Abstract
Vulnerable children or….?
The aim of this thesis is to make an intersectoral research study within the professionals’ understandings of young people under the age of fifth-teen and their suicide attempts. When young people after a suicide attempt meet the professionals in their different contexts they are in the need for help. How the professionals understand their suicidal attempt is important for the quality of help given. The formation of knowledge is historically conditioned and entirely genuine human activity that takes place in social contexts in a process of complex relational connections to other activities and the social world.
By using the method of qualitative interviews this thesis are exploring how the understandings of doctors, social educators, social workers and psychologist (equal or different) are expressed within the sectors such as hospitals, municipalities and anonymous internet counselling. These different sectors are all places that young people often meet when they are suicidal or after they do a suicide attempt and therefore interesting to explorer.
The thesis is using Critical Realism in how the subject-field is perceived and interpreted. The suicide attempt happens whether the professionals agree on how or why they do. As the subject-field is understood as dynamic and changeable the importance of describing the contexts is the main key. The aim is not to conclude but to find tendencies in the understandings of the subject field and reveal the different understanding from professionals within other sectors. Whether the professionals understand the attempts from a sociological or psychological perspective is important for the help provided. If one social worker believe that the child is not having any problems and that child has an undiagnosed psychiatric disorder. One can understand that the right help is not provided.
And there is a tendency to the fact that professionals understand the children’s suicidal attempts very differently. Some understand that children might be trying to escape feelings of rejection, hurt, or loss. Others might feel angry, ashamed, or guilty about something. Some people may be worried about disappointing friends or family members. And some may feel unwanted, unloved, victimized, or like they're a burden to others. And some might go around with an unnoticed depression or diagnose. How can the different understanding develop the social work and not just cause confusion for the child in the meeting with professionals within the different sectors?
This thesis points to the fact that research needs to reach all the professionals whom are educated and working within the field. This thesis finds research within the subject-field very important but how the professionals transform and understand new research is just as important. For that this thesis point to a change in how the organization of the professionals are today. More symbolic capital increases the professionalism and the more understandings revealed the more tendencies to develop more symbolic capital.