Ellen Grootegoed

Ellen Grootegoed (1983) joined the Amsterdam School for Social science Research (ASSR) in June 2009. She obtained her Bachelor degree at the international University College in Utrecht in 2005. At the University of Utrecht, she continued her studies with a Master in Social Policy and Social Interventions (2006-2007) and obtained her Master of Science (cum laude). For her Master Thesis on Payment for Informal Caregivers she received the ASW Master Prize 2007. For two years, she worked at the University of Utrecht as a junior researcher. Now Ellen is a PhD-candidate within the project ‘Learning participation’, which focuses on the activation of citizens. This project is funded by Nicis Insitute, in cooperation with ten Dutch cities.

Ellen’s PhD research focuses on social participation of people with self-help incapacities. The Social Support Act (WMO) that was launched in 2007 aims to active citizens, including citizens that face extra barriers in their participation. Object of this study is the support and empowerment of these so-called vulnerable citizens, particularly in the domain of social assistance. Social assistance forms a representative case for the theoretical transformation of a paternalistic welfare model (based on social rights) into a participatory state (based on civic participation). In this longitudinal design, vulnerable citizens will be followed in their daily practices, routines and struggles to participate in society, thereby deriving support from their social networks rather than from state institutions.