Social work practice is characterized by contradictions, such as support versus control and the fact that social interventions usually aim at individual change, while clients to a greater extent request practical support and social security. At the same time, social work practice is characterized by status hierarchies and professionals seem to have an adversarial relation to providing practical support. The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of status hierarchies in school social work through analysis of how school counselors’ reason about their role and task working with newly arrived young migrants.

The study is based on qualitative interviews with 15 school counselors. The interviews have been analyzed using a qualitative thematic analysis.  

The study shows that the school counselors work with newly arrived minors is perceived as quite practically oriented. The school counselors describe that they spend a considerable amount of time helping with practical issues such as finances and translate letters from authorities. This kind of practically oriented tasks are referred to in previous research as "professional dirt work" and ends up far down in the status hierarchy.  These tasks are not perceived as uncontroversial and are subject to negotiation. Among the school counselors in the study there is both an outspoken desire that someone else should be responsible for this work to make time for more important counselor tasks, but there are also those who perceive this work as an important part of school social work that underpins the relationships with the pupils.

In 2021, the Swedish government tasked the National Agency for Education with strengthening schools' systematic efforts to combat honour-related violence and oppression (HRV). The initiative included awareness-raising activities and support for teachers and other staff in pre-school, primary and secondary schools. In addition, the school's responsibility to address HRV has been reinforced in the new curriculum (Lgr 22). The overall aim of two consecutive research projects was to explore the ways in which honour-related vulnerability can manifest itself in the school environment and the potential for school social work to identify and prevent this specific type of violence, as well as to collaborate with social services in addressing the concerns of young people living in an honourrelated context. The studies are based on interviews with school social workers and other school staff in 15 secondary and primary schools in 10 different municipalities.The overall findings show that all interviewees have encountered young people living in a context of honour, ranging from everyday control to violence or threats of violence from individuals within their networks. Concerns were raised about addressing HRV in education because of the risk of creating conflict in the classroom and reinforcing stereotypical values among young people. One approach to overcoming this is to teach about human rights and children's rights in general. The school social worker plays a key role in supporting young people living in an honour context, but building trusting relationships requires a long-term effort. There are concerns that reporting to social services may damage the relationships and there is lack of trust for social services' knowledge of HRV. In conclusion, there is a contradiction between the idea of human equality and the recognition of differences, which school staff perceive as creating challenging dilemmas when dealing with HRV.

The school social worker has an important role in the support of young people in vulnerable situations. Counselling is central to their professional practice, not least when working with young migrants, a group where trauma and experiences of violence may be part of their life story and migration process. The purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of counseling as a tool for school social workers in the professional meeting with young migrants. The empirical data include qualitative interviews with 15 school social workers who meet this group daily. The interviews have been analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis. The findings show that the delimitation of which counseling lies within the school social worker’s responsibility is not clear. The fact that school social workers experience that other parts of the welfare system are often unavailable to young migrants forces them to go beyond what they describe as part of their professional responsibility and provide therapeutic counselling. The school social worker uses different tools and methods in their counseling and mixes them based on their own area of interest, education, and experience. The study concludes that the accessibility that newly arrived young migrants have with the school counselor creates a role where they are the “only” professional available to offer support and counseling. This means that the school social workers need to go outside their professional domain. The school social workers discretion in relation to the type of counseling and how it is conducted appears to be unlimited. © 2024 Författarna, Licens: CC-BY 4.0.

Background: Young migrants can be described as a vulnerable group with trauma and exposure to violence as a frequently occurring part of their life story and migration process. The need for professional counselling in this group is extensive. A profession that many young migrants meet is school counselors. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of school social work practice with newly arrived young migrants. The research question is how school counselors’ reason regarding their role and responsibility in relation to counselling young migrants.

Method: The study is based on qualitative interviews with 15 school counselors who meet newly arrived young migrants daily. The interviews have been analyzed using a qualitative thematic analysis.

Findings: The delimitation of what counselling lies within the school counselor's responsibility, is not clear. The fact that school counselors experience that other parts of the welfare system are not available for young migrants force them to go beyond what they describe as a part of their professional responsibility and carry out therapeutic counselling. The school counselors use different tools and methods in their counselling and mix them based on their own area of interest, education, and experience.

Conclusion: The accessibility that newly arrived young migrants have to the school counselor creates a role as the “only” professional available to support with counselling. This means that the school counselors need to go outside their professional domain. The school counselor’s discretion in relation to the type of counselling and how it is conducted appears to be unlimited.

In Sweden, school staff are legally responsible to report concern for a child’s welfare to social services. This obligation can be regarded as a cornerstone of social protection for children exposed to various forms of domestic violence, including honour-based violence (HBV). However, research indicates a tendency to underreport suspicion of child neglect by occupational groups in countries that apply mandatory reporting laws. This article examines the questions: How do school staff reason on their legal responsibilities in relation to reporting children and young people with a migrant background who are exposed to, or suspected victims of, HBV? What specific dilemmas can be identified in such situations? The study is based on qualitative interviews with school staff, particularly school counsellors, and a qualitative thematic analysis has been conducted. The results indicate that HBV is a complex field for professionals to handle and often becomes a subject of negotiation in relation to mandatory reporting. School staff commonly express a lack of trust in the social services’ knowledge or possibility to support children or young people in honour-based contexts. The respondents also reason around the notion that a report might lead to a worsened situation for the young person and increased control from the family. This all together shows an uncertainty or an internal moral conflict on the reporting obligation among school staff. © 2023 The Author(s). 

In Sweden, study and career guidance is the responsibility of the whole school, which also includes teachers. However, research concerning the role of teachers in study and career guidance is limited if one compares it with the existing research on the role and work of study and career counselors. The overall aim of this article is to provide a deeper understanding of how teachers in a Swedish municipality view their role in guiding students in their future study and career choices. The results show that teachers believe that they must be neutral, objective, and not influence students in their life choices even though they are at the same time aware that not all students have (equal) opportunities to be reflexive and to make choices that are independent of class affiliation. This indicates that teachers have limited possibilities to support their students and to equalize class reproduction in society. © 2022 The Author(s) 

Contemporary society is characterized by rapid changes in the labor market, increased flow of information, and more opportunities to make choices in relation to education and career. Previous research has demonstrated how many young people in school don't think they get the support they need to make such choices. The overall aim of this article is to contribute to more in-depth knowledge of what kind of support and knowledge young adults describe as important in order to be able to make informed choices. This knowledge might help school to better support young people in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and attitudes in relation to their education and career choices. The article is based on interviews with 25-year-old men and women. 23 interviews were conducted. In sum, the analysis indicates that guidance activities that aims to contribute to knowledge about the labor market, programs and courses and requirements for different education programs would probably be perceived as more fruitful by the young adults if they are organized in a combination of different levels, i.e. both as group activities (exhibitions, general information/discussion) and individual activities (personal information/discussion). Further, the authors demonstrate that roles and expectations between pupils, teachers and guidance counselors should be discussed and clarified.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the meaning of the lived experience of lifestyle changes as perceived by people with severe mental illness (SMI). People with SMI who have experience in managing lifestyle changes were interviewed (n = 10). The interviews were analyzed with a phenomenological hermeneutic approach. The findings reveal three themes: (1) struggling with inner and outer limitations, (2) on one's own but together with others and (3) longing for living a life in harmony. The meaning of lifestyle changes can be understood as a person's internal and external endeavors to make well-considered decisions about lifestyle changes. Support should focus on strengthening the person's self-efficacy and should be based on the person's experiences. © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

There is a continuous increase in mental health problems, such as stress symptoms, among young people in the Nordic countries. One source of stress concerns young people’s outlook of life in general, and more specific the choice of education and future carrier. Previous studies show that high education has positive impact on a person’s health, but also on regional development. The research project is based on a case study in a Swedish municipality with low educational level. The aim of the study is to explore and understand the low education among the citizens. The study starts in young person’s perspective on their future. Further, how adults in home, school and the neighborhood, influence the young person’s educational and carrier choices. The analyses of the results are based on theories on gender and cultural/social capital. The empirical material consists of surveys and interview studies with young people, teachers and guidance counsellors. The results show that young people often feel unsure of their future chooses and often ask for more support from adults regarding their future education. Several students find it stressful to manage their career choices, particularly if their parents do not have sufficient knowledge to support them in such matters. Teachers and guidance counselors describe a lack of strategies to support and addressing issues of education and future work, but also how they should be passive in relation to influencing the students. In conclusion, the results show the importance, when it comes to social work and social development practices on preventing mental health problems among young people, to develop strategies for working with young person’s educational and carrier choices. In this project some strategies have been identified, on local political and school level, to strengthen outlook of life among young people.