Stockholms universitet

Hanna LinellUniversitetslektor

Om mig

Jag är fil. doktor och universitetslektor i socialt arbete och forskar framförallt om våld i nära relationer och den sociala barnavården. Just nu bedriver jag forskning i ett projekt som undersöker erfarenheter av stöd och skydd bland unga utsatta för hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck och som förts utomlands mot sin vilja. Jag ingår också i ett forskningsprogram kring ett samordnat interventionssystem mot våld som barn där jag undersöker genomförbarheten av en familjeorienterad krisinterventionsmodell i samband med polisanmält våld mot barn. Jag är socionom och har tidigare arbetat som kurator inom frivilligsektorn med våldsutsatta barn och vuxna.

Undervisning

Jag undervisar på Institutionen för socialt arbete på Stockholms universitet och i andra sammanhang om bland annat våld i nära relationer och social barnavård. På socionomprogrammet är jag delkurssamordnare på kursen Socialt arbete: Barn, ungdom och familj I på termin fyra. På avancerad nivå har jag kursansvar för kurserna Socialt arbete: Barn och ungdomar II och Våld i nära relationer - barn, familj och samhällets responser.

Forskning

Jag är medverkande forskare i forskningsprogrammet ”Samordnade interventionssystem mot våld i nära relationer” vid Ersta Sköndal Bräcke Högskola som finansieras av Forte och som pågår 2019-2025 (läs mer här).

Jag är ansvarig forskare i ett projekt på uppdrag av Jämställdhetsmyndigheten med fokus på att kartlägga och sprida kunskap om hedersförtryck samt annat våld och förtryck som personer med koppling till Sverige har erfarit under utlandsvistelse. Uppdraget syftar till att sammanställa och analysera individers berättelser i syfte att bidra till utvecklingen av förebyggande och behandlande insatser i Sverige (läs mer här).

Jag är sakkunnig i ett uppdrag vid SBU om att kartlägga preventiva insatser mot könsstympning av flickor och kvinnor (läs mer här).

Under hösten 2017 disputerade jag med avhandlingen Child protection trough an abuse-focused lens -adolescent victimization and Swedish social services responses där jag utforskade olika våldsförståelser, ungdomars agens i förhållande till våld, utsatthet och insatser och respons från den sociala barnavården (läs mer här). 

 

Forskningsprojekt

Publikationer

I urval från Stockholms universitets publikationsdatabas

  • 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

    Artikel

    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.

    Läs mer om Discretion and Strategies for Investigating Child Abuse
  • Child protection through an abuse-focused lens

    2017. Hanna Linell (et al.).

    Avhandling (Dok)

    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.

    Läs mer om Child protection through an abuse-focused lens
  • The characteristics and extent of child abuse

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

    Artikel

    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.

    Läs mer om The characteristics and extent of child abuse
  • The process of disclosing child abuse

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

    Artikel

    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.

    Läs mer om The process of disclosing child abuse
  • Girls with honour-related problems in a comparative perspective

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

    Artikel

    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.

    Läs mer om Girls with honour-related problems in a comparative perspective

Visa alla publikationer av Hanna Linell vid Stockholms universitet