How could social workers apply theory in their everyday practice? According to John Dewey, theories are helpful instruments in analysing situations and forming hypotheses which are tested in practical experiments. Inspired by Dewey’s pragmatist philosophy, we designed a “Practice and Theory” pilot intervention group in which social workers were provided external, theory-driven supervision. This research is a three-case study of the pilot intervention group. Based on a thematic analysis of reflective discussions during the last group sessions and follow-up group interviews, we investigate the difficulties the social workers described in applying theoretical knowledge to practice. We explore what consequences they recognized when reflecting on and experimenting with theoretical knowledge. Our study demonstrates that the major barriers were lack of time and access to theories, difficulties in changing one’s own practice and establishing supportive structures, the lack of competence to understand the role theories and having become estranged theories. However, the positive consequences experienced in the three Practice and Theory groups suggest that the pilot intervention could serve as a potential model for integrating theoretical research into practice. The participants considered that reflecting theories enabled new understanding as well as allowed experimenting with new ways of operating. Participating in the group also improved social workers’ argumentation, helping them to recognize their own expertise. It also raised professional self-esteem and enabled self-development. In the group, the dialogical, reflective and experimental inquiry were key to understanding how theoretical knowledge can open new perspectives.

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Artikkelissa analysoidaan sosiaalitoimen käräjäoikeuksien pyynnöstä laatimia selvityksiä lapsen olosuhteista vanhempien huoltoriidan ratkaisemiseksi. Kiinnostus kohdistetaan siihen, millä tavoin ammattilaiset muodostavat, tuottavat tai muotoilevat lapsen käsityksiä vanhempien huoltoriidassa. Aineisto käsittää 56 sosiaalitoimen laatimaa olosuhdeselvitystä 45 tapauksesta viidestä eri käräjäoikeudesta vuodelta 2011. Analyysiä varten aineistosta on erotettu lasten kuulemisen kuvaukset, joita analysoidaan erotellen sosiaalityöntekijöiden tapoja rakentaa lapsen kuulemisen kuvauksia vanhempien huoltoriidassa. Olosuhdeselvitysasiakirjoissa lapsen mielipiteen kirjoittamisessa käytettiin lapsen toiminnan havainnointia, tekstiin rakennettuja dialogeja sekä lojaliteettiristiriidan ja turvattomuuden kokemusten havainnollistamista. Lapsen äänen kirjoittaminen asiakirjaan on vastuullinen tehtävä. Kirjoittaja joutuu tasapainoilemaan autenttisuuden, eettisyyden ja seurauksellisuuden välillä.

The paper examines how children's residency is portrayed in the reports of social workers to courts in cases of contested divorce. In addition, light will be shed on how the descriptions contained in the reports pass into the court orders. The reports are approached through a micro-sociological lens: as assessment practices of social work which define children's residency and welfare. The results show that extensive and detailed descriptions of the physical residential situation of the child's mother and father were the most prevalent in the reports. People in the home and their interpersonal relationships together with the atmosphere of the home were also reported on. However, in the summaries of their reports the social workers place particular value on the cooperative parental relationships and stabilised circumstances of the child. Similar arguments were central in the judges' orders. The results raise questions of the appropriateness of the reports when settling the cases.