Biståndshandläggares uppfattning av begreppet skälig levnadsnivå och handlingsutrymme.
En kvalitativ studie.
DiscretionSocial workSocial workerAid officerReasonable standard of livingElderly peopleOlder peopleDilemmasAssistance officerHandlingsutrymmeSocialt arbeteSocialarbetareBiståndshandläggareSkälig levnadsnivåäldre människorDilemman
Our aim of this study is to analyze how the concept of reasonable standard of living is by assistance officers in geriatric care, as well as the impact of their discretion on the assessment. We conducted a qualitative study with the help of interviews. During the collection of the empirical material, we have experienced greater confusion among assistance officers opinion about the concept of reasonable standard of living. We lacked a clear answer to the concept content. The interview subjects' responses did not differ so much, they said, among other things, that the concept is difficult to interpret, fuzzy, or that they do not have a good understanding of it. The legislature has deliberately left a large possibility for interpretation to assisting managers in the assessment of the concept of reasonable standard of living. The legislator's intention was not to achieve that the concept of reasonable standard of living would include a universal solution to all problems, but it would be based on an individual assessment. The result we came to was that some assistance officer felt that they had a wide discretion while others felt that they had a smaller discretion. The joint all assistance officers had was that all had problems around the concept of reasonable standard of living, because there is no clear explanation of the concept.