Framing Standardization : Implementing a Quality Management System in Relation to Social Work Professionalism in the Social Services

This article describes and analyzes how standardization is framed and adapted in relation to social work professionalism, by investigating how a regulation on quality management systems is implemented in a Swedish social service organization. A decoupling between department and unit frames enables the organization to fulfill objectives of organizational professionalism and external legitimacy while professionals can participate in the formulation of procedural standards relating to an occupational professionalism. Tensions are delegated to street-level. An implication is the possibility for managers and professionals to adapt standards to a professional practice, although this may undermine the uniformity of standards