Between Aid And Labeling: The Perspectives Of Social Services Beneficiaries
Between Aid And Labeling: The Perspectives Of Social Services Beneficiaries

Summary/Abstract: This article analyzes the lived experiences of social service beneficiaries, focusing on the tension between institutional support and social labeling processes. Based on qualitative research conducted between October and November 2025, in Vâlcea County, the study explores how people accessing social canteens and a night shelter perceive and negotiate their interactions with social assistance institutions. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with adult beneficiaries, using purposive and snowball sampling strategies. The results indicate that accessing social services is experienced predominantly as a last resort, rather than as an exercise of a social right. While social canteens are mainly associated with public exposure of vulnerability and tacit compliance with institutional rules, night shelters are perceived as a more intrusive environment, characterized by a high level of control, loss of privacy and more pronounced consequences on personal identity. In both contexts, beneficiaries describe persistent concerns related to stigmatization, fear of losing access to support and the need to adopt coping strategies to protect their dignity. By bringing the perspectives of beneficiaries to the fore, the study contributes to sociological debates on stigma, conditionality in social assistance and institutional interactions, highlighting the symbolic and relational dimensions of social assistance beyond its material function. The article argues that vulnerability is not only a pre-existing condition of intervention, but is also shaped by everyday institutional practices. These results highlight the importance of integrating the experiential dimension into the sociological analysis of social assistance and the provision of social protection services.

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