Generating productive citizens or supporting the weak? Ambivalences and contradictions in working with young welfare recipients

Abstract

Since 1990, the social investment paradigm has been gaining importance within the social policy of Western industrialised countries. Investments are made in human capital to shape productive citizens capable of satisfying the demands of flexible labour markets. This article adopts an ethnographic perspective to analyse the current transformations of everyday practice within the context of the investment paradigm. Investigating such a practice in selected welfare institutions, it focuses on the work done with young adults, a client segment of interest from a social investment perspective already owing to its age. The article explores the techniques and strategies of professional action and discusses their implications for social work, which is active in this field along with other professional groups. The findings presented here show that the action taken by social workers moves between different rationales and is shaped by various ambivalences and force fields.

Seit den 1990er Jahren gewinnt das Sozialinvestitionsparadigma in der Sozialpolitik westlicher, postindustrieller Staaten an Bedeutung. Investiert wird in Humankapital mit dem Ziel, produktive Gesellschaftsmitglieder zu formen, die den Anforderungen flexibilisierter Arbeitsmärkte genügen. Der folgende Beitrag nimmt eine ethnographische Perspektive ein und analysiert die aktuellen Transformationen hin zu einer investiven Orientierung auf der Ebene alltäglicher Praxis. Dabei werden ausgewählte Institutionen der Sozialhilfe—ein Sozialdienst sowie Programme der Arbeitsintegration—in den Blick genommen. Im Zentrum stehen junge Erwachsene, ein Klientensegment, das unter einer sozialinvestiven Perspektive schon aufgrund des Lebensalters von Interesse ist. Der Artikel analysiert Techniken und Strategien professionellen Handelns und kommt zu Aussagen, die in der konkreten Praxis sowie in Forschung und Theoriebildung der Sozialen Arbeit von Bedeutung sind. Es wird gezeigt, wie das Handeln der Sozialarbeitenden im Spannungsfeld zwischen Ökonomie und Traditionen des Helfens verschiedenen Rationalitäten folgt. Professionalität in diesem Feld heisst, diese Ambivalenzen bewusst zu bearbeiten.

Keywords:

• social investments
• social welfare
• young adults
• labour integration

Stichworte:

• Sozialinvestitionen
• Sozialhilfe
• junge Erwachsene
• Arbeitsintegration

Notes on contributor

Gisela Hauss, Ph.D., Professor, School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland. Hauss's research and teaching interests include the history and theory of social work, unemployment, social inequality, gender. She is currently leading the interdisciplinary research cooperation ‘Placing children in Care. Child welfare in Switzerland 1940–1990’, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Notes

1. This article is based on the research project ‘Profitable Investments: Promoting Gender Equality through Social Investment and Activation Measures?’ (Eva Nadai & Gisela Hauss). Conducted within the Swiss National Science Foundation Programme No. 60 on Gender Equality (NFP60), the project investigates social investment practices in the area of unemployment. The project's research fellows are Alan Canonica and Loredana Monte (see http://www.fhnw.ch/ppt/content/prj/s206-0033).

2. For details, see Nadai et al. (2013, pp. 6–9).

3. Inizia was launched in 2007 and marked a pioneering project in German-speaking Switzerland. Other cities followed its example and established welfare programmes aimed specifically at young mothers.

4. A new case steering model was introduced at the social services centre during the period of investigation. Client categorisation and selection hold out the promise of a more purposeful use of the available resources. Allocating fewer resources to client groups with poor prospects helps save and use resources where impacts can be expected (field documents).