Hester Paanakker

CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION As its final chapter, this chapter presents the general conclusions and discussion of the thesis’ main findings. What does this thesis teach us about public values and street-level craft? What can be learned about the role of values in defining craft at the frontline? What overarching insights are provided into value convergence: the degree to which, and fashion in which, these values are considered alike by street-level professionals, managers, and policy makers? How do the findings relate to broader areas of research on public values, street-level functioning, public management, or public governance? And, from the effects it has on actual public service delivery, how may we understand the importance (or not) of value convergence for theory and practice? Ultimately, I set out to identify remaining questions and how they suggest an agenda for future research. The central research question examined in this thesis reads “ How convergent are public officials’ value approaches toward street-level craft in the Dutch prison sector, and in what way does value convergence or divergence affect administrative practice?” This question consists of three elements, with a corresponding subset of three research questions. Hence, the thesis was structured in three main parts, each of which addressed one of these subsidiary research questions. In providing an answer to the central research question, this chapter synthesizes the conclusions elicited by the three research questions. The chapter also discusses the limitations of the study and an agenda for future research, the study’s contributions to the academic field, and, lastly, its contributions to policy practice. 7.1 Answering the Main Research Question The thesis set out to enhance public values research in two ways. First, the empirical study of public values research tends to consider values as rather abstract principles, using a predefined and prearranged set of values with an often generic meaning for the public sector at large. In contrast, this thesis aimed to increase our knowledge of the practical role, meaning and enactment of values in administrative practice, specifically with respect to craftsmanship in frontline public service delivery. 161