Michael Lipsky's Street-Level Bureaucracy

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Recommended: Importance of performance management in the public sector

Michael Lipsky’s Street Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individuals in Public Services (2010), highlights that street-level bureaucrats develop various coping mechanisms to survive their job. As illustrated by Lipsky (2010), there are three correlational indicators between mental health and street-level in the work environment: lack of resources, being overloaded, and role ambiguity. Since street-level bureaucrats respond on behalf of the “public interest,” they must create balance to be successful (Lipsky, 2010). Lipsky (2010), expresses that the primary role of street-level bureaucrats is based on performance and the decisions that they make can affect individuals lives. According to Lipsky (2010), street-level bureaucrats must interact, react and make decisions that are based on their clients’ behaviors/actions. Daily, street-level bureaucrats deal with angry patrons and are the focus of this anger because their job mainly deals with the community because they are viewed as the “gatekeepers” to these resources (Lipsky, 2010). …show more content…

Also, despite not having as many resources available service workers still need to organize their work that way they can be efficient (Lipsky, 2010). Interestingly, street-level workers, have a significantly large caseload, and thus, they must somehow reduce the demands of their clients, or they will be overworked (Lipsky, 2010). Also, street-level bureaucrats need to modify their job to reduce the stress/requirements, and this can help them achieve their goals (Lipsky,

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