ABSTRACT
In the welfare state that was created in Sweden during the decades after World War II, social problems were considered a consequence of structural conditions and social injustices. This chapter describes a specific movement that social youth work has failed to relate to. The radical social theorists saw social work as part of an overriding strategy to eliminate the social conditions that produced social problems. And many social workers, at the time, saw themselves as part of a vanguard for social change. Indeed, socio-economic gaps and differences in income have increased more than in any other Economic Co-operation and Development country. The municipality has reacted with suspicion and fear to the Panthers' activities, but the social mobilisation of the youth has forced politicians to give the Panthers resources to rehabilitate football fields, make ski trips and arrange different recreational activities for young people in the area.
