The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Tove Harnett. Foto: Sanna Dolck Wall

Tove Harnett

Senior lecturer | PhD in Social Work

Tove Harnett. Foto: Sanna Dolck Wall

Older People's “Voices”—On Paper: Obstacles to Influence in Welfare States—A Case Study of Sweden.

Author

  • Tove Persson
  • Stig Berg

Summary, in English

The official rhetoric of welfare states unconditionally pays tribute to older people’s right to express dissatisfaction. In practice, users of older services in welfare states may be deprived of their “exit” options and face considerable constraints when it comes to raising their “voices.” For example, when older people in nursing homes would like to lodge a complaint, they may well be referred to the very staff members they depend on in their everyday lives.



This article analyzes a national case study in which these contradictory tendencies are especially explicit: formal influence channels for older people in Sweden. Using data from structured interviews with 100 representatives of Swedish municipalities and drawing on Hirschman’s (1970) theory on exit and voice, the article analyzes obstacles to older service users’ influence in Sweden and develops explanations for these obstacles in terms of social contexts.

Publishing year

2009

Language

English

Pages

94-111

Publication/Series

Journal of Aging & Social Policy

Volume

21

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Social Work

Keywords

  • welfare state
  • older people
  • voice
  • Sweden
  • influence
  • exit

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0895-9420