Professionals’ Experiences of the Relations between Personal History and Professional Role

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how workers in a crisis resolution home treatment (CRHT) team experience the relationship between their personal history and professional role. This paper is based on 13 in-depth interviews with health professionals working in CRHT. The interviews were analysed using a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach. Participants expressed that there is a relationship between their personal history and professional role, and three themes are highlighted as particularly important in, namely experiences related to the participants as individuals, work-related experiences and family-related experiences. The participants write meaning into the relationship between their personal history and professional role. By relating and exploring their own life stories in the interviews, they work on forming meaning and identity.

Family Professionals’ Attitudes and Stance-Taking on Post-Divorce Fatherhood: A Qualitative Attitude Approach

“…There's no way that I could think for example that as the mother of a boy I would relate to men, to the gender of my own son, that in a sort of way, that I would belittle him, that he would somehow be less capable of some things than my daughter. (Social worker,18) These research results on the significance of everyday-life parenting experiences support those of earlier studies showing that professionals' encounters with their clients are informed by their own cultural knowledge, perceptions, and experiences of family and parenthood (e.g., Sjølie et al, 2013). This leads one to ask how far professionals allow their personal experiences to influence the way they structure clients' life situations.…”

“…These results are in line with previous research results showing that legislation and guidelines alone do not offer complete solutions to the complicated situations of divorcing parents and their children. In addition to education and professional expertise, tacit knowledge based on divorce professionals' everyday life experiences and emotions is needed (Cook & Gregory, 2020;Mattison, 2000;Nouman et al, 2016;Sjølie et al, 2013).…”

“…In such complex situations, attitudes may be of significance, and hence their examination is justified. Previous research on the work practices of social and mental health professionals (e.g., Cook & Gregory, 2020;Mattison, 2000;Sjølie et al, 2013) and divorce professionals (e.g., Nouman et al, 2016) supports this approach, underlining that in their work professionals also draw on their tacit knowledge, including their experiences, emotions, and attitudes.…”