The Underestimated Work with Financial Aid : A Literature Study on Statushierarchy within Social Work

Through the assistance of a literature study, the purpose of this degree project is to investigate if a hierarchical status order within social work exists and where the work with financial aid and its employees are located in this status hierarchy. Another goal is to compile knowledge around if the status has the opportunity to develop. A part of the literature has shown a clear lack of knowledge regarding the work with financial aid which causes prejudice about the employees and how they carry out their tasks. This ignorance may be due to the lack of research in the field which underestimates the services in financial assistance and instead prioritizes other forms of social work therefore contributes to the low status. The central queries of this project are to examine firstly the adding factors to the subordinate status of the social worker and the organization in terms of work with financial aid, secondly to investigate how the work itself is viewed by outsiders such as politicians, other social workers, the general population including media and lastly to inspect if there are any possibilities of increasing the current status. The main results of this report that have been found identify four main factors such as workload, external prestige, mobility and clientele, which contribute to the organization's status and have an impact on how individual social workers experience the low occupational status. Finally, the researchers demonstrate some proposals on how status can be raised with the help of actual job descriptions, investment in resources and greater differences in educational levels that also aim at further education for the role of executive