Social Work

At Mid Sweden University, social work research strives to promote human rights and social justice, as well as economic, social and environmentally sustainable development.

This is realised through anti-racist and norm-critical perspective on social work at local, national, and global levels.

The epistemic objects within our research, i.e. the areas and relationships that are studied, include a wide range of social phenomena, welfare issues and living conditions. The subject contributes scientific knowledge aimed at social work actors and decision-makers and plays an important role in research-related social work education. Our research can be roughly classified into five overlapping fields that are presented briefly below (the initials of the responsible researchers are shown in parentheses).

Age and ageing

1) Living onditions for elderly refugees (SGK), 2) How conditions are laid down for social rights with age (SGK).

HBTQ and social work

1) HBTQ activists’ experiences of threats from far-right groups (ML), 2) Treatment of transgender people in elderly care (SS, ME).

Global social work

1) Preventive care and health education to protect a resource-poor and vulnerable population from COVID-19 in Kenya and Uganda (WKA), 2) Employment and university education for marginalised young people in East Africa (WKA), 3) Care for young people leaving prostitution in Sweden (WKA), 4) Community-based interventions for Romanian beggars (WKA, CAA), 5) Social Justice for children and persons with disabilities (CAA), 6) Climate change in relation to global social problems and migration (AKL).

Professional issues (Education, Organisational practices and Professional areas of work)

Education: 1) Critical self-reflection in social work education (SGK), 2) Critical and radical perspectives in Swedish social work education policy documents (ML), 3) Personal and professional development in professional education (MI), 4) Human and social rights in social work education (ME). Organisational practices: 5) Marketisation of sheltered accommodation for women who have been subjected to threats and violence (ML), 6) Social workers’ professional ambitions and strategies in various organisational practices (ME). Professional areas of work: 7) Statutory mandatory care for adults with substance abuse or addiction problems (MI), 8) Social services’ work on men’s violence against women and domestic violence (HH).

9) Transfers of custody of foster children (ME), 10) Asylum seekers’ housing situation (MA), 11) Children’s influence and the right to participate (AS).