Sustained agency contact teaches poor clients they are undeserving

Evidence

In other lines of work that get reduced to wearisome routines, it is all too easy to slip into an indifferent, depersonalized mode to the point where people are treated like objects. Maslach (1982) identified burnout syndrome, which includes depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, a low sense of accomplishment in one’s work, and cynicism about the prospect of effecting changes. Individuals who have a low sense of efficacy in helping others make needed changes are prone to blame and disparage them for their difficulties and their failure to do the things that can improve their lives. It is a small step from depersonalization to dehumanization. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 619 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Individuals who have a low sense of efficacy in helping others make needed changes are prone to blame and disparage them for their difficulties and their failure to do the things that can improve their lives. It is a small step from depersonalization to dehumanization. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 619 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Third, street-level bureaucrats convey to clients what their proper level of expectations of the bureaucracy should be. This is complicated because at one level the society generally teaches that citizens have a right to equal treatment and responsive services. The ideology of public service urges people to seek safety, health care, education, and other objectives from public agencies. Diffuse public awareness that bureaucracies are characterized by red tape, inefficiency, corruption, and bungling helps to deBate expectations, but it does not do so entirely, since individuals can still hope for and seek out responsive treatment. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 486 (#instantiates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Social ideology of responsive service and cynicism about red tape jointly shape client expectations — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 486; Bureaucratic contact stigmatizes even people officially cleared or acquitted — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 528; Frontline workers teach clients to expect few services, dampening demand in advance — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 487 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Burnout-driven low efficacy makes helpers blame and disparage their clients #corroborates (0.85) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 619
• Low self-efficacy in helpers breeds blame and disparagement of those they serve #corroborates (0.85) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 619