Professional and organizational power intertwined: Barriers to networking?

Abstract

In recent years, the field of child protection has been characterized by the promotion of collaboration and networking initiatives throughout the western world. Using Norway as an example, we address potential barriers to networking by studying how problems are perceived by local child protection service workers and their co-actors. Informed by an institutional logics perspective, this article sheds light on how manifestations of logics take shape on the ground, focusing on their internal differentiation as well as possibilities and barriers to their (re)combination. The Norwegian case is intriguing because it suggests that a specific intertwinement of organizational and professional power might create distinctive barriers to networking. In Norway, “child protection pedagogues” take the position of specialized professionals endowed with both state power and management skills. As risk managers promoting prevention and marketing for reputation, while at the same time claiming professional and bureaucratic authority, these actors seem to take on a “hyper-hybrid” form that is likely to cause irritation and anxiety among their co-actors, resulting in the perception of poor collaboration. Thus, relating our findings to the international literature, we argue that excessively hybrid combinations of institutional logics, based upon different forms of knowledge and power, can entail specific barriers to networking.