Summary: | In this essay the aim is to analyse the Social orientation course as a part of the Establishment program of newly arrived immigrants in Sweden. The questions I intend to answer through qualitative interviews and analysis of policy documents are: What factors limit the local work with refugees and immigrants within the framework of the Social orientation course as an establishment effort? How is the Social orientation course as a part of the Establishment Reform implemented in Växjö Municipality? And, how can the result of the Social orientation course in the local context be explained by the theory of street-level bureaucracy? In the light of Michael Lipsky’s theory about street-level bureaucracies the study contributes to a better understanding of the factors that limit the work with Social orientation as an establishment effort. The result shows that the local work with newly arrived immigrants in Sweden is much influenced and limited by the features of street-level bureaucracies: the resources are inadequate to the task, goal expectations are vague and conflicting, goal achievement is difficult to measure, and the clients do not serve as bureaucratic reference groups. The limitations result in an introduction program which is an inadequate basis for successful integration of immigrants. This knowledge of the outcomes of the Establishment Reform is of great importance for the newly arrived immigrants in Sweden to whom the reform is directed, as well as for the policy makers.
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