生活保護行政におけるケースワーカーの意味づけ―『生活保護ケースワーカー奮闘記』を事例に―

抄録

In public assistance administration, frontline workers (caseworkers) are afforded considerable discretion, indicating that how policies are actually carried out in the field largely depends on how these caseworkers perceive and interpret the inherent significance of their duties. From the perspective that policies should be formulated and implemented by taking into account the process by which staff interpret their work, this paper analyzes how caseworkers construct and transform that interpretation, using a “memoir” written by a caseworker as a case study. The findings reveal that the “sense of purpose” and “sense of fulfillment,” which are noted to help alleviate stress, emerge through a process that shifts negative emotions—specifically “anger”—into a positive feeling of “fulfillment” during their everyday tasks.