Responsibility vs. Dissociation

Abstract

A fourth dilemma with which public officials are confronted in the process of deciding upon asylum claims is responsibility versus dissociation. This dilemma is related to the structural tension of the human versus the faceless case, which was discussed in the previous chapter, and can be regarded as a translation of that dilemma with a focus on the moral (individual) and ethical (societal) aspects of decision makers' work. This chapter explores caseworkers' practices of balancing these two poles when processing asylum claims. Similar to the previous chapters, it will become clear how these practices are strongly related to the organizational working conditions at the FAO. Thus, the mutual influence and reproduction of structure and agency will be highlighted. Essentially, the tension exists between decision makers, who bear great responsibility since they decide upon the future lives of others, and the Asylum Office, which is a bureaucratic institution where work instructions must be executed. However, decision makers do not act as machines but constitute themselves as responsible beings in practices of engaging with the other. Thomas, for example, explains that he feels "challenged to show commitment and to do it [the work] conscientiously … it's not that you just work like a computer or in a gherkin factory or so." This chapter explores the different strategies caseworkers develop in dealing with responsibility and coping with the burdens of their everyday work. Officials have to find a balance between the two extremes of too much distance and too much proximity (Weller 2002). In the French welfare offices, Dubois (2010) also observed agents' practices of balancing between self-withdrawal and personal involvement in dealing with the misery they face. Considering Parsons' (1951) orientation alternatives, officials need to decide between a collective orientation, which follows general interests and is oriented toward the common good, and self-orientation, which follows officials' own interests. However, in addition to the interests of the society The original version of this chapter was revised.