Social assistance deservingness in Sweden. Multidimensional patterns and ethnicity bias in social workers’ opinions and assessments

Research problem and specific questions: Social workers (SW) administrating social assistance (SA) act with far-reaching individual discretion.

Although previous research indicates that SW’s opinions might exert influence over their assessments, the literature on the subject is scarce, especially in the Swedish context.

This project addresses the question of ‘deservingness’ in SA administration: i.e., who is deemed deserving of public support, and on what conditions?

Deservingness is considered both in terms of SW’s general views, and in terms of their propensity to grant support in specific cases.

The project also addresses ethnicity bias: do SW’s treat the question of deservingness differently depending on the applicant’s country of birth?Data and method: The project is based on a random, stratified sample of 45 municipalities, and centered on survey data collected from approx. 1,000 SW’s administrating SA.

The questionnaires will address background information about the professionals, their assessments of a vignette where the client’s country of birth is varied, and a set of items operationalizing welfare and migration policy opinions. In addition, organizational data and aggregated data are collected at the municipal level.

Quantitative data is supplemented with qualitative group interviews.Societal relevance and utilisation: Over time, SA has become an increasingly permanent source of income for many people.

Meanwhile, the degree of generosity has decreased and individual variations in social worker assessments have increased. The project will shed light on possible patterns of discrimination and legal uncertainty in decision-making on SA.

It also contributes with important knowledge regarding SW opinions in welfare and migration issues, the ways in which such opinions are formed and how they relate to patterns in policy implementation. Such knowledge is of great importance for both the discipline and for social work practice.

Plan for project realisation: Briefly, the project is carried out over three years, where the first will be devoted to preparations, the second to data collection and the third to research output and feedback. Preparations include collaborations with both international researchers and practitioners in the municipalities.

Data will be collected through on-site visits in the municipalities. Albeit being relatively time- and cost-consuming, this strategy renders high response rates.