Handlingsutrymmets motstridighet : En kvalitativ studie om vad det är som påverkar biståndshandläggares beslutsfattande

Sammanfattning: Sauer and Ahnlund (2021) believe that the care manager who works in social work is described as complex because the role involves having an approach to various individual needs that the individuals have. The difficulty is to assemble politics, profession and organizational choices as they, based on this, must take a stand in situations of ethical sensitivity. Previous research shows that guidelines, knowledge and interaction affect the care managers room for maneuver, where it is described that these can provide security and benefits. However, it appears that difficulties may arise in these parts of the decision-making process that the care managers as a profession has the task of implementing (Olaison, Torres & Forssell 2018; Janlöv, Hallberg & Petersson 2011). The purpose of the study is to investigate how the care managers in elderly care describe their role and how guidelines, knowledge and interaction affect the care managers in their decision-making. Semistructured interviews were conducted with seven care managers in elderly care. The study is alalyzed based on Lipsky´s (2010) theory of grassroots bureaucrats. The results show that the care managers are based on the individual´s needs at the center. However, the study shows that they describe guidelines, knowledge and interaction in different ways in relation to the decision-making process because they create different spaces for action. Our study shows that the role of care managers is contradictory which means that the elderly's need for help is treated in different ways, depending on which care manager they meet.