På vems villkor?
en studie om hur personer utan hem upplever socialtjänsten
HomelessSocial servicesExperienceDisciplinePowerSpace of actionInvolvementMichel FoucaultRational ChoiceHemlösSocialtjänstUpplevelseDisciplinMaktHandlingsutrymmeDelaktighetMichael FoucaultRational choice
The purpose of this paper is to study how people without home experience social services and how they experience their space of action when they meet social services. In order to answer these questions, a qualitative approach has been used. The empirical material consists of five interviews with people who have contact with social services because they are homeless. To support my analysis of the space of action for the persons being interviewed, I?ve used two theoretical perspectives, power analysis by Michel Foucault and Rational Choice. The result shows that the interviewed often feel insulted when they meet social services, that they have little or no involvement and that their space of action is small. According to Michel Foucault, the normalising power of the social services oppresses the clients and the clients in their turn are doing different forms of resistance. According to Rational Choice, interaction between people is based on power, exchange and interest. From the clients point of view the only thing they can exchange to get a place to live is to be submissive. Therefore they don?t have many resources to widen their space of action.