Youth Experiences of and Views on Un-locked Coercive Placement in Residential Child Care

This article explores Norwegian youth experiences of and views on coercive placement in un-locked residential child care institutions. Inspired by Antonovsky’s salutogenic theory, the article discusses factors that make placement an opportunity for development among youth with serious drug and behavioural problems. The empirical material comes from interviews with 34 youth under and after coercive placement. The findings reveal that coercive placement in un-locked institutions can be helpful and necessary, provided that the institutions have the means available to protect the residents and provide supportive and meaningful treatment content. Factors such as treatment structure, the content of everyday life, clear expectations, and boundaries are discussed as important factors that help the placement to be an opportunity for development among youth with serious drug and behavioural problems

The challenges of combining 'knowing-that' and 'knowing-how' in social work education and professional practice in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration

This article presents data from a focus group study of social workers in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and investigates how social workers perceive and experience the relevance of their education in the transition to their work in NAV. The relevance of education to practical fields became more important after the Bologna Process started in 2000. Research shows a discrepancy between what social workers learn during their professional education and the expectations they face when starting to work in welfare systems. Through analysing our data according to Ryle’s concepts of ‘knowing-that’ and ‘knowing-how’ and Lave and Wenger’s theory of situated learning and communities of practice, we discuss the participants’ experiences of the relevance of their education. Although the participants experienced their social work education as being relevant to their work in NAV, they expressed a need to learn more about how to apply theoretical knowledge during their education. The participants indicated work situations where they felt that their studies had insufficiently prepared them. In response to these findings, we discuss implications for social work education

«Vi snakker ikke om utdanning her»<subtitle>Nav-ansattes vektlegging av utdanningens betydning for å utføre arbeidsoppgaver i Nav</subtitle>

Ansatte i Arbeids- og velferdsetaten (Nav) rekrutteres fra et bredt spekter av utdanningsbakgrunner, og utdanningsnivået har økt siden etableringen i 2006. Denne artikkelen baserer seg på en fokusgruppestudie av Nav-ansatte med ulik utdanningsbakgrunn og belyser hvordan de vektlegger betydningen av egen utdanning for å utføre sine arbeidsoppgaver. Studien viser at deltakerne nedtoner betydningen av fagspesifikk utdanning, mens de fremhever «det å ha studert» i form av evne til å lære, reflektere og analysere samt å håndtere og prosessere informasjon. I tillegg legger de vesentlig vekt på betydningen av personlige egenskaper. Deltakerne beskriver også at deres utdannelser i liten grad har vært rettet mot arbeidet i Nav, og fremhever nytten av arbeidsplasslæring. Funnene diskuteres i lys av begrepet generisk kompetanse og situert læringsteori