The purpose of the thesis is to study the role of the subnational civil servant and their discretions in a Multilevel Governance context, based on how it differs from the traditional role of the civil servant in Sweden. This is done by studying officials at Swedish Regional Representation Offices in Brussels through the method of semi-structured interviews. The theoretical framework is based on research about traditional activities and role of the public administration, but also in the differences of duties between politicians and officials. Furthermore, the thesis is constructed on Europeanization research and a Multilevel Governance approach, where regional actions in a multi-level system can be clarified and explored by the dimensions of Europeanization: the download-, crossload- and upload dimension. The methodological assessment tool consists of a content analysis, where the collected interview data is compared and discussed using a constructed ideal type of the Weberian role of a civil servant. The respondent's descriptions and views of their role in Brussels is the main focus of the analysis.   To summarise, the regional officials in Brussels consider their scope of discretion as broad. Furthermore, the results illustrate that is not possible to distinguish the role of the sub-national civil service in Brussels, based on the designed ideal type. It’s because of the complexity of the Multilevel Governance system. The results show a significant variation between the respondent's experiences and descriptions of their duties at the office in Brussels. The official’s which are working with a tougher line of lobbying in Brussels, experience their role as both political and apolitical, where the civil servant role enters the political sphere. By working with lobby activities that imply the duty of a politician, they describe their role between the administration and the political sphere. When the officials are working with lobby initiatives in Brussels, they are acting as the political voice of the home organization, but always with a clear lobby mandate from their politicians. / Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera den subnationella tjänstemannarollen och dess handlingsutrymme i ett flernivåsystem, utifrån hur den skiljer sig från den traditionella tjänstemannarollen. Detta görs genom att studera tjänstemän på regionala representationskontor i Bryssel, utifrån semi-strukturerade intervjuer.   Uppsatsen tar ett teoretiskt avstamp i den traditionella förvaltningsverksamheten och i skillnaden mellan politikers och tjänstemäns uppdrag- samt rollfördelningen i den offentliga förvaltningen. Vidare utgår studien från europeiseringsforskning och har en multilevel governance ansats, där ett regionalt handlande i ett flernivåsystem förklaras i europeiseringsprocessernas download-, crossload- och upload-dimensioner. Det metodologiska analysverktyget består av en innehållsanalys av det empiriska intervjumaterialet. Intervjumaterialet jämförs och diskuteras utifrån en konstruerad idealtyp av den weberianska tjänstemannarollen, där fokus är intervjupersonernas uppfattningar och beskrivningar av sin roll i Bryssel. Sammanfattningsvis går det inte att urskilja den subnationella tjänstemannarollen i Bryssel utifrån den idealtyp som konstrueras. Tjänstemännens arbete i ett flernivåsystem är alltför komplext och det finns en betydande variation i hur tjänstemännen beskriver och upplever sin tjänstemannaroll. Generellt sätt uppfattar tjänstemännen i Bryssel sitt handlingsutrymme som brett. Tjänstemän som arbetar med en hårdare linje av påverkansarbete upplever att tjänstemannarollen går in i den politiska sfären och blir både politisk samt opolitisk. Den subnationella tjänstemannarollen upplevs befinna sig mellan administrationen och politiken, då påverkansuppdraget i Bryssel liknar en politikers, men där tjänstemännen är ett politiskt språkrör med ett tydligt påverkansmandat.

The aim of this study is to investigate and understand how social workers in social services work with abused women in intimate partner relationships in order to accommodate housing and how they are limited in their efforts to arrange accommodation for these women. The study is conducted through semistructured interviews and I have interviewed six social workers which belongs to four equal municipalities around middle Sweden. Each social worker work with abused women but it may differ in how they work with these women depending on the organization structure. Interest has been in describing restrictions and contradictions that the social workers encounter when providing accommodation to abused women in intimate partner relationships. The result was analyzed on the basis of previous research, Michael Lipsky ́s and Johansson Roine ́s theory of street-level bureaucrats and Svensson, Johnsson & Laanemets concept of discretion. The result shows that the social workers' scope of action is limited by various factors, for instance the organizational limitations, laws and housing shortages.

Abstract This paper is a peer-review about social workers´ experiences and descriptions of making individual assessments of their unemployed clients when working toward self-sufficiency and eventual obstacle for making them. The paper also deals with how social workers prioritize their work tasks. The study was conducted through interviews with five social workers at the same workplace. The results have been analyzed using theories of discretion, street-level bureaucrats and client dimensions within a street-level bureaucracy. The result shows that lack of time and limitation of discretion have negative influences in the social workers’ ability to make individual assessments. The result also shows that individual assessments are foremost made when the clients mismanage their planning and are risking not getting their application for financial assistance approved. Further the results show that the processing of applications and payment of financial assistance is a priority task since it is considered to be most important to clients and result in the greatest consequences for both social workers and clients if not performed. The discussion that follows is about the possible consequences of prioritizing work tasks this way. / Sammanfattning Denna uppsats är en kollegiegranskning och handlar om socialsekreterares upplevelser och erfarenheter av att göra individuella bedömningar av sina arbetslösa klienter i arbetet mot självförsörjning och eventuella hinder för dessa. Uppsatsen beskriver även om hur socialsekreterare prioriterar sina arbetsuppgifter. Studien har genomförts genom intervjuer med 5 socialsekreterare på en arbetsplats. Resultatet har analyserats utifrån teorier om handlingsutrymme, frontlinjebyråkrater och klientdimensioner inom en frontlinjebyråkrati. Resultatet visar att tidsbrist och begränsningar i handlingsutrymmet båda är faktorer som har en negativ påverkan på en socialsekreterares förutsättningar att göra individuella bedömningar. Resultatet visar även att individuella bedömningar främst görs när en klient misskött sin planering och riskerar avslag på sin ansökan om ekonomiskt bistånd. Vidare visar resultatet att handläggning av ansökningar om och utbetalning av ekonomiskt bistånd är en prioriterad arbetsuppgift då den anses vara viktigast för klienterna samt resulterar i störst konsekvenser för både socialsekreterare och klienter om den inte utförs.

This study seeks to identify a relationship between Rational Choice/Classical thought and resisting arrest among criminal offenders. It seeks also to fill the gap that currently exists with regard to the effects of situational dynamics and police-citizen violence.

Studiens syfte var att bidra till kunskap om hur biståndshandläggare inom Stockholms stads äldreomsorg tolkar begreppet skälig levnadsnivå och upplever sitt handlingsutrymme vid bedömning av behov av inköp. Åtta biståndshandläggare intervjuades från två olika stadsdelsförvaltningar och svaren analyserades genom tematisk innehållsanalys. Informanterna upplevde att begreppet skälig levnadsnivå kan vara diffust och att det kan uppkomma gråzoner vid bedömning av behovsområdet inköp. Tillfrågade biståndshandläggare framhöll att de kommunala riktlinjerna fyller en viktig roll och att de får vägledning under handläggningsprocessen samtidigt som de kände sig bundna och upplevde att deras handlingsutrymme är minimalt. / The purpose of this study was to contribute to knowledge about how care-managers within the City of Stockholm’s eldercare interpret the concept of reasonable standard of living and experience their discretion when assessing the need for every-day purchases. Eight caremanagers were interviewed from two different city district administrations and the responses were analyzed through thematic content analysis. The informants felt that the concept of reasonable standard of living can be vague and that gray zones may arise when assessing the various needs for every-day purchases. The participants stated that the municipal guidelines play a critical role in giving them guidance during the assessment process, but they also felt limited by the guidelines and they experienced that their discretion is minimal.

The aim of this study is to highlight the situation for LGBT-people in Bali with regard to the political changes in the country. Firstly, the living situation for LGBT-people have been investigated and secondly the possible effects that the newly implemented anti-LGBT policies have had on LGBT-people have been examined through interviews with six informants currently living in Bali. What has been unearthed is that LGBT-people have in the past lived in a climate of relative tolerance with discretion as a caveat; as long as LGBT-identities weren’t officially proclaimed, and same-sex relations were handled discreetly, LGBT-people haven’t been burdened with discrimination and violence. Contemporary research suggests that the current political developments regarding LGBT-rights, marked by swift and sweeping changes of a radical nature, have resulted in LGBT-people in Indonesia now facing discrimination and violence - even when LGBT-people attempt to handle their sexuality with discretion. However, this research suggests that this is not the case, and that LGBT-people aren’t as greatly affected or concerned with the political developments as have been suggested by scholars. As explained, reasons for this appear to be found in how LGBT-people lead their lives with discretion, which is a recurrent theme for many LGBT-people in Indonesia. However, another reason for this can be found in the strength of the LGBT-community, which appear to refute the negative consequences of belonging to a stigmatised and marginalised group for its members. Indeed, many LGBT-people found friendship, emotional support, improved healthcare and employment through the community.

Police officers are allowed considerable discretion within the criminal justice system in addressing illegal behaviors and interpersonal conflicts. Broadly, such resolutions fall into two categories: formal (e.g., arrest) and informal outcomes. Many of these interventions involve persons who have historically faced stigmatization, such as those who have mental disorders, criminal histories, or both (i.e., mentally disordered offenders). On this point, stigma generally includes discriminatory behavior toward the stigmatized person or group and can be substantially influenced by internal and external attributions. In addition, researchers have suggested that internal attributions lead to punishing behaviors and external attributions lead to helping behaviors. The current study examined attributions about offender behavior made by police officers in an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of Corrigan’s model. Specifically, this study investigated the effects of officer attributions on their immediate decisions in addressing intentionally ambiguous and minor offenses. Officers provided one of two vignettes of a hypothetical offender who was either mentally disordered or intoxicated and provided their anticipated resolution of the situation. Encouragingly, disposition decision differed by offender condition, with a substantially higher rate of arrests for the intoxicated offender (i.e., the external condition). Corrigan’s model was initially successful for both offender conditions, but was overall more successful for the mentally disordered condition. Results are discussed within the broader context of police policy, such as crisis intervention training, and identification of officers who could benefit from additional mental health trainings.

No description available.

Du fait de biais dont souffrent les dirigeants d’entreprises lorsqu’ils prennent des décisions d’acquisition, le M&A a une longue tradition de ne pas générer des retours positifs pour les acheteurs. Au travers de 3 essais, notre recherche explore l’impact de récentes évolutions de l’environnement économique et social, incluant 1) le déploiement des normes IFRS, 2) le développement des comités de conseil d’administration ou de surveillance, et 3) la publication de la Loi NRE, sur la performance M&A des acquéreurs en France. Analysant les rendements anormaux générés au moment où une acquisition est faite, nous trouvons que la performance M&A ne s’est pas améliorée, principalement du fait que les principaux changements intervenus ont laissé un important pouvoir discrétionnaire au management mais aussi parce l’adoption de nouvelles pratiques de marché ont pu être intégrées par les investisseurs dans leur évaluation de résultats d’acquisition. Nous trouvons aussi que les stratégies RSE ont un impact négatif. Cependant, nous trouvons que la mise en place de comités de conseil et l’entrée en vigueur de la Loi NRE, qui ont pu conduire à une transparence accrue de l’information, ont eu un impact positif. / Because management suffers from biases when making acquisition decisions, M&A has been having a longstanding reputation for providing acquirers with no or limited returns. Through 3 essays, our research explores the impact of recent evolution in business environment, including 1) the implementation of IFRS regulations, 2) the development of board committees popularized following SOX regulations, and 3) the implementation of the NRE Law, on acquirers’ M&A performance in France. Analyzing abnormal returns generated at the time of an acquisition is made, we find that M&A performance has not overall improved, mainly because most the changes reviewed can be assumed to leave a significant space for managerial discretion but also because new business practices become market standards integrated by investors when valuing acquisition outcomes. We also find CSR strategies to have a negative impact on M&A performance. We however find that the implementation of a board committee and the enforcement of the NRE Law in France, that may lead to more information transparency, have had a positive impact.

No description available.