When the rules aren't enough: Why trust in social service workers often matters more than the system itself
Trust is crucial for the effective functioning of social services. The relationship between the social services worker and the client is not just technical - it is personal. Although research has long focused on the quality of relationships between service users and frontline workers, it often neglects how users perceive the very formal procedures in which these relationships take place and how this context influences the formation of those relationships. The new study, co-authored by our member Lenka Štěpánková, therefore focuses on how trust in social service workers is formed in the context of bureaucratic processes that determine access to support.