Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur biståndshandläggare upplever sitt handlingsutrymme i relation till deras konkreta arbetsuppgifter, individuella bedömningar samt deras möjlighet att tillgodose klienternas behov relaterat till de ramar som sätts av lag och organisationen de verkar inom, samt deras möjlighet att använda sina teoretiska kunskaper i dessa uppgifter. Vidare syftar studien till att undersöka hur biståndshandläggarna upplever de etiska dilemman som kan uppstå i deras arbete relaterat till detta. För uppfylla studiens syfte har en kvalitativ ansats tillämpats med intervjuer som huvudsaklig metod, samt med Michael Lipskys teori gällande gräsrotsbyråkrati och teorin om handlingsutrymme som en teoretisk grund. Resultaten av studien påvisar att biståndshandläggare upplever att de i de flesta fall kan tillgodose klientens behov, men att detta dock kan komma att ske på bekostnad av deras personliga etos. Vidare visar resultatet även att biståndshandläggarna uppskattar, samt ofta använder sig utav, lokala riktlinjer vid behovsbedömningar men att det även finns en efterfrågan på förtydligande av dessa samt nationella riktlinjer som ett stöd i arbetet. Gällande hur biståndshandläggarna upplever användandet utav sin teoretiska kunskap framkom det att – för att de skall uppleva att denna tillämpas till fullo – menar biståndshandläggarna att det även krävs en praktisk kunskap som kommer från arbetet, och att dessa kunskaper i kombination kan hjälpa biståndshandläggarna att öka sitt handlingsutrymme. Slutligen visar studien att etiska dilemman är mycket vanliga i arbetet, vilket är vanligt för gräsrotsbyråkrater. Detta leder till att biståndshandläggarna kan utveckla strategier för att hantera dessa inre konflikter som kan uppstå, såsom likgiltighet eller känslomässig frånkoppling. / The aim of this study is to explore how aid administrators experience their autonomy related to their assignments, individual assessments and their ability to meet the needs of their clients in regard to the framework of the law and their organization, as well as their ability to use their theoretical knowledge in these tasks. Furthermore, the study aims to explore how the aid administrators experience the ethical dilemmas that can emerge in their work related to this. To fulfill the purpose of this study, a qualitative approach has been used with interviews as the main method, and with Michael Lipsky’s theory about street-level bureaucracy, and theories about autonomy as a theoretical base. The results of this study show that the aid administrators experience that they in most cases are able to meet the needs of their clients, although this sometimes come at the cost of their personal ethics. Furthermore, the result show that the aid administrators appreciate and often use their guidelines when assessing the client’s needs, although clarifications and nationwide guidelines as an aid are requested. In regard to how the aid administrators experience the use of their theoretical knowledge, the study shows that – in order to fully use the theoretical knowledge – the aid administrator needs further knowledge in form of a practical know-how, and that together the combined knowledge can help the aid administrator fully take use of their autonomy. Last of all the study shows that ethical dilemmas between personal and professional ethics are very common in the aid administrators work, as is common among street-level bureaucrats. This results in aid administrators developing strategies to cope with the internal conflicts that can arise, such as indifference or emotional detachment.

I Sverige använder socialtjänsten lagar för att tillgodose olika levnadsstandarder till olika grupper av människor. Aktuell studie har syftat till att undersöka hur biståndshandläggare resonerar kring begreppet skälig levnadsnivå och hur det används i praktiken inom äldreomsorgen. En kvalitativ studie har utförts där åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med biståndshandläggare från tre olika kommuner i Sverige. En vinjett med ett fiktivt ärende har även använts för att undersöka om det finns olikheter i bedömningar mellan biståndshandläggare. Utifrån den insamlade empirin så har en tematisk analys genomförts och fyra teman har presenterats i resultatdelen. Dessa teman är vad är skälig levnadsnivå?, god vs skälig levnadsnivå, handlingsutrymme och olikheter i bedömning. Resultatet visar att det finns olikheter i bedömningar och att begreppet skälig levnadsnivå är ett abstrakt begrepp som har ett stort tolkningsutrymme. Parallellt visar studiens resultat att majoriteten av biståndshandläggare upplever sitt handlingsutrymme en lagom nivå. En diskussion förs mellan vikten av att ha handlingsutrymme och ett rättssäkert samhälle där alla behandlas lika av myndigheter. Slutsatsen visar att det är en svår balansgång och att det krävs mer forskning inom ämnet. Resultatet har analyserats med hjälp av tidigare forskning och Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater samt Maslows behovspyramid. / In Sweden the social services use different laws to meet different living standards for different groups of people. The current study has aimed to investigate how social workers in elderly care reason about the concept of a reasonable standard of living and how it is used in practice. A qualitative study was conducted in which eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with social workers in the elderly care unit from three different municipalities in Sweden. A vignette has also been used to investigate whether there are differences in assessments between social workers. Based on the collected empirical data, a thematic analysis has been carried out and four themes have been presented in the results section. These themes are what is a reasonable standard of living?, good vs reasonable standard of living, room for maneuver and differences in assessment. The results show that there are differences in assessments and that the concept of a reasonable standard of living is an abstract concept that has a large scope for interpretation. In parallel, the results of the study show that the majority of development assistance officers feel that their room for maneuver is at a reasonable level. A discussion is held between the importance of having room for maneuver and a law-abiding society where everyone is treated equally by the authorities. The conclusion shows that it is a difficult balancing act and that more research is required in the subject. The results have been analyzed with the help of previous research and Lipsky's theory of grassroot bureaucrats and Maslow's pyramid of needs.

I svenska skolan har lärare ett uppdrag att arbeta förebyggande mot “våldsbejakande” extremism. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur lärare ser på sin roll att arbeta med detta samt hur de menar att deras arbetssituation påverkar deras möjlighet att bemöta extrema åsikter hos elever. Empirin utgörs av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med gymnasielärare från Stockholmsområdet. Dessa har sedan analyserats utifrån Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater som diskuterar lärares arbetssituation, vilken kännetecknas av balans mellan kontroll och frihet (Lipsky 2010). Studiens resultat visar att lärarna upplever det svårt att bemöta extrema åsikter på grund av otydliga direktiv från organisation samt otillräckliga resurser bland annat i form av tidsbrist. De försöker återta kontrollen genom att exempelvis förenkla arbetsuppgifter och hänvisa arbetsuppgifter vidare till en annan instans. Lärarna arbetar utifrån en ambition att bemöta extrema åsikter genom respektfulla samtal. Detta misslyckades dock stundtals, då lärarna upplever brist på tid och verktyg i kombination med krav att hantera extrema åsikter från organisationen. Detta resulterar i att lärarna låter bli att bemöta åsikter alternativt att lärarna, trots ambitionen att bemöta genom samtal, tillgriper tillsägningar och uppfostrande metoder. Lärares arbetssituation har således stor påverkan på deras möjlighet att arbeta mot “våldsbejakande” extremism hos elever. / Teachers in Sweden have an obligation by law to prevent violent extremism. This study aims to examine how teachers experience their work in violent extremism prevention. Our study serves as a window to an understanding of how teachers’ work situation affects their ability to prevent students’ expressing extreme opinions. The empirical data from six interviews with sixth form teachers has been analysed through the lens of Lipsky’s theory on street-level bureaucrats (2010). Street-level bureaucrats are workers such as nurses, police officers and teachers - teachers being the focus of this study. Their work is characterised by a degree of discretion in their power to exercise control over the services they provide to recipients such as students (ibid). The study has mainly shown that teachers experience difficulties managing students’ extreme opinions due to inadequate resources and vague organisational expectations. In order to retake control teachers tend to develop patterns of simplifications in their work duties and referring responsibilities to others. Despite the teachers’ ambition to tackle extreme opinions through respectful conversation, they sometimes fail due to a lack of resources such as time and support, resorting to reprimands. Thus, the teachers role as a street-level bureaucrat has a high impact on their ability to work with violent extremism prevention.

In my thesis I deal with the integration of health and social services. I introduced the issue of two/double departmental service management and their financing, there. In addition, I described the various actors involved in the integration of services, mentioned strategic documents and legislation related to the provision of health and social care. In the case study, I mapped the health and social services provided in Louny, through street-level bureaucrats I gained information about the interconnection of services in Louny and about the factors that affect the implementation of integration of services in the town. For successful implementation of integration, it is necessary to specify the users of integrated health and social services, to create a home base for them, to provide a flexible range of services and at the same time to support the informally caring families. The lack of demand for integrated services is linked to other factors such as ignorance of citizens and low participation in caring for close relatives. Street.level bureaucrats in health and social services do not know the integration of services, they do not encounter it in practice, this factor has an impact on the motivation of street-level bureaucrats to make changes in the provision of care. An important factor is also the...

This study has the aim to understand how social workers experience the documentation in relation to their freedom of action in childcare investigations. We also used a moral and work ethic perspective in our analysis. Former research show that social workers feel a lack of time for client relation, heavy workload and different ideas about how to customize their documentation, so it suits with the client and the individual social worker. The study is based on six individual interviews with social workers working in children social services. The main results show that the social workers are driven by their sense of wanting to do the right thing for the children, but a lot of time are spent on documentation. The freedom of action among the social workers in our study is depending on how they use their professional license to balance documentation and client work.

Little is known about the prevalence of substance use and abuse among individuals with intellectual disabilities. However, studies show that individuals with intellectual disabilities are at greater risk of developing substance abuse problems. Furthermore, traditional drug abuse treatment programs may be insufficient in order to tackle the individual needs of the users with intellectual disabilities. This study focuses on addiction counsellors, and aims to give insight into how they experience their work with individuals who are suffering from intellectual disabilities and substance abuse. In this study, qualitative interviews were conducted with five counsellors from two different municipal organizations. Subsequently, the analysis of the results has been categorized thematically, supported by Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucrats and Polanyi’s notion of tacit knowledge. The results suggest that the professionals are experiencing several challenges in their work with the target group. The lack of knowledge and insufficient national guidelines regarding the work with the target group, in combination with treatment methods that are not adapted to the needs and the abilities of people with intellectual disabilities, leave the professionals in a situation where their experiences and tacit knowledge is used to design and conduct the target group’s treatment.

Syftet med studien var att se i vilken utsträckning mellantvånget tillämpades i Sverige och om det fanns några samband gällande tillämpning, kunskap och/eller ställningstagande kring mellantvånget. Studien utgår från en kvantitativ metod genom en webbenkät som besvarades av 109 socialsekreterare. Den insamlade data analyserades utifrån teorin om gräsrotsbyråkrater. Resultatet visade att majoriteten av socialsekreterarna aldrig hade tillämpat mellantvånget. Det erhölls signifikanta samband gällande socialsekreterarnas tillämpning, kunskap och ställningstagande kring mellantvånget. Socialsekreterarna hade bristfällig kunskap om mellantvånget och ett önskat behov om ett förändrat mellantvång, vilket gav en indikation på varför det tillämpades i den utsträckning det gör. Tidigare forskning belyste vikten av tidiga insatser i form av mellantvånget för att tillgodose barnets rättigheter och förebygga att de far illa. / The aim of this study was to analyze how frequent coercive measures were applied in Sweden and if there were any connections regarding practice, knowledge and/or their standpoint. A quantitative method was used with a web survey which 109 social workers answered. The collected data was analyzed based on the theory of street-level bureaucrats. The result showed that the majority of the social workers never had applied coercive measures. There were significant connections regarding the social workers application, knowledge or their standpoint regarding coercive measures. The social worker's knowledge of coercive measures was inadequate and indicated that they desired to increase it. That gave an indication of why it is applied to the extent that it does. Previous research illuminated that early action is needed to cater the child’s rights and prevent them from getting hurt.

Vårt huvudsyfte med denna studie var att öka kunskapen om hur socialsekreterare förhåller sigtill barnperspektivet i sitt arbete med ekonomiskt bistånd. Vi undersökte hur socialsekreterarnaupplevde det nuvarande arbetet, samt hur de önskade att arbeta med barnperspektivet. Studienvar en kvalitativ intervjustudie där empirin grundade sig på sju respondenter, vilka alla varverksamma inom ekonomiskt bistånd som socialsekreterare. För att bearbeta och analysera detinsamlade materialet gjordes en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Vi har analyserat empirin med stödav Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater och handlingsutrymme. Resultatet visade på attbedömningar utifrån, och beaktande av barnperspektivet skedde på olika sätt och i olika storutsträckning av socialsekreterarna. På flera av respondenternas arbetsplatser fanns det enavsaknad av kunskap i tillämpningen av barnperspektivet. Det uttrycktes, utifrån avsaknad avkunskap kring tillämpningen, ett önskemål om att utöka den. Resultatet visade också på attrespondenterna sällan hade någon direktkontakt med barnen, vilket bekräftade den tidigareforskningen. Därmed framkom ett behov av ett utökat underlag och forskning kring hur man påbästa möjliga sätt bör arbeta med barnperspektivet inom ekonomiskt bistånd i Sverige. / The aim of this study was to contribute to the knowledge of how social workers approach thechild’s perspective in their work with financial aid. We investigated how the social workersexperienced the current ways of work, and how they wished to work, with the child’sperspective. The study was a qualitative interview study where the empirical data was based onseven respondents, which all were operating within financial aid as social workers. To processand analyze the gathered material a qualitative content analysis was done. The data wasanalyzed with the support of Lipsky's theory about street-level bureaucrats and discretion. Theresults showed that the social workers made assessments from, and took consideration of, thechild perspective in different ways. In several of the respondent’s workplaces, there was a lackof knowledge in the application of the child’s perspective, which many of the social workersexpressed a desire to expand their knowledge about. The results also showed that therespondents rarely had any direct contact with the children, which confirms previous research.The conclusion of the study was therefore that there was a need for an expanded basis andresearch on the best possible way of working regarding the child’s perspective in financial aidin Sweden.

Between 2001 and 2017, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) received 295,616 allegations of police misconduct involving New York Police Department (NYPD) officers' use of force, abuse of authority, discourtesy, and offensive language (FADO). The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of administrative disciplinary actions on officers' emotional intelligence and performance in relation to citizen complaints of police misconduct. The central research question addressed how administrative practices influence law enforcement officers' behavior in relation to emotional intelligence-based performance. The theoretical construct for this study is based on the emotional intelligence theories of Bar-On, Goleman, and Mayer, DiPaolo and Salovey which suggest that individuals, including police officers, are responsible for their emotional intelligence and conduct. A qualitative analysis of citizen allegations of police misconduct of the NYPD was conducted using documents from the CCRB and Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD. Each complaint was evaluated using a thematic-based analysis. The findings suggested that the NYPD's low disciplinary rate might have influenced FADO behavior, revealing patterns and practices of racial, ethnic, and social stereotyping, and a lack of compliance with department policies. Recommendations include officer and administrator training on emotional intelligence practices and restructuring department policy processes which can lead to positive social change by helping law enforcement agencies engender trust with their communities and eliminate patterns and practices related to social bias, profiling, and racial stereotyping.

Denna studie undersöker vilka faktorer som påverkar yrkesprofessioners anmälningsbenägenhet vid misstanke om att ett barn far illa. Studien undersöker även hur statistiken ser ut gällande barnmisshandel samt i vilken utsträckning orosanmälningar leder till åtal och påföljder för förövaren. Studiens empiri sträcker sig från år 1990 till 2021 och utgår endast utifrån Brottsförebyggande rådets publicerade rapporter. En kvalitativ textanalys har använts vid bearbetningen av studiens empiriska material. Vid analysen av det empiriska materialet har Michael Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrati och alienation används som ett teoretiskt ramverk för att skapa en djupare förståelse och förklaring av de sociala fenomen som Brottsförebyggande rådets publikationer presenterade. Syftet med studien var att belysa vilka faktorer som påverkar yrkesprofessioner i valet att anmäla barnmisshandel eller inte. Med hjälp av Lipskys teori framgick det hur yrkesprofessioners anmälningsbenägenhet i vårt land påverkas av de faktorer som enligt Lipsky kännetecknar gräsrotsbyråkratens arbetssituation. Utifrån Lipskys teori går det att urskilja att valet att anmäla barnmisshandel eller inte görs utifrån flera faktorer såsom tidsbrist, kunskapsbrist och bristande vägledning från chef och verksamhet. Med hjälp av Lipskys begrepp alienation blev konsekvenserna av yrkesprofessioners alienerade arbete synliga, där bland annat åsikter och fördomar om andra myndigheter resulterade i informationshinder och en minskad anmälningsbenägenhet. / This study examines the factors that affect professionals propensity to report suspected child abuse. The study also examines what the statistics look like regarding child abuse and the extent to which reports of regarding child abuse lead to prosecution and sanctions for the perpetrator. This empirical study extends from year 1990 to 2021 and is based solely on the Swedish crime prevention council's published reports. A qualitative text analysis has been used in the processing of the study's empirical material. In the analysis of the empirical material, Michael Lipsky's theory of street-level bureaucracy and alienation has been used as a theoretical framework to create a deeper understanding and explanation of the social phenomena presented by the Swedish crime prevention council's publications. The purpose of the study was to shed light on the factors that affect professions in the choice to report child abuse or not. With the help of Lipsky's theory, it became clear how the propensity of professionals in our country to report is affected by the factors that, according to Lipsky, characterize the street-level bureaucrat's work situation. Based on Lipsky's theory, it is possible to distinguish that the choice to report child abuse or not is made on the basis of several factors such as lack of time, lack of knowledge and lack of guidance from the manager and operations. With the help of Lipsky's concept of alienation, the consequences of the professionals alienated work became visible, where, among other things, opinions and prejudices about other authorities resulted in information barriers and a reduced propensity to report.Keywords: alienation, barriers to information, child abuse, propensity to report, reports of unrest, street-level bureaucra