, i vått och torrt." : En kvalitativ studie om interaktionsprocesser mellan socialsekreterare och föräldrar till tonårsbarn

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to investigate how social workers describe the difficulties that they experience while interacting with parents of adolescents who seek support from social services and also how social workers describe accountability for the children amongst themselves and the parents. The method chosen for this study was qualitative interviews with five different youth welfare social workers from two town district committees as part of a bigger city in Sweden. The conducted interviews were based on how the youth welfare workers describe different interactions that they come across while working with teenagers and their parents. I was able to analyze their statements using symbolic interaction theory particularly focusing on the concept of normality verses deviation. The analysis revealed that social workers find themselves as a part of a larger group in society and therefore use common social norms whilst assessing youth and family related issues. Although the social norms are also viewed by social services as somewhat negotiable and can be adjusted depending on the family’s capabilities. The difficulties that the social workers face during the interaction process with the families are discussed in terms of the parents misunderstanding the regulations and guidelines that the youth welfare workers in social services have to follow. The social workers therefore describe that the responsibility placed on them when they interact with the families is much more than what they are capable of managing. The results of this study show that parents in today’s society are not only in need of support from the government during a child’s adolescent years. Society as a whole require more knowledge on how to prevent adolescent’s exposure to social problems.