Frontline workers are central to welfare policy implementation, relying on discretion and rapid decisions often based on limited information. This study, based on vignette group interviews and semi-structured interviews (n = 90), examines how frontline workers identify signs of child vulnerability and how parental socioeconomic status influences these assessments and subsequent actions. Integrating street-level bureaucracy theory with status characteristics and double standards theory, the study refines understanding of how categorization processes may reinforce inequality. It demonstrates how double standards act as a mediating mechanism in the reproduction of stigmatization and inequality. By introducing the concepts of ‘type 1′ and ‘type 2′ errors, the study conceptualizes two distinct biases in frontline decision-making. These categories offer insight into how stigmatization operates in practice, particularly highlighting a neglected consequence: the risk of overlooking vulnerable clients who do not align with stereotypical expectations.
Iben Lausten Kragh (Sun,) studied this question.