När kunskap ska styra : Om organisatoriska och professionella villkor för kunskapsstyrning inom missbruksvården

Sammanfattning: This thesis focuses on the changed governance of the public sector and what it can entail for professional work in substance abuse treatment. The point of departure is one of these new forms of governing, namely ‘knowledge governance’, which refers to a policy-driven process for promoting the use of evidence-based practice.  The overall aim is to contribute to understanding and knowledge of the meaning and the conditions for knowledge governance in substance abuse treatment. The thesis studies how knowledge is interpreted by professionals and adapted to local practice in relation to organizational and professional conditions. The thesis also highlights the implications that   these conditions may have for knowledge development on a professional and organizational level. The empirical material comprises three studies. Study 1 included a document analysis and a literature review. The document analysis examines how knowledge governance is described in official documents, while the focus of the literature review is on the concept of knowledge management. In Studies 2 and 3 focus group interviews were conducted with professionals who participated in a specific project, and professionals who use structured interview methods in their work (Addiction Severity Index, ASI, or Documentation of clients, DOC). The theoretical perspectives used in the thesis are neo-institutional theory, professional theory and perspectives on workplace learning. The results of Study 1 showed that knowledge governance embodies a steering of organizations, in comparison with knowledge management as a means for steering in organizations. The analyses from the focus group interviews demonstrate that knowledge governance becomes the subject of translations and edits to a local context. This process was affected by both organizational and professional conditions. The thesis is concluded with a discussion of the conditions that must be present if knowledge governance can lead to development of knowledge. The main result is that strategies must be tailored to each organization's specific condition and must be anchored throughout the organization.