Myten om velferdsavhengighet

Title: The Myth of Welfare Dependency. Summary: The myth of welfare dependency has long historical roots and is influential in both policy and research. The central idea is that receiving welfare benefits decreases people’s motivation for work and fosters a culture of dependency. The myth originates in an Anglo-American context but is also evident in a Nordic context. Nordic welfare states, with their comparatively high levels of benefits, are presumably especially at risk of encouraging welfare dependency. This article questions the myth of welfare dependency, by presenting a life-course perspective that directs our attention to relations between historical developments and individual life-course processes. Viewed from a life-course perspective, it becomes clear that the myth of welfare dependency is based upon a number of problematic premises: an individualistic and static conception of lives and relationships, a narrowly defined concept of welfare, and on several misconceptions of how welfare state policies, especially of the Nordic variety, function in practice. The dichotomy of dependence and independence upon which the myth rests is untenable when confronted with empirical life-course research, and has highly-skewed implications in terms of both gender and social class.

Myten om eldrebølgen

Title: The myth of the “Elder Boom”. Summary: The ageing population represents today one of the most central demographic challenges in many countries of the world, including Norway. In the public debate about the ageing population, the metaphor “Elder Boom” is increasingly being used. This article gives insight into the discussion in Norway and shows that the metaphor “Elder Boom” does not represent a constructive contribution to the ageing-population debate. The article provides arguments against two implications of the “Boom” metaphor: that ageing people are unwanted in society, and that older people represent a huge and increasing amount of welfare dependency. It shows how society over time has strived to control diseases (such as tuberculosis) in order to increase life expectancy. Society does, in fact, see old age as one of its major achievements, not as a problem as implied in the “Elder Boom” metaphor. The article also demonstrates how social policies implemented in the elderly-care sector in Norway have increasingly reduced services to elderly people while increasing allocation to younger people still of working age. By pointing out these changes in old age and elderly care over time, the article is a contribution to put an end to the myth of an “Elder Boom”. Overall, it contributes to the understanding of how this myth, bolstered by the Western world’s ideal of (welfare) independence, both stigmatizes and misconstrues elderly people’s dependency on the welfare state, which is in fact decreasing for various reasons.

Myten om at ein stor stat fører til eit svakt samfunn

Title: The Myth that a Strong State Leads to a Weak Society. Summary: This article discusses the myth that a strong state makes for a weak society. This is a myth evident both in the view that a comprehensive welfare state entails a weak civil society and the hypothesis that big government “crowds out” social capital. The article examines both of these views against the backdrop of the historical relationship between state and civil society in Norway. First, rather than undermining civil society, the article demonstrates how a strong welfare state has in fact co-existed with and encouraged over time the vitality of civil society, based on social movements with broad recruitment bases. In the Nordic countries, a specific kind of “state individualism” has also emerged. Second, the article argues that this strong civil society – today visible, for example, in the vitality of labour unions and growing participation in voluntary organizations in the fields of culture, sport and recreation – generates bridge-building social capital, thus weakening the “crowding-out” hypothesis. The final section of the article examines the myth that older people cared for by family members receive better care than those in the public healthcare system, in light of evidence that indicates care from family members can lead to asymmetrical relations or perceived indignity which in turn can jeopardize the quality of the interaction between the older person and the caregiver.

Myten om velferdsstaten

Title: The Myth of the Welfare State. Summary: This article takes a closer look at the legacy and relevancy of The Myth of the Welfare State. The anthology was received with great attention and debate when its first editions appeared in the early 1970s. The article examines the anthology’s individual contributions (primarily from the 1973 edition), placing them within both an historical context and more contemporary discussions about “public sociology”. The article goes on to assess the anthology’s contributions against the backdrop of one main guiding question: do the anthology’s critiques of welfare myths still have relevancy for current welfare research and contemporary discussions about the welfare state? Lower levels of poverty during the 1970s (together with little recognition of poverty as a problem at that time compared to today) weakens somewhat, the article argues, the anthology’s relevance to our contemporary understanding of poverty in Norway. Poverty continues, however, to exist as a social problem today, although Norway’s poverty levels are low compared to many other countries in the world. The article identifies common themes in contemporary Norwegian poverty debates and topics raised in the anthology in the early 1970s. The article concludes that many of the topics and discussions raised in The Myth of the Welfare State are still visible in, and relevant to, contemporary discussions on the nature of the welfare state.

Myten om fengselspinen

Title: The Myth of “Prison Pain”. Summary: The pain of punishment and imprisonment has been widely discussed in prison research. In line with established penal/criminal theory and politics, imposing punishment within the institution of law means inflicting pain. The sociology of imprisonment literature has traditionally focused rather narrowly on the pains of imprisonment; on the “weight, depth and tightness” experienced by prisoners. Empirically-grounded comparative analysis of prisoners’ own views on important contributing factors to strengthening their quality of life in prison and their decision to abstain from future crime and drugs is scarce. In the 21st century, Norwegian criminal justice policy has shifted towards an increasing emphasis on human rights discourses and rehabilitation policies. The “principle of normalization” is a humanist hallmark of the Norwegian prison systems, implying prisoners’ equal access to the welfare rights shared by all Norwegian citizens. During the incarceration period, prisoners’ rights to satisfactory accommodation, education or training, employment, health and social services, and financial advice, seek to create the best possible conditions for an offender’s re-integration into society after release. Despite such constructive changes within correctional services, the question remains how such changes have altered the prison experience and softened the pains of imprisonment. Based on comprehensive qualitative and quantitative data on life before, during and after imprisonment, this article presents a more nuanced picture of the varying Norwegian correctional institution standards. With the help of ex-criminals’ and inmates’ present and past experiences, the article contributes to an understanding of how the different prison-condition qualities that prisoners are exposed to can contribute to constructive change. By addressing the prisoners’ own reflections on their feelings, pain, pleasures, gains and losses regarding today’s penal practice, the article wishes to contribute to a constructive debate on what current and former prisoners value as supportive and fair, and what they perceive to be offensive and unfair. We cannot, the article argues, assume that punishment is always, and in each case, perceived as pain without further investigation of how punishment is actually experienced and how it varies. The comparative approach - how prisoners perceive and experience the varying conditions they are subjected to in prison, and how they deal with it - must be a core concern in the study of captive society. Accordingly, theories of punishment and painfulness must reflect the recent years’ changes evident within both penal practice and policies.

Myten om alenemødrene og velferdsstaten

Title: The Myth of Single Mothers and the Welfare State. Summary: In the last three decades, there have been two large public debates about single mothers and the welfare state in Norway; the first, initiated by the leader of the Progress Party during the electoral campaign in 1989, portrayed single mothers as parasites on the welfare state; the second, evident since the early 2000s, has focused on Somali single mothers and portrayed them as misusers of benefits for single parents. The article identifies significant myths in these public debates and discusses how they have changed. These stereotypes are compared with insights from research on the situation of single mothers, and the article demonstrates how the welfare benefits for the group have changed in the same period. The article ends with a discussion of the importance of myths in political debates. Myths may “work” both in direct and indirect ways. How influential they are, however, is always difficult to decide. The myths about single mothers have worked in the sense that they have set the agenda. This makes it important for researchers to take on the work of not taking myths as accepted truths, but to challenge and defy them.