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doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcs086pmid: N/A
The Westminster government in the UK remains keen to promote the use of personal budgets (PBs) in social care, as it believes these confer choice, empower the budget holder, and lead to greater levels of personalisation and better outcomes. This paper considers the costs and benefits of PBs—to local authority Social Services Departments, and to people using PBs, respectively—in a single English local authority setting. A comparative design was used to collect data from a large sample of ‘traditional’ social services users and a cohort of people who were using PBs as Direct Payments. Benefits relative to costs were compared using a statistical technique known as ‘bootstrapping’. The authors found that, compared to younger adults, older people did not greatly benefit from possessing a budget on the outcome measures used, but costs were higher for budget holders across all care groups. These findings support evidence from an earlier study (Glendinning et al., 2008) and raise important questions about the suitability of PBs as a means of achieving personalised services for older people and the implications for social work practice.
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcs085pmid: N/A
The proportion of men at senior management level in social work in Sweden, especially in social services, is explored based on three sources: questionnaires to all men who graduated in social work at Lund University, Sweden 1980–85 and 1993–2003, qualitative interviews with male social workers and secondary statistics on leadership in municipalities. The questionnaires revealed that the 1980s group were managers to a greater extent than the 1990s group. This finding is consistent with official statistics that show an essential decrease in the proportion of men in senior management in social services. Three reasons for this are found. First, the interviewees emerge as the new man to whom family is more important than gainful employment and work content more important than income. Second, due to new management working conditions for managers have deteriorated. The third reason is new kinds of careers. Instead of a vertical career male social workers can choose a horizontal career and thereby increase their professionalism.
Søftestad, Siri; Toverud, Ruth
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcs084pmid: N/A
This paper presents the findings of a study exploring child protection workers' (CPW) perspectives on work with families when child sexual abuse (CSA) is suspected. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven CPWs focusing on their recent involvement in cases of CSA suspicion. By employing the principles of Grounded Theory approaches, the CPWs' challenges and opportunities were organised in five thematic domains: own competence in handling cases of CSA suspicion, support from colleagues and leaders, co-operation with specially trained professionals, interaction with parents regarding protection and care, and interaction with the children. The analysis revealed three intersecting areas in need of further development. The first concerns the unambiguous reports from CPWs on inadequate training and educational preparation for meeting the challenges. The second relates to how in-depth, specialised knowledge of CSA can be combined with generalist CPWs' possibility of continuous and engaged involvement for the best of the children and families in question. The third emphasises the need of more direct interaction between CPWs and children when suspicion of CSA is raised. The findings underscore the necessity of better educational preparation and institutional conditions for child protection work in cases of CSA suspicion.
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcs083pmid: N/A
In the context of calls for the social work profession to show leadership, this article reports a single site qualitative study in a specialist palliative care setting in England, which explored suggested similarities between social work practice and a recently developed model of ‘servant and partner’ leadership. The research showed that social workers demonstrated integrity in their dealings with both service users and colleagues, in that they were both respectful and holistic. It indicated that social workers used insights gained by engaging at depth with service users to influence decision making within the multidisciplinary team of which they were members. By drawing on sophisticated and adaptive communication skills and genuinely valuing others' contributions, they enhanced the ability of the team to achieve proportionate responses to sensitive and complex situations. The article suggests that social workers in this setting exercised leadership, in the sense of influencing the practice of others at the level of individual cases and more generally, and that this was achieved by practices that were based in established theoretical models of social work.
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcs073pmid: N/A
This article reflects on the important sociological contribution made by Manuel Castells. The potential implications for social work theory and practice are considered, especially in relation to his theories of networks and power. The article acknowledges Castells's thesis that we are witnessing a ‘transformational’ phase in social development, as ‘networks’ become fundamentally significant as a vehicle for ordering and shaping human lives. The interactions within and between social networks are considered, especially in relation to the domains of social work practice, and their inevitable concerns with processes of inclusion/exclusion and oppression. In light of these reflections, Castells's typology of network/power is introduced, and the relationship between structural and relational aspects of the typology is considered. The capacity of power-infused networks to construct and organise people's experiences is acknowledged, as are the implications for those who use social work services, and are often the objects rather than the subjects of power relations. Set against this are arguments for the potential to develop forms of ‘resistance’, for instance through ‘network-making’; this is exemplified by reference to social work practice. The article concludes with positive messages for the social work project, to the extent that practitioners are able to adopt a capacity-building role.
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcs071pmid: N/A
The intent of this paper is to contribute to an emerging configuration of supervision that has the support of contemporary social workers. A concurrent mixed-model-nested research design was used to discover the post-degree supervision needs of social workers concerning the purpose and duration of supervision, and the training and discipline of supervisors. These four areas of supervision have been investigated and written about repeatedly without resolution. A mixed-methods web survey on supervision was completed by 636 social workers from a broad spectrum of social work practice settings and geographical locations in Ontario, Canada. Quantitative data and written responses from the three open-ended questions are presented as an integrated narrative. The results provide evidence of what social workers say they need as well as their suggestions that could bring ongoing debates closer to resolution. Future research is needed to continue shaping preferred configurations of supervision for effective social work practice.
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcs070pmid: N/A
Endeavouring to explore how social work can develop under the tensions between the core values of the profession and the socialist political doctrines in China, this paper applies the moral resources and political capital perspective to examine the growth of a social service organisation, G.A.S., in City J. The findings indicate that self-chosen moral resource-I, societal-recognised moral resource-II and self-achieved political capital-II are the key factors for the development of social work in China. On the one hand, social work institutions can develop because they possess socially accepted values such as caring and volunteerism as the moral resource-II, which helps them achieve performance legitimacy and political capital-II via their professional services. On the other hand, although some social work values like democracy and participation are not formally accepted by the government, these values may gradually affect one's social life through the professional services delivered by social workers. Moreover, a social work institution's success in obtaining political capital-II may not necessarily contribute to the development of professional social work, unless it insists on the core values of social work as its moral resource-I.
Farmer, Elaine; Wijedasa, Dinithi
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcs066pmid: N/A
Research information about reunification in the UK is scarce. Based on a prospective study of 180 children returned to their parent(s) in six local authorities in England, this article examines the factors that contributed to return stability during a two-year follow-up. Statistical analyses using logistic regression showed that a change in family membership since the child had entered care, foster carer assistance with returns, adequate preparation for and support during reunification, parental motivation to care and the involvement of another agency or professional in monitoring children were all related to return stability. Previous physical abuse to the child and previous failed returns were associated with reunification breakdown. The breakdown rates for the returns in our local authorities varied widely, especially for older children. Given the contribution of purposeful social work to return stability—as evidenced by appropriate preparation, services and monitoring of children's progress—local authorities need to develop clearer policies and practice advice on reunification for all children, whatever their legal status or age, backed up by appropriate resources.
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