Decision making at the front line

This chapter focuses on the interconnectedness of moral conflict and coping strategies in the policy context. It discusses the concept of moral conflicts and its relevance to the field of public service delivery. The chapter further explores the relationship between coping and moral conflicts and presents some conclusions. It provides various ways of coping with moral conflicts and explores the classification model of coping behaviour. After having looked into theory on coping in public service delivery and the classification model of coping behaviour in particular, relates the concepts of moral conflicts and coping at the front line. The chapter proposes to combine the four public service role conflicts as depicted and combine these with the classification model of coping behaviour. It provides suggestions on a future research agenda regarding decision making at the front line, and responding to moral conflict in public service delivery in particular.