A Policy Decoupled from Practice: Children’s Participation in Swedish Social Assistance

David Pålsson,Stefan Wiklund

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcab089

Abstract

Abstract In many countries, there are calls for children to be allowed to participate in social work decision-making. This article analyses child participation vis-à-vis social assistance (SA), which is a municipal cash benefit representing the last safety net. In Sweden, SA is part of the professional field of social work and national policy recommends that children are consulted. The aim is to analyse local policies and practices regarding child participation, and the data are based on case studies in six social service offices. Unlike most participation studies, children’s participation is conceived as an institutional pressure and the concept of decoupling is used to examine how local authorities relate to participation. The findings show that in local policies there is a general openness towards participation, but in practice no efforts are being made to promote participation. The absence of participation is analysed as deriving from organisational barriers (practices are adult-centred and child welfare units are seen as responsible for participation) and the scepticism of social workers (participation is an infringement on parental obligations and children should be protected from involvement in financial issues). The article ends with a discussion on the decoupling and adequacy of children’s participation in settings comparable with Swedish SA.

Highlights

At a policy level, there are increased calls for children to be allowed to participate in social work (e.g. Gallagher et al, 2012; Kennan et al, 2018)
Follows an analysis of the participation policy outlined in the guidelines and Policy Decoupled from Practice Page 9 of 19 formulated by management
The absence of participation can be understood as deriving from organisational barriers (SA is adult-centred, child welfare units are seen as responsible for children) and the scepticism of social workers

Summary

Introduction

There are increased calls for children to be allowed to participate in social work (e.g. Gallagher et al, 2012; Kennan et al, 2018). There are increased calls for children to be allowed to participate in social work A major influence is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Article 12, which accentuates the right of children to be consulted in relation to public decisions (Wyness, 2018). The CRC has contributed to the institutionalisation of a perception of the necessity for participation, and in policy and research ‘children’s participation’ has become a central principle according to which practice is evaluated (Wyness, 2018; Kennan et al, 2018; Toros, 2021). The way in which frontline workers should enact participation in practice is often less specified, and further empirical analysis of the prerequisites for participation in different social work settings is needed. This article concerns children’s participation vis-a -vis a specific social service, namely social assistance (SA), which is a municipal means-tested cash benefit constituting the last safety net in Swedish society

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion