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Socialsekreterares upplevelser av standardisering inom ekonomiskt bistånd - en kvalitativ intervjustudie

Boyajian, Movses LU and Hansen, Melvin LU (2025) SOPB63 20242
School of Social Work
Abstract
Standardization of the public sector in Sweden has noticeably increased in the last three decades. The study aims to examine social workers' experiences of standardization in the work with social assistance from two focus points - experiences of professional practice and professional discretion. The method of the study was qualitative semi-structured interviews involving social workers from two municipalities, one smaller and one larger. A thematic analysis was used for the material and it was analysed by organization theory, particularly the structural perspective to explore the connection between professional practice, discretion, and standardization. The results showed that while standardization can be efficient, it also limits... (More)
Standardization of the public sector in Sweden has noticeably increased in the last three decades. The study aims to examine social workers' experiences of standardization in the work with social assistance from two focus points - experiences of professional practice and professional discretion. The method of the study was qualitative semi-structured interviews involving social workers from two municipalities, one smaller and one larger. A thematic analysis was used for the material and it was analysed by organization theory, particularly the structural perspective to explore the connection between professional practice, discretion, and standardization. The results showed that while standardization can be efficient, it also limits professional discretion to a degree. The participants expressed both challenges and coping strategies for how they balance the standardized guidelines of the organization. Another point was the difference in the size of municipalities, the larger one had more standardized guidelines compared to the smaller one, allowing the smaller one more professional discretion. Overall, the experience of the social workers were appreciative of standardization, as long as they had a comfortable amount of professional discretion. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Boyajian, Movses LU and Hansen, Melvin LU
supervisor
organization
course
SOPB63 20242
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
social assistance, standardization, professional discretion, organization theory, governance
language
Swedish
id
9180723
date added to LUP
2025-01-13 11:51:54
date last changed
2025-01-13 11:51:54
@misc{9180723,
  abstract     = {{Standardization of the public sector in Sweden has noticeably increased in the last three decades. The study aims to examine social workers' experiences of standardization in the work with social assistance from two focus points - experiences of professional practice and professional discretion. The method of the study was qualitative semi-structured interviews involving social workers from two municipalities, one smaller and one larger. A thematic analysis was used for the material and it was analysed by organization theory, particularly the structural perspective to explore the connection between professional practice, discretion, and standardization. The results showed that while standardization can be efficient, it also limits professional discretion to a degree. The participants expressed both challenges and coping strategies for how they balance the standardized guidelines of the organization. Another point was the difference in the size of municipalities, the larger one had more standardized guidelines compared to the smaller one, allowing the smaller one more professional discretion. Overall, the experience of the social workers were appreciative of standardization, as long as they had a comfortable amount of professional discretion.}},
  author       = {{Boyajian, Movses and Hansen, Melvin}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Socialsekreterares upplevelser av standardisering inom ekonomiskt bistånd - en kvalitativ intervjustudie}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}