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Formula Stories of the “Substance-Using Client”

This study explores how socially circulating stories about clients with substance use problems serve as a cultural resource for welfare workers. By examining data drawn from interviews with service providers, the article analyzes the contents and functions of circulating stories about substance-using clients. The data consist of teller-focused interviews with 23 counselors working for the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration. Informed by the concept of formula stories, the article analyzes the symbolic and emotional codes embedded in the socially circulating stories and the plots and characters they produce. The analysis identifies four formula stories with corresponding plots, codes, and characters: the addicted, the unreliable, the deteriorating, and the stigmatized client. By exploring the contents of formula stories, the article reveals culturally embedded assumptions, which make the stories applicable and believable. Furthermore, it addresses the functions of these stories as models for client identities and in legitimizing social welfare practices and the professionals’ feelings about working with substance use problems.