”Vem behöver anledningar när man har heroin?” – En kvalitativ studie om socialsekreterarens erfarenheter av motivationsarbete med heroinmissbrukare ur ett förändringsperspektiv.

Abstract

The purpose of this essay was to examine the different aspects of motivational work with active heroin-using clients from a social workers point of view. The further purpose of this essay is to also examine what the advancements and discouraging factors in such a motivational work might be.

To attain this purpose we focused on these following questions:

What might motivational work with active heroin-using clients look like?

According to the social worker, what factors constitutes for a beneficial progress in the engagement of motivational work with active heroin-using clients?

According to the social worker, what constitutes for discouraging factors in the engagement of motivational work with active heroin-using clients?

We chose to do a qualitative study by conducting separate interviews with six social workers working in a social services agency, all of whom are working with drug-addicted adults. We then analyzed the answers by using an abductive research strategy, testing the collected empirical data against our chosen theoretical perspectives.

According to the interviewed social workers the foundation of conducting motivational work with their clients rests upon a good relationship and firmly established roles and boundaries, often based on trust that usually has to be built during a long period of time. Also beneficial factors in the motivational work with active heroin-using clients is to help them to set goals so that the client can define and specify their thoughts about what they want to change their current situation and how to want to do it. The social worker does however also carry the social services agenda of goals which advocates a drug-free life for their clients.

According to the social workers, a large amount of time is spent on working with the client’s ambivalence and resistance which often is based on the client’s fear of losing ones social identity as a drug-addict and the drug itself. It can also constitute of the clients fear of failure, often because the distance to the goals can seem too far off and too unachievable in the eyes of the client but sometimes also by the social worker.