Street-level bureaucracy, interprofessional relations, and coping mechanisms: a study of criminal justice social workers in the sentencing process

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Street-level bureaucracy, interprofessional relations, and coping mechanisms: a study of criminal justice social workers in the sentencing process. / Halliday, Simon; Burns, Nicola; Hutton, Neil et al.
In: Law and Policy, Vol. 31, No. 4, 10.2009, p. 405-428.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Halliday, S, Burns, N, Hutton, N, McNeill, F & Tata, C 2009, 'Street-level bureaucracy, interprofessional relations, and coping mechanisms: a study of criminal justice social workers in the sentencing process', Law and Policy, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 405-428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9930.2009.00306.x

APA

Halliday, S., Burns, N., Hutton, N., McNeill, F., & Tata, C. (2009). Street-level bureaucracy, interprofessional relations, and coping mechanisms: a study of criminal justice social workers in the sentencing process. Law and Policy, 31(4), 405-428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9930.2009.00306.x

Vancouver

Halliday S, Burns N, Hutton N, McNeill F, Tata C. Street-level bureaucracy, interprofessional relations, and coping mechanisms: a study of criminal justice social workers in the sentencing process. Law and Policy. 2009 Oct;31(4):405-428. Epub 2009 Aug 5. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9930.2009.00306.x

Author

Halliday, Simon ; Burns, Nicola ; Hutton, Neil et al. / Street-level bureaucracy, interprofessional relations, and coping mechanisms: a study of criminal justice social workers in the sentencing process. In: Law and Policy. 2009 ; Vol. 31, No. 4. pp. 405-428.

Bibtex

@article{90e8c9ee829240008ef279fb17be48fd,

title = "Street-level bureaucracy, interprofessional relations, and coping mechanisms: a study of criminal justice social workers in the sentencing process",

abstract = "This article builds on the work of Michael Lipsky and develops an argument about the significance of interprofessional working for street-level bureaucracy. It presents an ethnographic analysis of criminal justice social workers writing presentence reports for the Scottish courts. Social workers' report writing for judges brought into relief issues of relative professional status. Social workers were uncertain of their place within the legal domain and concerned about their credibility as criminal justice professionals. Reports were written, in part at least, as a way of seeking esteem and credibility in the eyes of judges-a motivation that undermined the policy objectives of social enquiry in sentencing. Applying the conceptual tools of Bourdieu to our findings, we argue that street-level bureaucrats who have to work across bureaucratic {"}fields{"} may find, or fear, that the cultural and symbolic {"}capital{"} they retained within their own field is undervalued in the symbolic economy of new fields, putting them in a position of relative inferiority. This issue of relative professional status, and how officials respond to it, is significant for our understanding of street-level bureaucracy.",

keywords = "street level bureaucracy, interprofessional relations, criminal justice , social workers, sentencing",

author = "Simon Halliday and Nicola Burns and Neil Hutton and Fergus McNeill and Cyrus Tata",

year = "2009",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1111/j.1467-9930.2009.00306.x",

language = "English",

volume = "31",

pages = "405--428",

journal = "Law and Policy",

issn = "0265-8240",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Street-level bureaucracy, interprofessional relations, and coping mechanisms: a study of criminal justice social workers in the sentencing process

AU - Halliday, Simon

AU - Burns, Nicola

AU - Hutton, Neil

AU - McNeill, Fergus

AU - Tata, Cyrus

PY - 2009/10

Y1 - 2009/10

N2 - This article builds on the work of Michael Lipsky and develops an argument about the significance of interprofessional working for street-level bureaucracy. It presents an ethnographic analysis of criminal justice social workers writing presentence reports for the Scottish courts. Social workers' report writing for judges brought into relief issues of relative professional status. Social workers were uncertain of their place within the legal domain and concerned about their credibility as criminal justice professionals. Reports were written, in part at least, as a way of seeking esteem and credibility in the eyes of judges-a motivation that undermined the policy objectives of social enquiry in sentencing. Applying the conceptual tools of Bourdieu to our findings, we argue that street-level bureaucrats who have to work across bureaucratic "fields" may find, or fear, that the cultural and symbolic "capital" they retained within their own field is undervalued in the symbolic economy of new fields, putting them in a position of relative inferiority. This issue of relative professional status, and how officials respond to it, is significant for our understanding of street-level bureaucracy.

AB - This article builds on the work of Michael Lipsky and develops an argument about the significance of interprofessional working for street-level bureaucracy. It presents an ethnographic analysis of criminal justice social workers writing presentence reports for the Scottish courts. Social workers' report writing for judges brought into relief issues of relative professional status. Social workers were uncertain of their place within the legal domain and concerned about their credibility as criminal justice professionals. Reports were written, in part at least, as a way of seeking esteem and credibility in the eyes of judges-a motivation that undermined the policy objectives of social enquiry in sentencing. Applying the conceptual tools of Bourdieu to our findings, we argue that street-level bureaucrats who have to work across bureaucratic "fields" may find, or fear, that the cultural and symbolic "capital" they retained within their own field is undervalued in the symbolic economy of new fields, putting them in a position of relative inferiority. This issue of relative professional status, and how officials respond to it, is significant for our understanding of street-level bureaucracy.

KW - street level bureaucracy

KW - interprofessional relations

KW - criminal justice

KW - social workers

KW - sentencing

U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-9930.2009.00306.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1467-9930.2009.00306.x

M3 - Journal article

VL - 31

SP - 405

EP - 428

JO - Law and Policy

JF - Law and Policy

SN - 0265-8240

IS - 4

ER -

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