Social Work in Sweden, general trends and the particular case of migrant children

Abstract

The restructuring of the Swedish welfare state and increasing inequalities are social transformations over the past three decades. Sweden has lost its leading position in the international rankings of social equality. New ways of understanding and addressing social problems allow privatization of social services, public before. In addition, demographic changes such as increased international mobility and complexity in the dynamics of social problems demand new responses from social services, which have clear implications for social work, which emerged as a territorially bounded activity by national borders.

The case of migrant children is an example, as it clearly states these new problems and shows various and contradictory responses from the services of child protection. In this paper we discuss the responses by social workers in care cases and institutionalized responses from foster care. In those places is detected the failure of institutionalized forms of child protection. In the individual case-work we see an emergence of critical responses among social workers, who within the legal framework question the tradition of loyalty to Swedish state authority in social work. Replies apart, we see also arise organizations challenging repressive policies and try to work from a perspective that takes into account the issues affecting migrant children.