Community-based social services in Lövgärdet - a study of collaboration and trust-building between residents, civil society, and public authority representatives
Short description
The project studies whether a social welfare office located geographically in the community Lövgärdet contributes to better conditions for collaboration and trust-building, from the perspective of social workers, collaboration partners and families.
The project is carried out in close collaboration with the Social Walfare Administration in north-eastern Gothenburg and involves co-creative research activities where manager and employees of the local social welfare office in Lövgärdet contribute to the research process.
Collaboration for increased trust in the neighbourhood of Lövgärdet in Sweden
Society, as well as social services, are facing several challenges in the near future. To meet these challenges the Swedish government aims to reform the social services sector, emphasizing an accessible, knowledge-based social services. A specific challenge is to counteract the, since 2021 increasingly widespread, disinformation against social services.
An important step in this work is to create preconditions for government representatives and citizens to meet face to face to increase trust, which requires social services to be located where people live their daily lives.
The above constitutes the starting point for the project.
About the project
The purpose is to follow a community-based social welfare office with the task of exercising public authority with focus on children and young people in Lövgärdet in norh-eastern Gothenburg.
The goal is to investigate whether the geographical location of the social services office in the area of Lövgärdet contributes to better conditions for collaboration and trust-building. And whether the location contributes to create better opportunities for children, young people, and families to be offered as well as receive adequate support and help.
Research method
The project uses ethnographic and qualitative methods, including participant observations, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. The project includes co-creative research activities.
Goals and expectations
The project aims to contribute new knowledge about community-based social services in relation to collaboration and trust-building. In addition, the project is expected to contribute to exchange of knowledge and experiences between the social services (practice) and the university (academia).
Social Exclusion and Control
The project belongs to the research platform Social Exclusion and Control at the Department of Social Work. The platform conducts research that critically examines the interaction between society and individuals/groups, as well as between welfare organizations and their clients.
To the research in the platform Social exclusion and control
Participants
Project Leader: Kajsa Nolbeck, Ph.D. and postdoctoral researcher in social work with a focus on children and youth.
Participating Researcher: Tobias Jansson, Ph.D. and lecturer in social work.
Unit Manager: Mikael Kurdali Jonsson, unit manager for the social office in Lövgärdet.
Other Participants: The project is carried out in collaboration between the Department of Social Work at the University of Gothenburg and the Social Welfare Administration in northeastern Gothenburg.
Researchers at the Department of Social Work study social problems, their causes, and consequences for individuals, groups, and society.
About the research activities at the Department of Social Work
Our research projects are conducted within research platforms and networks. Both individual researchers and research groups participate in these platforms and networks.
