I spänningsfältet mellan kontroll och stöd
en kvalitativ studie om hur socialsekreterare kan uppleva sin yrkesroll
Social workerProfessional roleRole conflictStreet-level bureaucratDiscretionSocialsekreterareYrkesrollRollkonfliktGräsrotsbyråkratHandlingsutrymme
This is a qualitative study based on two focus group interviews with a total of six social workers who work with assessing financial aid in two municipalities. The study aims to examine how the social workers experience and handle their ambiguous professional role, on the basis that they are expected to support and control the client. The theoretical framework is the theory about discretion and role theory. The results show that social workers find it difficult to combine these different approaches. Two different groups of strategies that social workers use to manage their professional role have been distinguished, the first is used to combine the different approaches (combination strategies), which are: empathy, to be distinct and to "blame" the organization. The second is used to manage the professional role (managing strategies) and are: support of work colleagues, support of manager, "squareness" and distance.