Syftet med denna studie var att genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med yrkesverksamma LSS-handläggare analysera om det förekommer policykrockar/policykonflikter i deras arbete samt att utifrån en tolkning av deras berättelse analysera hur deras handlingsutrymme ser ut och om det kan antas ha förändrats utifrån den ekonomiska åtstramningen som präglar insatserna inom LSS. Studiens två frågeställningar är följande: Förekommer det några yttre policykonflikter, det vill säga, en diskrepans mellan intention och utfall i LSS-handläggarnas arbete samt förekommer det några inre konflikter hos handläggarna? Och: Hur ser LSS-handläggarnas handlingsutrymme ut och har det förändrats på grund av den ekonomiska åtstramningen? Studien har utgått från Michael Lipskys teori om street level bureaucracy som under uppsatsens gång utvecklats genom senare studier. Den insamlade datan har sedan, med hjälp en abduktiv tematisk dataanalys, analyserats utifrån de två valda teoretiska begreppen: policykonflikter samt handlingsutrymme. Resultatet visade att handläggarnas handlingsutrymme ser olika ut utifrån vilken stadsdelsförvaltning de jobbar inom och påverkas av vilken ekonomi som råder. Rättsläget förändras kontinuerligt vilket kan leda till att inre policykonflikter inom handläggarna uppstår, i form av att deras egna åsikter och värderingar skiljer sig från vad de har för resurser att besluta om men även yttre konflikter där de behöver använda fler typer av dokument för att kunna förstå intentionen bakom en riktlinje. Resultatet visar även på att arbetsbördan för LSS-handläggare ökar, i form av arbetsuppgifter där det kan handla om att bemöta personliga ombud till rent administrativa uppgifter som växer i antal.

The primary objective of this study is to clarify a child's perspective within family matters surrounding financial aid from social services likewise how social workers interpret and implement the perspective in their tasks. Answers to the study's questions are supported by theories about the capacity for action and Shier's theory, Pathways to Participation. The foundation of this study is based on, among other things, scientific articles, literature, and reports that build the analysis which diverges into several themes as a result. The results showed that the children's perspective was inconclusive and a complex concept to define both in research and legislative texts, while simultaneously showing that the social secretary's broad and respectively narrow possibility of interpreting the law could be received as both negative and positive in the assessment of the child's best interests. There were also flaws in the documentation regarding the child's situation. In conclusion, some of the results of this study were based on the fact that the given legislative texts and guidelines did not provide a clear definition of how the social secretary should proceed in their work with the children's perspective and in the child's best interests.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att utifrån perspektiv på gräsrotsbyråkrati skapa en djupare förståelse för socialsekreterares upplevelser av att arbeta till skydd för det ofödda barnet när mamma missbrukar under graviditeten. För att uppnå studiens syfte har kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialsekreterare genomförts. Det empiriska materialet har med tematisk analys analyserats utifrån Lipskys (1980) teori om gräsrotsbyråkrati samt handlingsutrymme och studien har på så vis genererat en djupare förståelse för socialsekreterarnas upplevelser. Studien har behandlat avsaknaden av riktlinjer och lagstöd, slitningen mellan organisationens ramar och de moraliska värderingarna, samt socialsekreterarnas upplevelse av sitt handlingsutrymme. Resultatet visar att det råder en brist på riktlinjer och rutiner för att hantera dessa ärenden, och att socialsekreterarna upplever en avsaknad av lagstöd för att ingripa till skydd för det ofödda barnet när insatser på frivillig väg inte är möjliga, vilket även resulterar i att deras handlingsutrymme blir begränsat eller obefintligt. Detta medför att socialsekreterarna många gånger tvingas välja mellan att gå emot sina moraliska värderingar eller hitta sätt att kringgå lagen. Vidare påvisar studien att socialsekreterarna upplever ansvar för det ofödda barnet trots att de enligt organisationens ramverk egentligen inte har ett ansvar för denne. Att inte kunna agera till skydd för det ofödda barnet, i kombination med omvärldens förväntningar på socialsekreteraren, skapar en stark känsla av frustration. Våra resultat visar därför på ett behov av riktlinjer och rutiner för hur socialsekreterare ska arbeta med det ofödda barnet när mamma missbrukar under graviditeten. Emellertid täcker vår studie bara en liten del av socialsekreterares upplevelser av att arbeta till skydd för det ofödda barnet, varför det finns behov av vidare forskning inom området. Möjligen skulle förståelsen för deras upplevelser berikas av att belysas ur andra perspektiv, såsom makt och etik.

Michael Lipsky states through his theory of street-level bureaucracy that teachers, among other street-level occupations, often work under a heavy workload due to parameters built into their occupations characteristics and limited resources. Lipsky says that street-level bureaucrats therefor under the influence of their works natural discretion tend to use client-processing strategies to lighten the pressure to make their work situation bearable. Teachers in Sweden is an occupational group that has an important societal function in educating children, teenagers and young adults for their future social lives. At the same time as they work under a heavy workload. This essay aims to see if teachers in Sweden uses the three client-processing strategies tension between capability and objectives, private goal definition and defense against discretion to modify their work and students, to make their work situation more bearable. This is tested quantitively through Pearsons chi2 test of independence and regression analysis. The conclusion is that even though a tendency towards the use of client-processing strategies can be seen in the results, one cannot conclude that this is actually the case and that further studies has to be done to be able to give a more accurate response to the question.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / There are often noted gaps and tensions arise between official government policies and what is implemented on the ground. The two theories that consistently argue antagonistically about the policy processes are the rational bureaucratic model also called the "top-down approach" as opposed to the incremental or bottom-up approach. This research was inspired by a bottom-up perspective and involves a detailed investigation of Lipsky's street level bureaucracy (SLB) theory. Over the years since Lipsky's research much international work has be done on the subject of discretion among policy implementers but in the South the focus has been more on top-down ideas such as increasing state capacity and monitoring workers and not on the Lipsky problematic. Hence, this study specifically focuses on studying the extent, intentions and uses of discretion. Intentions are look e at in a threefold manner: good, bad and conflicting, among nurses as SLBs in a public hospital in Cape Town, in view of the t wo conflicting approaches to policy implementation. I found that the discretion practices among nurses do 'more good than harm' as opposed to the view held by the top down approach. The study further revealed that discretion is also often conflicted or ambivalent. Moreover, it is often based on tacit collective understandings and practices among groups of nurses. This is one element that needs to be explored further in future studies in order to contribute to the body of knowledge. Notably, there appears to be a gap in South African literature on this vital subject area. 111

Since January 1, 2015, the police authority's largest organizational reform took place, and 21 county police authorities were merged into one unified police authority. The purpose of this was to increase the prerequisites for a stronger operating result with higher quality in the efforts. In connection with the reorganization, they sought to have a more distinct management where the operations would be employee driven. In this study, the official's space for action is studied, and to what extent the public works are considered regarding the expertise and knowledge of the employees at local police level. Through an interview study the officials of the local police level shared the experiences and how the reorganization's impact on the space of action has affected their ability on making decisions. The analysis of the study takes the biggest inspiration from Lisky's street-level bureaucracy theory but also shows elements of the authority's structure, i.e. top-down and bottom-up perspective. The study also takes into account the public officials’ tools of power and analyzes the exercise of power.

Latino immigrants are the fastest growing foreign group and appear to be suffering from disproportionate risks of involvement in the child welfare system. Yet, there is limited knowledge in regards to this population when involved in the child welfare system and the day-to-day complexity of issues, stressors, and barriers they face. This qualitative study aims to understand the day-to-day reality of being a Latino immigrant in this system as well as the organizations that work with this population. Street-level bureaucracy theory is used to explore how private non-profit child welfare agencies work to assist their Latino immigrant clients on a day-to-day basis. It also examines the perceptions and experiences of non-profit child welfare staff members in regards to accountability and discretion toward both the organization and their Latino immigrant clients. Qualitative methodology was used to gain in-depth knowledge of how these agencies are working with this population. Three private non-profit child welfare agencies located in Los Angeles County were selected. Each agency has a foster care and adoptions component as well as various other programs such as Project Fatherhood, Family Preservation, and Unaccompanied Child program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 19 staff members. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings from this study found that the complex issues that exist with this population in the child welfare system are not discussed at a detailed or formal level. Also, there are gaps between policies and practices, in that the universal policies in place are not meeting all the needs of these families and creating barriers in servicing these families. At the organizational level, it was found that these agencies have more time and availability for their immigrant clients due to a lower caseload and agency flexibility. They were able to be more accountable to their clients and used their discretion to spend more time with these clients, advocate more for them, provide more quality work, and have more creativity in filling the gaps these families are experiencing in regards to access to services and service use.

Performance management is prevalent in public organizations and public services, but the push for performance may harm genuine accountability. One critical reason for this is that little knowledge has developed about the scope and effect of actual accountability requirements in the public management field. This dissertation furthers our understanding of accountability and performance by distinguishing them as different dimensions of public management. Building on this distinction, the effect of accountability (A) on performance (P) and accountability management’s (M) mediating role in the relationship between accountability and performance were investigated empirically in child welfare services in Virginia. The study had two stages: interviews and a survey. The qualitative content analysis of the interviews provides several noteworthy findings. Accountability can be understood more with the terms: explanation, expectation, people/society, action/decision, and values. Conversely, performance can be considered more in line with the terms: productivity/outcome, timely work, team playing, learning, and strategy. The incompatible characteristics found between accountability and performance highlight problems behind performance-driven accountability. The survey portion of the study, built upon the interview data, also presents notable findings. (1) Accountability affects performance both directly and indirectly, and (2) accountability management matters in the relationship between accountability and performance. While the empirical literature on the A → P link focuses on the effects of competing accountability requirements, my study examines dimensions of the accountability requirements’ impact. Formal (e.g., legal) as well as informal (e.g., ethical) accountability requirements are critical for ensuring higher performance. Compliance strategies implicitly connect informal accountability requirements with work performance. The findings support the study’s argument that accountability should be stressed for better performance and highlight the need for the careful design of accountability mechanisms in social services. Ultimately, this study may serve as a foundation for future efforts to establish more appropriate accountability and performance arrangements. / Ph. D.

SammanfattningSyftet med det här examensarbetet är att undersöka hur lärare och specialpedagoger på gymnasiet uppfattar att reformen av det pedagogiska stödet som infördes i skollagen den 1 juli 2014 fungerar, samt vad som påverkar genomförandet av politiska ideal och reformer i praktiken.Intervjuer med specialpedagoger, enkätsvar från lärare, studier av forskning om inkludering, policy och praktik utgör en mixed methods-ansats. Metodvalet syftar till att bredda underlaget för analysen och förståelsen av en mångfasetterad verklighet och verksamhet.Resultatet av undersökningen tyder på att alla elever på gymnasiet inte får det stöd de enligt skollagen har rätt till. Det visar också att reformen, tvärtemot sitt uttalade syfte, har ökat lärarnas dokumentations- och arbetsbörda. Slutligen blir det tydligt att olika dilemman och konflikter kan uppstå när ideal ska förverkligas, att en omtolkning av de politiska direktiven görs på flera nivåer i det byråkratiska systemet och i klassrumspraktiken – och att de många politiska direktiv som skolan utsatts för under senare år inte alltid har den effekt beslutsfattarna hoppas eftersom de delar ut fler påbud än resurser att efterleva dem. Slutsatsen är att makthavarna i framtiden borde basera reformer på vetenskaplig grund och i dialog med dem som arbetar och går i skolan, samt att lärarna borde ta sitt ansvar som demokratins väktare och protestera mot att de inte ges förutsättningar att tillmötesgå elevernas behov och tillvarata deras rättigheter.Nyckelord: Dilemmaperspektiv, extra anpassningar, inkludering, kategoriskt perspektiv, relationellt perspektiv, resurser, segregering, street level bureaucracy, särskilt stöd.

Tahe starting point of this study is to investigate how the school organizationally works as an institution to counteract problematic school absence. The school is a large part of society as well as an institution that shapes the citizens, at the same time as the schools have a mission to promote the individual´s progression and learning. The schools function to benefit society as well individuals with their personal development make the school a complex organization. The school's organization includes many different areas and it’s therefore difficult to examine in this individual study. We have therefore chosen to focus on the school staff´s work with problematic school absence. The theoretical ground this study is based on is called 'street level bureaucracy'. This theory describes the school staff’s labor from within an organization while having direct contact with members of the general public. The Swedish analogy of this term is gräsrotsbyråkrati. The material that will be used consists of existing literature on the subject as well as interviews conducted with school staff in which they provide their experience of how the organization works with students' problematic school absence. Through the school staff’s experience, we can get a deeper insight into schools organizational structures. The study's conclusion is that school staff need to have a greater influence in the organization's management. Furthermore this study concludes that school staff in general have a much higher need to influence the creation of government documents than they currently have. This need for more influence stems from the fact that they themselves have to carry out these policies on a daily basis and therefore have the necessary expertise on the subject.