Securing the floor but not raising the ceiling? Operationalising care quality in the inspection of residential care for children in Sweden

In many countries, inspections are employed as a central instrument to promote good social work practice, but how inspections should operationally achieve this is not evident. By utilising data from guidelines, interviews and observations, the aim of the article is to analyse how the Swedish inspectorate operationalises care quality within the residential care services for children. Analytically, the inspectorate is regarded as an open system that is receptive to different ideas of how to operationalise care quality. The results show that: (a) the standards display a marked variation, change annually and are similar across all homes, (b) there is a limited link to good quality care as it is defined in empirical research, (c) there are several driving forces for care aspects to inspect and, in general, the distinct standards pertain to formal requirements, while how the care is provided is associated with more indistinct standards and (d) if there is no obvious malpractice in care provided, the inspections appear to have rather unclear formative effects. The results are inter alia discussed regarding whether inspections foster the idea that the 'floor' of the care is raised (i.e. securing a basic level of care) but not the 'ceiling' (i.e. maximising care).