Har etnicitet betydelse? En studie av sex mammors möte med en Mini-Maria mottagning

Abstract

Mini-Maria Nordost is one of four outpatient clinics in Gothenburg for young people who have problems with alcohol and/ or drugs. Activities are aimed at young people up to 21 years and also to their relatives. The purpose of my study is to examine how parents experience the meeting with the clinic and the method of conversational therapy. I have done a study where six mothers were interviewed, four with foreign background and two of Swedish descent. The questions are about the extent to which one experiences the method of conversational therapy as meaningful and how the experience of growing up in a different family culture than Swedish affects how one deals with difficulties involving teenage children's drug use. I have examined whether or not there are differences in how respondents answered that can be understood based on theories of culture and ethnicity or inter-cultural social work.

Five of six respondents felt that the method of conversational therapy has been meaningful for them. One of the mothers expressed that her visit was short and mostly contained information. All say they have experienced that they were respectfully treated, which has made it possible to talk about difficult feelings. Essentially no visible differences among respondents in how they experience conversational therapy can be explained by theories of culture and ethnicity. Two of the mothers expressed that they see a difference in how they perceive their youth’s concerns and in their parental role. The differences can be assumed to be related to the respondents themselves who have grown up with a collectivist ethos.