A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Social workers’ perceptions of the causes of poverty in the Nordic countries
Authors: Blomberg Helena, Kroll Christian, Kallio Johanna, Erola Jani
Publisher: Sage Journals
Publication year: 2013
Journal: Journal of European Social Policy
Journal name in source: JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN SOCIAL POLICY
Journal acronym: J EUR SOC POLICY
Article number: 4
Number in series: 1
Volume: 23
Issue: 1
First page : 68
Last page: 82
Number of pages: 15
ISSN: 0958-9287
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928712456575(external)
Abstract
Street-level bureaucrats have been given an increasing role in the implementation of policies aimed at the poor. The article analyses: (1) how social workers in the Nordic countries explain the causes of poverty and whether there are variations between countries in social workers’ perceptions; and (2) the nature of the impact, if any, of various individual- and municipal-level factors on social workers’ perceptions of the causes of poverty. Survey data gathered from social workers in four countries are analysed and combined with data from the municipalities in which the respondents work. The results illustrate that social workers display a surprisingly large variation in perceptions: there are differences between countries and also differences related to individual-level factors, while municipality-level factors do not appear to influence the perceptions of social workers in an obvious way.
Street-level bureaucrats have been given an increasing role in the implementation of policies aimed at the poor. The article analyses: (1) how social workers in the Nordic countries explain the causes of poverty and whether there are variations between countries in social workers’ perceptions; and (2) the nature of the impact, if any, of various individual- and municipal-level factors on social workers’ perceptions of the causes of poverty. Survey data gathered from social workers in four countries are analysed and combined with data from the municipalities in which the respondents work. The results illustrate that social workers display a surprisingly large variation in perceptions: there are differences between countries and also differences related to individual-level factors, while municipality-level factors do not appear to influence the perceptions of social workers in an obvious way.
UTU Research Portal