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Cited by 142Public Policy and Administration ResearchEthics in Business and EducationPolicing Practices and Perceptions

Toward a Theoretical Framework for Ethical Decision Making of Street-Level Bureaucracy: Existing Models Reconsidered

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Loyens, Kim, Maesschalck, Jeroen·2010·Administration & Society
DOI 10.1177/0095399710362524
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Abstract

Much research has been done on the way in which individuals in organizations deal with their discretion. This article focuses on the literature on street-level bureaucracy and the literature on ethical decision making. Despite their shared attempt to explain individual behavior and decision making, these research traditions have been developed quite independently. Moreover, although they both list relevant influencing factors, they do not succeed entirely in clarifying how and under which circumstances these factors have an impact on individual behavior and decision making. This article attempts to substantiate how the concept of social mechanism could help to open the black box of causation.

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  • Value negotiations and heuristics are indispensable to professional practice and workers must engage in them to build expertise.

    “Value negotiations and heuristics are an indispensable aspect of professional practice that workers must continually engage in to build expertise [77].”

    From A Framework of High-Stakes Algorithmic Decision-Making for the Public Sector Developed through a Case Study of Child-Welfare (2021) · cites this paper as [77]

    In “Routines of Frontline Officers” (p. 72), the paper says frontline workers develop routines to manage repeated choices in complex conditions. It also discusses how professional norms and moral values influence their decisions. It does not say that value negotiations and heuristics are indispensable to professional practice or that workers must continually engage in them to build expertise. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • High-stakes public-sector decisions require a distinct algorithmic framework that accounts for bureaucratic processes and human discretion.

    “we argue that the high-stakes decisions being made within the public sector necessitate the critical need for a distinctly unique framework for algorithmic systems that accounts for the complexities of public sector bureaucratic processes [43,46,77] and the delicate application of human discretion that has historically been a cornerstone of social services [74,116].”

    From A Framework of High-Stakes Algorithmic Decision-Making for the Public Sector Developed through a Case Study of Child-Welfare (2021) · cites this paper as [77]

  • Practitioners' beliefs and moral values are important factors in street-level decision-making.

    “Practitioner's beliefs and moral values are important factors in regard to how street-level decision-making unfolds [77,83,105].”

    From A Framework of High-Stakes Algorithmic Decision-Making for the Public Sector Developed through a Case Study of Child-Welfare (2021) · cites this paper as [77]

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Research works printed but not linked: 14

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  3. [11]11. Boston, J. (1995). Inherently governmental functions and the limits to contracting out. In J. Boston (Ed.), The state under contract (pp. 78-111). Wellington, New Zealand: Bridget Williams Books.
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  7. [85]85. Maynard-Moody, S., & Musheno, M. (2003). Cops, teachers, counsellors: Narratives of street-level judgment. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
  8. [93]93. Pawson, R., & Tilley, N. (1997). Realistic evaluation. London, UK: Sage. at KU Leuven on March 22, 2010 http://aas.sagepub.com Downloaded from
  9. [98]98. Prenzler, T. (2004). The privatization of policing. In R. Sarre & J. Tomaino (Eds.), Key issues in criminal justice (pp. 267-296). Adelaide, Australia: Australian Humanities Press.
  10. [100]100. Rainey, H. G. (2004). Big science, big bureaucracy and privatization: Complications in contracting for the management of the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Pub- lic Performance and Management Review, 28, 214-235.
  11. [102]102. Rest, J. R. (1984). The major components of morality. In W. Kurtiness & J. Gewirtz (Eds.), Morality, moral behaviour, and moral development (pp. 24-40). New York, NY: John Wiley.
  12. [105]105. In R. Merrit & A. Merrit (Eds.), Innovation in the public sector (pp. 85-105).
  13. [106]106. Rose, G., Kahle, L., & Shokam, A. (2000). Role relaxation and organizational cul- ture: A social values perspective. In N. Ashkanasy, C. Wilderom, & M. Peterson (Eds.), Handbook of organizational culture and climate (pp. 437-446). London, UK: Sage.
  14. [123]123. Thomson, R. J., & Zingraff, M. T. (1981). Detecting sentence disparity: some prob- lems and evidence. American Journal of Sociology, 86, 869-880.

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Authors
Loyens, K., & Maesschalck, J.
Affiliations
KU Leuven (BE)
Corresponding author
Loyens, Kim
ORCID
Venue
Administration & Society
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2010-03
Volume
42
Issue
1
Pages
66-100
ISSN
  • 0095-3997 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-3039
DOI
10.1177/0095399710362524
OpenAlex
W2110626944
Cited by
142
References
159
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 3
FWCI
13.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Administration & Society (publishedVersion)
  • VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
  • Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Digital Academic REpository of VU University Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
  • Vlaamse regering
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Public Administration › Public Policy and Administration Research
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Ethics in Business and Education
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
Keywords
street-level bureaucracy, ethical decision-making, discretion, social mechanisms, organizational discretion, individual behavior, theoretical framework, public sector employees

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