How street-level bureaucrats use conceptual systems to categorise clients

Abstract

This study analyses how street-level bureaucrats’ categorisation of citizens is embedded within conceptual systems. We observe the process of categorisation as embedded in cultural schemata used by street-level bureaucrats. We provided vignettes to 40 teachers in São Paulo public schools to observe how they categorise similar behaviours of students within different social contexts. We then determined if there were differences in the systems of categories created and actions proposed to deal with similar behaviours in different contexts. The data showed that, depending on the way in which context triggered the teachers’ system of categorisation, distinct actions were proposed. These different actions produced different types of deservingness that, in the case analysed here, are related to actions inside or outside the school. These findings have important implications for policymakers in ensuring more equal access to services for students requiring additional support in the classroom.