En balansgång mellan kontroll och stöd : En kvalitativ studie om socialsekreterares syn på bedömningar av ekonomiskt bistånd, om den egna yrkesrollen och organisationen

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to investigate how social workers reason in their assessment of financial aid, whether their own professional role varies with who the clients are and what conditions they have at work. We used a qualitative method to achieve the purpose of this study. We performed individual interviews with seven social workers who worked in five different municipalities in Sweden. The results from the interviews were interpreted and analyzed with the help of the two theoretical theories role theory and institutional theory, as well as with the three theoretical concepts street-level bureaucrats, creaming and parking. The results showed that categorizations of clients occur in their work. Some social workers categorize based on socio-economic characteristics such as unemployment or age while others categorize based on problems such as physical and mental difficulties. The results also showed that requirements and expectations vary depending on the size of the municipalities, population and access to resources, and that the social workers sometimes do not have as high demands on individuals who are not considered as capable or lack opportunities for change in relation to other clients. The results showed that the organizational guidelines do guide and determine the work, even though all social workers believe that they have a wide margin of maneuver and the opportunity to adapt assessments to a certain extent. The social workers all agree that the work is about a balancing act between the control that the organization requires and the support that clients need.