Barn till psykiskt sjuka finns, men syns de? - En kvalitativ studie om hur olika verksamheter och myndigheter arbetar och samverkar för att uppmärksamma dessa barn

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate how different organizations and authorities work and collaborate to make children of mentally ill parents more visible. The question formulations, which are used in our research, are: - How do different organizations and authorities work to make children of mentally ill parents more visible and how can this work be improved? - How do laws and guidelines affect the organizations and authorities work to make children of mentally ill parents more visible? - Is there any collaboration between the different organizations and authorities concerning work with children of mentally ill parents, and how does that work appear?

A qualitative method strategy was chosen to gather an in-depth understanding of the informant’s experiences and to collect descriptive information. Six organizations and authorities were selected from the comprehension that they could be important in giving support and because it is possible for them to pay attention to these children. Interviews were performed by using a half- structured interview guide.

The study indicates that it is important to pay attention to these children in an early state. It is unclear which organization or authority that has the main responsibility for this task. There seems to be a need for more information and knowledge in the society about mentally illness to decrease the stigmatization. A wider perspective is more often used in the society rather than the specific subject “children of mentally ill parents”. This wider perspective often contains other features, such as abuse and addiction. The secrecy and the obligation to give notice to the social services, can affect the way of paying attention to these children in a negative way. There seems to be a lack of mutual guidelines concerning paying attention to children of mentally ill parents. Collaboration between the organizations and authorities is considered to be necessary, but there is an uncertainty about how it should be organized and accomplished in practice.