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David PålssonSenior lecturer, associate professor

About me

Senior lecturer and associate professor in social work. My main research area is child welfare as a societal institution. I have particularly focused on out-of-home care (foster care and residential care), which I have studied from both a Swedish and a Nordic comparative perspective. Other research interests include inspection and control of child welfare interventions, children’s participation, and poverty among children and families in contact with social services.

I am (together with Terje Olsen) editor-in-chief of the journal Nordic Welfare Research (Nordisk välfärdsforskning | Nordic Welfare Research | Idunn).

Research projects

Municipal child welfare - investigations, services and trajectories beyond

Two thousand children and youth in eight municipalities will be subject to a prospective, longitudinal study of their trajectory through the child welfare system for six years. The study is conducted by an interdisciplinary research team with academic competence in social work, sociology, law and criminology, collaborating with FoU-Nordväst.

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Children's right to participation in Swedish child welfare: The extent, nature and determinants of child interviews during investigations

    2024. David Pålsson, Pernilla Leviner, Stefan Wiklund. International Journal of Child Abuse & Neglect

    Article

    Background: Children's right to participation in child welfare decision-making is highlighted in law and research. However, there is a lack of comprehensive empirical research on how such participation is actually fulfilled.

    Objective: This article aims to describe and analyse the extent, nature and determinants of children's participation in child welfare investigations in Sweden as well as to discuss barriers to participation.Participants and settingThe dataset comprises a cohort of 2123 children investigated during 2022 across eight municipalities in Stockholm County, Sweden.

    Methods: The study is based on cross-sectional data where the responsible child welfare workers served as informant in a survey focusing child and case factors concerning 2123 children subject to child welfare investigations. The data is analysed by using descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses.

    Results: In approximately 75 % of the child welfare investigations, child welfare workers held interviews with the child (with or without parental presence) while individual child interviews were carried out in about 50 % of the cases. Multiple interviews (≥3) occurred in 14 % of the cases. Reasons for not interviewing children included finding interviews to be unnecessary, perceiving the child as too young, and reluctance by the child as to participation. Investigations involving older children and referrals related to abuse increased the odds for participation.

    Conclusions: The study suggests that more children are interviewed by child welfare authorities than found in previous studies, but that there still is a gap between the legislative intention to facilitate child participation and the actual state of child welfare practice.

    Read more about Children's right to participation in Swedish child welfare

  • Licence Loss: Revocations of Residential Care Licences in Four Nordic Countries

    2024. David Pålsson (et al.). Child & Family Social Work

    Article

    With placement in residential care, society assumes overall responsibility for a child's daily care, well-being and development. How public authorities respond to poor care quality is of crucial importance. To guarantee quality care and minimise risks, welfare states increasingly develop different mechanisms and systems to supervise out-of-home care. In this article, we analyse how central inspectorates in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden deal with what can be conceived as the last supervisory measure, namely, the revocation of licences. The aim is to describe and analyse how frequently and why national inspectorates in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden withdraw residential care licences. The findings are based on an analysis of all available documented reports on revocation decisions between 2017 and 2021. The findings reveal that, between 2017 and 2021, there were 53 licence suspensions or revocations across the four countries, albeit with variations among the nations. Furthermore, the study shows that residential care units (RCUs) generally have a documented history of interactions with inspectorates. Revocation decisions were often attributed to several reasons, with safety, staff-related concerns and documentation deficiencies being the primary factors. The findings are discussed based on concepts and theory on regulation and supervision.

    Read more about Licence Loss

  • Uppföljningens olika roller - familjehemsföräldrars erfarenheter av socialtjänstens uppföljning.

    2024. David Pålsson. Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift 30 (4), 795-816

    Article

    Foster care supervision is regarded as central to securing foster care quality. Studies show that foster care supervision is a heterogenic activity, but foster parents’ experiences of supervision have scarcely been examined. The article is part of a case study of six local authorities and their foster care supervision. The aim is to analyse how foster parents perceive the role of supervision. The empirical material is based on interviews with foster parents (n=18). Theoretically, foster care is analysed as a hybrid intervention in the borderline between family and welfare service, which opens up for different notions regarding how supervision should be performed. The analysis identifies several supervisory roles: the verifying role; the sympathising role; the assisting role; and the instructive role. The roles differ in terms of how supervision is executed and whether the emphasis is on support to foster parents or control of their performances. The discussion focuses on the prerequisites needed for supervision to impact the foster care service. 

    Read more about Uppföljningens olika roller - familjehemsföräldrars erfarenheter av socialtjänstens uppföljning.

  • Bokrecension: Revitalizing residential care for children and youth. Cross-national trends and challenges. Whittaker K.J., Holmes, L., Del Valle J.F., & James, S. (red.) Oxford University Press: Oxford. (2023)

    2023. Peter Andersson, David Pålsson. Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift 30 (2), 672-674

    Article

    Institutionsvård för barn och ungdomar (kollektiv vård och behandling dygnet runt) är en ofta ifrågasatt insats. Att föra samman barn med stora behov är förenat med risker och det finns ont om forskningsstudier som tydligt kan visa institutionsvårdens nytta för barns utveckling. Vårdformen präglas återkommande av skandaler och i Sverige rapporterades nyligen om våld och övergrepp vid Statens Institutionsstyrelses (SiS) särskilda ungdomshem. EU (Europeiska unionen) förordar “avinstitutionalisering” som överordnat mål och många länder, inklusive Sverige, prioriterar vård i familjehem framför institutioner. Samtidigt har institutionsvård en befäst position inom samhällsvård världen över. I Sverige är omkring vart fjärde barn i samhällsvård placerad vid ett HVB- eller SiS-hem. Svensk institutionsvård (SiS-hemmen undantagna) utförs på en löst sammanhållen marknad där vårdutbudet till stor del bestäms av privata aktörer.

    I antologin Revitalizing residential care for children and youth. Cross-national trends and challenges (Oxford University Press, 2023) diskuteras institutionsvård i sexton västländer (inklusive Argentina). Boken gör nedslag i så skilda länder som USA, Spanien, Israel, Finland och Tyskland (dessvärre ingår inte Sverige i antologin). Syftet med boken är att ge en bild av hur institutionsvård används i olika länder, men även att identifiera framgångsrika praktiker.

    Read more about Bokrecension: Revitalizing residential care for children and youth. Cross-national trends and challenges. Whittaker K.J., Holmes, L., Del Valle J.F., & James, S. (red.) Oxford University Press: Oxford. (2023)

  • Granskning inom den sociala barnavården: Tillsyn och uppföljning av utredningsarbete, institutioner och familjehem

    2023. David Pålsson. Människobehandlande organisationer: villkor för ledning, styrning och professionellt välfärdsarbete, 350-366

    Chapter
    Read more about Granskning inom den sociala barnavården

  • A professional field? Educational attainments, gender and age among staff in Swedish residential care

    2023. David Pålsson (et al.). Residential Treatment for Children & Youth

    Article

    In this article, we discuss residential staff in Sweden. Here, residential care is part of the municipal child welfare system, which covers services targeting juvenile delinquency as well as other residential care services. Children and young people placed in Swedish residential care have diverse needs, from mainly supportive needs to advanced behavioral problems, and the field consists of open and secure residential care units. There is limited knowledge about the staff working in residential care. This article helps to fill this knowledge gap by giving an overall picture of staff educational attainments, age and gender in Swedish residential care between the years of 2008–2020. To reason about staff qualifications, we use theoretical concepts from sociological theory on professions. Findings show that residential care in Sweden can be analyzed as a pre- professional field, dominated by staff with low levels of educa-tion. In addition, we show that the field is dominated by women – even if the proportion of men is higher than in other areas of social work – and that the majority of staff are between 30 and 64 years old. Some differences between open and secure residential care were found, the most notable concerning edu-cational levels and gender.

    Read more about A professional field? Educational attainments, gender and age among staff in Swedish residential care

  • Supervising a family or a service?: Social worker approaches to foster care supervision in six Swedish authorities

    2023. David Pålsson. Nordic Social Work Research

    Article

    In many countries, local supervision is the main activity to control foster care. In Sweden, the legislation stipulates that foster parents have a supervising social worker (SSW) and the foster child an assigned social worker (CSW). This article describes and analyses how child welfare authorities organize and social workers handle the supervision of foster care. The study is based on data (policy documents and 18 individual/group interviews with 43 managers/social workers) collected from six Swedish child welfare authorities. Analytically, the study assumes that the position of foster care between the private and the public spheres paves the way for different ideas regarding how to conduct supervision that can be broadly based on trust or control vis-à-vis foster homes. The findings show that supervision is differentiated and varies more between foster parents and children than between authorities. Supervision approaches are identified that can be analysed as being more or less trust-based (discreet and affirming) or control-based (compensating and interfering) towards foster parents and children, but overall trust-based approaches dominate. The approaches imply different levels of involvement in care and vary regarding emphasis on the private and the public aspects of fostering. The discussion focuses in particular on the potential impact of different supervision approaches on the foster care service.

    Read more about Supervising a family or a service?

  • Nya villkor för ett gammalt problem: familjehemsrekrytering i en tid av privatisering och professionalisering

    2022. Pålsson Pålsson, Tommy Lundström, Marie Sallnäs. Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift 29 (2), 173-190

    Article

    Foster care is the most common intervention for children who are placed in out-of-home care. At the same time, there are recurrent discussions about difficulties in recruiting foster homes. The preconditions for recruitment have changed and today, there is an increased competition for foster homes between municipalities and private businesses, stricter requirements placed on foster parents and changes in the needs of children placed in care. The aim of the article is to analyse the recruitment of foster homes in light of these changed preconditions. Empirically, the article is based on a survey targeting Swedish municipalities. The findings show, that although a majority of the municipalities have employees particularly responsible for recruitment, small municipalities often lack such resources. Further on, almost three quarters of the municipalities state that it is difficult or very difficult to recruit foster homes. For example, answers to the survey’s open questions demonstrate that competition from other municipalities and private companies affects recruitment. Further on, the municipality’s reputation is considered an important factor for attracting new foster homes. Finally, it appears to be difficult for municipalities to recruit a varied supply of foster homes and, in particular, homes that can care for children with special needs. The findings are discussed in relation to previous international and Swedish research. Finally, suggestions regarding how recruitment may be improved are presented. 

    Read more about Nya villkor för ett gammalt problem: familjehemsrekrytering i en tid av privatisering och professionalisering

  • Licence to Care – Licensing Terms for For-Profit Residential Care for Children in Four Nordic Countries

    2022. David Pålsson (et al.). Nordisk välfärdsforskning | Nordic Welfare Research 7 (1), 23-35

    Article

    Licensing is a public instrument used to control welfare services. One such service is residential care for children,which is targeted at children who experience maltreatment in their home environment and/or have behaviouralproblems and have been separated from their parents by the authorities. In Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark,residential care may be provided by public or private (not-for-profit or for-profit) providers. The aim of this articleisto explore and compare how public authorities in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, license residential carefor children. The data consist of application forms and instructions for how to apply for a licence as well as interviewswith key staff responsible for licensing. The findings show differences in how national agencies license residentialcare providers. Licensing models may be centralised/general (Sweden, Finland) or regionalised/specialised towardsresidential care (Norway, Denmark). The process can be more investigative (Sweden, Norway) or consultative (Fin-land, Denmark), and the review of standards formality-oriented (Sweden, Finland, Norway) or content-oriented(Denmark). Finally, the models of supervision post-licence vary in terms of being non-intervening (Finland), semi-intervening (Sweden, Norway) or intervening (Denmark). The discussion centres on the possible contribution of thedifferent models to the regulation of the residential care markets.

    Read more about Licence to Care – Licensing Terms for For-Profit Residential Care for Children in Four Nordic Countries

  • Barnperspektiv och ekonomiskt bistånd: I vilken utsträckning kan generositet respektive restriktivitet ses som ett uttryck för skilda strategier?

    2022. David Pålsson, Stefan Wiklund. Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift 29 (1)

    Article
    Read more about Barnperspektiv och ekonomiskt bistånd

  • A Policy Decoupled from Practice

    2021. David Pålsson, Stefan Wiklund. British Journal of Social Work

    Article

    In many countries, there are calls for children to be allowed to participate in social work decision-making. This article analyses child participation vis-à-vis social assistance (SA), which is a municipal cash benefit representing the last safety net. In Sweden, SA is part of the professional field of social work and national policy recommends that children are consulted. The aim is to analyse local policies and practices regarding child participation, and the data are based on case studies in six social service offices. Unlike most participation studies, children’s participation is conceived as an institutional pressure and the concept of decoupling is used to examine how local authorities relate to participation. The findings show that in local policies there is a general openness towards participation, but in practice no efforts are being made to promote participation. The absence of participation is analysed as deriving from organisational barriers (practices are adult-centred and child welfare units are seen as responsible for participation) and the scepticism of social workers (participation is an infringement on parental obligations and children should be protected from involvement in financial issues). The article ends with a discussion on the decoupling and adequacy of children’s participation in settings comparable with Swedish SA.

    Read more about A Policy Decoupled from Practice

  • A Crisis in Swedish Child Welfare? On Risk, Control and Trust

    2021. Tommy Lundström (et al.). Social Work & Society 19 (1)

    Article

    In recent decades, Swedish out-of-home care has been criticised for a number of reasons. In this article, based on research and public debate, we discuss this criticism as well as the institutional responses that have been evoked. We use the concepts of risk, control and trust to structure the analysis, which outlines three core issues portrayed as problematic: a) certain principles of the Swedish child welfare system with relevance for the placement of children and adolescence, b) the quality of out-of-home care and c) the privatisation of out-of-home care and the possibility of generating profits on such services. The institutional response to the criticism has mainly been increased control measures, but the development is not uniform - trust and control-oriented responses are often combined. We conclude the article by relating Swedish out-of-home care to international child welfare trends, discussing the institutional responses and the implications for social work practice.

    Read more about A Crisis in Swedish Child Welfare? On Risk, Control and Trust

  • Local translations of a universal concept

    2020. David Pålsson, Stefan Wiklund. Children & society

    Article

    In recent years, scholars have called for studies exploring how key concepts originating from the children's rights discourse are understood in local contexts. In Sweden, national policy advocates that a child perspective should guide social assistance (SA), a cash benefit constituting society's last safety net. The study analyses the child perspective as an idea (i.e. an ambiguous principle), which is translated (i.e. reformulated and interpreted) at the local level. The findings indicate multiple and partly inconsistent translations of a child perspective. The study argues that it is unclear what adopting a child perspective implies for children in families receiving SA.

    Read more about Local translations of a universal concept

  • Securing the floor but not raising the ceiling? Operationalising care quality in the inspection of residential care for children in Sweden

    2020. David Pålsson. European Journal of Social Work 23 (1), 118-130

    Article

    In many countries, inspections are employed as a central instrument to the promotion of good social work practice, but how inspections operationally should achieve this is not evident. By utilizing data from guidelines, inter-views and observations, the aim of the article is to analyze how the Swedish Inspectorate operationalizes care quality within the service residential care for children. Analytically, the Inspectorate is regarded as an open system that is receptive to different ideas of how to operationalize care quality. The results show that: a) the standards display a marked variation, change annually and are similar across all homes, b) there is a limited link to good quality care as it is defined in empirical research, c) there are several driving forces for care aspects to inspect and, in general, the distinct standards pertain to formal re-quirements, while how the care is provided is associated with more indistinct standards and d) if there is no obvious malpractice in care provided, the in-spections appear to have rather unclear formative effects. The results are inter alia discussed regarding whether inspections foster the idea that the ‘floor’ of the care is raised (i.e. securing a basic level of care) but not the ‘ceiling’ (i.e. maximizing care).

    Read more about Securing the floor but not raising the ceiling? Operationalising care quality in the inspection of residential care for children in Sweden

  • The Prerequisites and Practices of Auditing Residential Care

    2018. David Pålsson, Stefan Wiklund, Marie Sallnäs.

    Thesis (Doc)

    The aim of this dissertation is to describe and analyse the prerequisites and practices of auditing Swedish residential care for children. Residential care is a complex intervention provided to children in vulnerable life situations. The care is extensively delivered by private providers and shows difficulties in demonstrating clearly positive treatment effects. Licensing and inspections are policy instruments to address alleged quality problems in decentralised and marketised welfare services. However, in research there are mixed opinions on the ability of audits to generate improved service quality.

    The dissertation consists of four papers exploring central facets of the audit system. The empirical material is based on interviews (n=50) with inspectors and residential staff, documentation (n=286) in terms of guidelines and license/inspection decisions and observations (n=12) at inspection-related events. Each paper includes a unique set of data.

    Paper I analyses the controls that private residential homes undergo prior to their entry into the market. The results show that a majority of applicants are granted a license and that the controls do not reduce the need for ex post control. There is limited guidance on care content and research evidence is weakly incorporated in the controls. Overall, the state exerts limited influence over the composition and professional development of the care market.

    Paper II explores the operationalisation process of care quality in inspections. The results show that the standards display a marked variation and there is no differentiation between different residential homes. In general, the standards focus on reducing malpractice and not maximising care quality. In practice, the inspections are often discussion-based and standards relating to work with children are often indistinct.

    Paper III analyses how inspections are perceived by representatives from residential homes. The results show that inspections induce reflection and to some extent shape the administrative parts of care, but also that it is difficult to discern the actual impact of the inspections on the work. The inspections appear to bring a degree of stability and legitimacy to the work, but there are sometimes tensions between standards and professional judgment.

    Paper IV studies the influence the inspection process grants children in care. The results suggest that different inspectorial rationales (regulative, supportive and protective) may influence the agency children exert and that it is difficult to allow children’s views to have a substantial impact on the process. Overall, there tends to be a gap between what the children find important and what the audits can address in concrete terms.

    The theoretical ideas used to analyse the results are derived from institutional organisational theory and the thesis on the audit society. The overall analysis shows that 1) making certain core care aspects auditable and ensuring their impact is difficult (e.g., children-staff relationships, children’s views and use of research knowledge), 2) the system has a restrained character and is in many senses associated with inconclusive formative effects, 3) the use of uniform goals does not necessarily equal a more suitable care provision and 4) the audits signify strong symbolic values. Despite the limitations, the audits may help to discipline care providers, secure a minimum level relative to the audited care aspects and induce reflection among auditees.

    Read more about The Prerequisites and Practices of Auditing Residential Care

  • Entering the Market

    2017. David Pålsson. British Journal of Social Work

    Article

    In Sweden, residential care for children to a great extent takes place in a care market, and a precondition for private care providers to enter the market is a licence issued by the state. The aim of the study is to describe and analyse the regulatory conditions for and output of licensing in the market of residential care for children in Sweden. Analytically, licensing is considered a formative mechanism, which means that it shapes the development of the supply side of residential care. The empirical material consists of an analysis of formal licence decisions and interviews with inspectors managing licences. The results show that the majority of the applicants were granted a licence during the year of the study and that the licensing process consists of a few stringent standards. Further, the stringent standards are influenced only to a limited extent by knowledge generated from research on residential care and the applicants are granted a fair degree of leeway as regards how to organise the care content. The findings are discussed based on whether the licensing system takes advantage of its potential and what it may entail for the residential care market at a broader level.

    Read more about Entering the Market

  • Conditioned agency? The role of children in the audit of Swedish residential care

    2017. David Pålsson. Child & Family Social Work 22 (Supplement S2), 33-42

    Article

    At a policy level, governments increasingly stress the importance of children's rights and their ability to participate in decision-making in child welfare services. An example of this is that the Swedish inspectorate targeting children in residential care is required to consult children and to take account of their opinions. This paper details a study exploring the influence that the inspectorate grants children and particularly how children's views influence the inspection process. The study draws on interviews and observations of inspectors as well as an analysis of a representative sample (n = 147) of documentation from inspections performed during 2012. The result indicates different inspectorial rationales, which in turn influence the importance children's opinions are assigned in the inspection process. Moreover, the findings demonstrate difficulties in giving children's views substantial impact on the inspection process. This can be attributed to the fact that most of the regulatory quality criteria used by the authority diverge from the aspects of care that children attach most importance to. The study adds empirical findings to how the participation of children is realized during inspection.

    Read more about Conditioned agency? The role of children in the audit of Swedish residential care

  • Adjusting to standards

    2016. David Pålsson. Nordic Social Work Research 6 (3), 222-233

    Article

    In recent years, state inspection of Swedish residential care for children has been reinforced. This study explores how inspections are perceived from the point of view of residential staff. The empirical material is based on interviews (n = 23) with residential staff and managers (n = 55) of residential homes subject to requirements from the Swedish Inspectorate. The material has been analysed using concepts shedding light on the different aspects of how audit affects ‘auditees’. The results suggest that inspections have mainly shaped the administrative part of care; that compliance with regulatory standards bring about stability in the work performed; that the standard-setting sometimes creates tensions between professional judgment and formal authority; and that inspections play an accreditation role for the residential homes. The implications of this are discussed, e.g. that the regulatory standards seem to target aspects of care that are alternatives to those of evidence-based practice, that general standards to some extent challenge the possibilities of organising the care according to the individual needs of the children and that the receptiveness of professionals to inspection ideas entails both possibilities and obstacles for the development of a professional field.

    Read more about Adjusting to standards

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