Client Abuse to Public Welfare Workers: Theoretical Framework and Critical Incident Case Study

Pernille Solveig Strøbæk; Marek Korczynski

doi:10.1177/0038038516672626

Client Abuse to Public Welfare Workers: Theoretical Framework and Critical Incident Case Study

Pernille Solveig Strøbæk, Marek Korczynski

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We analyse a case study of workers’ experience of client abuse in a Danish public welfare organisation. We make an original contribution by putting forward two different theoretical expectations of the case. One expectation is that the case follows a pattern of customer abuse processes in a social market economy – in which workers are accorded power and resources, in which workers tend to frame the abuse as the outcome of a co-citizen caught in system failure and in which workers demonstrate some resilience to abuse. Another expectation is that New Public Management reforms push the case to follow patterns of customer abuse associated with a liberal market economy – in which the customer is treated as sovereign against the relatively powerless worker, and in which workers bear heavy emotional costs of abuse. Our findings show a greater match to the social processes of abuse within a social market economy.

Original language	English
Journal	Sociology
Volume	52
Issue number	4
Pages (from-to)	762-777
Number of pages	16
ISSN	0038-0385
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038516672626
Publication status	Published - Aug 2018

Keywords

client abuse
coping
liberal market economy
market economies
New Public Management reforms
public welfare workers
social market economy

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10.1177/0038038516672626

Cite this

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title = "Client Abuse to Public Welfare Workers: Theoretical Framework and Critical Incident Case Study",

abstract = "We analyse a case study of workers{\textquoteright} experience of client abuse in a Danish public welfare organisation. We make an original contribution by putting forward two different theoretical expectations of the case. One expectation is that the case follows a pattern of customer abuse processes in a social market economy – in which workers are accorded power and resources, in which workers tend to frame the abuse as the outcome of a co-citizen caught in system failure and in which workers demonstrate some resilience to abuse. Another expectation is that New Public Management reforms push the case to follow patterns of customer abuse associated with a liberal market economy – in which the customer is treated as sovereign against the relatively powerless worker, and in which workers bear heavy emotional costs of abuse. Our findings show a greater match to the social processes of abuse within a social market economy.",

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author = "Str{\o}b{\ae}k, {Pernille Solveig} and Marek Korczynski",

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AU - Strøbæk, Pernille Solveig

AU - Korczynski, Marek

PY - 2018/8

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N2 - We analyse a case study of workers’ experience of client abuse in a Danish public welfare organisation. We make an original contribution by putting forward two different theoretical expectations of the case. One expectation is that the case follows a pattern of customer abuse processes in a social market economy – in which workers are accorded power and resources, in which workers tend to frame the abuse as the outcome of a co-citizen caught in system failure and in which workers demonstrate some resilience to abuse. Another expectation is that New Public Management reforms push the case to follow patterns of customer abuse associated with a liberal market economy – in which the customer is treated as sovereign against the relatively powerless worker, and in which workers bear heavy emotional costs of abuse. Our findings show a greater match to the social processes of abuse within a social market economy.

AB - We analyse a case study of workers’ experience of client abuse in a Danish public welfare organisation. We make an original contribution by putting forward two different theoretical expectations of the case. One expectation is that the case follows a pattern of customer abuse processes in a social market economy – in which workers are accorded power and resources, in which workers tend to frame the abuse as the outcome of a co-citizen caught in system failure and in which workers demonstrate some resilience to abuse. Another expectation is that New Public Management reforms push the case to follow patterns of customer abuse associated with a liberal market economy – in which the customer is treated as sovereign against the relatively powerless worker, and in which workers bear heavy emotional costs of abuse. Our findings show a greater match to the social processes of abuse within a social market economy.

KW - client abuse

KW - coping

KW - liberal market economy

KW - market economies

KW - New Public Management reforms

KW - public welfare workers

KW - social market economy

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DO - 10.1177/0038038516672626

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VL - 52

SP - 762

EP - 777

JO - Sociology

JF - Sociology

IS - 4

ER -

Client Abuse to Public Welfare Workers: Theoretical Framework and Critical Incident Case Study

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Keywords

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