Searching for “the usual suspects”: The role of discretion and target group constructions in the frontline of policy implementation
研究基于纵向调查数据，分析一线工作者如何解读模糊政策并分类儿童，发现组织边界缺失导致自由裁量权扩大，阻碍预防性政策的有效实施。
Abstract This study investigates the implementation of preventive policy targeting children. Based on longitudinal survey data we analyze how frontline workers assign meaning to core concepts of the policy and categorize the children and in this light how their exercise of discretion affects policy implementation. Many studies problematize the effects of limiting the discretion in the frontline. We identify a case where the policy is highly ambiguous, the definitions of target groups, core concepts, or central goals are vague, and the general steering of the frontline is not characterized by a lack of discretion but a lack of organizational boundaries to shape the discretion. This expands not only the policymaking role of the frontline but also becomes a barrier to developing a stronger preventive effort. The findings give nuanced insight into how organizational boundaries affect the discretion and target group construction in the frontline during frontline implementation of welfare policies.