Abstract
Social workers, who provide more mental health services than any other group of professionals, interact regularly with psychiatrists toward whom they have complex feelings ranging from deference to resentment and distrust. Social work's historical search for identity and contemporary constraints of managed care add to the complexity of this relationship. This qualitative study of 30 clinical social workers offers new insights into the interweaving of power, hierarchy, payment, ethics, values, and clinical practice. Suggestions are offered for fostering meaningful, collaborative relationships, and for helping social workers cope with ethical dilemmas that arise when navigating psychiatric and traditional “social work” paradigms.
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