The right of children to express their views on matters concerning them is a core principle of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as defined in Article 12. However, research shows that interventions provided by Swedish child and family welfare services are planned and based on parents' perspectives even though research suggests that child participation results in welfare service provision that is better matched to the children's needs. The aim of this study is to explore how child participation is constructed in interventions provided by Swedish child and family welfare services and to study which elements are of importance to this process. The article is based on a qualitative interview study with 14 family social workers and 11 children aged 7-16 with experience of family interventions provided by the child and family welfare services. The results suggest that child participation is a collaborative process in which both the child and the FSW have an active role to play. Participation is constructed through a series of seemingly small, everyday actions in the meeting between the child and the FSW. By actively asking questions and allowing the child to practice participation and influence the process, the FSW can, together with the child, work towards increased child participation in interventions.

Men’s domestic violence and/or abuse (DVA) is a widespread social issue. Often, the men are fathers, and the victims are mothers and children. In Sweden, social workers are expected to involve these fathers in child protection investigations and work towards changing their behaviour. Engaging fathers has proven to be a challenging task, however. This article highlights fathers’ experiences of interactions with social workers in the context of child protection investigations initiated as a result of their DVA against the mothers of their children. What challenges does this pose for the fathers and how does it affect their engagement in the investigations? The analysis is based on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with seven fathers. Guided by a gender theoretical framework linked to shame and social bonds, the fathers’ experiences are organized in relation to three themes: Threatened fatherhood highlights how DVA contributes to fathers violating moral ideals of good fatherhood, which is linked to shame and a threat to their social bonds. Prejudged fathers illuminates how fathers experience subordination in child protection investigations in relation to social workers, who are often female, and their partners’ narratives of DVA, which challenge expected power structures and hegemonic masculinity ideals. Reclaiming a questioned fatherhood shows that when fathers adopt a subordinate position, they can manage both shame and threats to their social bonds and are able to engage in the investigations. Fathers’ engagement is facilitated when they are met by social workers who demonstrate caring and non-judgemental attitudes.

Purpose: Studies on sexual health following male child sexual abuse (CSA) have identified the negative effects of such experienceson body functioning, but little is known about male CSA survivors’ ability to create emotional and physical closenessin romantic relationships. The purpose of this article is to explore how male CSA survivors perceive, experience and developintimacy in romantic relationships, including both the challenges they face and the positive changes that enable them to growand achieve healthy relationships.

Method: The study has employed a qualitative research approach and is based on in-depth interviews conducted among adultmale CSA survivors residing in Sweden. Participants were recruited through civil society organizations and an ad in a dailynewspaper. Using reflexive thematic analysis, the results are presented in relation to two themes: (a) challenges of intimacy;and (b) building trust and close relationships.

Results: The results show that participants desired couple relationships that included both sexual and emotional intimacy.The challenges of intimacy were related to compromised sexual identity, sexual dysfunctions and compulsions, emotionaldysregulation, and body shame. Efforts to achieve intimacy were facilitated by disclosing abuse experiences, developingemotional bonds or awareness, embracing sensitivity, and having an empathetic and supportive partner.

Conclusions: Reconstructions of abuse histories were both challenged and facilitated by the accessibility of various and shiftingideas about masculinities that co-exist in Sweden, which were important sources for meaning making and assisted themen in developing positive valuations of themselves as men.

Social workers often fail to engage fathers in child protection investigations (CPIs), especially when they involve domestic abuse (DA) by fathers. The aim of this study is to examine the strategies used by social workers to achieve cooperation with fathers in CPIs that involve the father being suspected of DA against the child's mother. With the use of qualitative methods, we conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with 15 social workers during their work on 12 CPI cases. Through thematic analysis, two main strategies for achieving cooperation were created: (1) Securing an Initial Bond, which involved reducing the tension in CPI proceedings and affirming the father; (2) Maintaining the Bond while addressing the father's abusive behaviour, which involved negotiating with fathers about the DA and helping them shift their perspective on how their behaviour has impacted the victims. This analysis is rooted in the framework of shame, guilt and social bonds. However, there is a risk that these strategies may lead to the DA being minimized or overlooked. Striking a balance between building a bond and addressing abuse is crucial, and the timing of addressing DA plays a central role. 

Being aware of factors that affect fertility can help people make informed decisions about their reproductive futures. To some, however, fertility information leads to worry and self-blame. In this paper, we explore how people from different generations discuss fertility and reproductive decision-making, along with their perceptions of fertility information. The study was conducted in southern Sweden with 26 focus-group discussions that included a total of 110 participants aged 17-90 years. The material was analysed thematically. Our results show that fertility knowledge and openness to talking about fertility problems have increased over generations. Participants who were assigned female at birth were more often concerned about their fertility than those who were not, and fertility concerns were transferred from mothers to daughters. While age-related fertility concerns had been uncommon in older generations, participants aged 25-40 often expressed these concerns. Young adults appreciated being knowledgeable about fertility but simultaneously expressed how fertility information could lead to distress. Our conclusion is that fertility information was best received by high-school students, and efforts to improve fertility education in schools are therefore recommended.

Although previous research and public debate argue that partnered sexual activity is construed in terms of being consensual or not, we know little about young people’s own reasoning on sexual consent. This study aimed to investigate how sexual consent and sexual negotiations are interpreted by young people in Sweden. Forty-four female and male participants, ranging from 18–21 years old, took part in 12 focus groups, organised according to a set of vignettes. All focus groups were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The findings illustrate the complexity of the interpretation of sexual consent. There was a clear perception among the participants that sex between two individuals is a mutual process, and that sex should be consensual, expressed either through words, body language, or both. They all stated clearly that a ‘No’ has to be respected, independently of context. However, at the same time participants expressed contradictory norms and expectations in relation to the described situations, that showed an ambivalence concerning sexual scripts and consequences of challenging these in specific situations. Reasoning concerning discrepancy between ideals and actual possibilities to act in sexual encounters indicates differences in relation to gender, age and educational background and pathways.

Previous research on commercial sex has described fluidity between different forms of relationships, whereby commercial sexual relationships can be both long-term and viewed as intimate from the buyer's perspective. This article explores the construction of intimacy in long-term commercial relationships. More specifically, it examines the meaning of transactions in long-term paid sexual relationships in Sweden. Interviews were conducted with 23 Swedish men with experience purchasing sex as 'regulars'. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted. Findings show that the emotional experience is a key focus for these men when they purchase sex. The emotions involved are not delimited in time and space but are experienced both within and outside of the actual sexual encounter. Such emotions can be understood as the very precondition for the experiences of intimacy, while at the same time they create difficulties for the men who purchase sex. Experiences of intimacy are experienced in the ambiguity between unbounded and bounded authenticity and by not drawing a clear line between emotional subjectivity and consumer subjectivity.