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Alexandru Panican. Photo: Patrik Hekkala

Alexandru Panican

Associate professor | Senior lecturer | PhD in Social Work

Alexandru Panican. Photo: Patrik Hekkala

Ekonomisk hjälp från Svenska kyrkan - den instrumentella paradoxen och den fattiges utmattning

Economic support from the Church of Sweden: The instrumental paradox and exhaustion due to poverty.

Author

  • Elinn Leo Sandberg
  • Alexandru Panican

Summary, in English

Despite changes in the Swedish welfare system with a devaluation of income from the Social Services and a request from government to civil society to carry out welfare tasks, little research has been conducted on service users’ experience of support from civil society. This article investigates service users’ reasons for seeking economic support from the Church of Sweden and what they think characterized their interaction with the deacons. The empirical material is based on interviews with nine service users who received social assistance from the Social Services, while simultaneously seeking economic support from the Church. We find that the informants have three reasons for turning to the Church for support: (i) the perceived deterioration in support from the Social Services, (ii) the easily accessible application procedure, and (iii) the opportunity to hide the support from the Social Services. The interaction is characterized by exhaustion due to poverty and an emotional relationship between service users and deacons. However, the service users applied instrumental and strategic thinking in their interactions with deacons, while criticizing authorities for the same logic, which we referred to as “the instrumental paradox”.

Department/s

  • School of Social Work

Publishing year

2022

Language

Swedish

Pages

27-46

Publication/Series

Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift

Volume

29

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Forsa

Topic

  • Social Work

Keywords

  • instrumentell paradox
  • fattiges utmattning
  • diakoni
  • Svenska kyrkan
  • ekonomiskt stöd
  • fattigdom
  • välfärd
  • socialpolitik
  • poverty
  • gift
  • Service Users
  • diaconia
  • welfare
  • "instrumental paradox"
  • Social service
  • theory
  • "exhaustion due to poverty"
  • combating poverty

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1104-1420