Adult safeguarding in Sweden’s social services
The Journal of Adult Protection
ISSN: 1466-8203
Article publication date: 21 October 2020
Issue publication date: 21 October 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, to describe adult safeguarding in Sweden’s social services, and secondly, to analyse the changes in Sweden’s national policies related to its adult safeguarding legislation and discuss the implications.
Design/methodology/approach
An analysis of two government bills was carried out inspired by the What’s the Problem Represented to Be approach.
Findings
The background and review procedure that is part of the obligation to report mistreatment in Sweden’s social services is described. The policy analysis shows a change from a rights-based discourse concerning the duty of staff to safeguard vulnerable service recipients’ rights, to a discourse on the obligation for staff to be part of systematic quality assurance. The most conspicuous change in the representation of the problem was attaching the problem descriptions to a lack of quality instead of a duty to protect.
Social implications
The implications of the reporting procedure are discussed in terms of a general lack of channels for service recipients and their family members to raise their own concerns about mistreatment. It is suggested that there ought to be more legal and transparent channels for service recipients and their family members to file complaints.
Originality/value
This paper provides an overview of adult safeguarding in Sweden’s social services, which to date has been lacking in the literature.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
No funding was received in relation to this paper. The author declares that he has no competing interests.
Citation
Kjellberg, I. (2020), "Adult safeguarding in Sweden’s social services", The Journal of Adult Protection, Vol. 22 No. 5, pp. 257-267. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-03-2020-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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