<p>The purpose of this essay was to examine municipal guidelines regarding the administration of the social assistance, collected from 18 municipalities in the Stockholm-area to achieve a greater understanding on how they were constructed in respect to the legislation and how the language mediated their contents. The legal aspects of the social assistance was studied through a jurisprudential method in which the legislative history, texts of laws and case laws were examined. The empirical aspect of this essay was studied through a hermeneutical method and analyzed through theories of social constructionism and legal pluralism. The results from the jurisprudential study were also used to understand how the municipal guidelines were constructed in relation to the law. The results of this essay corresponded well with previous studies in this field where considerable divergences in the approval of social assistance have been established. The guidelines allow a local adjustment of the social work stated in the Social service act, on the basis of local priorities and conditions. Our findings showed that the guidelines related to the law in varying degrees, to some extent depending on the stringency of the language used in them. We found expressions that were sometimes vague, normative and restrictive regarding the approval of social assistance. The results were discussed in respect to rule of law and the legal content of the guidelines.</p>

The purpose of this essay was to examine municipal guidelines regarding the administration of the social assistance, collected from 18 municipalities in the Stockholm-area to achieve a greater understanding on how they were constructed in respect to the legislation and how the language mediated their contents. The legal aspects of the social assistance was studied through a jurisprudential method in which the legislative history, texts of laws and case laws were examined. The empirical aspect of this essay was studied through a hermeneutical method and analyzed through theories of social constructionism and legal pluralism. The results from the jurisprudential study were also used to understand how the municipal guidelines were constructed in relation to the law. The results of this essay corresponded well with previous studies in this field where considerable divergences in the approval of social assistance have been established. The guidelines allow a local adjustment of the social work stated in the Social service act, on the basis of local priorities and conditions. Our findings showed that the guidelines related to the law in varying degrees, to some extent depending on the stringency of the language used in them. We found expressions that were sometimes vague, normative and restrictive regarding the approval of social assistance. The results were discussed in respect to rule of law and the legal content of the guidelines.