Comparing Social Service’s Networks for Underage Drug Users: A Cross-National Comparative Study between Malmö and Genoa

Thus this paper aims to describe social workers’ perceptions of the influence of organizational, legal and, socio-cultural factors on their relationships with underage drug users and their families in the contexts of Malmö, Sweden, and Genoa, Italy, in the attempt to contribute to the academic discussion on the topic and help to facilitate dialogue among different contexts and social work practices. The paper starts, in order to contextualize the empirical material here discussed, with a brief presentation of the social welfare models of both Italy and Sweden. Then in the methodology section the paper’s methodology and method are presented. Finally the analysis of the empirics, its discussion and the paper’s conclusions help to unpack and problematize the social workers’ perceptions of the influence of organizational, legal and, socio-cultural factors on their relationships with underage drug users and their families