11.12.2024
Doctoral thesis on trust in encounters between refugees and bureaucrats in Finland and Sweden
M.Soc.Sc. Liselott Sundbäck’s doctoral thesis in Social Policy will be put forth for public defence at The Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies at Åbo Akademi University.
The thesis is entitled Unfolding trust in institutional encounters between forced migrants and street-level bureaucrats in Finland and Sweden.
The public defence of the doctoral thesis takes place on Thursday 19 December 2024 at 1PM in auditorium Bruhn, Academill, Rantakatu 2, Vaasa. You can also follow the defence online. Professor Kati Turtiainen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, will serve as opponent and Docent Camilla Nordberg, Åbo Akademi University, as custos.
Summary
The doctoral dissertation examines experiences of trust in institutional encounters between people with forced migration background and street-level bureaucrats in the welfare states of Finland and Sweden. People with forced migration background refer to individuals who have fled to Finland or Sweden, including asylum seekers, former asylum seekers, and quota refugees. The term “street-level bureaucrats” refers to professionals working in public institutions with direct contact with service users. Institutional encounters constitute a significant part of everyday life for people with forced migration background, as they negotiate residence permits, services, and benefits related to integration into the new country through these meetings.
Empirically, the dissertation is based on a qualitative research design involving 27 interviews with service users with forced migration backgrounds and 24 interviews with street-level bureaucrats in both social and employment services. The dissertation is article-based, consisting of four scientific articles. It contributes to knowledge production in three areas: research on trust, research on forced migration, and research on street-level bureaucracy.
The findings show that trust among people with forced migration background is shaped both positively and negatively in their institutional encounters. Factors influencing the formation of trust are both administrative (e.g., perceptions of procedural justice, participation, and access to information) and emotional (e.g., experiences of empathetic treatment and kindness). Furthermore, the dissertation highlights epistemic dimensions of trust, i.e., how clients are treated as knowledge producers. Regarding street-level bureaucrats, the dissertation shows that time and temporality, including the fast pace of the neoliberal welfare state, are central to understanding how they construct meaning around trust. The dissertation presents a typology for understanding how street-level bureaucrats position themselves through their meaning-making of trust. Additionally, it addresses the negative aspects of trust and highlights also how trust is formed through intermediaries, such as interpreters.
The dissertation introduces the concept of street-level trust to enhance the conceptual understanding of trust in this context. An analytical framework is also presented to better understand street-level trust as a concept. The dissertation includes a practical reflection table for professionals. The findings can be used to support professionals’ understanding of trust in institutional encounters.
Liselott Sundbäck can be reached by phone +358 50-535 4248 or email liselott.sundback@abo.fi.
The doctoral thesis can be read online through the Doria publication archive.
Click here for a press photo of the doctoral student.
Instructions for following the doctoral defence remotely:
To follow the defence, you need the Zoom software or the Google Chrome browser. You do not need to create a Zoom account to follow the defence. If you install the application, you participate by clicking on the meeting link, after which you should allow the link to open in the Zoom app.