On the changing frontline of welfare delivery: views on social assistance recipients among Finnish frontline workers



: Blomberg H, Kroll C, Kallio J

Publisher: POLICY PRESS

: 2018

: Journal of Poverty and Social Justice

: JOURNAL OF POVERTY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

: J POVERTY SOC JUSTIC

: 26

: 2

: 263

: 280

: 18

: 1759-8273

: 1759-8281

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/175982718X15232796966637


Frontline workers often use discretion when implementing rules. Thus, their own views can be expected to influence client treatment and decisions. We investigate how different groups of frontline workers, with different degrees and types of professional training and within different institutional settings, perceive social assistance and social assistance recipients, focusing on workers' (N=2124) views on overuse, laziness, shame and underuse. The results from the Finnish case investigated, where social assistance has recently been transferred from the municipal social services to a national social security institution, highlight the complex interplay between policy goals, institutional logics and the group of frontline workers.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 19:58