Policy Sources of Worker Dissatisfactions: The Case of Human Services in Aging

This article explores job dissatisfaction experienced by service providers in the field of aging and the policy sources of such dissatisfactions. Workers interviewed identified four major areas of complaint about their jobs: lack of resources, agency problems, mandates and regulations, and client ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Social service review (Chicago) 1982-09, Vol.56 (3), p.406-423
Main Author: Dressel, Paula L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aging (see also Aged, Geriatric)
Ambiguity
Entitlement programs
Funding
Government services
Health administration
Health Services for the Aged - organization & administration
Human Services
Humans
Job Satisfaction
Labor demand
Paperwork
Policy/Policies
Politicians
Public Policy
Satisfaction
Service industries
Social services
Social Work - organization & administration
Symbols
United States
Worker/Workers
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Description
Summary:This article explores job dissatisfaction experienced by service providers in the field of aging and the policy sources of such dissatisfactions. Workers interviewed identified four major areas of complaint about their jobs: lack of resources, agency problems, mandates and regulations, and client characteristics. Such problems, it is argued, are associated with specific characteristics of policies under which the respondents work. These characteristics include the symbolic nature of legislation, policy ambiguity, universal entitlement, and calculated fragmentation. Whether or not policy changes should be made to alleviate worker dissatisfactions is discussed in the concluding section of the article.
ISSN:0037-7961
1537-5404
DOI:10.1086/644023