Converging on Institutional Logics: The Expansion of Syringe Service Programs in a Midwest State

ABSTRACT

Institutional logics are theoretical constructs that describe how organizations and other actors make sense of, and organize their everyday practices. This paper describes how syringe service programs (SSPs) have incorporated disparate institutional logics in efforts to meet the needs of a stigmatized population. SSPs are a type of human service organization that allows intravenous drug users (IDUs) to obtain unused needles, stemming the spread of bloodborne infections. Using qualitative interviews with 26 SSP employees at 22 SSP programs in a Midwestern US state, we reveal how these individuals understand how their organizations adapt to different logics (community, state, and professional) during changes in the field. We use Skelcher and Smith’s (2015) types of organizational hybridity to describe how SSPs incorporate different institutional logics into their work. Implications for understanding what happens at the organizational and field level as external pressures shape organizational activity and logic adoption are discussed.

Practice Points

• Human services organizations (HSOs) in fields undergoing professionalization can maintain adherence to their initial focus on community while adopting key components of state and professional logics.

• HSO employees are often aware of the tensions between the needs of their service users and those of funders and professional leaders – whether organizations are able to reconcile competing interests may depend on the agency and choice of individual actors.

• Policy makers and other government representatives should continue to learn from nonprofit and mutual aid groups in order to ensure that new organizations can foster connection to the community as external demands and pressures change.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editors of Human Service Organizations, and the two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and timely feedback which substantially strengthened the manuscript. Funding was provided by Oakland University’s University Research Council summer grant. We would like to thank the participants in the study who gratefully provided their time for a lengthy interview. We would like to thank participants at the ARNOVA and SSWR conferences, who provided valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Oakland University .