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Tout juste avant la crise pandémique, 697 travailleuses du programme de soutien à domicile aux personnes âgées à travers le Québec ont répondu à un questionnaire électronique portant sur la mise en oeuvre de cette politique et sur leurs réalités de travail. Les résultats de cette enquête révèlent un système de santé et de services sociaux déjà à bout de souffle bien avant l’arrivée du virus. Au-delà de leur prétendue « vocation » à prendre soin des gens, la réalité quotidienne de ces professionnelles est surtout marquée par des exigences de performance et d’efficacité propres aux préceptes du nouveau management public. Les effets de ce modèle sont ici mis en lumière et font écho à plusieurs critiques émises depuis mars 2020 quant aux dysfonctionnements du système de santé et de services sociaux. À l’heure où la crise de la COVID-19 souligne les limites des politiques de la prise en charge de la vieillesse et la façon différenciée dont sont traités les métiers largement féminins du care, notre enquête contribue à restituer la parole de quelques centaines de ces professionnelles qui se trouvent aux premières lignes de ces problématiques., Just prior to the pandemic, 697 homecare frontline workers across Quebec answered an online survey on this policy implementation and their work realities. Data from this survey reveal that health and social services were already exhausted long before the virus. Beyond their alleged “calling” to the care profession, the day-to-day reality of these professionals is mainly characterized by new public management performance and efficiency imperatives. This article highlights the effects of this managerial model and echoes the numerous criticisms of health and social services raised since March 2020. While the COVID-19 crisis underlined the limits of elderly care policies and the inequalities of treatment of care professions which are predominantly female, our survey helps to restore the voice of a few hundred of these professionals who are at the frontline of these issues.

Contains fulltext : 286169.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) How is policy implementation affected by increased polarisation and extreme shifts in politics? In order to address this question, the paper focuses on frontline workers' (street-level bureaucrats') interpretations of political shifts and how these are then translated into practice. Building on ethnographic fieldwork conducted among social workers in Northeast Brazil, the paper proposes a theoretical framework for analysing the influence of political landscapes on policy implementation by foregrounding the political processes in which these agents play a critical role. Drawing on empirical data, the paper proposes ideal types of possible outcomes of translation practices - counterbalance, collaboration, resistance - that function as a guiding framework for future research. 14 p.

Dedication to work is about enthusiasm for the job and feelings of pride and inspiration from one’s work, which is important due to its influence on work performance. We have surveyed dedication to work among 1347 trained social workers and street-level bureaucrats with other educational backgrounds in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. By using the Job Demand–Control–Support model, we examined the relationship between perceived working conditions and dedication to work. The results revealed rather high levels of dedication to work among street-level bureaucrats in an activation work context, and highest among those who most strongly supported welfare conditionality measures. Whereas perceptions of demand were negatively associated with dedication, perceptions of control and support yielded positive relationships, with the latter variable being the most salient predictor of dedication to work. Educational background seems to be less important, and minor differences in the prediction of dedication were found between educational groups. Dedikasjon til arbeid handler om entusiasme for jobben, samt opplevelse av stolthet og inspirasjon for arbeidet. Dedikasjon er viktig fordi det virker inn på arbeidsprestasjoner. Vi har kartlagt dedikasjon blant 1347 sosialarbeidere og bakkebyråkrater med annen utdanningsbakgrunn ved NAV-kontor i hele Norge. Ved bruk av Krav-kontroll-støtte-modellen undersøkte vi sammenhenger mellom opplevde arbeidsforhold og dedikasjon til arbeid. Resultatene viste relativt høye nivåer av dedikasjon til arbeid blant bakkebyråkratene i en aktiverings-kontekst, og høyest blant de som støttet aktiveringspolitikken sterkest. Mens oppfatninger av høye arbeidskrav var negativt assosiert med dedikasjon, var oppfatninger om stor grad av kontroll og støtte positivt korrelert med dedikasjon. Sistnevnte variabel var den mest fremtredende prediktoren for dedikasjon til arbeid. Utdanningsbakgrunn ser ut til å være mindre viktig, og det ble funnet mindre forskjeller i prediksjon av dedikasjon mellom utdanningsgruppene. The programme Welfare, Working Life and Migration (VAM), in the Research Council of Norway, has funded the study reported in this article.

The aim of RESISTIRÉ is to understand the unequal impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and its policy and societal responses on behavioural, social and economic inequalities and to work towards individual and societal resilience. RESISTIRÉ does so by collecting and analysing policy data, quantitative data and qualitative data in the EU27 (except Malta), Iceland, Serbia, Turkey and the UK, and translating these into insights to be used for designing, devising and piloting solutions for improved policies and social innovations, which in turn can be deployed by policymakers, stakeholders and actors in the field across different policy domains. The project relies on an eleven-partner multidisciplinary and multisectoral European consortium and a well-established network of researchers in 30 countries. Throughout the course of RESISTIRÉ, research conducted consistently show how already vulnerable and marginalised groups have become even more vulnerable and marginalised; existing inequalities have increased, and new ones have emerged (Axelsson et al. 2021; Cibin et al. 2021, 2022; 2023; Harroche et al. 2023; Sandström et al. 2022; Stovell et al. 2021, 2022). Significantly less overall attention has been paid to practices that may transform inequalities and very little attention has been given to individual agency. The third and final research cycle in RESISTIRÉ therefore looked to the future and shifted focus to individual ‘better stories’ (Georgis 2013; Altınay 2019) and strategic forms of agency (Lister 2004, 2021) of marginalised groups during the pandemic. With an analytical focus on gender+ inequalities, this report addresses the following overall research question: What kind of agency is practiced, or available to practice, by individuals and street-level bureaucrats, with an emphasis on what enables and what hinders strategic agency? The report is based on two methods of qualitative data collection: narrative interviews with individuals strategically recruited based on their marginalised or vulnerable profile and semi-structured interviews with front-line workers in public authorities, so called ‘street-level bureaucrats’. The material is extensive; all in all, it includes 321 individuals, who generously shared their knowledge and experiences. The semi-structured interviews with street-level bureaucrats (n=24) covers nine European countries and were conducted by consortium partners. The narrative interviews (n=297) were conducted by the consortium partners and a network of 21 national researchers covering the EU27 (except Malta), and Iceland, Serbia, Turkey, and the UK. The interview material was analysed thematically, drawing on Ruth Lister’s (2004, 2021) typology of agency and an intersectional approach to gender which acknowledges the centrality of gender and the mutual shaping of multiple complex inequalities (Walby et al. 2012).

The last four decades have seen universal health coverage (UHC) become a central part of the global agenda. Despite this centrality, a large proportion of academics still focus solely on health schemes in the Global North, and the remaining few that have evaluated interventions in developing countries have rarely considered the inequities and power dynamics that exist within health systems in a comprehensive and interrelated way. This study adopted a qualitative approach, primarily based on 223 semi-structured interviews, to explore stakeholder perceptions on the implementation of the Community-Based Health Insurance Scheme (CBHIS) in Ethiopia. In doing so, this research offers a bold contribution to understanding the extent to which efforts to achieve UHC in the regions of Tigray and Oromia can be considered equitable, particularly when gender and ethnicity are examined. It explores how implementation can diverge from programme design by investigating the role of health workers, as street level bureaucrats, in the day-to-day delivery of the scheme. It also contextualises findings through the theoretical lenses of patient-centredness, the five dimensions of access, and the notions of gender-based power dynamics. This study shows that although the CBHIS has contributed to increasing access to healthcare services for many, particularly those residing in rural areas, such progress has been partially hindered by complex implementation challenges. Low awareness levels and high health worker workloads, combined with a shortage of medication and diagnostic equipment in public health facilities, amongst other issues, have resulted in a scheme that is not always able to meet the expectations of its members. Furthermore, CBHIS decision-makers were confronted with the challenge of striking a balance between equity and financial sustainability. This study contributes to understandings about how individuals navigate health insurance programmes, how front-line stakeholders interpret policy directives, and how authorities respond to emerging and shifting implementation challenges., Gates Cambridge Trust

Copyright © The Author(s) 2021. Policies can fail when frontline staff feel they have limited influence on policy implementation (powerlessness), or that policy has little or no personal meaning (meaninglessness) – they become alienated from the policy. But, how does this alienation develop? In this paper we ask whether policy alienation might be viewed as a process that develops over time: a process that ebbs and flows, interacting with the policy landscape as it shifts, rather than a psychological state. Feelings of alienation can be shared across groups of actors, as they collectively shift and initiate change. This study uses participant observation and interviews with front-line employees as they navigate a UK Government Policy introducing telehealthcare to improve health management of patients with chronic conditions. We find: i) cumulative misalignment between different policy implementation contexts allows policy alienation to develop over time, ii) the shared experience of alienation in co-worker groups contributes to further misalignment, iii) front-line staff use their discretion to respond to policy alienation, which has the power to enhance or destroy policy implementation. We offer an alternative perspective for understanding how policy alienation can be prevented and policy implementation can be enhanced. UK Government’s ’Preventative Technology Grant’ and ’Whole System Demonstrator’ programme, further underpinned by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), The Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC), https://www.reading.ac.uk/icrc/Projects/icrc-projects-11-HaCIRIC.aspx.

Without clear federal mandates protecting the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming people, local governments are drafting their own legislation that either protects or limits these populations’ rights. This leaves street-level bureaucrats situated in between competing auspices, conflicting mandates, and a constrained sense of self-determination when they are tasked with applying emerging legislation in a policy gray area. This paper considers the policy logic of an intersectional approach to LGBTQ policy, as well as the implementation barriers street-level bureaucrats may face when operationalizing LGBTQ policy in a politically complex environment. First, we use a piece of local legislation designed by transgender and LGB youth as an implementation case study focused on policy logic and policy triggers. Second, we employ thematic analysis for analyzing open-ended responses to 281 surveys completed by teachers and other school staff after training around implementation of a new district-wide policy anchored in an intersectional approach. Beyond normative, protracted implementation timelines, even when front-line workers were in full support of LGBTQ rights, tension still surfaces around the internalization of bureaucracy, fear of disciplinary sanctions, a perception of competing rights, and ambivalence with mediating between personal, familial, and youth agency. Even when using equity-focused policy approaches, stakeholders can expect to encounter implementation barriers with street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) while trying to influence higher orders of government through local advocacy and action. Altering the discourse on gender identity remains difficult in the current political environment surrounding LGBTQ rights. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s42972-020-00010-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. Human trafficking is presented as a multidimensional problem, constituted by a complex matrix of borders, vertices and spaces. In spite of the agreement of an international definition of trafficking in human beings some 20 years ago, debates persist about what constitutes human trafficking. The malleability of the concepts within this definition, and the range of activities they describe, undermines efforts to provide clarity to front-line professionals and the wider public about how to recognise individuals as potential victims, and what rights should be afforded to them (O’Connell Davidson, 2013). This paper interrogates the role of time and temporality in the construction of individuals as eligible, or ineligible, for the status of ‘Victim of Trafficking’. The paper is structured through Adam’s (1998) approach to time as a multidimensional phenomenon, constituted by timeframes, temporality, sequences, tempo, timeliness, and temporal modalities and a case study of R v N [2012] EWCA Crim 189 is used to illustrate the discussion. The legislative framework, including international and national legal instruments is described. Consideration is given to the differentiation of offenders from victims and the discrete phases of processing individuals through the criminal justice system. Across all of these categories and the borders between them, time shapes the decision of street-level bureaucrats to construct a complex, multi-layered understanding of efforts to tackle human trafficking in England and Wales.

Affective commitment is crucial for employees to guarantee that they adhere to organizational interests and goals, but not self-evident for street-level bureaucrats who have a great deal of discretionary freedom in doing their work. Street-level bureaucrats can deviate from organizational goals during the execution of custom-fit solutions, and particularly so when they are cynical toward their organization. To increase affective commitment among street-level bureaucrats, leaders may play an important role by providing qualitative feedback and having a high-quality leader–member exchange relationship with their team members. We examined the cross-level interaction of leaders’ feedback quality and police officers’ organizational cynicism in relation with affective commitment through Leader–Member eXchange (LMX). Building on theorizing on human resource (HR) attributions and on the assumption in social exchange theory that individuals engage in different reciprocation efforts, we expected that police officers who are more cynical toward their organization would be hesitant to reciprocate with more commitment to their organization when their leader’s feedback quality is low. Our findings in a sample of 266 police officers nested in 71 teams supported this expectation. Hence, this study contributes to a better understanding of how to foster the affective commitment of employees who have discretion in their work. Feedback quality appears to be crucial, both for LMX and affective commitment, and this particularly for police officers who are more cynical about their organization.

BackgroundNurse champions are front-line practitioners who implement innovation and reconstruct policy.PurposeTo understand through a network theory lens the factors that facilitate nurse champions’ engagement with radical projects, representing their actions as street-level bureaucrats (SLBs).Materials and methodsA personal-network survey was employed. Ninety-one nurse champions from three tertiary medical centers in Israel participated.FindingsGiven high network density, high levels of advice play a bigger role in achieving high radicalness compared with lower levels advice. High network density is also related to higher radicalness when networks have high role diversity.DiscussionUsing an SLB framework, the findings suggest that nurse champions best promote adoption of innovation and offer radical changes in their organizations through professional advice given by colleagues in their field network. Healthcare organizations should establish the structure and promote the development of dense and heterogeneous professional networks to realize organizations’ goals and nurses’ responsibility to their professional employees, patients, and society.

Context: Agricultural activities constitute the most significant source of nitrate pollution, posing a threat to water quality and ecosystem services. The Nitrates Directive is an integral feature of the Water Framework Directive, which seeks to reduce nitrate pollution from agricultural sources. Directive compliance has proven to be problematic for every Member State in fulfilling their respective implementation duties. Objectives: The research focuses on the nitrate management discourse within agricultural landscapes of Poland and provides a governance capacity framework to understand how social factors shape local implementation performance. The case study examines how the social factors of social capital and street-level bureaucrats constrain or enable stakeholder agency within agricultural landscapes. Methods: The empirical investigation utilizes a multi-method assessment, including a survey categorizing social capital levels among 31 Polish farmers, interviews with nine stakeholders, and a literature review. Results: The findings demonstrate how differentiated social capital levels are a result of complex social dynamics within the nitrate management discourse. Achieving policy objectives rests on stakeholder interactions in their capacity to navigate myriad changes and translate policy messages into practical actions. Due to low social capital levels exhibited by farmers and limited agency of street-level bureaucrats, overall capacity for effective nitrogen management in Polish agricultural landscapes is constrained. Conclusions: Overall, the study contributes new insights in identifying how social factors affect the ability of Member States to fulfill implementation obligations. Further, the study discusses the influence of social factor interplay upon actor agency and subsequent policy relevance amidst changing agri-environmental landscapes.

Purpose Social media have become a key part of placemaking. Placemaking revolves around collaboration between multiple stakeholders, which requires ongoing two-way communication between local government and citizens. Although social media offer promising tools for local governments and public professionals in placemaking, they have not lived up to their potential. This paper aims to uncover the tensions and challenges that social media bring for public professionals at the street level in placemaking processes. Design/methodology/approach This study aims to fill this gap with a case study of area brokers engaged in online placemaking in Amsterdam. In total, 14 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted, focusing on area brokers’ social media practices, perceptions and challenges. The authors used an open coding strategy in the first phase of coding. In the second phase, the authors regrouped codes in thematic categories with the use of sensitizing concepts derived from the theoretical review. Findings The use of social media for placemaking imposes demands on area brokers from three sides: the bureaucracy, the affordances of social media and affective publics. The paper unpacks pressures area brokers are under and the (emotional) labour they carry out to align policy and bureaucratic requirements with adequate communication needed in neighbourhood affairs on social media. The tensions and the multidimensionality of what is required explain the reluctance of area brokers to exploit the potential of social media in their work. Originality/value Several studies have addressed the use of social media in placemaking, but all neglected the perspective of street-level bureaucrats who shape the placemaking process in direct contact with citizens.

Introduction Academic integrity policy that is inaccessible, ambiguous or confusing is likely to result in inconsistent policy enactment. Additionally, policy analysis and development are often undertaken as top down processes requiring passive acceptance by users of policy that has been developed outside the context in which it is enacted. Both these factors can result in poor policy uptake, particularly where policy users are overworked, intellectually critical and capable, not prone to passive acceptance and hold valuable grass roots intelligence about policy enactment. Case description The case study presented in this paper describes the actions of a community of practice (CoP) at a regional Australian university to deconstruct and translate ambiguous academic integrity policy into a suite of accessible academic integrity resources that were intelligible to staff and students, and which assisted academic staff to consistently enact policy. The paper narrates the formation of the CoP, the tangible and intangible value it created, the social learning practices enacted by its members, its grassroots policy work and the material resources produced from that work. Discussion and evaluation An evaluation of the CoP was conducted using a value creation framework to explore its immediate value, potential value, applied value, realised value, and reframing value. These values were considered at each stages of the CoP’s lifespan. The evaluation was a useful process that demonstrated the wide-ranging value created by the CoP. Six insights were drawn from the evaluation which promote understanding of the value created for a university by a CoP, particularly in contributing to academic integrity culture over a sustained period of time. Conclusions This paper contributes to a research gap on specific examples of discretion within rule-based systems. It illustrates how academics and members of the CoP used their discretion to interpret and enact academic integrity policy within a higher education setting. Drawing from the evaluation of the CoP we argue for greater understanding of the grass-roots contribution of academic and professional staff to academic integrity policy translation and enactment.

Durante os anos 2000, foram instituídas políticas de promoção do acesso à água no Semiárido brasileiro, como componentes de uma estratégia mais ampla de redução da pobreza e da insegurança alimentar. Apesar da sua abordagem intersetorial e integrada com as políticas sociais, a multiplicação de arranjos institucionais e de programas com lógicas distintas de implementação tem aumentado seu nível de fragmentação. O presente artigo analisa o processo de articulação do Programa Cisternas com outros programas de redução da pobreza rural, identificando fatores que contribuem para sua integração programática e institucional. O estudo avalia os mecanismos existentes de coordenação em nível nacional, e inova ao discutir o papel informal de gestores municipais e técnicos extensionistas na coordenação de programas durante o processo de implementação. Foram mobilizados dados primários e secundários, incluindo entrevistas com gestores federais e locais, e executores envolvidos na implementação do programa. Since the 2000s, policies promoting decentralized access to water in Brazil’s semiarid region have been established as components of a broader strategy to reduce poverty and food insecurity. Despite its intersectoral and integrated approach with social policies, the multiplication of institutional arrangements and programs with distinct logics of implementation has increased their level of fragmentation. This article analyses the process of coordination of the Cisterns Program with other rural poverty reduction programs, identifying factors that contribute to its programmatic and institutional integration. The study analyzes existing coordination mechanisms at the national level, and it innovates by discussing the informal role of municipal managers and providers of technical assistance in program coordination during the implementation process. Primary and secondary data were mobilized, including interviews with federal and local managers and actors involved in program implementation. Les politiques visant à promouvoir l'accès décentralisé à l'eau dans la région semi-aride du Brésil ont été mises en place au cours des années 2000 comme l’un des volets d'une stratégie plus large de réduction de la pauvreté et de l'insécurité alimentaire. Malgré son approche intersectorielle et intégrée avec les politiques sociales, la multiplication des dispositifs institutionnels et des programmes, suivant des logiques de mise en œuvre distinctes, a augmenté leur niveau de fragmentation. Cet article analyse le processus d'articulation du Programme Citernes avec d'autres programmes de réduction de la pauvreté rurale, en identifiant les facteurs qui contribuent à son intégration programmatique et institutionnelle. L'étude évalue les mécanismes de coordination existants au niveau national et innove en examinant le rôle informel des acteurs de l’administration municipale et des prestataires de services techniques dans la coordination des actions au cours du processus de mise en œuvre. Des données primaires et secondaires ont été mobilisées, notamment à travers d’entretiens avec les gestionnaires fédéraux et locaux, ainsi que les responsables de la mise en œuvre du programme.

During such unprecedented time as COVID-19, despite stretched to its limit, public service delivery remains crucial to societies' well-being. Street-level bureaucrats (SLBs), specifically, become the most visible outreach of public policies to citizen. However, as the literature suggests, unintended outcomes of SLBs-citizen interfacing have been discretion, inefficiency and accountability, an issue lies at the heart of the standard public governance. No scholarly attempt has been made in the past to address this shortcoming. This research by proposing a conceptual model using system dynamics captures the complexity, and in so doing posits testable hypotheses that instigate an alternative visualization of public affairs, thereby closing the gap in the SLB scholarship.

This article focuses on institutional risk factors that relate to the ability of child rights professionals to protect maltreated children. The aim of the article is to reveal the structural threats existing in the system of protection of the child’s rights, which create preconditions for the disclosure of institutional risks. Semi-structured qualitative interview method used. Ten interviews with children's rights protection specialists (CRPS) conducted during March-April 2018. According to the content analysis method, it has been established that the family assistance model for child protection is declarative in nature, due to the lack of services that meet the needs of children and families, and poor accessibility and quality, especially in rural areas, and social work orientation into control. The findings highlighted gaps in inter-agency cooperation in the protection of the child, the low level of involvement of health care, in particular – the treatment of paediatric and addictive diseases. In view of the internal field of the childʼs rights services, it has been highlighted that institutional problems are significantly contributing to the institutional risk: CRPS experienced inadequate methodological assistance and training which not corresponding to the problems encountering in everyday practice, lack of human resources, large workloads, low wages, lack of working methods, lack of stress management. In the context of the ongoing reform of the protection of the rights of the child, it is recommended to eliminate institutional risks, to strengthen services for children and families, and to improve inter-agency cooperation in the protection of the child.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.17.3.21953

The aim of this study is to contribute with knowledge about the conditions of a group of social and Health Communicators (HC) for changing the form of health information for newly arrived refugees. Focus is 011 how the HC's awamess evolves during their efforts to introduce physical activity as a health promotion strategy. The study also aims at making visible whether the action research process leads to any changes in the longer perspective. By applying Kemmis and Grootenboers' Theory of Practice Architectures the analysis takes its starting point in practice. The theory is based on the assurntion that a practice is constituted by different conditions or arrangements that shape the conversations, actions and activities taking place within a specific practice. The theory includes useful concepts here used as tools to describe and analyse the social context under study. To understand the working conditions for public administrators and the HCs in particulary, Lipsky's concept street-level bureaucrats is used. Using a critical action research approach, the study is based on empirical material gathered via work group meetings, focus group discussions, study visits and participation in the field. The tools employed comprise participatory observations, sound recording and documentation in the form of field notes and logg book writing. This study shows that fixed practice architectures govern the civic and heallh information practice. Initially this makes it difficult for the HCs to see how physical activity could be part of the content. The result shows that the arrangements shaping the practice within the project, differ from those that form the workday practice. A joint meeting practice was set up during the project and worked as a communicative space for collegial dialog and the ex.change of experiences. In accordance with action research methods, the HCs' had the authority over the working process which in tum led to forming and testing of new activities with participants from the target group. This paved the way for a more pronounced interest in health issues and physical activities among the newly arrived. Two years after the conclusion of the action research project, a follow-up study was conducted. The outcome illustrates that the current practice architecture constrains the implementation of physical activity as a part of the organisation. The only remains of the changes accomplished during the project, that can be trace, d are the indiviual experiences adopted by the communicators that come to the fore in their sayings The former action research project has raised the group's awareness of what is required to motivate participants to take responsibility for their own !earing , in this case regarding physical activity. Despite the somewhat daunting picture, it is still possible to discern that the action research practice contributed by building up local knowledge and awareness of what is necessary for achieving sustainable results. This is an area over which the Communicatiors currently lack any real influence.

Introduction As front-line providers, nurses play an integral role in the implementation of South Africa's Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act and, thus, the promotion of women's reproductive rights. In light of low levels of support for termination of pregnancy services in South Africa, it is important to understand nurses' views of such services. The purpose of this study was to examine how nurses' norms and values shape the provision of abortion services. Methods Qualitative interviews with nurses were conducted at seven rural hospitals in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Data were analysed using thematic and narrative analysis. Results Nurses, like other public service workers, make moral judgments about their clients. They classify clients seeking abortions into two groups: those ‘worthy' of support, and those ‘unworthy' of support. Nurses' moral judgments are largely shaped by the circumstances of the pregnancy and the behaviour of the client. In addition, nurses' understanding of their professional identity and their work environments may influence their decision whether a client deserves their assistance. While nurses claimed that they would offer the same services to all of their clients, further research on the availability and quality of abortion services is required to confirm these results. Conclusion The study shows that nurses make moral judgments about abortion clients and divide them into deserving and less deserving clients. These value judgments undermine the rights-based approach of South African legislation, which provides every women with the right to choose whether they wish to terminate a pregnancy.

The social services in Sweden have become key actors in the field of support for female victims of domestic violence. However, knowledge about what kind of support the social services offer is underdeveloped. The aim of this article is to examine social workers’ perceptions of the needs they meet among female victims of domestic violence, what kind of support they offer to meet these needs, and how they use their discretion to negotiate and justify their work. The article builds on a qualitative analysis of interviews with social workers. The analysis shows that the social workers have a great deal of discretion, as a result of framework legislation and a high status among local politicians and managers. However, both specialisation and a lack of available services limit their discretion. What an abused woman is offered or is entitled to is negotiated and justified depending on, for example, which services are available, whether the woman is considered to have own resources (not only financial but also emotional and practical), and if the social worker is available. Three main strategies for reducing workload are identified: increasing demands for authority decisions, transferring responsibility to others, and placing requirements on the abused women’s actions and attitudes.

The paper discusses how a central Performance Management system in the Danish job centers affects the employees’ perception of accountability, autonomy, common goals and dialogue. Dysfunctional behavioral effects are explored in qualitative analyses based on 4 case studies. Results indicate that the expected positive effects of performance management do not materialize at the Danish job centers because focus in the implementation process gradually shifts from results to process goals. This is related to a series of dysfunctional behavioral effects which instead of creating commitment frustrate and stress the employees. This article discusses how a central performance management system in Danish job centers affects employees’ perceptions of accountability, autonomy, common goals, and dialogue. Dysfunctional behavioral effects are explored in qualitative analyses based on four case studies. Results indicate that the expected positive effects of performance management do not materialize at the Danish job centers because the focus of the implementation process gradually shifts from results to process goals. This is related to a series of dysfunctional behavioral effects which, instead of creating commitment, frustrate and stress the employees.

¿En qué medida la participación de "co-etnicos" en la implementación de una política de integración de inmigrantes permite un enfoque más complaciente hacia los recién llegados? Mientras que la formulación de políticas de integración generalmente se ha previsto a través del prisma de anfitrión/huésped, los departamentos municipales de Israel por "la Aliyah y el absorción" (o, en otras palabras, la inmigración judía y la integración de nuevos inmigrantes judíos) ofrecen un caso interesante: en las últimas décadas, reclutaron principalmente inmigrantes de primera generación para atender a los nuevos inmigrantes judíos que se establecieron en sus ciudades. Este artículo ofrece algunas ideas nuevas sobre la participación de estos inmigrantes establecidos en la implementación de las políticas de integración de Israel. Por un lado, estos trabajadores de servicio municipal, y otros actores locales que trabajan para la integración de los inmigrantes, han permitido un enfoque más pluralista a nivel sociocultural; por otro lado, la diversidad más bien parcial de estos inmigrantes establecidos, en su mayoría inmigrantes ruso-hablantes, ha limitado el potencial de un enfoque alternativo, para que se desarrolle un asentamiento menos "etnocéntrico" de los inmigrantes.

This dissertation consists of three articles about colorism and its relevance to public administration (PA), with specific focus on local policing. The overarching arguments are: 1) our lack of focus on the nuanced factors related to race have hindered our ability to adequately respond to biased criminal justice (CJ) outcomes; and 2) there are hidden patterns of biased behaviors that originate at the street-level, and these patterns have the propensity to impact every aspect of CJ. Colorism could serve as a more comprehensive approach to addressing racial bias. Colorism is a system of disadvantage and privilege based on skin color, with a bias for lighter skin. Article I introduces colorism to the field of PA, and it uses data on workplace colorism complaints to illustrate how colorism currently intersects with PA. In addition, the article uses scenarios to demonstrate the potential impact colorism might have at the street-level. Article II builds upon the descriptions of colorism provided in Article I by simulating a conceptual model of colorism and local policing. The major finding of this study is that, counter to the expectations of the experiment, those in the middle of the skin color spectrum experienced higher rates of incarceration when aggressive steps were taken to counter colorism. The major contributions from this project include a conceptual model that describes the relationship between the distinct levels of colorism�"individual, interactive and institutional. In Article III, I explore two conceptual models of interactive colorism in a local policing context. In the first model, bias behaviors are less likely to receive a challenge. In the second model, biased behaviors are likely to be challenged by counter-behaviors (e.g., fair policing). Subject-matter experts and non-subject-matter experts were used to select the model that most accurately depicts the phenomenon. I used online focus groups and phone interviews with police officers, theorists (e.g., sociologists, psychologists), and non-subject-matter experts to gather feedback. Majority of the informants recommended that future research on interactive colorism be framed as a bidirectional phenomenon. The informants provided additional considerations for future research, such as the variation in police culture across police departments. PHD

© 2016 University of California Press. All rights reserved. Facing heavy caseloads, administrative drudgery, and low pay, China's street-level police are frustrated. Front-line officers from six cities report that discontent encourages shirking, corruption, and waste. Grievances and feelings of powerlessness have not been reduced by recent reforms, and give us cause to rethink the image of police as effective arms of a highly securitized state.

As current social problems grow more complex, public organizations have to deal with more complicated problems and values than in the past. Public organizations arguably need more knowledge to effectively address such complex problems. However, there is little study of the relationship between knowledge sharing and government performance. This study has several primary purposes. First, it tries to find out more about the roles and effects of knowledge sharing on program performance in public organizations. Second, by examining the factors affecting the relationships between knowledge sharing and program performance, the study explores the importance of individual and organizational conditions in connecting knowledge sharing to program performance. Lastly, the study helps clarify the effect of knowledge sharing on program performance by also examining other factors that are likely to affect program performance. To explore the relationships among explicit and tacit knowledge sharing, public service motivation, self-set goals, red tape, economic conditions, staffers' professionalism, budgetary resources, and program performance, I examined Virginia's Child Protective Services program. The Virginia Department of Social Services determines the guidelines and policies for the state's CPS program and supervises its implementation by local agencies. I focused on the implementation of the CPS program. The study examined the relationships between CPS program performance and the degree and dynamics of knowledge sharing at the local jurisdictional and at the individual social worker levels in each of the 23 local CPS departments in which staffers responded to an on-line survey. In addition to these relationships, the study examined the effects of individual, organizational, and financial factors in Virginia local CPS departments on the relationships between knowledge sharing and program performance. The study yielded numerous findings. First, at the local agency level evidence showed that explicit knowledge sharing played an important role in affecting CPS program performance. At the individual level, only the reported usefulness of explicit knowledge sharing affected CPS program performance, while the usefulness of tacit knowledge sharing and time devoted to explicit knowledge sharing affected usefulness of explicit knowledge sharing. The personal motivation of CPS staffers influenced program performance through tacit knowledge sharing, and red tape evidently affected CPS program performance by decreasing explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Even when factors like local economic conditions and available financial resources were taken into account, the usefulness of explicit knowledge sharing still affected CPS program performance. Second, the relationships among time devoted to, usefulness of, and access to explicit and tacit knowledge sharing were diverse. They affected CPS program performance through the reported usefulness of explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Third, individual and organizational factors influenced the relationship between knowledge sharing and CPS program performance. The personal motivation of CPS staffers had a positive effect on tacit knowledge sharing, but red tape appeared to have a negative effect on explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Fourth, the study showed that several factors other than knowledge sharing such as local economic conditions, work training of CPS staffers, family assessments, CPS staffer education, and additional budgetary resources also affected CPS program performance. Ph. D.

O presente estudo analisa a implementação das políticas públicas, uma das problemáticas trazidas pela Ciência Política, a partir da perspectiva teórica que considera os burocratas de nível de rua. Concentra-se particularmente num tipo de política públicas, as de imigração, tendo como objeto o Artigo 88º, n.º 2, da Lei n.º 23/2007, de 4 de julho, conhecida como “Lei de Estrangeiros”, que permite a regularização dos imigrantes por meio do contrato de trabalho em Portugal. Para o efeito, faz uma análise das burocracias envolvidas direta e indiretamente na implementação do Artigo 88º, n.º 2, respectivamente, o Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF) e a Segurança Social. This study analyzes the implementation of public policies, one of the problematic brought by political science, from the theoretical perspective that considers street-level bureaucrats. It focuses particularly on one type of public policy, the immigration type, and its object is Article 88 (2) of Law no. 23/2007, of July 4th, known as the “Foreigners Law”, which allows the regularization of immigrants through the employment contract in Portugal Therefore, an analysis is made of the bureaucracies directly and indirectly involved in the implementation of Article 88 (2), respectively the Immigration and Borders Service (SEF) and Social Security

espanol?En que medida la participacion de "co-etnicos" en la implementacion de una politica de integracion de inmigrantes permite un enfoque mas complaciente hacia los recien llegados? Mientras que la formulacion de politicas de integracion generalmente se ha previsto a traves del prisma de anfitrion/huesped, los departamentos municipales de Israel por "la Aliyah y el absorcion" (o, en otras palabras, la inmigracion judia y la integracion de nuevos inmigrantes judios) ofrecen un caso interesante: en las ultimas decadas, reclutaron principalmente inmigrantes de primera generacion para atender a los nuevos inmigrantes judios que se establecieron en sus ciudades. Este articulo ofrece algunas ideas nuevas sobre la participacion de estos inmigrantes establecidos en la implementacion de las politicas de integracion de Israel. Por un lado, estos trabajadores de servicio municipal, y otros actores locales que trabajan para la integracion de los inmigrantes, han permitido un enfoque mas pluralista a nivel sociocultural; por otro lado, la diversidad mas bien parcial de estos inmigrantes establecidos, en su mayoria inmigrantes ruso-hablantes, ha limitado el potencial de un enfoque alternativo, para que se desarrolle un asentamiento menos "etnocentrico" de los inmigrantes. EnglishTo which extent does the participation of ‘co-ethnics’ in immigrant integration policy implementation enable a more accommodating approach towards newcomers? Whereas immigrant integration policymaking has usually been envisaged through a host/stranger prism, Israel municipal departments for “Aliyah and absorption” (that is for Jewish immigration, and the integration of new Jewish immigrants) provides an interesting case: the last decades, they have primarily recruited established first-generation immigrants to cater for the newest Jewish immigrants settling in their cities. This article offers some new insights regarding the participation of these established immigrants in the implementation of Israel immigrant integration policies. On the one hand, these municipal service workers, and other local actors working towards immigrant integration, have permitted a more pluralist approach to socio-cultural integration; on the other hand, the rather partial diversity of these established immigrants –mostly Western Russian-speaking immigrants–, has limited the potential for an alternative, less ‘ethno-centred’ approach to immigrant settlement to develop.