Seriousness of Social Worker Violations and Importance to Discipline: A Study of Social Work Licensure Board Members

Abstract

This research explored social work licensure board members' decision-making about alleged violations by social workers and subsequent sanctioning. Participants served within the last five years on a jurisdictional board regulating social workers in the US. The survey included factors related to board member decision-making, rank ordering the seriousness of listed allegations, and four vignettes where participants rated the seriousness of the allegations and the importance for a board to discipline the social worker. Persons serving on twelve US boards that license social workers (n=21) read four vignettes of hypothetical social worker violations and rated the seriousness of the violations and the importance of disciplining the social workers. The violations, in order from most (7) to least severe (1) were fraudulent record keeping (5.63), professional boundaries (non-sexual) (5.37), impairment (5.1), and improper termination (2.63). The importance to discipline, in order from most (7) to least important (1), were: professional boundaries (non-sexual) (6.1), fraudulent reporting (5.68), impairment (4.4), and improper termination (2.47). Having an MSW degree, as opposed to BSW, was the only variable increasing the seriousness of the offense in all four vignettes. Results may help with understanding how licensing boards review alleged violations and determine sanctions.