Having a referral target shields workers from clients’ negative emotions

Evidence

The availability of a pressure specialist in some respects protects the worker from the client~ strong negative feelings by providing an alternative to decision making. Rather than listen to clients complain, or worry that a decision may evoke client hostility, the worker can process the case through a pressure referral. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 984

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Referrals deliver symbolic service that substitutes for real help to clients — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 972