Performance management is prevalent in public organizations and public services, but the push for performance may harm genuine accountability. One critical reason for this is that little knowledge has developed about the scope and effect of actual accountability requirements in the public management field. This dissertation furthers our understanding of accountability and performance by distinguishing them as different dimensions of public management. Building on this distinction, the effect of accountability (A) on performance (P) and accountability management’s (M) mediating role in the relationship between accountability and performance were investigated empirically in child welfare services in Virginia. The study had two stages: interviews and a survey. The qualitative content analysis of the interviews provides several noteworthy findings. Accountability can be understood more with the terms: explanation, expectation, people/society, action/decision, and values. Conversely, performance can be considered more in line with the terms: productivity/outcome, timely work, team playing, learning, and strategy. The incompatible characteristics found between accountability and performance highlight problems behind performance-driven accountability. The survey portion of the study, built upon the interview data, also presents notable findings. (1) Accountability affects performance both directly and indirectly, and (2) accountability management matters in the relationship between accountability and performance. While the empirical literature on the A → P link focuses on the effects of competing accountability requirements, my study examines dimensions of the accountability requirements’ impact. Formal (e.g., legal) as well as informal (e.g., ethical) accountability requirements are critical for ensuring higher performance. Compliance strategies implicitly connect informal accountability requirements with work performance. The findings support the study’s argument that accountability should be stressed for better performance and highlight the need for the careful design of accountability mechanisms in social services. Ultimately, this study may serve as a foundation for future efforts to establish more appropriate accountability and performance arrangements. / Ph. D.

Syftet med studien är att bidra till ökad kunskap kring implementering av lagen om omställningsstudiestöd (SFS 2022:856). I studien särskiljs implementeringsobjekt och implementeringsprocess i syfte att undersöka huruvida implementeringsobjektets egenskaper främjar eller hämmar implementeringsprocessen. Kvalitativa intervjuer har genomförts med rådgivare, även kallade frontbyråkrater, inom svenska omställningsorganisationer som arbetar med omställningsstudiestödet. Vid analysen av det empiriska materialet används Vedungs (2016) påverkansfaktorer i implementeringsprocesser i kombination med Lundquists (1992) tre förutsättningar för lyckade implementeringar. Studiens resultat visar att en central del av lagen om omställningsstudiestöd är svårtolkad på grund av att den är otydligt formulerad. Otydligheten ligger i avvägningen mellan individens behov och arbetsmarknadens behov. Implementeringsprocessen tycks dock inte hämmas av otydligheten. Studien bidrar med ökad förståelse för faktorer som påverkar implementering av nationell policy. Denna kunskap är relevant för alla yrkesgrupper som i sitt arbete har att förhålla sig till nya lagar, förordningar och föreskrifter. Vidare bidrar studien med sex förslag till framtida forskning inom det aktuella området. / The purpose of the study is to contribute to increased knowledge regarding the implementation of the law on omställningsstudiestöd (SFS 2022:856). In the study, implementation object and implementation process are distinguished to investigate whether the characteristics of the implementation object promote or inhibit the implementation process. Qualitative interviews have been conducted with advisors, also called street-level bureaucrats, within Swedish transition organizations that work with omställningsstudiestödet. In the analysis of the empirical material, a combination of Vedung's (2016) influencing factors in implementation processes and Lundquist's (1992) three prerequisites for successful implementations are used. The study's results show that a central part of the law on omställningsstudiestöd is difficult to interpret because it is unclearly worded. The ambiguity lies in the balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the labor market. However, the implementation process does not seem to be hampered by the lack of clarity. The study contributes with increased understanding of factors that influence the implementation of national policy. This knowledge is relevant for all professional groups that in their work must deal with new laws, ordinances and regulations. Furthermore, the study contributes six proposals for further research in the relevant area.

SammanfattningSyftet med det här examensarbetet är att undersöka hur lärare och specialpedagoger på gymnasiet uppfattar att reformen av det pedagogiska stödet som infördes i skollagen den 1 juli 2014 fungerar, samt vad som påverkar genomförandet av politiska ideal och reformer i praktiken.Intervjuer med specialpedagoger, enkätsvar från lärare, studier av forskning om inkludering, policy och praktik utgör en mixed methods-ansats. Metodvalet syftar till att bredda underlaget för analysen och förståelsen av en mångfasetterad verklighet och verksamhet.Resultatet av undersökningen tyder på att alla elever på gymnasiet inte får det stöd de enligt skollagen har rätt till. Det visar också att reformen, tvärtemot sitt uttalade syfte, har ökat lärarnas dokumentations- och arbetsbörda. Slutligen blir det tydligt att olika dilemman och konflikter kan uppstå när ideal ska förverkligas, att en omtolkning av de politiska direktiven görs på flera nivåer i det byråkratiska systemet och i klassrumspraktiken – och att de många politiska direktiv som skolan utsatts för under senare år inte alltid har den effekt beslutsfattarna hoppas eftersom de delar ut fler påbud än resurser att efterleva dem. Slutsatsen är att makthavarna i framtiden borde basera reformer på vetenskaplig grund och i dialog med dem som arbetar och går i skolan, samt att lärarna borde ta sitt ansvar som demokratins väktare och protestera mot att de inte ges förutsättningar att tillmötesgå elevernas behov och tillvarata deras rättigheter.Nyckelord: Dilemmaperspektiv, extra anpassningar, inkludering, kategoriskt perspektiv, relationellt perspektiv, resurser, segregering, street level bureaucracy, särskilt stöd.

Målet är att öka kunskapen om hur specialpedagoger kan agera och reagera i sina olika yrkesroller vid möten med olika uppdrag. Denna intervjustudie omfattar fem specialpedagogers möte med fem utvalda uppdrag och dess uppdragsbeskrivningar. De utvalda uppdragen är; Dokumentationsuppdraget, Läroplansuppdraget, Inkluderingsuppdraget, Yrkesuppdraget (speciallärare/specialpedagog) och Elevhälsouppdraget. Specialpedagogernas möten med ovanstående uppdrag är tolkade ur ett gatubyråkratiskt perspektiv, enligt Lipsky´s teori om street-level-bureaucrats. Enligt denna teori betraktas anställda inom offentlig verksamhet som gatubyråkrater, således räknas specialpedagoger som gatubyråkrater (men benämns som specialpedagoger i studien). Fokus i studien är på specialpedagogernas grad av handlingsutrymme och deras identifiering av förbättrings- respektive försämringsfaktorer i de olika uppdragen och vilka yrkesroller specialpedagogerna intar gällande de olika uppdragen. Resultatet visar i korthet att:Dokumentationsuppdraget – upplevs som en förbättringsfaktor och medför ett stort handlingsutrymme, vilket specialpedagogerna själva tagit på sig aktivt och medvetet i sina yrkesroller.Läroplansuppdraget – upplevs enligt specialpedagogerna av eleverna som försämrande men av lärarna som förbättrande. Handlingsutrymmet upplevs som litet i mötet med uppdraget.Inkluderingsuppdraget – upplevs vara starkt beroende av den egna verksamhetens lednings inställning till begreppet. Finns det ett stort handlingsutrymme för specialpedagogerna i samspel med elev/hem/lärare ses uppdraget som förbättrande men diametralt motsatt om handlingsutrymmet är litet.Yrkesuppdraget (speciallärare/specialpedagog) – upplevs som irrelevant då samtliga intervjuade specialpedagoger anser att skolans behov bör avgöra uppdraget – inte yrkesdefinitionen. Stort handlingsutrymme om skolans behov får avgöra och anses då som förbättrande. Litet handlingsutrymme om yrkena hålls för strikt åtskilda eller enbart ena yrkesgruppen finns representerad vilket kan leda till en försämring av den mindre flexibla verksamheten.Elevhälsouppdrag – upplevs som en icke-fråga då samtliga specialpedagoger alltid varit självklara medlemmar däri. Handlingsutrymmets storlek är beroende av elevhälsans organisation och dess mötesstruktur. En försämringsgrad finns inte gällande denna fråga, utan bara olika grader av förbättring.

For the past decade, Sweden has been reinforced as a multicultural society, and immigrant integration policy has been a hotly debated topic. During the election campaigns in 2022, preschool was an important political issue, the government arguing that early interventions can be the key to the successful integration of immigrants. Subsequent amendments to the Education Act, which entered into force on 1 July 2023, require all municipalities to actively promote increased participation in preschool by means of different methods. The municipalities must provide information to parents and legal guardians and offer preschool enrollment to children who need learning Swedish, without the parents or legal guardians applying for it. The outreach activities are aimed at children who are not currently enrolled in preschool but who are entitled to be. The purpose of the present thesis is to investigate the experiences among preschool staff of the requirement to take active measures to offer preschool enrollment to the children of foreign-born parents. Through a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews and a street level bureaucrats theoretical perspective, the study has focused on two municipalities which have charged preschool staff with the aforementioned task. With the analytical terms street level bureaucrats and discretion, it has been possible to investigate how the policy is implemented and how the preschool staff feels about being a fellow human being as well as an agent for a government authority. The results of the study indicate a consensus among preschool staff that they understand the purpose of, and need for, active measures, and their good intentions and ambitions are visible, despite being insufficiently prepared for the task by their employers.

The covid-19 pandemic had a big impact on the whole world, and a great deal of research was directed at the subject. Earlier research has foremost been directed at the covid-19 pandemic as a crisis, the management of the crisis and vaccinations. The effects of the pandemic, primarily from the perspective of street-level bureaucrats, is a relatively unexplored subject. The discretion of street-level bureaucrats in healthcare in the district of Kalmar is explored in this paper, together with the question and explanation of if and how the discretion has changed. The problems are mostly focused on how the changes are experienced in the post-pandemic timeline, how the discretion is affected and what might be the cause to the changes in discretion. The problems are studied based on Lipsky´s theory of street-level bureaucrats with the support from Jönsson´s theory of discretion. The theories have also been used for the development of the interview questions, that in turn have been used to collect the empirical data for this study. Semi structured interviews were used to collect the empirical data in physical interviews with doctors and nurses who work in district Kalmar. The result of the interviews has since been analyzed with qualitative text analysis with the support of the aforementioned theories. The result and the analysis showed a change in the cornerstones of the street-level bureaucrats’ framework according to Jönsson´s theory. The changes in district Kalmar during the pandemic can still be seen in the post-pandemic timeline in several ways. Therefore, a change in the street-level bureaucrats’ discretion can be seen and explained. Street-level bureaucrats have had an increase in knowledge and developed coping mechanisms, simplifications, and routines for the before uncertain situations, which in turn have resulted in a more comfortable street-level bureaucrat with changed discretion. Further research may show how these changes and effects can be seen in the future and other districts, which can contribute to the scientific gap that this study has shown about the remaining effects in the post-pandemic timeline.

Tahe starting point of this study is to investigate how the school organizationally works as an institution to counteract problematic school absence. The school is a large part of society as well as an institution that shapes the citizens, at the same time as the schools have a mission to promote the individual´s progression and learning. The schools function to benefit society as well individuals with their personal development make the school a complex organization. The school's organization includes many different areas and it’s therefore difficult to examine in this individual study. We have therefore chosen to focus on the school staff´s work with problematic school absence. The theoretical ground this study is based on is called 'street level bureaucracy'. This theory describes the school staff’s labor from within an organization while having direct contact with members of the general public. The Swedish analogy of this term is gräsrotsbyråkrati. The material that will be used consists of existing literature on the subject as well as interviews conducted with school staff in which they provide their experience of how the organization works with students' problematic school absence. Through the school staff’s experience, we can get a deeper insight into schools organizational structures. The study's conclusion is that school staff need to have a greater influence in the organization's management. Furthermore this study concludes that school staff in general have a much higher need to influence the creation of government documents than they currently have. This need for more influence stems from the fact that they themselves have to carry out these policies on a daily basis and therefore have the necessary expertise on the subject.

This dissertation explores frontline nurses' perceptions of peer support in fostering emotional, professional, and organizational support and commitment in different contexts. This study draws together scholarship on street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) and formal and informal training in nursing to build on research demonstrating that internal organizational elements such as formal training and informal peer interaction continuously develop SLBs' professional and organizational personalities. Also, research traditions on SLBs regard peer interaction as policy implementation using "service styles" to build stronger ties with peers to solve problems and better respond to the needs of citizens and communities. Despite the prominent role peers play in scholarly research on SLBs, few empirical studies have contextualized the meaning of peer support in different settings to examine how it affects professional meaning and organizational commitment in a specific industry. This dissertation expands on the findings of several studies that demonstrate that peer relatedness is an important component of frontline work. The distinctive contribution of this dissertation is using narrative analysis to collect and analyze stories of firsthand experiences told by personal narratives from mental health, military, and emergency nurses in public hospitals to thoroughly compare the perception of informal or formal peer support influence and highlight its evaluative aspects across different settings. This dissertation contributes to the street-level bureaucracy theory by providing empirical evidence in contextualizing peer support as a catalyst for emotional support and a buffer for organizational uncertainty in various emotionally charged healthcare settings. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation focuses on the narratives of frontline nurses in mental health, military, and emergency settings to highlight the impact of peer support on nurses' emotional well-being, as well as professional development, fulfillment, and commitment in diverse healthcare environments. This study illuminates how formal (preceptorship) and informal (mentorship) training or peer support shape nurses' professional identities, engagement, and commitment. Despite the acknowledged importance of peer support in public administration scholarly discourse, few studies have explored its nuanced significance across different healthcare settings. This dissertation addresses this gap by employing narrative analysis to examine narratives from mental health, military, and emergency nurses in public hospitals. By comparing informal and formal peer support perceptions of these different types of nurses, this study explores the realities of frontline healthcare delivery, including the emotional toll and systemic challenges they face, personal development lessons learned, and dynamics surrounding co-supporting quality care through peer support. Subsequently, this study highlights the critical role of peer support in developing and enhancing the psychological drivers — autonomy, mastery, purposefulness — and social drivers — supportive workplace, sense of belonging, and psychological safety— of nurses, thereby fostering a supportive environment and enhancing their competency and the quality and safety of patient care.

Since 2007, about 300 unaccompanied children have annually disappeared in Sweden. This study investigates whether authorities are aware of the problem and how they look at risks, responsibilities and causes of disappearance of unaccompanied children. This is done through a combination of text analyzes of relevant reports as well as qualitative interviews of selected social service professionals and the National Method support against prostitution and human trafficking. The empirical findings have been analyzed with the help of Michael Lipsky’s (2010) Street-Level Bureaucracy theory and Carol Bacchi’s (2009) what’s the problem represented to be – approach. There seem to be a mixed awareness amongst those who are dealing with the problem that unaccompanied refugees disappear. There seems to be, however, a national goal as well as a local interest, to improve the preventive work against the problem that unaccompanied refugee children disappear. Yet the results show that other aspects and participants are to be considered for an extensive understanding of the problem.

Cette recherche porte sur la politique d’asile en Suisse, appréhendée sous l’angle de la force du droit et de sa production sociale. Elle part du constat d’une inflation normative et d’une sophistication du droit, consécutives à de nombreuses révisions législatives et à une importante judiciarisation depuis l’entrée en vigueur de la loi sur l’asile en 1981. Cette thèse s’appuie sur une enquête ethnographique menée sur plusieurs terrains auprès du Secrétariat d’Etat aux Migrations et de services d’aide juridique aux migrants. Elle analyse, d’une part, les effets de la sophistication du droit sur les pratiques des acteurs de terrain et, d’autre part, les effets de ces pratiques sur le droit. In fine, elle montre que le droit et la politique d’asile sont produits par les pratiques de l’administration en interaction avec celles de la défense juridique des migrants qui les conteste et du Tribunal administratif fédéral qui juge les recours en matière d’asile. / This research analyzes the Swiss asylum policy, focusing on the force of the law and on its social production. The study starts from the observation of an increase of the rules regulating asylum and of the sophistication of law. These latter are related to the numerous legislative revisions and to an important judicialization since the enforcement of the Swiss Asylum Act in 1981. This thesis is based on an ethnographic research combining fieldwork in the State Secretariat for Migrations and in legal defense organizations in different Swiss cantons. The author analyzes, on the one hand, the effects of the sophistication of law on the practices of the street-level actors (administration, lawyers and organizations of the legal defense of the asylum seekers) and, on the other hand, the effects of theses practices on law. Finally, the thesis shows that asylum law and policy are produced by the practices of the administration in interaction with those of the legal defense of asylum seekers opposing administrative decisions, and of the Federal Administrative Court judging asylum appeals.