Lex Sarah i individ- och familjeomsorgen

– utredningar av missförhållanden och dess konsekvenser

Abstract

Reporting of mistreatments (colloquially lex Sarah) is regulated in the Social Services Act and mandatory for all staff working in social services and social care. Since 2011 the provision also applies to individual and family care, and research is still lacking. The reports are investigated by Designated Officials (investigators) employed within the municipality. This study examined how the reported incidents of mistreatment concerning children in individual and family care were assessed, focusing on how the consequences for children were described. 57 reports with investigations from one region were first analyzed using content analysis, thereafter Carol Bacchi’s policy analytical framework was used to discern different problem representations of mistreatments in the investigations. The results showed that the consequences for the children were handled in three ways: they were investigated, the consequences described by reporting staff were overlooked in the investigation, and consequences were not investigated. In the analysis, different understandings of mistreatments emerged. Mistreatments were primarily understood as systematic deficiencies where consequences for the children were made invisible but also as the damage or harm the child suffered. Assessments of mistreatments, as well as its degree of seriousness, varied considerably between investigations, which indicated that serious reports to IVO rested on different interpretations of what was considered serious. The results suggest that it is unclear in what way lex Sarah contributes to quality development and learning from mistakes in individual and family care.