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Navigating tricky waters: inter-agency collaboration and competing logics in Swedish welfare provision
Malmö Univ, Sweden.
Linnaeus University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Work.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4740-2499
2024 (English)In: Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, ISSN 1759-8273, E-ISSN 1759-8281Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Navigating the context of the Swedish welfare system when unemployed, sick, or disabled is complex and multifaceted as it involves agencies governed by national, regional and municipal decision-making bodies, as well as different legal frameworks. Despite significant structural and organisational barriers, these agencies must collaborate around individual cases. The aim of this article is to gain an understanding of how welfare professionals make sense of the role of inter-agency collaboration when trying to address the support needs of long-term unemployed individuals with disabilities and/or ill-health. Focusing on sensemaking, as a form of knowledge claim, of those who work in frontline or coordinating roles on a local level draws attention to tensions between different institutional logics that are crucial for policy implementation. The analysis presented is based on data from 16 semi-structured interviews with welfare professionals from different agencies working in the same region of southern Sweden. Two key competing logics are highlighted: a work-first logic and a welfare logic. The findings show how welfare professionals seek to navigate through the competing logics by identifying alternative ways of working. By harmonising these logics, trying to fit them together in a hybrid logic, they attempt to find ways of meeting the needs of vulnerable individuals, but without challenging the structure and principles of Sweden's overarching 'workfirst' approach to social security.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Policy Press, 2024.
Keywords [en]
institutional logic, inter-agency collaboration, social security, Swedish welfare state
National Category
Social Work
Research subject
Social Sciences, Social Work
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-134334DOI: 10.1332/17598273Y2024D000000035ISI: 001378065700001OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-134334DiVA, id: diva2:1927160
Available from: 2025-01-14 Created: 2025-01-14 Last updated: 2025-02-10

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Ulmestig, Rickard

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CiteExportLink to record
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Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
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  • Other style
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  • de-DE
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  • en-US
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  • asciidoc
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