According to the citizen–agent paradigm, the way street-level bureaucrats view their target population shapes their discretionary behavior. Applying this in the context of the so-called “European Migration Crisis,” this article investigates how street-level actors make sense of their migrant clients and how these conceptual understandings of the “Other” shape their discretionary behavior. Focusing on the divisive issue of gender identities and beliefs, or gender perspectives, this research combines ideas from public administration and social psychology. It shows that street-level actors’ discretionary behavior depends on whether they see the Self-Other difference as fixed or changeable, and as hierarchically organized or not.

根据公民-代理人范式，街头官僚对目标人群的看法会影响他们的自由裁量行为。在所谓的“欧洲移民危机”的背景下应用这一点，本文调查了街头行为者如何理解他们的移民客户，以及这些对“他者”的概念性理解如何影响他们的自由裁量行为。这项研究关注性别认同和信仰或性别观点的分裂问题，结合了公共行政和社会心理学的观点。这表明街头行为者的自由裁量行为取决于他们是否将自我-他者差异视为固定的或可变的，以及是否有等级组织。