Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Reproducing or Counteracting Inequality: Challenges in Social Work with homeless/ness

Carlsson Stylianides, Kristina LU (2023) Social Work in Changing Times
Abstract
Social work with homeless/ness in Sweden is usually performed by social services in local municipalities highly dependent on local, non-state actors, especially landlords’ goodwill, to cooperate with social services and support vulnerable peoples’ housing. The social services dependency on such actors is challenging and exploitation by landlords can affect the actual organization of social services as they might incorporate, rather than counteract, inequality. Tilly's “categorical inequality” is used analytically to highlight how social services handle external pressures from landlords in an ongoing process of implementing Housing First (HF). Building on interviews and data collected 2019-2022, results show that negotiations across social... (More)
Social work with homeless/ness in Sweden is usually performed by social services in local municipalities highly dependent on local, non-state actors, especially landlords’ goodwill, to cooperate with social services and support vulnerable peoples’ housing. The social services dependency on such actors is challenging and exploitation by landlords can affect the actual organization of social services as they might incorporate, rather than counteract, inequality. Tilly's “categorical inequality” is used analytically to highlight how social services handle external pressures from landlords in an ongoing process of implementing Housing First (HF). Building on interviews and data collected 2019-2022, results show that negotiations across social services organizational borders are critical for the organization of social work. It shows how inequality may manifest in different organizational layers once incorporated into the social services organization, by example mapping organizational inertia. Inequal categories and the effect of such are reproduced in layers of the organization during an implementation process and counteract the implementation of HF. The hope is that this knowledge will enhance the understanding of organizational inertia as well as work as a backdrop to develop strategies to resist incorporating and reproducing inequality. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
conference name
Social Work in Changing Times
conference location
Bodö, Norway
conference dates
2023-06-14 - 2023-06-16
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1d70b3b1-a8e4-4260-8baf-52e26f0de462
alternative location
https://az659834.vo.msecnd.net/eventsairwesteuprod/production-atlanticmice-public/a1fcfacb6e7f46ef966cbb4a65c96bfe
date added to LUP
2023-06-20 16:21:40
date last changed
2023-06-26 11:59:43
@misc{1d70b3b1-a8e4-4260-8baf-52e26f0de462,
  abstract     = {{Social work with homeless/ness in Sweden is usually performed by social services in local municipalities highly dependent on local, non-state actors, especially landlords’ goodwill, to cooperate with social services and support vulnerable peoples’ housing. The social services dependency on such actors is challenging and exploitation by landlords can affect the actual organization of social services as they might incorporate, rather than counteract, inequality. Tilly's “categorical inequality” is used analytically to highlight how social services handle external pressures from landlords in an ongoing process of implementing Housing First (HF). Building on interviews and data collected 2019-2022, results show that negotiations across social services organizational borders are critical for the organization of social work. It shows how inequality may manifest in different organizational layers once incorporated into the social services organization, by example mapping organizational inertia. Inequal categories and the effect of such are reproduced in layers of the organization during an implementation process and counteract the implementation of HF. The hope is that this knowledge will enhance the understanding of organizational inertia as well as work as a backdrop to develop strategies to resist incorporating and reproducing inequality.}},
  author       = {{Carlsson Stylianides, Kristina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  title        = {{Reproducing or Counteracting Inequality: Challenges in Social Work with homeless/ness}},
  url          = {{https://az659834.vo.msecnd.net/eventsairwesteuprod/production-atlanticmice-public/a1fcfacb6e7f46ef966cbb4a65c96bfe}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}