Title: Navigating the boundaries: social insurance case officers' perspectives on changing child maintenance support regulations in Sweden

Authors: Stina Fernqvist

Addresses: Department of Social Work, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 624, 751 26 Uppsala, Sweden

Abstract: This article explores social insurance case officers' perspectives on recent amendments (2016) to the Swedish legislation governing child maintenance. This reform stipulates that maintenance transactions to larger extents are transferred from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) to the parents. Previous occurrence of abuse may however complicate these processes, and parental claims of abuse are assessed as they may constitute grounds for continued maintenance via SSIA. Drawing on interviews with ten social insurance officers across Sweden, this article highlights and analyses the experiences from case officers after the reform with a focus on how they handle the changes in their daily work and how they reflect upon their emotions associated to new and challenging features of their work.

Keywords: child maintenance; case officers; emotions; intimate partner violence; Sweden.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2023.136609

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2023 Vol.14 No.4, pp.359 - 373

Accepted: 05 Apr 2023
Published online: 08 Feb 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article