<p>This thesis is a case study that examines what political decisions have been taken and how these policies have been implemented. Further this thesis discusses how legitimacy of local policy makers and implementors is affected. The subject studied have been the social service of Jönköping municipality and the intervention of safe-housing aimed at women who have been, or are subject to violence by person close to them. In our study we have examined local policy within the territory of the intervention and how this policy is implemented. A qualitative method with semi-structured interviews was used in combination with quantitative methods to examine protocols from the social welfare board and an action program named <em>"Skydd och stöd för misshandlade kvinnor och deras barn” [Protection and support for abused women and their children].</em></p><p>The purpose of this study has been to highlight how the social services implemented the local policy of safe-house accommodation in Jönköping municipality from the legitimacy and discretion perspectives. Theoretical concepts used in the study is legitimacy, discretion and implementation. To analyze our data we use the street-level bureaucracy theory (Lipsky 1980). Our survey showed that the intervention safe-house accommodation was not mainly governed by local policy, instead, it was directed by street-level bureaucracy.</p>

This thesis is a case study that examines what political decisions have been taken and how these policies have been implemented. Further this thesis discusses how legitimacy of local policy makers and implementors is affected. The subject studied have been the social service of Jönköping municipality and the intervention of safe-housing aimed at women who have been, or are subject to violence by person close to them. In our study we have examined local policy within the territory of the intervention and how this policy is implemented. A qualitative method with semi-structured interviews was used in combination with quantitative methods to examine protocols from the social welfare board and an action program named "Skydd och stöd för misshandlade kvinnor och deras barn” [Protection and support for abused women and their children]. The purpose of this study has been to highlight how the social services implemented the local policy of safe-house accommodation in Jönköping municipality from the legitimacy and discretion perspectives. Theoretical concepts used in the study is legitimacy, discretion and implementation. To analyze our data we use the street-level bureaucracy theory (Lipsky 1980). Our survey showed that the intervention safe-house accommodation was not mainly governed by local policy, instead, it was directed by street-level bureaucracy.