Incompatible logics? Professionals and volunteers as collaborating partners in the disability services, the social services, and the probation services

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study explores the integration of volunteers within Sweden’s public sector, specifically in disability services, probation services, and social services. In a study of public documents, it examines the differing logics of professional and voluntary social work, noting three key distinctions: practical preconditions, qualifications, and tasks. Professionals are paid employees with formal education, while volunteers are often unpaid, valued more for their personal engagement. Volunteers tend to focus on interpersonal relations, whereas professionals handle more complex tasks like assessments. Despite legislative support for volunteer involvement, practical implementation reveals several challenges. Recruitment difficulties, lack of comprehensive guidelines, and the different operational logics of professionals and volunteers complicate integration. For instance, recruitment is claimed to be hard, there is a notable lack of knowledge about the specific content of volunteer interventions as well as of expected outcomes. In the frame of such logics, a shift is ongoing in practice, from volunteer involvement to professionals taking on the task of being the persons people in need meet. The study highlights a gap between legislative aspirations and professional practices, noting that the political idea of integrating volunteers often does not align with the ideas of structured professional social work. Working together with volunteers, adding their humanistic approach to the professionals’ work, do not fit into the structured, outcome-focused framework of professional social work. The study concludes that more support and structured guidance of the professionals are needed to effectively combine the logics of professional and voluntary work in social services.