“I was afraid of what I would face”: An analysis of citizens’ experiences of uncertainty in encounters with the social welfare system

Citizens’ encounters with street-level bureaucracy often involve a certain degree of uncertainty, as citizens cannot know or predict precisely what will happen in the encounter. Research indicates that the experience of uncertainty can be uncomfortable and stressful for individuals, thus causing or constituting a psychological cost in the citizen’s interaction with the public sector. However, the literature on administrative burdens has only to a limited extent addressed citizens’ experience of uncertainty. The purpose of this article is to present a conceptual framework for exploring citizens’ experience of uncertainty and to examine its applicability in understanding citizens’ interactions with the social welfare system. The article is based on a qualitative study of welfare recipients’ encounters with the job center, utilizing a combination of narrative interviews, analysis of case records, and observation of meetings at the job center.