"Lösningen är en enkelbiljett till hemlandet" : en kvalitativ studie av socialsekreterares uppfattningar av ärenden som rör våldsutsatta papperslösa kvinnor / "The solution is a one-way ticket to home" : a qualitative survey of social workers’ perceptions on managing undocumented women who have been victims of violence

The aim of the study is to examine and analyze social workers’ perceptions of law practice of supportive regulations for abused, undocumented women who are in need of protection, in order to problematize the connection between norm and practice in social service case management. In a qualitative approach, the study is conducted through eight interviews, based on two vignettes, with representatives from the public sector in Gothenburg. The vignettes were based on two fictive narratives that both include women who are victims of abuse, but have different ethnicity and legal status. By using vignettes it was anticipated to find whether there are different perceptions among the social workers in terms of considering the residents’ ethnicity and legal status in relation to the possibilities of receiving support. According to Swedish law the social services have responsibility to assist all residents within the country. Since the undocumented migrants have difficulties claiming their rights in the public sector, many stay in destructive relationships. The focal point of this study is the uncertainties and inconsistencies among social service staff regarding offering support to these women, especially after acute situations. The UN’s Declaration of Human Rights expresses that all humans are equal, regardless of ethnicity, gender, etc. (see declaration). Thus, rejecting a woman her right to claim social service contradicts these regulations. The results of the study relates to T.H Marshall´s, Lister´s and Fernández´s discussion about citizenship, de los Reyes theory about postcolonialism, Mattson´s intersectionality, Hasenfeld´s Human Service Organizations, Libsky´s Street-level Bureaucrat and Johansson’s Freedom of Action. Further, different concepts on new institutional theory from Johansson and Svensson, Johnsson and Laanemets, are used to analyze our data. Our selected theories, concepts and reasoning can be used to understand our empirical data in different levels in society.   The study shows that the juridical fate of undocumented women who have been subject to violence is not only determined by laws and regulations, but also on individual attitudes of social workers as well as cultural interests within an organization. These results indicate that the widely accepted notion of Sweden being an equal society, does not comply with practice. In conclusion, this study shows that social workers have an important role in the development of a women-friendly, gender inclusive theory and praxis of citizenship.