Handlingsutrymme i handläggningen av försörjningsstöd : En studie av socialsekreterares erfarenheter

This C-level essay investigates Swedish social workers’ perceptions of their scope for handling clients’ applications and helping them become financially self-sustaining. Qualitative interviews (n=6) were carried out with social workers from two municipal social care offices in Stockholm. The results, analysed by empowerment theory, showed that social workers from the first office experienced limited resources to empower their clients due to a heavy work load and unclear guidelines, while the social workers from the other office perceived less restricted latitudes and well defined guidelines. A majority of the social workers perceived that the key strategy to help making the clients financially autonomous was to motivate them. This motivation stemmed from the client’s perceived possibilities to get an attractive employment in relation to the labour market situation, unemployment rate, social background, household situation, education, language skills, individual goalsetting, and age. The conclusion based on the result is that less restricted latitudes and well defined guidelines increase the social workers’ possibilities to empower the clients to become financially autonomous