In the early 2010s, Sweden received many refugee children, both accompanied by family and unaccompanied. The reception system struggled to meet their needs. The aim of this study is to analyse how school counsellors reflect on their roles and professional responsibilities in their work with newly arrived students, whom they often perceive as having extensive needs for practically oriented support. Based on qualitative interviews with 15 school counsellors working with young migrants in lower and upper secondary schools, the material was analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. The results show that school counsellors handle various advocating, coordinating and administrative tasks in their encounters with newly arrived students. Previous research refers to this as invisible work and professional dirty work low in the status hierarchy. Some school counsellors wish to delegate certain administrative and controlling tasks, which would free them up to focus on core counselling duties. However, the overall picture is that school counsellors view practically oriented support as integral to social work and perceive is as essential for building relationships with students as well as addressing students’ fundamental human rights, unmet by other social authorities. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Under det tidiga 2010-talet tog Sverige emot ett stort antal flyktingbarn, såväl ensamkommande som med vårdnadshavare. Mottagningssystemet hade svårt att tillgodose deras behov. Syftet med denna studie är att analysera hur skolkuratorer reflekterar över sin roll och sitt professionella ansvar i arbetet med nyanlända elever, vilka ofta uppfattas ha omfattande behov av praktiknära stöd. Studien baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer med 15 skolkuratorer, verksamma inom grund- och gymnasieskolor, som arbetar med unga migranter. Materialet har analyserats med hjälp av kvalitativ tematisk analys.Resultaten visar att skolkuratorer hanterar en rad företrädande, koordinerande och administrativa arbetsuppgifter i arbetet med nyanlända elever. Tidigare forskning benämner detta som osynligt arbete och professionellt "smutsgöra", uppgifter som tillskrivs låg status i den professionella hierarkin. Somliga skolkuratorer uttrycker en önskan att delegera vissa administrativa arbetsuppgifter av kontrollerande karaktär, vilket skulle möjliggöra ett ökat fokus på kärnuppdraget. Samtidigt visar resultaten att skolkuratorerna betraktar det praktiskt orienterade stödet som en integrerad del av det sociala arbetet. Stödet ses som viktigt för relationsskapande och för att tillgodose elevernas grundläggande mänskliga rättigheter, som inte tillgodoses av andra samhällsinstanser. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Domestic violence constitutes a major social problem with severe consequences. In addition to physicalharm, such violence can give rise to significant psychological, social, and economic repercussions. Awareness of the prevalence and manifestations of violence has increased, and violence has become acommon basis for child protection reporting to social services. The Swedish Government’s 2016 nationalstrategy emphasized a shift toward focusing on changing the behaviour of perpetrators to prevent ongoing violence, while underscoring that such interventions must not compromise the safety of those subjected to violence. This study examines a preventive low-threshold intervention directed at guardians who have become the subject of a child welfare investigation due to suspicion of domestic violence.The aim is to increase knowledge and critically assess violence prevention conducted by social servicesby analysing how professionals describe and understand the intentions of the intervention, its practical implementation, and its capacity to prevent violence against children. The study is based on qualitativeinterviews with the staff delivering the intervention at a unit specialised in domestic violence. The interview transcripts have been analysed thematically. The findings indicate that staff members emphasise the intervention as educational rather than therapeutic, although numerous examples of situations resembling therapeutic engagement emerge, prompting discussion about where boundaries between pedagogy and treatment should be drawn. The intervention is offered to individuals regardless of whether they acknowledge the presence of domestic violence, and participants are described as identifying more primarily with the role of victim rather than perpetrator. The findings further show that psychological violence is foregrounded, while other forms of violence - particularly more severe physical violence - tend to receive less attention. The results form a basis for discussing how the intervention’s boundaries are negotiated in practice, and the importance of maintaining a focus on victims of violenceand their safety when designing violence prevention interventions. © 2025 Författarna.

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). 

Många unga har upplevt sexuellt våld eller varit utsatta för olika risker under och efter migrationen till Sverige. Det kan exempelvis handla om barnäktenskap, att sälja sex för sin överlevnad, om människohandel, hedersrelaterat våld eller våldtäkt. I Att möta sexuell utsatthet beskriver författarna professionellas möten med nyanlända barn och unga som har erfarenhet av sexuellt våld. Hur bör professionella i Sverige bemöta och hantera de ungas berättelser? Hur ska de agera när de möter barn som är gifta? På vilket sätt kan skolan vara ett stöd? Hur bör samverkan ske mellan olika professionella grupper? Boken riktar sig till studenter inom socialt arbete, omvårdnad och folkhälsa men kan också läsas av professionella som möter unga nyanlända inom olika verksamheter.