This thesis aim was to investigate how social workers reflect around their

communication with children who live with parents or guardians who have addiction

problems. How the social workers manage to enable the child’s legally right to be heard

in a decision-making process. What methods the social workers are using and what that

is perceived as limitations and capabilities in the communication with children who live

with parents with addiction problems. The method used in the study is qualitative with

interviews. There were five interviews conducted with social workers within the same

municipality. Theories for analysing were Family System theory and Attachment

theory. Primarily the study has called for a deeper understanding of how complex social

work and authority assessing is when related to children. This study reveals how

difficult it is for social workers to enable for children to be heard about their situation

without their parent’s permission and approval to communicate with the social worker.

Importance was also emphasised and expressed on building and maintaining a trusting

relationship with the child and stakeholders involved. In the municipality where the

study took place they all stated that they are working according Swedish legislation and

got training in and used the method Signs of Safety, which enables to get an image over

the children's situation. Other methods for communicating with children were used

different by different social worker due to different trainings, abilities and depending on

the needs from the individual child.