Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Power, M.
2009
September
Outwitting the gatekeepers of the purse”: The impact of Micro-Level Interactions in determining access to the Back To Education Allowance Welfare to Education Programme
Published
()
Optional Fields
35
1
25
42
                          

This paper examines the role of cultural and social capital in micro-level interactions occurring between welfare recipients and Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) officers in Ireland, interactions which determine access to the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) welfare to education programme. Participants argue that some DSFA officers are experienced as acting upon signifiers of class and status (see Kemper and Collins, 1990: 34), which mark out ‘undeserving’ welfare recipients. Participants cited three strategies which they perceived DSFA officers use to assert their authority in these interactions. Distinct strategies whereby BTEA participants use their cultural and social capital to their advantage in these interactions were also identified. The discovery of these strategies is a key theoretical contribution of this paper to the existing body of knowledge. I conclude that welfare recipients possessing valued cultural and social capital can successfully negotiate obstacles placed in their way and access the BTEA.

USA
09732047
Grant Details