Socialförvaltningens moderna kentaurer- om socialsekreterares dubbla roll i misstänkta bidragsbrottsärenden

Sammanfattning: Abstract Title: Social services department’s modern centaurs – about social worker's dual role in cases of suspected crimes contribution Authors: Branislav Ros; Carl-Johan Martinsson Tutor: Lena Palvén Examiner: Elizabeth Martinell Barfoed The purpose of this study was to examine how social workers, in the social services department of economical aid, experience their dual role as helper and controller when they suspect their clients of social assistance fraud. To examine this we used a qualitative method in the form of an act study, consisting of 26 social assistance cases where the suspected contribution crime has occurred and interviews with 5 social workers who have been administrators in the majority of these social assistance cases. The essay’s theoretical frames of reference are particularly Hasenfeld's (1983) theory of human services organizations and Lipsky’s (1980) theory of street-level bureaucracies, but accompanied by Johansson's (1998) further development of Lipsky’s theory. The essay also has a section where previous research is presented. The results have been interpreted with the help of a number of theoretical core terms and then reconnected to the previous research. The act study and the interviews showed that social workers felt their professional role as either the conflict between two separate roles or as a conflict between two sides of the same role. The results showed also the conflict experienced by social workers as particularly difficult in cases where suspicions of social assistance fraud occurred. The results also showed that the majority of social workers requested that the two roles (the two sides of a social worker role) would be separated in a way that you either work only with the help or only with the control.