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In the early 2020s, the Swedish child welfare services (CWS) were accused in social media of kidnapping and placing migrant children in foster or family care, without their families’ knowledge or permission. This debate became referred to as a large-scale disinformation campaign, which can be understood as a discursive struggle between different versions of truth. This study explores social media content about the Swedish CWS in Arabic between 2021 and 2023. The material consisted of Facebook and YouTube posts and comments in Arabic. The analysis departed from the narrative genre of shared stories, and focused on claims about the CWS and how such claims are made credible. The findings show three types of claims within the shared story of ‘the CWS kidnapping migrant children’: families are victims of CWS’ malpractice; affected children suffer; and migrant families fear the CWS. These claims are made legitimate and credible by constructing the teller as an expert using time, place, and details while constructing the testimonies to invoke an emotional response. In conclusion, this study highlights how social reality is constructed and negotiated on social media, where migrant families’ testimonies of wrongdoings and fear become intertwined with larger stories of good and bad, truth or falsehood. It is therefore essential that claims made online is treated as signals of perceived vulnerability and institutional distance, rather than as “falsehoods” to be corrected, while CWS’ procedures and legal thresholds are clearly conveyed.

Culture underpins social interaction between health professionals and children. It is particularly emphasized in encounters between health professionals and migrant children and often described as a potential challenge or barrier in previous research. Still, how culture is conceptualized and understood in research including school health professionals is yet to be explored. This review aimed to identify, describe and analyze existing research on school health professionals’ (i.e., school nurses, school social workers, school doctors and school psychologists) understanding of culture.

A scoping review of peer-reviewed and published scientific articles between 2013 and 2024 on school health professionals’ understanding of culture was conducted. Searches were conducted in Scopus, PubMed, Cinahl Plus, SocIndex, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, APA PsycInfo, APA PsycArticles, Web of Science Core Collection and Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts - ASSIA. Two reviewers independently screened the article titles, abstracts and full texts for inclusion. Extracted data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis.

A total of 23 articles were included in the review. Findings show that most articles focused on school psychologists and school nurses and were conducted in the US and Nordic-Baltic area. In addition, most articles were conducted using a cross-sectional survey design, where the professionals’ self-understanding in relation to culture was self-assessed using validated instruments. Although a quantitative design was applied in most of the articles, only about 50 percent of the articles included a theoretical conceptualization of culture. The articles that focused on intercultural interaction between the professionals and the children mainly raised concerns about barriers and hindrances to the encounters and the challenges of encountering ‘diverse’ children. In conclusion, more research on SHS professionals’ practice and self-understanding and research using a qualitative methods and with a clearer theoretical stance regarding culture is needed.

This article examines how the Swedish child welfare services (CWSs) are described in Arabic-speaking social media, with a focus on the 'LVU campaign.' The material consists of Facebook and YouTube posts and comments about the Swedish CWSs' actions in child mistreatment cases involving migrant families. These posts and comments were written in Arabic, had a substantial number of interactions (likes, shares etc.), were openly accessible and were published between January 2021 and December 2023. Through thematic analysis of posts and comments, four themes emerge: 'The heartless CWS bandits,' 'Sweden in moral decline (the land of haram),' 'The infidel West at war with Islam and God' and 'Faithful, just and loving families.' These themes are further examined through three conceptual dichotomies: particularism-universalism, reality-hyperreality and the construction of 'us'-'them.' The analysis shows that social media accounts shape perceptions of 'the other' and fuel mistrust in the commentary fields of posts of 'real' events. The accounts illustrate the challenge of balancing universal rights with respect for cultural differences and the minority rights of migrant families. The study highlights how such dynamics can accentuate in-group preferences and fuel inter-group polarization by amplifying certain versions of reality to explain the CWSs' actions towards migrant families.

Introduction Culture underpins social interaction between school health professionals and children. Both practice and research suggest that cultural variations, migration and intercultural interactions pose potential challenges in encounters between school health professionals and children and may relate to the health professionals' understanding of their own culture as a factor in such encounters. Still, for the school health services (SHS), reviews collating existing research on school health professionals' understanding of culture are lacking.Objectives This review aims to identify, describe and analyse existing research on school health professionals' (ie, school nurses, school social workers, school doctors and school psychologists) understanding of culture.Design A scoping review of peer-reviewed and published scientific articles on school health professionals' understanding of culture.Inclusion criteria Articles published between 2013 and 2024 on culture, SHS and school nurses, school doctors, school social workers or school psychologists.Methods and analysis Searches were conducted in October 2023 and September 2024 in 10 databases. Two reviewers independently screened the article titles, abstracts and full texts for inclusion. Extracted data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. The qualitative content analysis focused on content related to theoretical considerations, key findings and conceptualisations of culture.Results From 1784 screened articles, 100 articles were screened in full text and 21 articles fulfilled the eligibility criteria. After identifying two additional articles through manual searches, a total of 23 articles were included in the review. The findings show that the articles primarily applied a quantitative study design, focused on school psychologists and school nurses and were conducted in the USA and Nordic-Baltic area. Self-understanding was mainly studied using validated instruments, leaving the conceptualisation of culture to the researchers. Still, only about half of all the articles described the theoretical conceptualisation of culture. Studies of intercultural interaction focused on the challenges of encountering 'diverse' children and raised concerns about barriers and hindrances to the encounters.Conclusions This review shows that SHS professionals' understanding of culture has mainly been studied within two SHS professions, within a narrow geographical sphere and without a theoretical stance on culture. Thus, more qualitative research, a clearer theoretical conceptualisation of culture and more research on SHS professionals' practice and self-understanding are needed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on society, including on physical and mental health. This study investigated changes in mental health parameters among a Swedish sample during and after the pandemic. Using a longitudinal study, we investigated the relationships among life dissatisfaction, psychological distress, and worries, with factors such as age, sex, education, severe illness, and job loss due to the pandemic among 588 men (mean age 54.9 years), and 653 women (mean age 52.9 years). The results reveal sex differences in life dissatisfaction and psychological distress; in addition, younger individuals reported more life dissatisfaction, and psychological distress compared with older groups. Women were 4.5 times more likely than men to report worries in 2021 and 2.3 times more likely in 2022, even after adjusting for age, education, severe illness, and job loss. This study shows how societal expectations and sex roles may exacerbate these differences in mental well-being during a time of crisis. The conclusions emphasize the importance of considering factors such as sex, age, education, and employment status when developing interventions and support systems during a global crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic will continue to affect society for a long time, indicating a need for ongoing research into population-level consequences.

For 75 years, the WHO health definition has been the most influential and widely accepted definition of health globally, having a profound impact on policy making, professional practice, and people’s overall understanding of health. Although there are alternative notions and definitions of health, it is argued that this definition has enjoyed an almost hegemonic position in the health discourse. Still, it has rarely been systematically deconstructed. This text aims to deconstruct the WHO 1948 definition of health in its entirety as well as its parts. This is done to highlight the epistemological variations and potential contradictions embedded within, and the possible consequences of the definition. The findings indicate a multitude of occasionally ambiguous or conflicting readings depending on how the reader and contemporary ideas conceptualize words and phrasing in the definition. For example, interpreting health as binary can be challenged by ideas of the present as constantly changing, suggesting that health in the definition is conceptualized along a continuum. Such alternative – and sometimes contradictory readings – call for clarifications on how the definition is used and interpreted in different contexts. Still, its ambiguity might have helped it remain relevant and applicable across different societies and time periods.