Dealing with the wicked issue of child poverty: Inter‐organizational networks as forums for collective debate and reflection

Abstract

In the international realm, inter-organizational networking is perceived as a highly relevant instrument in social policy that enables welfare organizations to deal with "wicked issues." In this article, we discuss the central empirical findings acquired from a recent qualitative research project that focuses on inter-organizational networks that were formed at the local level to deal with the wicked issue of child poverty as a complex and multidimensional social problem. We explore how the network discussions about normative value orientations in four inter-organizational networks evolve, and identify three central fields of tension that illustrate the complexity for local welfare actors in and across networks to create network strategies in dealing with child poverty: (a) selective versus universal provision, (b) conditional versus unconditional strategies, and (c) instrumental versus lifeworld-oriented approaches. Our findings show that networks can function as valuable forums for collective debate and reflection, since different approaches and perspectives to tackle the problem of child poverty can be confronted with each other. Creating such a forum has the potential to challenge dominant conceptualizations and undesirable assumptions of complex social problems that are present in welfare practices and policies.

The DNA of Social Work as a Partner in Primary Health Care

“…This can also provoke or invite other professionals to think and reflect about this matter (De Corte, Verschuere, Roets, & De Bie, 2017;Miller et al, 2017), which can provide them with a better connection to work around social determinants of health and the related social inequalities. In this way, the social work perspective can initiate dialogue within partnerships among different professionals and perspectives (Jacquet et al, 2020) whereby dominant conceptualizations and assumptions of social problems, such as the medically-oriented approach, will be challenged. Nevertheless, despite the fact that human rights and social justice are internationally recognized as the normative principles of social work (IFSW, 2014), it is not clear if and how these values of social work are embedded in primary health care settings.…”