On the Side of the Angels? - A qualitative study on Swedish and Australian social work students', -teachers' and -Directors of Studies' attitudes towards social work and multiculturalism.

Abstract: The objective of this thesis was, on the basis of the Theory of Residualist Conversion, to examine if students in social work education were trained to maintain the structures in society by converting social problems into personal problems of the people they serve. I chose 'the multicultural society' as an example of an issue that is often perceived as a social problem. The research questions were; how do the Schools/ Directors of Studies', teachers and students view the education and its purpose, the role of the social worker and the multicultural society? The thesis was based on primary data in form of qualitative interviews with students, teachers and Directors of Studies' from the social work educations in Lund, Sweden and Brisbane (S:t Lucia Campus), Australia, as well as secondary data, consisting mainly of literature on multiculturalism, social work and social work education. The main conclusion was that the students of the social work educations did not learn explicitly to convert social problems into personal problems, but neither did they learn how to avoid this. Social work and the role of the social worker were not critically examined and discussed during the education. Another conclusion is that knowledge about the importance of culture and the dominance of the 'Swedish' and 'Australian' culture lacked in the educations.