LeMoyne College

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Abstract

Data drawn from 24 months of participant observation and 30 interviews with workers at various levels of the West County TANF intake offices show that not only is the TANF intake apparatus intentionally designed to divert applicants through systematically defaulting to judgments of non-compliance, but also that the implementation of a collaborative case management structure that is heavily reliant upon textual information and communication technology (ICT) in this case serves to force welfare intake staff to take a compartmentalized view of applicants when exercising discretion in processing applicants. A further audit of TANF intakes' use of discretion reveals that this case management structure perpetuates an artificial distinction between private and public lives and assumes a disembodied or unencumbered clientele that results in discretionary action that exacerbates rather than repairs the contradictory demands of low-income parenting within the new economy.

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