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Hanna LinellSenior lecturer

Research projects

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Implementering av Efter barnförhöret i Stockholms stad

    2024. Linda Jonsson, Hanna Linell, Maria Eriksson.

    Report

    Sverige har under lång tid varit ett föregångsland vad gäller att ta ställning mot olika former av våld mot barn och förebygga barns utsatthet. Vid slutet av 90-talet uppmärksammades en tydligökning av polisanmälda fall av våld mot barn i Sverige. Under samma tid utvecklades olika former av myndighetssamverkan i form av Barnahus på flera platser i landet för att bättre mötaupp barns behov i samband med polisanmält våld. Den aktuella rapporten fokuserar på implementeringen av modellen Efter barnförhöret (Elfström, Landberg & Olofsson, 2017) via det mobila teamet på Barnahus i Stockholms stad. Teamet startade efter att det konstaterats att merparten vårdnadshavare och barn i staden intefick kvalificerat stöd i anslutning till genomförda barnförhör vid Barnahus Stockholm. Rapporten är en delrapport i det FORTE- finansierade forskningsprogrammet Samordnade interventionssystem mot våld i nära relationer (SIVIN) vid Marie Cederschiöld högskola. Syftet med implementeringsstudien var att undersöka möjligheterna till att implementera en familjeorienterad krisinventionsmodell som Efter barnförhöret för att stödja barn och deras familjer efter ett polisförhör som rör våld i familjen. I projektet skulle fokus vara på genomförbarhet och användning av arbetsmodellen samt vilka organisatoriska och personella förutsättningar som främjar respektive hindrar implementeringen av arbetsmodellen. Befintligt dokumenterat material inhämtades i kombination med att intervjuer genomfördes under 2021-2022 med ledning och krisstödsteamets personal. Resultaten visade att arbetet i krisstödsteamet startat upp enligt plan och att runt fyrtio barn och familjer erbjöds stödet årligen under 2021-2022. I ett uppföljande samtal med personalen i oktober 2023 beskrevs en ökning av såväl inkomna remisser, genomförda infomöten som genomförda hembesök vilket vittnar om att verksamheten börjar att bli mer etablerad. I projektet framkom flera utmaningar som att få till ett jämt remissflöde, att kunna hantera situationer när det blir få respektive många barn och familjer som behöver stöd utifrån personalens arbetssituation. Vidare beskrev personalen behov av att få tid och resurser till utbildning och metodutveckling och ett behov av ett ökat stöd från ledningen. Krisstödsteamet kan konstaterats ha drabbats av stor personalomsättning parallellt med att ledningen bytts ut under projekttiden vilket försvårat arbetet med implementeringen. Detta i kombination med att verksamheten påverkades av COVID-utbrottet som försvårade möjligheten till fysiska möten inklusive att göra hembesök. 

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  • Discretion and Strategies for Investigating Child Abuse: Social Workers' Conceptions of Child Abuse Investigations and Police Reporting

    2023. Sara Quarles van Ufford (et al.). British Journal of Social Work

    Article

    Understanding the capacity of child welfare (CW) organisations to deal with child abuse is complex, and dependent on the specific CW context. Sweden occupies a unique position in trying to balance high demands for CW and protection with a strong family support focus, which carries a risk of overlooking children who need protection. Drawing on an understanding of social service organisations as street-level bureaucracies, this article explores discretion in child abuse cases by examining conditions affecting discretion and strategies for investigating child abuse, including police reporting. Thematic analysis of interviews with Swedish supervising social workers showed that staff's conceptions of the CW system influenced the exercise of discretion, leading to different strategies for dealing with child abuse. This resulted in different practices and potentially unequal access to child protection and support, highlighting the wide margin of discretion. This article concludes that the interplay between knowledge and governance is central to equal child protection. This article contributes to the discussion of discretion in CW organisations by underlining the importance of being particularly vigilant about discretion when both children and parents are considered clients, as the child risks being lost as a subject with individual needs and rights. Understanding the capacity of child welfare (CW) organisations to deal with child abuse is complex. Sweden occupies a unique position in trying to balance high demands for CW and protection with a strong family support focus, which carries a risk of overlooking children in need of protection. This article explores the handling of child abuse cases by examining conditions affecting discretion and strategies for investigating child abuse, including police reporting. Analysis of interviews with Swedish supervising social workers showed that staff's conceptions of the CW system influenced the handling, leading to different strategies for dealing with child abuse. This resulted in different practices and potentially unequal access to child protection and support, underscoring the importance of being particularly vigilant about discretion when both children and parents are considered clients: the child risks being lost as a subject with individual needs and rights. This article concludes that the interplay between knowledge and governance is central to equal child protection.

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  • Child protection through an abuse-focused lens

    2017. Hanna Linell (et al.).

    Thesis (Doc)

    Knowledge concerning the social services’ use of the Care of Young Persons (Special Provisions) Act 1990:52 (CYPA) is relatively scarce, especially when it comes to the protection of adolescents victimized by abuse. The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate and discuss different conceptualisations of abuse, adolescents’ agency regarding abuse, victimization and social intervention, and how abuse and adolescent victimization are responded to, primarily by the social services. This is done from a stance influenced by critical realism as well as victim- and child-centred responses. The dissertation consists of four papers and examines these themes in two samples of judgments and related documents concerning applications for care of adolescents aged 13-17 under the CYPA. The findings from the total study of all judgments in the selected year clearly confirm § 2 CYPA as a rare intervention to protect adolescents. In only 85 of Sweden's 290 municipalities was a CYPA application made, but a main finding is that such care to a large extent was used to protect adolescents from various forms of abuse. In the total study, the applications of § 2 CYPA concerned 196 adolescents, for 70 per cent of whom abuse was described, and where more girls (96) than boys (41) were being considered for care based on abuse. Of all the girls, 79 per cent were described as subjected to abuse and of the boys 55 per cent. Also in the smaller sample consisting of judgments for 37 girls in care under § 2 CYPA and §§ 2 and 3 CYPA, abuse was described for many. For several adolescents in both samples abuse was described as having been exerted to maintain standards of honour, shame and virginity, and/ or to enable a forced marriage. The initiative and agency of the adolescents themselves in both the disclosure of abuse as well as the decision on alternative care is one of the most striking findings in the thesis. The majority of the adolescents, 71 per cent, were categorized as having intentionally disclosed the abuse. The aftermath of the disclosure was for many of the adolescents described as intensely challenging. For the majority the abuse was denied during the investigation, not only by the alleged abusers but also by non-abusing parents and other relatives. The findings relating to the social services responses suggest that the initial response to a high degree could be understood as parent-oriented. For 33 per cent, the judgment also revealed that the abuse had been disclosed to authorities one or several times prior to the investigation leading to the application for care under the CYPA. That the abuse in these cases had been known to the social services for on average 5 years can from a child-centred position be seen as a major failure regarding the system’s ability to reach children and stop abuse. A central conclusion is that the various forms of abuse described seem more connected to domination, fear, power and control than to conflict; to some extent mirroring the kind of systematic oppression described for victimized adults seeking the protection of NGOs and public authorities. The findings imply that interventions under the CYPA may enable more child-centred, safe and stable protection of children subjected to this kind of abuse. Given the findings in the present thesis it is argued that it may be important to differentiate the concept of abuse as well as to acknowledge the agency of children in both research and in practice.

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  • The characteristics and extent of child abuse

    2017. Hanna Linell. European Journal of Social Work 20 (2), 231-241

    Article

    This paper addresses child abuse and the Social Services protection andbuilds upon a study of verdicts concerning § 2 Care of Young PersonsAct (CYPA). The aim was to explore the extent of, and whatcharacterised, the violence the children were being subjected to. Acentral finding was that of all the applications of § 2 CYPA during oneyear concerning 196 children, 13–18 years, 70% concerned childrenreported as subjected to violence. The violence was in most casesdescribed as severe and systematically exerted over many years withintimidating tactics of power and control. More girls than boys were inquestion for care because of violence. Girls were also to a greater extentreported as having been subjected to sexual abuse or coercive controlof their sexuality in relation to standards regarding honour and virginity.In an international perspective the findings can be said to confirm theneed to analyse such factors as gender, power and control whenresearch and interventions concerns children abused by their parents. Ina Swedish context the findings can be said to suggest that the § 2 CYPAis a crucial intervention to protect children from violence.

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  • The process of disclosing child abuse

    2017. Hanna Linell. Child & Family Social Work 22 (Supplement S4), 11-19

    Article

    This paper presents findings from a study of judgements concerning 137 children (13–18 years) where protection by the Swedish Social Services was applied for. The paper explores the disclosure of physical, sexual and emotional child abuse including experiences of domestic violence and the process following a disclosure. A central finding is that the majority of children (71%) could be described as having intentionally disclosed the abuse. The findings also suggest that many of the children had come a long way in an emotional and cognitive process before the decision to disclose, and that disclosure was often made in conjunction with a decision to leave the alleged abusers. These findings support previous research suggesting children's intentional disclosure as an important predictor of decisions regarding alternative care. Another finding is that the process following the disclosure was described by the children as intensely challenging with active pressure and threats from relatives and feelings of fear, guilt and ambivalence. These findings have implications for both practice and research on how the safeguarding system can help children in the process of disclosure and protect those who do disclose.

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  • Girls with honour-related problems in a comparative perspective

    2010. Astrid Schlytter, Hanna Linell. International Journal of Social Welfare 19 (2), 152-161

    Article

    The aim of this study was to learn to perceive the indicators of honour-related problems in a girl's everyday life. Our investigation included all girls aged 13-18 years who were about to be taken into care in 2006. The comparative analysis was based on 37 County Court cases in Stockholm County. The girls' exposure to harm in 13 of the 37 cases could be coupled to the demands and values of the honour culture. All the girls in the 'honour' group had been victims of mental abuse; they were more isolated than the girls in the 'other reason' group and none of the girls in the 'honour' group chose to meet their parents in court. We found that the honour culture life situation is new to the social services, which for these girls can mean that they do not have access to the same legal protection as other girls.

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