The aim of this study is to examine how social workers in municipal authorities and NGOs experience their discretion and if there are any areas of development, in social work with youths and adults who are exposed to prostitution or human trafficking for sexual purposes. The study's aim and the questions at issue were answered through eight semi-structured interviews with female social workers in two municipalities in mid-Sweden. The study includes Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of human development (1979) and Lipskys (1980) concept about street-level bureaucrats. The result shows that all social workers are experiencing that they’ve discretion in their work. A majority experience their discretion as free, because they make assessments and decisions on their own. The majority experience that external factors as workplace climate, colleagues, guidelines, routines, norms, views in society or laws does not delimitate their discretion and all social workers claim that social workers’ knowledge is inadequate. The majority also claims that knowledge is inadequate in society. Other areas of development are resources such as staff, sheltered housing for men and housing for women with active drug abuse. An increased priority of the target group in organisations is also an expressed development area, to strengthen the work around the target group. / Studien syftar till att undersöka hur socialarbetare inom kommunala myndigheter och frivilligorganisationer upplever deras handlingsutrymme och vilka utvecklingsområden som finns i det sociala arbetet med ungdomar och vuxna som är utsatta i prostitution eller människohandel för sexuella ändamål. Studiens syfte och frågeställningar besvarades genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med kvinnliga socialarbetare i två kommuner i Mellansverige. Den teoretiska referensramen i studien består av Bronfenbrenners utvecklingsekologiska systemteori (1979) samt Lipskys (1980) begrepp gällande gräsrotsbyråkrater. Resultatet visar att samtliga socialarbetare upplever att de har ett stort handlingsutrymme i arbetet med målgruppen. Majoriteten av socialarbetarna upplever att handlingsutrymmet i arbetet är fritt då de gör egna bedömningar och beslutar på egen hand. Majoriteten upplever även att handlingsutrymmet inte begränsas av yttre faktorer såsom klimat på arbetsplatsen, kollegor, riktlinjer, rutiner, normer, värderingar i samhället eller lagar. I resultatet framkommer även att samtliga socialarbetare hävdar att kunskapen är bristfällig hos socialarbetare och majoriteten upplever att den även är bristfällig i samhället. Socialarbetarna beskriver även andra utvecklingsområden som resursbrist i form av personal, skyddade boenden för män, boenden för kvinnor i aktivt missbruk, samt en ökad prioritet inom organisationerna för att ha möjlighet att stärka arbetet kring målgruppen.

This dissertation examines the role of military officers as policy implementers by investigating the discretion of Swedish force commanders in the multinational military campaign in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2013. By developing an analytical framework that takes both an outside-in and an inside-out perspective, and that encompasses both the objective implications that structural factors project on force commanders as well as their subjective perceptions of those structural factors, and applying that framework to a range of official documents as well as unique interview data, the thesis describes the discretion that force commanders have had in interpreting, choosing and shaping their mission and concept of operations. The findings show that Swedish force commanders in the Afghanistan campaign have had considerable discretion in interpreting and framing the principal’s overarching mission, the mission of their own force, as well as their force’s concept of operations. Their discretion can be understood as a combination of structurally induced freedom to make choices, the force commanders’ perceptions of that freedom and their inclination to use it. Circumstances regarding structural factors such as duality of command, passive authority of superiors, non-specific tasks and ambiguous implications of allocated resources has created this discretion and rendered force commanders disproportionately influential in the policy implementation process. Although this influence can be regarded as a manifestation of modern management ideals such as Auftragstaktik and mission command in the military, or management by objectives in government and business, it can also be regarded as a downwards passing of the buck where strategic implementation decisions trickle down to the level of force commanders in the field, making them “strategic colonels”.

A fiscalização financeira quanto à legitimidade tem fundamento constitucional expresso no art. 70 da CF de 1988. A sindicância da legitimidade cometida aos órgãos de controle interno e ao controle externo franqueia a possibilidade de verificar a correção material da atividade financeira do Estado. Todavia, essa atribuição constitucional não deixa de revelar alguma dificuldade aos órgãos de controle na medida em que dá condições para que se possa analisar o mérito das escolhas discricionárias. Assim, é preciso compatibilizar a fiscalização quanto à legitimidade com a preservação da discricionariedade, uma vez que não se admitem ingerências de um Poder sobre o outro. Ocorre que o sistema de controle é arquitetado de modo a garantir o exercício das faculdades discricionárias. Mediante controle externo, o Parlamento leva a efeito um controle dilatado e fluido garantindo a liberdade quanto às decisões políticas globais. O Tribunal de Contas, por sua vez, debruça-se sobre a gestão administrativa constatando e coibindo qualquer vício quanto ao uso equivocado da discricionariedade. Já o controle interno da legitimidade não apresenta maiores problemas, pois nesse caso a Administração fiscaliza a si mesma, inexistindo ingerências indevidas. / The financial control regarding the legitimacy is founded expressed in article 70 of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988. The inspection of legitimacy committed to the agencies of internal control and external control allows the possibility of verifying the substantial correctness of the public finances. However, this constitutional assignment causes some difficulties to control agencies in that it allows to examine the discretionary choices. Thus, it is necessary to reconcile the control of legitimacy with the preservation discretion, since it is not allowed the interference of a Power over the other. In fact, what happens is that the control system is architected to ensure the exercise of discretions. Through the external control, the Parliament carries out a less rigid control, ensuring freedom regarding the choices of political decisions. The County Court, in turn, focuses on the administrative action checking and preventing any defect on the mistaken exercise of discretion. Already the internal control of legitimacy presents no major problems, because in this case the Administration inspects herself, there is no undue interference.

Esta dissertação de mestrado se propõe a analisar a discricionariedade nos processos decisórios das Agências Reguladoras e, em especial, da ANATEL, em um contexto de transformações na relação Estado - sociedade civil, no qual se evidencia espaço alargado de atuação estatal na mediação ativa de interesses legítimos. A ampliação dos bordes da discricionariedade administrativa propicia, na mesma proporção, o aumento do risco de cometimento de arbitrariedades pelas autoridades públicas e, especificamente, pelo regulador setorial. O regulado apresenta-se, assim, em condição de hiposuficiência com relação ao regulador. A casuística da ANATEL evidencia a inexistência de parâmetros concretos e objetivos que possibilitem o acompanhamento do processo formativo de suas decisões regulatórias discricionárias e a sua eventual confrontação pelos interessados e pelos órgãos de fiscalização, especialmente, pelo Poder Judiciário. Temos a convicção de que a discricionariedade nos processos decisórios declaratórios das Agências Reguladoras, no âmbito do exercício da mediação ativa de interesses legítimos contrapostos, não é incondicionada e ilimitada, está subsumida à ordem jurídica. Da mesma forma, acreditamos que as escolhas administrativas (e regulatórias) devem ser previsíveis e passíveis de amplo e objetivo controle pelos interessados e pelo Poder Judiciário. Estas afirmações, entretanto, quando provadas no âmbito do controle judicial das decisões regulatórias discricionárias não podem ser aferidas, caso a caso. Isso porque, ainda, se propugna por um núcleo do ato administrativo insindicável (mérito) e pela preponderância, indistintamente, das decisões das Agências Reguladoras com relação às decisões judiciais, em razão de sua tecnicidade. A definição, pois, de parâmetros concretos e objetivos para o acompanhamento da formação das decisões regulatórias discricionárias e para a sua confrontação judicial contribuem para identificar e inibir eventuais arbitrariedades do regulador e fortalecer a atuação da ANATEL e o seu controle pelos interessados e pelo Poder Judiciário. Com esta finalidade, ao final deste trabalho, propomos os seguintes parâmetros objetivos: (i) a vinculação aos precedentes da ANATEL; (ii) a motivação positiva e negativa de todos os atos do processo decisório; (iii) a transparência do processo decisório; e (iv) a efetividade e o prognóstico da efetividade das decisões regulatórias discricionárias. / This essay intends to analyze the discretionary in the decision making processes of regulatory agencies and, in particular, ANATEL, in a context of changes in the relationship between state and civil society, in which it shows enlarged area of state action in the active mediation of interests legitimate. The expansion of the administrative discretion edges provides, in the same proportion, the increased the risk of committing arbitrary acts by public authorities and, specifically, the regulator. The regulated is presented thus in a weakness position with respect to the regulator. The precedents of ANATEL demonstrates that do not exist concretes and objectives parameters that allow the monitoring of the formation process of their discretionary regulatory decisions and their possible confrontation by the parties and the control entities, especially by the judiciary. We are convinced that the discretion in decision making processes of regulatory agencies, in the exercise of active mediation of legitimate interests opposed, is not unconditional and unlimited, is under law. Likewise, we believe that the administrative choices (and regulatory) should be predictable and subject to extensive and objective control by the parties and the judiciary. These statements, however, when tested in the context of judicial review of discretionary regulatory decisions can not be measured in each case. This is because, part of the administrative doctrine argue that remains a core of the administrative act which is not under control by the judiciary and the preponderance, indistinctly, the decisions of regulatory agencies with respect to judicial decisions, due to your technicality. The definition, therefore, concrete and objective parameters for monitoring the formation of discretionary regulatory decisions and for their judicial confrontation help to identify and inhibit possible arbitrariness of the regulator and strengthen the activities of ANATEL and its control by the parties and the judiciary. To this end, we propose the following objective parameters: (i) the binding precedents of ANATEL (ii) positive and negative motivation of all acts of decision making, (iii) the transparency of decision making; and (iv) the effectiveness and prognosis of the effectiveness of discretionary regulatory decisions.

Previous research has found significant effects of gender, race, and age on sentencing decisions made by state and local court judges (e.g. Johnson, 2003; Mustard, 2001; Steffensmeier, Ulmer, & Kramer, 1998). The current study used criminal district court data from two counties in western North Carolina to further research of the effects of the aforementioned variables on sentencing. Using knowledge acquired from past studies, the hypotheses for the current study asserted that younger offenders, male offenders, and nonwhite offenders would be more likely to be found guilty of their offense and receive fines than their respective offender counterparts. The results of the binary regression analysis models did not support many of the proposed hypotheses; however, significant relationships unsupervised probation, supervised probation, and active time were found with defendants who used privately retained counsel. Implications are discussed, as well as limitations and research recommendations for the future.

The objective of this study is to examine the implementation of the first Chinese anti-domestic violence law at street-level in three cities located in central China. This study aims to document these street-level workers’ experiences with domestic violence, particularly the efforts they have made against domestic violence, as well as the challenges they face in their daily work. Sixteen qualitative interviews were conducted with nineteen street-level bureaucrats who work in judicial functionary (civil court), law enforcement (police), All-China Women’s Federation and residents’ committees (mass organizations). The results are analyzed with the theory of bottom-up implementation (Lipsky, 2010; Matland, 1995) and street-level bureaucracy (Erasmus, 2015). The study found that most Chinese street-level bureaucrats commonly believe that the first Chinese Anti-DV is characterized by ambiguity of goal and ambiguity of mean. Such vagueness causes frustrations, confusions and conflicts among these workers. Additionally, based on their experiences these street-level bureaucrats reflect that they do have some degree of discretion, but they are constantly under the pressure and limitation of time, resource and heavy workload. All these factors tend to indicate that the implementation of the first Anti-DV law in China still has a very long way to go. However, the result also show that the Chinese street-level bureaucrats are working diligently to ensure the successful implementation of China’s first anti-domestic law, while actively coping with the challenges mentioned previously and developing their own ways to cease the violence. / MFS

Although police generally exercise wide discretionary powers across most of their duties, it is with respect to young people that these powers are the most extensive. Both sociological and psychological factors influence the use of police discretionary powers. There are said to be strong relationships between authoritarianism, for example, and justice outcomes. Other measures, such as cynicism and punitiveness, have been observed to be influential predictors of police behaviour. Extending the work on jury decision-making, along with other police research, the present research examines use of police discretionary powers with young offenders. Sworn police officers from two jurisdictions, New Zealand and New South Wales, responded to written surveys about their past and intended future behaviour surrounding four crimes most commonly conducted by young offenders. In all, over 500 officers took part in the studies. Further, participants responded to a battery of personality and attitude questionnaires, along with questions about situational variables normally taken into consideration by officers. Results show that police behaviour towards the same offending varies greatly, both within and across jurisdictions. New Zealand police officers were much more likely than New South Wales police officers to report that they diverted, rather than arrested, young offenders who had committed shoplifting and burglary offences. However, when responding to scenarios of underage drinking and assault, it was New South Wales police who were more likely to divert young offenders. There were very few significant relationships between attitudes and behaviour when examining either group, with significant results possibly being a side effect of large sample sizes. Further there were few significant relationships when considering demographic or situational variables. However, in an exploration of police personality, through cluster analysis, evidence was found for different 'typologies', or resonances, of police. The results indicate that police are not an homogenous group. In addition, quite complex relationships between measures of police behaviour and individual difference were found within the resonances, with effect sizes showing moderate results. The findings support the need to investigate further personality typologies and extend them to the examination of attitude-behaviour relationships. In addition, research into the use of an attitudinal measure, such as discretionary ideology, as an alternative to measuring behaviour could be expanded. Moreover, broadening of the research into additional areas of the juvenile justice systems, such as legal representatives, magistrates, and youth detention centre officers, would provide further insight into the appropriate use of discretion within juvenile justice for both minor offending and more serious offending. / thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2004.

The current policy in New South Wales of referring to its law enforcement body as Police without reference to the word "force", is testimony to the re-emergence of the concept of community policing. This study deals with this phenomenon and the concept of discretion, which allows police to take action according to the dictates of a given situation rather than always act within the strict letter of the law. While the power of discretion should be used lawfully and ethically, political, legal and social acceptance of such an approach allows a more flexible strategy for coping with issues associated with deviant behaviour and social injustice. Therefore, the study present a holistic approach to a curriculum for police recruits. It deals with the linking of "reactive" and "proactive" policing strategies by means of discretion and in so doing enhances the police officer's ability to make a reasoned judgement in choosing between a number of alternatives according to the dictates of the situation. The proposed curriculum takes account of new policing strategies, students' needs and career aspirations, modem technology, effective teaching methods and the need for recruit training to be attuned to dynamic changes in social needs and demands. The study also emphasises the need for further research into the role of field training officers and the integration of field training with academy education as a vital component in the preparation of a police officer for the complex role ahead.

<p>The overarching aim of this dissertation is to study divergences in assessments of social assistance in Swedish social welfare offices. ‘Assessments’ here refers to whether applications for social assistance are granted or not, as well as the size of subsidies. Another aim with the dissertation is to explore whether differences in assessments have changed over time. A primary focus in this study is the importance of elements of changing character, e.g. varying organizational and individual conditions. Among these elements, the main focus is on the relation between organizational factors and professional discretion among social workers.</p><p>Primary data used for the study has been assembled among social workers (n=121) in eleven municipalities in the northern Stockholm area. The main section of the questionnaire used for assembling data consists of six vignettes, each describing a different situation. Data is supplemented with secondary material that derives from a similar study conducted in 1994.</p><p>Overall, findings show considerable divergences in the way social workers make their assessments. Some of the divergences are explained by different organizational conditions, e.g. varying levels of specialization and size of caseloads. Individual factors, such as sex, age and varying professional characteristics, e.g. work experience, influence the assessments only to a limited degree, while attitudes among social workers play a larger role. The study also indicates a substantial decrease in generosity over time. This might to some extent be explained by changed and elaborated set of regulations in the sphere of social assistance. Further, the individual divergences in assessments have increased over time. A plausible interpretation of the results is that an increasing number of regulations combined with professional discretion, entails a larger scope for social workers’ opinions and individual screening among rules.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>Essay in political science, C-level, by Line Säll, spring semester 2007.</p><p>Tutor: Susan Marton.</p><p>”To do things by the rule of law -A study in the discretion of front-line bureaucrats”</p><p>This essay has it´s starting-point in the theoretical problem of social science to unite democracy and bureaucracy. The purpose is to illustrate the problems with the discretion of front-line bureaucrats in a democratic state. The theoretical approach is front-line bureaucracy-theory. Certain characteristics of the work of street-level bureaucrats makes it impossible to severly reduce discretion. The thesis is that the public policy in important ways is made in the offices of street-level bureaucrats because of their discretion. My research question is: How does front-line bureaucrats, at an employment exchange office in Sweden, interpret their discretion? The discretion is investigated in relation to the marginalised position of immigrants on the swedish labor-market, and in the perspective of that the swedish population is getting more and more heterogeneous. The essay is an qualitative interview study, as front-line bureaucrats at an employment exchange office has been interviewed. My findings is that the front-line bureaucrats interpret their discretion as quite limited. The limits is mostly seen in relation to the rules of the organisation, the bureaucrats orientation towards the organisation over the client and to the ideal of the rule of law.</p>