Social work in an assembly line? The development of specialisation in child welfare and further internal division of work between 2003 and 2018

Steive, Karin; Tham, Pia; Wiklund, Stefan; Grell, Pär; Kåreholt, Ingemar

doi:10.1080/13691457.2023.2284669

European Journal of Social Work

2023

DOI: 10.1080/13691457.2023.2284669

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Social work in an assembly line? The development of specialisation in child welfare and further internal division of work between 2003 and 2018

Karin Steive,

Pia Tham,

Stefan Wiklund

et al.

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Cited by 3 publications

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How Do Child Welfare Social Workers Assess the Leadership of Their First-line Managers? A 15-Year Perspective

Norrgård,

Tham,

Strömberg

et al. 2023

The British Journal of Social Work

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The study aimed to investigate how child welfare social workers assessed the leadership of their first-line managers over a period of fifteen years and to examine whether the assessments have changed over time. More specifically, the analysis focused on the extent to which social workers perceive the leadership of their first-line managers to be empowering, supportive and fair. Data were collected in the years 2003 (n = 293), 2014 (n = 300) and 2018 (n = 309) using the same questionnaire, mainly based on QPS Nordic, which was distributed to social workers working with investigations of children and youth. The results show that the social workers assessed all measured aspects of their first-line managers’ leadership as better in 2014 compared to 2003 and significantly better in 2018 compared to 2003. In light of previous studies showing that child welfare managers experience less optimal conditions for their leadership, the results are surprising. How is it possible that the first-line managers, despite their own descriptions of a more difficult leadership situation, are seen as more supportive, empowering and fair in their leadership from the social workers’ perspective? Possible explanations for the social workers’ better assessments over the years, such as specialisation, are discussed.

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How Do Child Welfare Social Workers Assess the Leadership of Their First-line Managers? A 15-Year Perspective

Norrgård,

Tham,

Strömberg

et al. 2023

The British Journal of Social Work

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The specialization/collaboration paradox: Investigating specialization within child welfare as a barrier to collaboration

Steive,

Tham,

Grell

et al. 2024

The British Journal of Social Work

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Existing research highlights the trend of organizing social services into specialized units, addressing specific areas such as child welfare. Further specialization within child welfare extends to target groups (youth vs child) and work task dimensions. The literature remains inconclusive about whether specialization enhances or hinders social work practice. Potential drawbacks of specialization, like gaps between services and a lack of a holistic view, are assumed to increase the need for collaboration. However, specialization might impede collaboration due to profession-specific tensions, such as differing cultures or turf issues. Empirical findings suggest challenges in collaboration both within and between specialized organizations. This study explores how various specializations in child welfare relate to social workers’ perceptions of collaboration within their workgroup, between different social service units, and with external organizations, considering factors like work demand, time spent with clients, and work experience. Analysing survey data from 2003 to 2018 with 895 social workers in Stockholm County, the present study uses generalized estimating equations to address clustering within organizations. The findings indicate a potential positive association between target group specialization and perceived collaboration functionality within the workgroup and with external organizations, challenging assumptions that specialization hinders collaboration and suggesting that target group specialization could facilitate collaboration.

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Using vignettes to compare the views of social workers and service-users: Some findings and reflections regarding assessments in child welfare

Pösö,

Lamponen,

Jenni

et al. 2024

Qualitative Social Work

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While vignette studies have become more prevalent in social work research, it is, however, uncommon to include both practitioners and service-users in the research design to provide their views on an identical case. In this article, the aim is both to reflect on the usefulness of the vignette method in exploring assessments of the needs for services from the points of view of practitioners and service-users and to explore empirically those views on an identical case. The article is built on 28 group interviews with 120 practitioners and 14 group interviews with 41 care-experienced young people and parents of children in care. There are considerable similarities across the groups in their emphasis on ‘more information’ but the groups of practitioners and service-users also differ in their views on the nature of required information (what vs. why) and the purpose of the assessment (intake vs. solving problems). The analysis highlights some mundane manifestations of the implications of recent reforms in family and child welfare services in Finland, and most importantly, the ethical potential which the inclusion of both service-users and practitioners in the vignette design entails.

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Social work in an assembly line? The development of specialisation in child welfare and further internal division of work between 2003 and 2018

Cited by 3 publications

References 43 publications

How Do Child Welfare Social Workers Assess the Leadership of Their First-line Managers? A 15-Year Perspective

How Do Child Welfare Social Workers Assess the Leadership of Their First-line Managers? A 15-Year Perspective

The specialization/collaboration paradox: Investigating specialization within child welfare as a barrier to collaboration

Using vignettes to compare the views of social workers and service-users: Some findings and reflections regarding assessments in child welfare

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