<p>Between 1990 and 1992/1993 there was a dramatic change in the Swedish labor market, resulting in an increased number of unemployed and social assistance recipients. As a response to this situation, many municipalities developed local activation programs. One of these programs, the “Uppsala model” – practiced in the City of Uppsala and characterized by a “paternalistic discourse” with sharp means tests, control and sanctions – was quite controversial. The general purpose of this dissertation is to study<b> </b>the effects of this activation method on the claimants and to study these effects with regard to the intentions underlying the method. The central questions are whether this method contributed to a greater number of claimants leaving the system for work or education, after a shorter period of time and on a more permanent basis compared to an alternative and more “traditional” method characterized by a “redistributive discourse”. Another central question is whether the method was effective under different economic conditions. The data used in the analyses were taken from two social welfare offices and included 509 able-bodied individuals who applied for allowances in either 1990 or 1992, reporting unemployment as the main reason. The main results indicated no systematic differences between the two methods with respect to outcome variables such as length of time on social assistance, probability of obtaining a regular job or an education. There were some indications (non-significant) of an increased probability of returning with claims for social assistance and after a shorter period of time, associated with the paternalist Uppsala model. The great importance of the labor market to recipients` possibilities to leave the social assistance system for work, irrespective of working method, was also shown in the study.</p>

Between 1990 and 1992/1993 there was a dramatic change in the Swedish labor market, resulting in an increased number of unemployed and social assistance recipients. As a response to this situation, many municipalities developed local activation programs. One of these programs, the “Uppsala model” – practiced in the City of Uppsala and characterized by a “paternalistic discourse” with sharp means tests, control and sanctions – was quite controversial. The general purpose of this dissertation is to study<b> </b>the effects of this activation method on the claimants and to study these effects with regard to the intentions underlying the method. The central questions are whether this method contributed to a greater number of claimants leaving the system for work or education, after a shorter period of time and on a more permanent basis compared to an alternative and more “traditional” method characterized by a “redistributive discourse”. Another central question is whether the method was effective under different economic conditions. The data used in the analyses were taken from two social welfare offices and included 509 able-bodied individuals who applied for allowances in either 1990 or 1992, reporting unemployment as the main reason. The main results indicated no systematic differences between the two methods with respect to outcome variables such as length of time on social assistance, probability of obtaining a regular job or an education. There were some indications (non-significant) of an increased probability of returning with claims for social assistance and after a shorter period of time, associated with the paternalist Uppsala model. The great importance of the labor market to recipients` possibilities to leave the social assistance system for work, irrespective of working method, was also shown in the study.

During the study's first stage we noticed that the Swedish term ” utanförskap” was constructed for political purposes, the term’s ambiguity what was first raised our interest. Therefore the aims of this study was to examine how social workers at the social welfare office and the labor market related project Framtid Kronoberg  as well as politicians within the administration of Arbete &amp; Välfärd (Work &amp; Welfare) relates to utanförskap as a social phenomenon. The study’s second aim was to examine how the aforementioned persons consider utanförskap to be counteracted among young adults. The study has shown that the interviewees have different opinions regarding the meaning of utanförskap. Furthermore the study shows that there is a consensus regarding activation as the solution for utanförskap through either employment or by attending labor market related activities. The study has also shown that the activation requirements made by the politicians of the administration, with the purpose of placing young adults on social welfare in labor market activities consists of continuous controls and sanctions when deviation is noted.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur arbetsmarknadssekreterare och socialsekreterare inom socialtjänsten Väster i Malmö upplever pilotprojektet Tidig inskrivning samt hur deras handlingsutrymme och inbördes samverkan förändrats i projektet. Syftet med projektet är att förkorta vägen mot självförsörjning och skapa en tidig planering för klienten. Projektet riktas mot de klienter som erhåller ekonomiskt bistånd. Pilotprojektet implementerades den åttonde januari 2018 och skall avslutas den 30 juni 2018. Vi undersöker således hur projektet erfars av arbetsmarknadssekreterare och socialsekreterare angående projektet och dess implementering samt hur informanterna upplever att pilotprojektet påverkat deras handlingsutrymme och inbördes samverkan. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna för uppsatsens är ett instrumentellt organisationsteoretiskt perspektiv samt Michael Lipskys teori angående street-level bureaucracy. Använd metod för denna uppsats är en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Vi har intervjuat tre arbetsmarknadssekreterare och tre socialsekreterare som arbetar med projektet. Vi fann i det empiriska materialet att informanterna upplevde implementeringen som vag och ytterst lite information gavs till arbetsmarknadssekreterarna och socialsekreterarna angående hur projektet skulle förändra deras arbetsgång. Informanterna upplevde även en frustration både hos kollegor, de själva och klienten i ärendegången i projektet. Informanternas handlingsutrymme och inbördes samverkan har förändrats i projektet då resurs-och tidsbrist skapat förändringar i både samverkan och handlingsutrymme för de båda professionerna. / The aim of this bachelor essay is to examine the experience of the social workers in the project pilot called the “Tidig inskrivning”, meaning early enrollment. The aim of this project is to plan the enrolment towars the regular labour market. The project pilot launched in 8th of January and ended in 30th of June in 2018. The involved professions in the project on a daily basis is labour secretaries and social secretaries. The issues concerning our essay is: How does the labour secretaries and social secretaries experience the project pilot and how do the informants experience that the Early Enrollment pilot project has influenced their leeway and mutual cooperation?The theoretical premise for this essay is an instrumental organization theory and Michael Lipsky’s theory concerning street-level-bureaucracy. The method used in this essay was a qualitive method using a semi structured interview. The project pilot is directed to all clients that applies for a social assistance. These clients are the called to a meeting with the labour secretaries to a survey including the clients past work experiences and education. The client is then to have a meeting to review the conditions of the social assistance. We found that the labour secretaries did not experience the project as useful, they found the project as time consuming and unnecessary for both the client and to them as labour secretaries. The social secretaries experienced the project and unnecessary and informed us that the client found the project as time consuming and frustrating. The leeway for the labour secretaries and the social secretaries has changed within the project pilot. The cooperation between the two professions is affected by the project in the sense that it is greatly time consuming for the labour secretaries and the social secretaries have no chance to a cooperation with the labour secretaries as they did before. The changes made to the leeway and cooperation between the two professions have changed because of lack of resources and time.

Work-related activation policies are currently developing in most western welfare states. Sweden is no exception and activation policies were introduced in the 1990s in many municipal social services organizations in Sweden. The Swedish form of activation policies requires social assistance recipients to participate in mandatory activation program in return for financial support. This dissertation investigates the street-level implementation practices of activation policies within the context of the Swedish welfare state. The purpose of the study is to examine how street-level workers in the municipal social service systemtranslate activation policy into practice in their interactions with the clients and what factors that structure their implementation practices. The research project is a multiple-case study that examines the street-level practices in two municipal social service settings in Sweden, Skärholmen city-district in Stockholm municipality and Osby municipality and their local activation programs. The data collection consists of observations of the staffs’ daily operations, interviews with local politicians and other key personnel, and the analysis of formal policy and program documents. Theoretically this dissertation builds on the street-level bureaucracy perspective (Lipsky, 1980), which suggests that organizational working conditions shape street-level workers implementation practices through their development of informal coping strategies. But this study extends the street-level buraucracy approach by including political-institutional factors and normative assumptions about public support and social assistance recipients into the analysis. Findings from the study suggest that street-level implementation practices entail a number of informal coping strategies that removes activation policy from formal policy goals. Implementation practices entail, for example, mass referrals instead of individual assessments and tailor-made solutions. Clients were sorted and categorized on the basis of moral perceptions about behavioral deficits instead of employment needs. These informal practice strategies were the results of both coping strategies and normative assumptions that interacted with the organizational context in which these practices took place.

Den föreliggande studiens syfte har varit att undersöka hur socialarbetare på myndighet och verkställande verksamhet jobbar med implementeringen av aktiveringsinsatser. Detta med fokus på hur aktiveringsprocessen påverkar deltagarnas handlingsutrymme. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer och analyserades utifrån tematisk tolkning. Resultatet av intervjumaterialet har tolkats genom Habermas och Lipskys teoretiska perspektiv. Studiens resultat visar två huvudsakliga teman som påverkar deltagarnas handlingsutrymme. Aktiveringsprocessen med sina stöd- och kontrollfunktioner begränsar deltagarnas handlingsutrymme. Resurseffektivitet märks i intervjumaterialet som ett ledande styrmedel i processen, detta i kontrast till andra värden. Socialarbetarnas relation till deltagarna påverkar på både direkta och subtila sätt deltagarnas handlingsutrymme, dels möjliggörande men mest begränsande. Resultatet visar att relationen påverkas av social kontext, normer och de ramar socialarbetarna och deltagarna måste arbeta inom. Resultatet i studien bekräftar tidigare studier att deltagare i aktiveringsprocessen har begränsat handlingsutrymme. / The aim of the present study has been to examine how social workers at government and executive organizations work with the implementation of activation efforts. This focuses on how the activation process affects the participants’ capacity for action. The study was conducted using semi-structured interviews and analyzed based on thematic interpretation. The results of the interview material have been interpreted through Habermas’ and Lipsky’s theoretical perspectives. The study results show two main themes that affect the participants’ capacity for action. The activation process with its support and control functions limits the participants’ capacity for action. Resource efficiency is noticed in the interview material as an instrument value in the process, in contrast to other values. The social workers’ relationship with the participants affects the participants’ capacity for action in both direct and subtle ways, partly enabling but mostly limiting. The result shows that the relationship is influenced by social context, norms and the frameworks that social workers and participants must work within. The results of the study confirm previous studies that participants in the activation process have limited scope for action.