ABSTRACT
This book examines the operation of discretion in welfare bureaucracies such as Social Services through a critical examination of the street-level bureaucracy perspective in relation to domination and discursive analyses of managerialism. Michael Lipsky and the domination managerialism perspective assign managers a central role in the operation of street-level discretion. Within the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) practitioners and managers talk of being subject to performance standards, budgetary controls and care management procedures, but tend to characterise these as adaptable and flexible, recognising professional discretion. Team management is no longer seen by local managers as part of a professional line of direction of practice, but is now regarded more as an interface between two different cultures, characterised as the 'business planning' culture of senior managers and the world of professional practice within the team. Lipsky characterises discretion in street-level bureaucracies in terms of particular conditions: resource scarcity and nebulous policy.
