Persoonsgerichte handhaving van de socialezekerheidswetgeving: Een actieonderzoek naar de betekenis van motiverende houdingen in de uitvoeringspraktijk

In this article, we discuss a ‘person-centred’ view on the enforcement of social security laws. This is a new vision on enforcement whereby welfare workers can ‘differentiate’ in order to create more room for ‘customization’ with an eye for ‘the human dimension’ and an ‘appropriate’ enforcement style. Despite the unanimity about the desirability of this approach, most of the practical details are still unclear. Our central question is therefore: How may a person-centred approach of the enforcement of social security laws be implemented in practice? Based on an action research study, in which we closely collaborated with welfare workers and benefit recipients at a Dutch welfare office, we attempt to answer this question. We first discuss a number of central concepts from the enforcement literature and consider the concept of ‘motivational postures’. For this study, we developed a prototype of a new electronic analytical tool (which can be used to support enforcement) and then applied this tool in a small pilot study. In the article we describe our findings and discuss the experiences of benefit recipients and welfare workers with the analytical tool. We conclude that this tool appears to offer a good basis for the further development of the person-centred enforcement of social security laws.