Moralens väktare - Kvalitativ studie om socialsekreterares uppfattningar om deras moraliska uppdrag
(2021) SOPA63 20211School of Social Work
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Morality and morally charged decision-making is a fundamental part of work conducted in any human service organization. Social workers employed in these organizations are tasked with evaluating whether their clients are eligible for social assistance. This evaluation process is tied to the client’s moral behavior, social condition and economic situation. While the laws and guidelines regulating the social welfare system are tethered to an ever-changing moral landscape.
The purpose of our study was to examine social workers' perception of the role of moral aspects in their work. Furthermore, the study aimed to critically examine morality in conjunction with the following organizational and administrative concepts; legitimacy, the... (More) - Morality and morally charged decision-making is a fundamental part of work conducted in any human service organization. Social workers employed in these organizations are tasked with evaluating whether their clients are eligible for social assistance. This evaluation process is tied to the client’s moral behavior, social condition and economic situation. While the laws and guidelines regulating the social welfare system are tethered to an ever-changing moral landscape.
The purpose of our study was to examine social workers' perception of the role of moral aspects in their work. Furthermore, the study aimed to critically examine morality in conjunction with the following organizational and administrative concepts; legitimacy, the exercise of power, governance and professional discretion. The method chosen for this study was semi-structured interviews with six professional social workers in the city of Malmö administering social assistance and benefits. Our analysis of the results involved applying neo-institutional theory and Weber’s legal-bureaucracy model, in order to illustrate how social workers perceive their use of moral judgement in the decision-making process. We also inquired about the role of morality when it comes to the exercise of power and how professional discretion is affected by moral aspects. We used this specific theoretical framework in combination with Weber’s ideal typical model as analytical tools to understand these processes. The study highlighted how laws, guidelines and governance as well as ideas, tradition and institutionalized behaviour affect the social worker in the decision making process. We also found evidence that social workers are engaged in a constant moral struggle with internal and external circumstances trying to directly and indirectly influence their role. Lastly, a number of theinterviewees expressed a state of moral distress due to organisational pressure - relating to their heavy workload and restricted area of discretion. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9052635
- author
- Ahrenstedt, Johan LU and Nieminen, Kalle Johan Ilmari LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- The guardians of morality - A qualitative study of social workers’ perceptions of their moral mission.
- course
- SOPA63 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- morality legitimacy, the exercise of power, professional discretion, governance, moral distress, social worker, social assistance
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9052635
- date added to LUP
- 2021-06-14 09:09:03
- date last changed
- 2021-06-14 09:09:03
@misc{9052635,
abstract = {{Morality and morally charged decision-making is a fundamental part of work conducted in any human service organization. Social workers employed in these organizations are tasked with evaluating whether their clients are eligible for social assistance. This evaluation process is tied to the client’s moral behavior, social condition and economic situation. While the laws and guidelines regulating the social welfare system are tethered to an ever-changing moral landscape.
The purpose of our study was to examine social workers' perception of the role of moral aspects in their work. Furthermore, the study aimed to critically examine morality in conjunction with the following organizational and administrative concepts; legitimacy, the exercise of power, governance and professional discretion. The method chosen for this study was semi-structured interviews with six professional social workers in the city of Malmö administering social assistance and benefits. Our analysis of the results involved applying neo-institutional theory and Weber’s legal-bureaucracy model, in order to illustrate how social workers perceive their use of moral judgement in the decision-making process. We also inquired about the role of morality when it comes to the exercise of power and how professional discretion is affected by moral aspects. We used this specific theoretical framework in combination with Weber’s ideal typical model as analytical tools to understand these processes. The study highlighted how laws, guidelines and governance as well as ideas, tradition and institutionalized behaviour affect the social worker in the decision making process. We also found evidence that social workers are engaged in a constant moral struggle with internal and external circumstances trying to directly and indirectly influence their role. Lastly, a number of theinterviewees expressed a state of moral distress due to organisational pressure - relating to their heavy workload and restricted area of discretion.}},
author = {{Ahrenstedt, Johan and Nieminen, Kalle Johan Ilmari}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Moralens väktare - Kvalitativ studie om socialsekreterares uppfattningar om deras moraliska uppdrag}},
year = {{2021}},
}