The focus of this study is contacts between social workers and migrant families, in situations where a report of concern has been received regarding a child’s situation. In this study social workers are interviewed. The research questions are:

- What challenges do the social workers express that they encounter in their contacts with migrant families?

- What possibilities do the social workers express that they encounter in contacts with migrant families?

- How can challenges and opportunities be understood on a structural level?

Mohan Dutta’s culture-centered perspective is applied as an overarching theory, and in a final analysis Dutta’s communication theory model is used for analysis of data at a structural level. However, the interviews are also analyzed within the framework of four themes, based on different theoretical perspectives. These themes also constitute the four result chapters: The goals of social work, method and theory insocial work, the role of conversation and dilemmas.

The first theme, goals of social work, is formulated in the interviews through the concepts of change, empowerment, and participation. These goals are broadly consistent with the goal formulations in the Social Services Act. The results show that the goals of the social workers relate mostly to the migrant families. They are the ones who must change, who are expected to achieve empowerment and who must become involved. The social workers are aware of the power aspect in the meetings and strive to give the families as much space as possible. However, it is the social workers who define the problems and come up with solutions.

In the second theme, when asking the social workers about method and theory in social work, they convey that they primarily work with themselves as tools. This work appears in the interviews as a social pathos. Based on the positioning theory, it is the positions of recognition and reflection that are visible in the data. This is visible when social workers recognize situations from their own life situations in the migrants’ narratives, or when they reflect about themselves as privileged. Recognition however, risks giving an illusion of affinity which in turn can lead to false hopes for migrant families.

In the third theme concerning the role of conversation, the social workers describe how they, by focusing on conversation, can overcome the migrant families’ fear of social services. However, there are different ways of understanding the concept of conversation, and in interviews with the social workers, conversation is perceived to a greater degree in terms of informing than communicating. Clear and transparent language and correct interpretation appear to be important. The challenges with information instead of communication may mean that the migrant families only gain trust in the individual social worker, not the social service.

The fourth theme is about dilemmas. The dilemmas in social work practice pose challenges for social workers. However, there is discretion, which becomes opportunities for the social workers in everyday work. The most frequent dilemmais whether to consider problematic situations for the families as social problems or problems caused by cultural factors. The social workers describe different strategies for solving the dilemmas: an accepting, an influenced and a knowledge strategy.

Based on Dutta’s communication theory model and the central concept of a cultural centered perspective a structural analysis is made at the end of the report based on the relationship between culture/structure and agency/voice. Acts of resistance and the social workers’ local and relational position in relation to the migrant families are also discussed here. By using Dutta’s model, new ways of looking at social practice are offered. The awareness of how societal structures affect families means that their situation can never fundamentally change if the families themselves are not allowed to participate in the formulation of their problem and the solutions. The social workers are aware of, and strive for this, but experience this assignment as almost impossible under the current conditions.