Between professional ethics and bureaucratic rationality: the challenging ethical position of social workers who are faced with implementing a workfare policy
Mellom profesjonsetikk og byråkratisk rasjonalitet: Sosialarbeideres utfordrende etiske posisjon ved iverksetting av arbeidslinjen

Abstract

This article is based upon an empirical, qualitative study of social workers implementing the workfare policy in five municipal social welfare offices in Oslo, the capital of Norway. The concern of the study has been to investigate the conditions for the social workers’ practice in this bureaucratic context where clients who apply for social and economic assistance will primarily be motivated to choose work rather than social insurance. Particular tasks and roles for social workers are defined in employment contracts and in job descriptions, but professional judgement and professional discretion are influenced by the individual appropriation of professional values and practices and how these are amalgamated to the individual's personal experiences in the practice of social work. The social worker can exercise authority in a very concrete and clear manner when implementing workfare. The law allows for considerable discretion, but internal rules and policies within municipalities can have a great impact upon the social worker and affect his/her practice. This implies that the normative and ethical values of the profession become imperative. The article focuses on the municipal social welfare offices as gate-keeping institutions and on the ethical position of the social workers in that context.

Artikkelen er basert på en empirisk, kvalitativ studie av sosialarbeidere som implementerer arbeidslinjen på fem sosialkontorer i Oslo. Studiens formål har vært å undersøke sosialarbeidernes handlingsbetingelser i denne byråkratiske kontekst hvor de arbeider med å motivere sosialhjelpsklienter til å velge arbeid fremfor trygd gjennom blant annet å stille vilkår for hjelp. Loven utgjør den formelle ramme og legitimering av sosialarbeidernes virksomhet på dette feltet, men interne regler og policy innen det enkelte sosialkontor har også stor innflytelse på sosialarbeidernes praksis. Dessuten vil innholdet i det profesjonelle arbeidet preges av personlige og profesjonelle verdier og praksiserfaringer hos den enkelte sosialarbeider. Sosialarbeiderne kan utøve autoritet på en konkret måte når de iverksetter arbeidslinjen og derfor blir normative og etiske overveielser viktige. Teoretisk tar studien utgangspunkt i sosialkontorets rolle som avgrensningsinstitusjon og i sosialarbeiderens etiske posisjon i denne sammenheng.

Keywords:

• Social Work
• Workfare
• Professional Ethics
• Ethical Dilemmas
• Implementation of Policy

Keywords:

• Arbeidslinjen
• Profesjonsetikk
• Etiske Dilemmaer
• Sosialarbeiderrollen
• Implementering

Notes

1. In this article the following definition of workfare is used: ‘By “workfare” we mean that participation is compulsory for the claimants; i.e. that there are sanctions attached, that the prime activity is work and that the measure is part of social assistance’ (Dahl, 2003, s. 274).

2. Fairclough defines discourse as a way of speaking that gives meaning to experiences from a particular perspective.

3. The quotations below have been chosen to illustrate typical aspects of the social workers’ practice when they implemented workfare.

4. The model, proposed by Dreyfus and Dreyfus, asserts that professional development has five stages—from novice to expert.