Nature Of Social Work Research Articles

Portrait of social work

Social work is concerned with enhancing the well-being of people within their social contexts. It is a broad profession with diverse practices. These range from a focus on the personal distress of individuals to the collective arrangements and social processes that influence the well-being of groups and communities. The unique contribution of social work to the caring professions is its broad contextualised approach to addressing human needs. Yet this breadth of scope also provides fertile ground for competing discourses within the profession. This paper provides an overview of the 'highly contested' nature of social work's goals, theories and methods of practice.

Reflections of a Social Work Practitioner: Bridging the 19th and 21st Centuries

This is a practitioner’s personal account of social work as a profession. The primary purpose of the article is to offer a vantage outside traditional academic explorations of this topic. A principal theme is the current state of professionalism in social work, especially in reference to Abraham Flexner’s 1915 critique of the field. The author maintains that social work is unquestionably a profession and that the time has arrived to move beyond the repeated questioning of ourselves. Drawing on the pragmatic experimentalism of Jane Addams, the author suggests a refocusing, or re-viewing, of social work as a relational field. This departs from the traditional focus on targeted functions and groups that define our purposes and methods and contribute to interdisclipinary debates about the true nature of social work.

Book Review: The Nature of Social Work in Ireland: A Historical Perspective

Book Review: The Nature of Social Work in Ireland: A Historical Perspective

The social work side is disappearing. I guess it started with u s being called care managers'

Social services staff now working as care managers are experiencing considerable changes in the nature of their work compared with their former role as social workers. These changes are characterised by an increase in bureaucracy and a decrease in the time and effort expended in forming, and working within, a relationship with their clients. A number of factors have influenced the transition in care managers' roles including the long-debated, but unresolved, issue of the professional nature of social work and the growth of managerialism. This article uses recent research data to argue that care managers are struggling t o retain elements of what they understand to be ‘social work’ in their practice. Changes in the nature of their work have implications for how care managers function and the resultant outcomes for the people with whom they work.

Book Review: The Nature of Social Work in Ireland: A Historical Perspective

Book Review: The Nature of Social Work in Ireland: A Historical Perspective

The politics of case management and social work

A case study analysing the introduction of case management into British social services supports the argument that social work is constructed through political processes. In such processes, the interaction among the interests of stakeholders within service innovations influences the construction of the role of social work. Case management was introduced to Britain, but developed in three different forms: social care entrepreneurship, brokerage and multiprofessional case management, including assertive outreach. The forms adopted were affected by the political interaction of stakeholders rather than the professional possibilities offered by case management itself. Evidence for the politics of case management is drawn from analysis of professional literature, the texts of official documents and empirical research outcomes. The introduction of case management led to a debate about how the nature of social work was affected by the innovation. Three alternative views were that social work was improved, or attacked by case management, or made a valid contribution to case management as a different form of practice. It is proposed that to understand the impact of a service innovation on social work, four factors must be considered: the character of the innovation itself; the economic, political and social contexts in which it is introduced; the political and social interests of the stakeholders themselves; and the political and social processes that take place during the introduction of the innovation.

Advanced liberalism, (post)modernity and social work: Some emerging social configurations

Summary. The central focus of this paper is to analyze the nature of social work and social welfare in Britain and the Western World more generally. In the process it draws on perspectives in social theory associated with postmodernity, postmodernization and post‐Fordism. It argues, however, that such approaches are both too sweeping and more appropriately understood as signifying the nature of current times rather than explaining them. The paper suggests that the current changes are better characterized in terms of advanced liberalism or extended liberal modernity.

Hospital Social Work and Community Care

SUMMARY This paper presents the findings of an exploratory research study which considers the effect of organisational change on social work practice in hospitals in four local authorities in England. Its aims were (1) to obtain the views of hospital social workers and their managers about the effect of implementing the NHS (National Health Service) and Community Care Act of 1990 and policies for Care in the Community on the practice of social work and (2) to elicit issues of concern to form the basis of a national study. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in hospital social work departments which were providing a service to adults with health needs. Interviews with a representative sample of 85 workers and 36 managers (including Assistant Directors and Principal Training Officers) in 11 hospitals were held between June-December 1993, three months after the introduction of the policies. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed, A questionnaire provided some quantitative data, and additional information was obtained through non-participant observation at team meetings. The interviews covered four topic areas: the nature of social work in hospitals; the changes introduced by implementing the legislation; the management ofthat change; and the effect of the new policies on practice. Results show an increase in the volume of referrals particularly in assessment for nursing home care; and an overwhelming amount of administrative work to process the new procedures for providing community care. Most relates to filling in forms, duplication of assessments and repetitive bureaucracy. Workers struggle to meet their expectation of professional practice with organisational demands. The discussion centres on three issues raised by practitioners: the changing nature of social work due to the alternative models of service being imposed by local authorities; the lack of consultation and involvement by management of the frontline workers in the management of this change; the dissonance felt by hardworking and committed practitioners to whom the increasing paper work is yet another obstacle to user involvement. This may have clear implications for management, for the degree of stress and perceived pressure resulting from these organisational changes is counterproductive to job satisfaction. If the reforms are not to be undermined, they need proactive management. This requires a sensitivity to workers1 needs, investment in training and working together to integrate the care management role into social work practice.

Efficiency in Social Work Practice and Administration

Efficiency is the most misunderstood concept in the human services arena. Efficiency is not achieved by cutting costs or lowering quality. Rather, efficiency can be achieved only by improving the relationship between costs and outcomes. Social workers have expressed a cultural bias against the notion of efficiency as a guiding concept in the delivery of human services. The call for efficiency has been used to rationalize cutting budgets, implementing dehumanizing procedures, and scrimping on quality (Wildavsky, 1991). Indeed, efficiency has been declared the great enemy of equality (Okun, 1975). Although this claim may hold true for the distributive dynamics of social policy, it is difficult to find merit in the inefficient production of personal social services. Rimer (1991) observed that efficiency is a concept that is directly relevant to the world of the practicing social worker: Social workers have historically complained that their caseloads are excessive. While this may often be correct, they overlook the more obvious fact that there is only a limited amount of time in the day, week, or month in which to do the job. The nature of social work is such that there is always something that should be done but is not because of insufficient time. A focus on efficiency would have . . . social workers examine how best to use their time, which clients should be served, how much time should be allocated to each family, child, etc. (p. 135) The need for efficiency is driven by scarcity (Pruger & Miller, 1991). Scarcity is related to the absolute availability of resources and to political decisions regarding the distribution of resources. Good intentions will always be more plentiful than available resources. Therefore, it is important to get the maximum output from every social services input. That is efficiency. Pruger and Miller (1991) pointed out that efficiency is both a conceptual tool and a vision of perfection (p. 5). Wildavsky (1976) observed that pure efficiency is defined as achieving the best possible outcome with the least possible resources. Although this is a laudable goal, most human services managers must settle for mixed efficiency - the maximum possible outcome with a given level and type of resources. In short, efficiency in the real world of human services management is a relative concept. The central question then becomes, How can resources be used to produce greater outcome relative to the current use of those resources? Outcomes-to-Costs Efficiency Matrix Defining efficiency as the optimal relationship between means and ends (Pruger & Miller, 1991) provides the basis of a simple model for categorizing human services programs. This model can be used to examine the relative efficiency of a program and further indicates what needs to be done to improve the program's efficiency. The outcomes-to-costs efficiency matrix [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 1 OMITTED] allows for the simple comparison of program outcomes to program costs. Programs with high outcome and low cost are bright (section 1). Bright spots are fully developed programs that can be implemented economically. Programs that are high in costs and outcomes are rising suns (section 2). These programs need only to be implemented on a larger scale or with less costly input to move into section 1. Such programs are worth developing because their effectiveness is already established; the remaining challenge is to reduce such programs' costs without greatly diminishing their effectiveness. Space programs (section 3) cost little and, in turn, produce few real outcomes. Although it may be tempting to keep nonproductive, inexpensive programs in operation because they appear to do no harm, these programs commit an organization to a level of mediocrity. A commitment to excellence entails getting rid of such programs. Finally, programs that produce low output yet involve high cost are black holes (section 4). …

From Beginner to Graduate Social Worker: Preliminary Findings of an Australian Longitudinal Study

A central issue for social work educators is to delineate the process of how social work students become competent practitioners. Previous literature has tended to concentrate on value and attitudinal change as a result of education. The authors are currently engaged in a five-year longitudinal study of a cohort of 39 Victorian social workers which explores this issue, as well as the changes in knowledge, skills and theory use. The study also explored whether the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition was applicable in social work. This paper describes the study and its preliminary findings at mid-point in the study with respondents having completed two years of social work education and now practising as social workers. Participants have been interviewed twice yearly and data consists of participants' descriptions of critical incidents from their course experience and responses to case vignettes. After content analysis, preliminary findings indicate that some stages similar to the Dreyfus model, can be identified. Particular themes emerged including a predominantly individualizing approach to problems, a reluctance to deal with men and situations involving conflict and a disillusionment about the nature of social work. Some implications of these findings, including competency-based education, are discussed.

Disabled people get the message: Non-verbal clues to the nature of social work

Abstract The focus of this article is the specific, everyday ways in which people with disabilities experience discrimination and frustration, and the practical measures ranging from the concrete (ramps) to the prcedural (enforced equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory policies) required.

Conflicts, Conciliation and Social Work

This article seeks to draw together some issues and themes which are identifiable in recent social work literature and practice, and in the criminal and civil law. It explores the nature of conciliation as a method for dealing with conflict. It also considers some aspects of the nature of social work and the process by which problems become the object of social work treatment. It is argued that this process can effectively limit the scope for client involvement in seeking solutions to their problems, and that conciliation might offer some potential for increasing this, whilst also revitalizing the ethical base of social work practice.

Whither social work education?

Since 1970 the personal social services in the UK have undergone continuous change and development, as have education and training for staff working within them. Large numbers remain unqualified, but definitions about the nature of their various tasks and how far they are social work remain in dispute, as do the boundaries of social work itself. Now a new qualification for social work is about to be introduced, requiring an extended period of education and training. These documents are discussed in the historical context of the last fifteen years, the still unresolved issues and problems confronting the personal social services in the 1980s and the perennial debate about the nature of social work.

Social Work, the State and the University

SUMMARY Some aspects of the triangular relationship between the state, the university and social work are explored. Is it appropriate for social work to be taught in a university? What are the implications of the fact that well over 90% of social workers are employed by the state? And what above all, is the nature of the relationship between critical analysis as the corner-stone of scholarship and the need to prepare the social work student to function effectively in the real world? It is argued that the respective attitudes of higher education and government towards social work are influenced by the nature of social work's relationship with sociology, but that this in turn has not been fruitful for practice development.

West German Social Work: Getting Acquainted Through its Training Institutions

That social work is not the same the world over is a truism implicit in the nature of social work itself. As an Australian who reached adulthood in Europe, acquiring a number of languages, and taking for granted the variety of cultural nuances which impinged upon my every experience, I had not expected this obvious fact to confront me with any dramatic impact on my recent study visit to Europe. There were, however, a number of surprises, notably in the Federal Republic of Germany, and these were of such an order that it would be no exaggeration to use that “in” term of the last decade, and say that what I experienced there was “culture shock”.

The Nature of Social Work

The Nature of Social Work