Constraining organisational dynamics in social services in Spain

Abstract

This article analyses some of the inefficiencies and distortions that can arise within the Spanish welfare system. It is a case study examining primary social care services in the city of Tarragona during the recent economic crisis. Twelve in-depth interviews conducted with users show their experiences of injustice and being deprived of social rights. The analysis links these constraining experiences with the organisational conditions affecting basic social services. The results show that an absence or inadequacy of resources in primary social care services has encouraged the development of discriminatory mechanisms in terms of the selection of beneficiaries, in addition to imbalances in the implementation of benefits and services. Institutional interventions such as those analysed, performed in an inefficient, unfair and painful manner, penalise the impoverished population. The article concludes by providing some recommendations in order for basic social services to be more effective in achieving their goals of social welfare and justice.