A potential for democratic emancipation? : Policy and discretionary practices in probation service

Abstract

How can offender supervision in the execution of state-sanctioned punishment integrate instances of democratic emancipation and thereby inspire participatory citizenship for disenfranchised clients?
This project balances an interest in social work and its prospects for delivering emancipation through motivational agency, on the one hand, with an attentiveness to recent developments in Scandinavian criminal policy, on the other. In an attempt to “bridge” these interests, the research focuses on offender rehabilitation. The dissertation comprises two empirical parts. Firstly, it presents a document analysis in a Scandinavian context wherein certain developments toward penal populism and managerialism (a managerial turn) in the discourse on offender rehabilitation are identified. The empirical basis for this part are policy documents such as white papers, organizational strategies and political framework agreements. Secondly, it consists of an ethnographically inspired analysis of empirical materials collected during field work in two local Danish probation offices where I took part in the daily routines, incl. supervisory meetings and team exercises, as well as conducting semi-structured interviews with probation officers and their clients. The dissertation is based on a social constructionist perspective and the analyses primarily rely on discourse and discretion theory. The policy documents studied in the first part constitute a distal context for the day-to-day work in the offices. Yet, through the various analyses it is argued that the managerialist tendencies identified in the documents are reflected in the offices and impact the beliefs and practices of the probation officers via the intensive presence of office manuals. These manuals, it is argued, link the distal to the immediate as they micro-manage and streamline not only documentation and case-handling but also the probation officers’ the rehabilitative efforts. It is argued that insofar as these rehabilitative efforts are so comprehensively scripted, the prospect of such efforts facilitating platforms upon which clients may genuinely and sustainably realize their democratic worth and participatory ability is questionable. Consequently, particular interest is paid to subtle instances in which the probation officers’ rehabilitative or emancipatory practices, and the motivations behind them, seem to transgress the manual-based reality of the offices. These transgressive acts are theorized and conceptualized as instances of “democratic emancipation”, as they produce a less scripted situation that allows for genuine participation and greater self-determination. In the offices, democratic emancipation manifests in exceptional social situations in which the probation officers, in their own words, “go out of their way” or “help outside the box”. Yet, these are also elusive situations, not always recognized or intended as such by the probation officers, as they manifest like everyday interactions between client and probation officer where they seamlessly “go off script”. Identifying these situations empirically, describing the ways in which they disrupt the manual-based reality in the offices, as well as theorizing their emancipatory potential, constitute the main findings of this dissertation.

Abstract (Swedish)

Hvordan kan kriminalforsorgens tilsynsarbejde integrere tilfælde af demokratisk emancipation (: frigørelse, selvstændiggørelse) og dermed inspirere til deltagende medborgerskab for marginaliserede klienter?

Dette forskningsprojekt balancerer en interesse i socialt arbejde og dets muligheder for at levere emancipationgennem motivationsarbejde med en opmærksomhed på den senere tids udviklinger i skandinavisk kriminalpolitik. Afhandlingen består således af to empiriske dele. For det første præsenteres en dokumentanalyse i en skandinavisk kontekst, hvor udviklinger mod strafpopulisme og managerialisme i diskursen om resocialisering af kriminelle lovovertrædere identificeres. Den empiriske basis for denne del omfatter politiske dokumenter som rammeaftaler samt organisationsstrategier og programbeskrivelser. For det andet består den af en etnografisk inspireret analyse af empirisk materiale indsamlet under feltarbejde på to lokale afdelinger i den danske Kriminalforsorg i Frihed (KiF), hvor jeg deltog i daglige rutiner, herunder tilsynsmøder og teamøvelser, samt gennemførte semistrukturerede interviews med ansatte socialrådgivere og deres klienter.

Afhandlingen er baseret på et socialkonstruktionistisk perspektiv, og i analyserne anvendes primært diskursteori og teori om professionelt skøn.

Den etnografiske analyse viser, at den policy, der blev undersøgt i den første del af afhandlingen, udgør enperifer og ved første øjekast ubetydelig kontekst for det daglige arbejde på kontorerne. Alligevel argumenteres der for, at de managerialistiske tendenser, der er identificeret i policyen, alligevel påvirker socialrådgivernes praksis via håndbøger, der i modsætning til de overgribende policy-dokumenter, er afgørende elementer i socialrådgivernes professionelle hverdag. Disse håndbøger forbinder den perifere policy-diskurs med livet på kontorerne, idet de detailstyrer og effektiviserer ikke blot dokumentations- og sagsbehandlingspraksis, men også socialrådgivernes rehabiliteringsindsatser. I analysen diskuteres hvorvidt den detailstyrede praksis, der udføres inden for den ramme, der sættes af manualerne, kan danne basis for, at klienter kan realisere deres demokratiske værdi og deltagelsesevne på en troværdig måde. Som følge heraf lægges der i analysen særlig vægt på flygtige situationer, hvor socialrådgivernes resocialiserende indsats og de motiver, der ligger bag, synes at overskride den ramme, som manualerne definerer. Disse skønsbetingede handlinger teoretiseres og konceptualiseres som tilfælde af “demokratisk emancipation”, da de skaber en mindre prædefineret virkelighed, der muliggør større grad af deltagelse og større selvbestemmelse for begge parter i den resocialiserende interaktionen. På kontorerne manifesteres demokratisk emancipation i exceptionelle sociale situationer, hvor socialrådgiverne, med deres egne ord, “gør noget ud over det forventede” eller “hjælper ud afboksen”.

Men disse aktiviteter er ikke altid anerkendt eller tilsigtede som overskridende handlinger af socialrådgiverne, da de ofte formes i dagligdagsinteraktion mellem klient og socialrådgiver. At identificere disse situationer empirisk, beskrive måderne, hvorpå de overskrider den rammesatte praksis, samt at teoretisere deres emancipatoriske potentiale, udgør derfor hovedresultaterne af denne afhandling.

• author: Storgaard, Asbjørn
• supervisor: Susanna Johansson; Kerstin Svensson
• opponent: Professor Carr, Nicola, University of Nottingham
• organization: Professions and Organisation; School of Social Work; LU Profile Area: Human rights
• alternative title: Et potentiale for demokratisk emancipation? : Policy og skønsbetinget praksis in kriminalforsorgen
• publishing date: 2023-09
• type: Thesis
• publication status: published
• subject: Social Sciences; Social Work
• keywords: probation service, offender supervision, emancipation, social work, managerial turn, kriminalforsorg, tilsyn med dømte klienter, emancipation, socialt arbejde, managerial turn
• in: Lund Dissertations in Social Work
• volume: 69
• edition: 1
• pages: 358 pages
• defense location: G:a köket 128, Allhelgona kyrkogatan 8, Lund
• defense date: 2023-10-27 10:15:00
• ISSN: 1650-3872
• ISBN: 978-91-89604-76-6
• ISBN: 978-91-89604-76-6
• project: A potential for democratic emancipation? Policy and discretionary practices in probation service
• language: English
• LU publication?: yes
• id: e885139d-d9e0-45a5-b10c-1da84dd87aec
• date added to LUP: 2023-09-21 13:24:22
• date last changed: 2024-02-08 08:55:44