Storytelling in street-level bureaucracies: a two-country narrative ethnography

Purpose This article aims to explore the role of storytelling in coordinating, redirecting and streamlining frontline discretion in street-level bureaucracies by analysing how organisational narratives shape caseworkers’ reasoning in assessing sickness benefits and implementing return-to-work policies. Design/methodology/approach Based on two narrative ethnographies of caseworkers administering sickness benefits in Norway and Sweden, the analysis reveals joint narratives circulating in the welfare agencies of the two countries. Findings The narratives convey significant organisational truths. They suggest that working despite sickness is health-promoting, that general practitioners lack competence in judging sick-listed patients’ work capacity and that caseworkers must be stringent in guarding the gates to the welfare state to protect its sustainability because its future depends on them. Caseworkers embrace these narratives as they offer collective cues for casework, reducing the need to consider individual aspects of clients’ cases. These work practices potentially undermine clients’ rights to welfare services, as caseworkers’ informal and moral scripts can surpass formal governance and policy. Originality/value The study offers a new perspective on discretion in street-level bureaucracies by addressing the role of organisational narratives in scripting, coordinating and streamlining caseworkers’ reasoning.