Abstract
Approximately 1500 young immigrant women living in Sweden sought help from various public organisations during 2004 due to problems related to Protection of Family Honour (PFH). Often they seek help from school nurses and counsellors. Information on how the school nurses and counsellors manage this complex PFH phenomenon is limited in Sweden. The aim was to generate a theoretical model that illuminates the experiences of school counsellors and school nurses counselling teenage girls, who worry about problems related to protection of family honour. Data were collected through individual interviews of the school welfare staff. The study subjects included welfare staff from six upper-secondary schools consisting of four nurses and six counsellors. Grounded theory methods were used to generate new knowledge as this is a new field of research. The staff’s main goal was to provide the best support and help for the teenage girls. In addition, they wanted to be true to their professional ethics and values. However, this was difficult and created professional dilemmas because some teenage girls prevented them from doing what they thought was needed to support the teenage girls and protect them from violence. As a result, staff sometimes felt hampered, unable to help or able to help only in ways hidden from the teenage girls’ families.