Family centre practice and modernity a qualitative study from Sweden

Sammanfattning: Family centres have become a common institution to promote health and wellbeingamong young children (0-6 years of age) and their parents in Sweden. Thecore of the work is usually based on both maternal and child health care, a preschooland social services, all located under the same roof in the local community.The family centre in this study, known as the "Family House", was the firstof its type to be built in the city of Kristianstad, Sweden.The overall aim of the thesis was to understand family centre practice throughprofessionals' and parents' perceptions of the Family House and its relationship to modernity.The study employed a qualitative design using phenomenography as method tocapture people's perceptions of the practice. The research also drew on the approachof action research, where participants and researchers co-generateknowledge through collaborative communicative processes. Data was generatedfrom semi-structured interviews conducted with nineteen professionals andsixteen individual parents. Dialogue sessions with the professionals of the studyhave been held in order that they and the researcher could enter into a dialoguebased on the findings of the interviews. Data was consequently also generatedfrom these meetings.The way the professionals perceived the practice of the Family House fell intothree categories, namely, as a professional service, the provision of an informalmeeting place for professionals and families with young children or as a broadcommunity-based centre. Parents' perceptions fell into four categories; as aprofessional reception to obtain expert guidance and support, a study circle andliving room to informally share experiences and socialising, and a playgroundfor children where children could interact and learn social skills.One core finding of this thesis is that family centre practice for those involvedcontained a balancing act between simple modern expertise to control the futureand late modern opportunities for self-realisation and reflexivity.Parents and professionals shared the responsibility for children's well-being andthe distinction between private and public was blurred since parents used theHouse as a social arena for developing personal relations. It was also an arenafor integration between Swedes and immigrants based on engagement for bothcultural diversity and similarity.