Attitudes matter—welfare work and migration in Sweden

Abstract

This paper investigates the factors that influence Swedish welfare workers’ attitudes towards migrants and how these attitudes are associated with their encounters with migrant users. Due to increased migration over the last decade, Sweden is now considered an immigrant nation. Migrants with the right to reside in Sweden are included within the larger welfare system. This paper argues that preconceived notions about migrants can affect the welfare services that they receive. Results from an online survey with a sample of 1,319 welfare practitioners reveal that welfare workers’ attitudes play a significant role when it comes to how they perceive their encounters with migrant users. The findings demonstrate that more favourable attitudes towards migrants were predicted mainly by personal contact with migrants and that different organisational contexts result in different experiences of encounters with migrant users. Less favourable attitudes towards migrants were primarily predicted by a strong ethnic national identity. Most importantly, the findings show that welfare workers’ who have more favourable attitudes towards migrants are less likely to perceive their encounters with migrant users as difficult. This paper contributes to welfare and migration research in two ways. First, this study provides additional support for previous claims from qualitative research by supporting the assumptions that preconceived negative ideas about migrants have meaning for practical welfare work. Second, this paper integrates two streams of research—attitude formation theory and street-level bureaucracy theory—thus expanding existing assumptions about what determines welfare practices with migrants.

Linguistic Diversity as a Challenge for Street-Level Bureaucrats in a Monolingually-Oriented Organisation

“…As street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky, 1980), AMS employees must handle diversity-related issues when interacting with clients and are responsible for implementing migration-and integration-related policies on a local scale. Research has shown that preconceived notions held by street-level bureaucrats about migrants can affect the services they receive (Schütze, 2019).…”

Diversity Barometer 2020: Attitudes towards Immigration and Ethnic Diversity in Sweden

“…Attitudes towards immigration and ethnic diversity have been topical and controversial over many decades, with studies showing both positive and negative attitudes (Holloway and Leach 2020;Novus 2014;Schütze 2020). Migration has become more important than before on the political agenda and Sweden's previous exemplary image on humanitarian policies has changed (Asztalos Morell and Darvishpour 2018;Crawley and Mcmahon 2016;Darvishpour and Westin 2021).…”

“…A total of 19.7% of the population is born out of Sweden and 23% have a foreign background (Statistics Sweden 2021). Sweden has a public welfare system intended to cover the entire population, including immigrants with the right to reside in Sweden (Schütze 2020). However, social exclusion of immigrants is visible; Schütze (2020, p. 425) explains, "despite this formal inclusion of migrants, many studies indicate that migrants are facing different forms of exclusion; for instance, through ethnic segregation, discrimination on the labor market and the rental housing market".…”

“…Studies by Ahmed and Hammarstedt (2008), Bursell (2012) and Aldén et al (2015) indicate the existence of ethnic discrimination and segregation on the labor and rental housing market. Attitudes towards migrants and ethnic diversity directly influence how migrants are treated within the welfare systems; negative attitudes are associated with unequal treatment (Dias et al 2012;Pitkänen and Kouki 2002;Schütze 2020). Some of the aforementioned studies, although from different contexts, indicate trends that are applicable in the Swedish context.…”

“…The political climate has become volatile and attitudes towards immigration and ethnic diversity in Sweden and many other countries in the West are in constant change. Studies of attitudes towards migration are thus important in providing insight into welfare policy outcomes, as well as areas for further research (Schütze 2020). The Diversity Barometer studies serve this purpose, in addition to investigating Swedes' attitudes towards migration and ethnic diversity.…”