Gyda's slides for the academic writing course University of Iceland, April 2018

1. Social Services, Activation and the Right
to Self Determination: The Case of
Iceland
European Social Work Research Conference
Edinburgh 18-20 April 2018
Gyða Hjartardóttir, MA. Social Work and PhD student
Guðný Björk Eydal, professor
Faculty of Social Work
University of Iceland.

2. My background
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

3. Main points today
• The Icelandic case
• Municipalities and self determination /autonomy
• The service users right to self determination and to
appeal
• Ethical dilemmas for social workers
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

4. Municipalities in Iceland
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

5. Aim of the social service law
• The Social Service Act nr. 40/1991 is a framing law
• Different rules within all 32 social services units
• The main goal of the law is to help people to self-help
and to guarantee financial and social security on their
behalf
• The help is temporary and should always aim to help
people to be self sufficant and independent
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

6. Social services - benifits
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

7. The muncipalities‘ autonomy
• Duties to guarantee financial and social security
• Autonomy on level of support provided
• The municipalities‘ autonomy is protected in the
constitution
• 5 parliamentary proposals about allowing conditions for
receiving aid
• Social Service Act nr. 40/1991, with minor amendments
• Ministry of Welfare working on new legislation since 2014Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

8. The Icelandic case
• Iceland is different from other Nordic countries
• No legal support for any conditions on social support
• Municipal rules do all have the possibility to make
reduction of given support in some circumstances
• Rulings from the board of appeals in the Ministry of
Welfare have confirmed the actions of the municipalities
= without legal backup
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

9. Service users‘ rights to self determination
and appeal
• Have developed unusual and particular situations
• Users‘ right to self determination confirmed in the
social service law
• Users‘ right to appeal the decissions from the
municipalities
• Discrepancies can cause chaos and ethical dilemmas
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

10. Ethical contradiction
• In law/policy and implementation/rules in the
municipalities
• Between self-determination of client and goals of self
help
• Between the goal to empower the service users despite
the double messages in law and regulation
• The Icelandic constitution supports the
autonomy of the municipalities
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

11. The PhD study
• The aim of the study is to understand how social
assistance is regulated and excuted, asking if the social
services are reaching the goal of helping people to self-
help?
• The study consists of policy analysis, interviews with social
workers and, possibly, services users.
• Otherwise a work in progress.....
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.

12. Thank you for listening!
Gyða Hjartardóttir og Guðný Björk Eydal,
Edinburgh April 2018.