Identity Formation and Developing Meaningful Social Relationships: The Role of the Polish Catholic Community for Polish Young People Migrating to Sweden.

This article draws from a broader research project Transnational childhoods, illuminating the agency and experiences of children and young people migrating from Poland and Romania to Sweden under the age of 18. Focusing on young people born in Poland and having social relationships post-migration as central theoretical component, the article explores the role that the Polish Catholic community in Sweden plays in the lives of young Polish migrants. It does so by grounding the analysis on 23 qualitative interviews, combined with network maps and life-lines, produced by the young Polish participants. The study identifies three important dimensions in the role of the Polish Catholic community. These are comprised of the community's role for young Poles' spiritual development and religious identity, for building new friendships and making sense of common migration and religious experiences, and guidance by specifically Polish Catholic priests in the young migrants' family relationships and in future life projects. The article concludes that while practicing religion and building significant social relationships within the Polish congregations the young migrants shape feelings of belonging and inclusion, however primarily within the limits of their own ethnic community. Further research is needed on the wider implications of primarily mono-ethnic relational practices for the young Poles' lives within the increasingly ethnically heterogeneous Swedish society.

Mothers with substance and alcohol abuse-support through pregnancy and early infancy.

This article is about the support given to pregnant women and mothers, at an antenatal and child welfare team in Gothenburg (Sweden), specialised on working with mothers who abuse alcohol and/or other substances. The study consists of interviews with 17 women. The aim of the article is to account for how the women experienced the support they got and how they perceived the impact. The results show the importance for the staff of finding the balance between control and support and of creating a non-judgmental attitude in order to build trusting relationships with the women. The organization of the MBHV-team is a prerequisite for the staff to be able to design support based on an assessment of the mother's whole situation.

Out of home care in Norway and Sweden - similar and different / Medidas de protección a la infancia con separación familiar en Noruega y Suecia: Semejantes y diferentes

En este artículo se presenta una revisión de la situación actual de las medidas de acogimiento en Noruega y Suecia, a la vez que se describe y comenta el desarrollo en años posteriores. Hay pocas diferencias sociales, políticas y culturales entre Noruega y Suecia. La protección de la infancia y las medidas de acogimiento de niños y jóvenes son elementos integrantes del Estado de bienestar que comparten los países nórdicos. Se trata de un modelo que se cimenta en los principios de universalismo y desmercantilización de los derechos sociales. El modelo de bienestar presupone una elevada legitimidad del elevado nivel de gasto social. No obstante, la idea de mercantilización y privatización ha afectado también al modelo de bienestar en Suecia y Noruega. A pesar de que haya más semejanzas que diferencias entre los sistemas de protección de la infancia de los dos países, el artículo aborda algunas diferencias, como los servicios posacogida, los nuevos grupos de niños y jóvenes con medidas de separación familiar, como los menores extranjeros no acompañados. También hay algunas diferencias en cuanto a la privatización, la introducción de métodos empíricos en el sistema de protección de la infancia y la tensión entre los servicios generales y residuales para los niños y jóvenes en el sistema de protección infantil (AU)

An overview of the current situation in the out-of-home care in Norway and Sweden is presented in this article; also the development in later years is described and discussed. Socially, politically and culturally there are few differences between Norway and Sweden. Child protection and out-of-home placement of children and young people are integrated parts in the welfare state that are shared by the Nordic countries. It is a model that builds on principles of universalism and decommodification of social rights. The welfare model presupposes high public legitimacy for a high level of social expenditure. However the idea of marketization and privatization has also affected the welfare model in Sweden and Norway. Although there are more similarities than differences between the two countries' child protection systems, the article discusses some differences, for example the after care services, new groups of children and young people in the out-of-home care, like young unaccompanied asylum seekers. There are also some differences when it comes to privatization, the introduction of evidence-based methods in the child protection system and the tension between general and residual services for children and young people in the child protection system (AU)