”Ko?r tills du brakar, sedan kastar vi ut dig om du inte flyr innan” – Socialsekreterares bera?ttelser om uppbrott fra?n arbetsplatsen

Abstract

”Work until you collapse, then we’ll throw you out if you don’t manage to escape before”: Social workers’ narratives about breaking up from the workplace.

During the last few decades, several studies have shown that social workers have unfair working conditions which have led to both ill-health and increased turnover. A central aim of the article is to shed light on the break-up narratives of 31 social workers who have left their workplaces due to discontent with the organization. In terms of theory, the study draws upon a discursive narrative approach – how language is used to accomplish social actions. e aim of study is to analyse how the social workers narrate their working conditions, what they convey and how they construct a professional identity. Findings show that the social workers: (1) by rhetorical resources such as details, extreme case formulations, metaphorical expressions etc. illustrate an unsustainable work- ing situation; (2) convey criticism and testify to a lack of trust/reliance in their relation to organi- zational agents when the agents ignore calls for improvements, their communication is decient and dominated by blame and a call for loyalty; and (3) construct their identity by establishing a we-ness when talking about professional ethics and a collegial solidarity.