"Hvad er det, jeg skal være dårlig til?" -Stigma og anerkendelse i bostøtteindsatsen efter Servicelovens §85
Oversat titel
"What Is It That I Am Supposed to Be Bad At?" -Stigma and Recognition in Housing Support Services
Forfatter
Olsen, Sofie Louise Haagensen
Semester
7. semester
Udgivelsesår
2025
Afleveret
2025-12-30
Resumé
This thesis examines how stigma emerges and is expressed in encounters between citizens and social professionals within housing support services under Section 85 of the Danish Social Services Act, and how recognition may function as a stigma-reducing approach in social work practice. The study is grounded in a social constructivist epistemological perspective, in which stigma and recognition are understood as relational and context-dependent phenomena that are produced through interactions between the citizen, the professional, and the welfare system. The thesis applies a hermeneutic and abductive approach. The empirical foundation consists of two qualitative, semi-structured interviews: one with a citizen receiving housing support and one with a professional working in a housing support–related outreach service. The interviews provide insight into both lived experiences and professional reflections on practice, power, and relational work. The analysis draws primarily on Erving Goffman’s theory of stigma and Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition. The findings show that stigma in housing support services rarely appears as explicit humiliation, but rather as a subtle, institutionalised processes in which citizens are positioned as cases, diagnoses, or risks instead of individuals with unique life situations. Experiences of having to justify one’s needs, adapt to standardised solutions, and navigate rigid organisational structures contribute to feelings of inadequacy, loss of autonomy, and social devaluation. The analysis also demonstrates that recognition can act as a counterforce to stigma. Relational practices characterised by trust, respectful communication, transparency, and genuine involvement support the citizen’s sense of dignity, self-respect, and agency. However, the study also highlights how professionals’ opportunities to work in a recognising manner are constrained by structural conditions such as documentation requirements, time management systems, and standardised assessment tools. The thesis concludes that stigma in housing support services must be understood as both a relational and structural phenomenon. While social professionals cannot eliminate stigma entirely, they play a crucial role in lessening its effects through a reflective, relational, and ethically grounded practice.