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The distant, the capable and trustworthy, and the digitally skilled: the production of client roles in municipal activation and social assistance services using automated decision-making
Malmö University, Faculty of Health and Society (HS), Department of Social Work (SA).ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3565-6563
Lund University, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0652-9357
2025 (English)In: Journal of European Social Policy, ISSN 0958-9287, E-ISSN 1461-7269, article id 09589287251351094Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

While research on the ramifications of automated decision-making (ADM) for welfare organisations is growing rapidly, less attention has been paid to elucidating the role and experiences of clients in the ADM process. This paper draws attention to how the performance of ADM policy in social assistance organisations working from an activation perspective is not merely a passive way of processing clients within the constraints of a given institution but an active interaction between clients and the organisation’s employees that ultimately constructs and produces the individual client in line with the purposes of the organisation. This article aims to explore how the role of the client is produced in the interaction between employees and clients when applying for social assistance in two Swedish social assistance organisations using ADM. The data consist of 28 qualitative interviews with managers, quality personnel, professionals, and clients. Findings depict the emergence of three client roles—the distant, the capable and trustworthy, and the digitally skilled client—the configurations of which are shaped by the interplay between employees and clients, serving to fulfil specific organisational imperatives.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
SAGE Publications , 2025. article id 09589287251351094
Keywords [en]
automated decision-making, people production, social assistance, social worker-client relationship, welfare encounter
National Category
Social Work
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-78813DOI: 10.1177/09589287251351094ISI: 001508849900001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105009850461OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-78813DiVA, id: diva2:1988213
Available from: 2025-08-11 Created: 2025-08-11 Last updated: 2025-08-14Bibliographically approved

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Nordesjö, Kettil

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CiteExportLink to record
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