• Summary: This article presents the CAIMeR theory, consisting of a conceptual framework and a theoretical model, which can help explain how results in social work practice arise from interventions and its contextual contingencies. The theory has been developed over several years in connection with empirical studies, and together with social workers. • Findings: The article starts from the meta-theoretical perspective critical realism and its notion of explanative knowledge as a stepping stone to open up the so-called black box. A fundamental concept in critical realism, generative mechanisms, is discussed and elaborated. • Applications : The CAIMeR theory can be used in several contexts: social work practice, and for evaluation of social work, and, moreover, for organization development in social work. We argue that social workers, evaluators and decision-makers need accurate theory about the core activity (work with clients) within its contextual conditions. The CAIMeR theory pays attention to generative mechanisms at different levels, which is necessary if one wants to understand what is going on in a certain agency, and explain the results in a more qualified way. The theory can also be useful for researchers and university students that need a comprehensive explanative framework when studying phenomena in social work practice.

This article describes and discusses a method for analysing and working with short reflective narratives. The method is inspired by the interpretation theory of Paul Ricoeur, and applied to short written stories where social work students reflect on situations from their field studies - situations they experienced as critical or problematic. The article starts with a discussion about the need to develop complementary methods in narrative research. This is followed by an argument for written narratives as an alternative research approach. A pilot study of 14 narratives from social work students containing critical or problematic events is then presented with a focus on the analysing process. The analysis is evaluated as focused and manageable, easy to combine with quantitative analyses and it appears to generate findings in a form that is easy to publish. It provides a shortcut to a deeper understanding of both the narrative and the narrator. On the negative side, the method using written narratives has potential risks of ‘over-interpretation’, and the loss of the ‘midwife’ effect that can appear in an oral interview.

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Individ- och familjeomsorgen i Sveriges kommuner har under de senaste tjugo åren gått från ett mer generalistiskt orienterat arbetssätt till en organisation med specialiserade arbetsgrupper. I den här artikeln visar vi på olika former av specialisering och redovisar en kartläggning över hur det ser ut i kommunerna idag. Vi diskuterarockså möjliga anledningar till förändringen.

This article highlights organizational structure as a factor influencing conditions for helping relations. It is based on a survey study and an interview study, both directed at parents in families that have parallel contacts in different parts of Swedish personal social services (PSS). The aim is to describe and analyse conditions for helping relations when clients with complex needs encounter specialized PSS. Low system trust, people processing dimensions of work, and an organizational and a professional emphasis on formal organizational structures and boundaries were found to constitute unfavourable conditions. Conversely, an occurrence of individual trust, people sustaining and people changing dimensions of work, as well as informal organization and individual social workers' boundary spanning efforts, constituted favourable conditions. The article concludes that greater understanding of how clients are affected by contextual service conditions can give some pointers towards how to generally improve services for vulnerable and disadvantaged populations.