ABSTRACT
In this chapter we address the issue of power relations and the transformation of social representation in inter-professional cooperation. The background is the current development we see in the industrialized part of the world: a fragmentation in public and private services caused by decentralization, specialization and professionalization. In many countries this fragmentation in, for example, health services, education, and social services, has triggered a strong need for inter-professional cooperation. As an example, in Sweden there are a number of cooperation projects that aim to facilitate entry into the labor market for people with, for example, mental illness. The main professionals involved in such processes are social workers, occupational therapists, psychiatrists, and administrators at the regional social insurance offi ce and at the employment offi ce. These professionals all have a social representation of the target group for action, and of the barriers and facilitating factors infl uencing employment processes (fi nding, obtaining, and retaining a job) for people with mental illness. Another example is the Swedish government’s allocating approximately 22 million euros for inter-professional cooperation projects focused on children at risk for abuse and other types of violence. Professionals from education, social services, psychiatry, and police cooperate.
