Work situations structurally erode the individual responsiveness that professional norms demand.

Evidence

Social workers, teachers, and, of course, doctors and lawyers, are expected to respond to the individual and the presenting situation, however strongly their work situations mitigate against flexible responses. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1172

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: the gap between what professional training promises and what caseload volume permits — a ‘declared versus operative values’ essay.
• XREF: connects to: Even preeminent professionals become constrained by rigid organizational rules — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 197; Organizational necessities force professionals to abandon their trained individualized practice. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 353; Actual practice systematically undermines the professional norms practitioners themselves profess — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 881 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Industry shifted the burden from structural safeguards onto individual worker behaviors #corroborates (0.85) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1805
• Increased professionalism sometimes narrows rather than widens frontline discretion #qualifies (0.75) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1844