Taking Care: Criticality and Reflexivity in the Context of Social Work Registration

Kirwan, Gloria; Melaugh, Brian

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcu151

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…To date, there is only limited international evidence on the impact of social work registration in regard to achieving key stated objectives such as advancing professional recognition and status, improving practice standards or protecting users from harm (Chenoweth and McAuliffe, 2008; Furness, 2015; Kirwan and Melaugh, 2015; Lonne and Duke, 2009; McLaughlin, 2010; SWRB, 2012).…”

Section: Part 3: Evidence Of Impact Of Registrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there a case for the registration of social workers in Australia?

McCurdy

Sreekumar

Mendes

2018

International Social Work

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The Australian Association of Social Workers has campaigned for many years for the registration of social workers in Australia, but with little success to date. This paper critically examines the key arguments for and against registration with reference to academic and government policy literature from international jurisdictions (primarily New Zealand and England) where government regulation of social work already exists. This review of existing literature found that arguments in favour of registration broadly centre on two main assumptions. They are improved protection of clients and amplification of professional standing. The findings indicate that there is only limited empirical evidence as to whether registration does in fact lift the professional standing of social workers or protect consumers from substandard practice. We conclude that further research is required to examine whether registration of social workers is justified in Australia, and particularly to ascertain whether the regulation of social workers generally or in specific practice areas such as child protection can realistically take place independently of the large number of human service practitioners who are not social work trained.

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Section: Part 3: Evidence Of Impact Of Registrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there a case for the registration of social workers in Australia?

McCurdy

Sreekumar

Mendes

2018

International Social Work

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“…The first establishes and introduces the nature of social work education and training in the Republic of Ireland, as a foothold for subsequent analysis. Here, social work is subject to statutory registration since 2011 (Kirwin and Melaugh, 2015). Yet despite similar regulation of social work education in many countries (Noble et al, 2014), disparity of standards is also largely evident.…”

Section: Review Of Irish Social Work Education In a Global Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Globalisation and social work education in the Republic of Ireland: Towards informed transnational social work for transnational problems such as COVID-19

Flynn

2020

International Social Work

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Critically informed commentary is employed to examine globalisation and social work education in the Republic of Ireland. This is extended in analysis by a tripartite conceptual framework. The emphasis is on preparing practitioners for transnational practice, in response to global social interdependencies and transnational social problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The concern is that social work education risks being outpaced by changes imposed through intensifying globalisation. The article is timely and opportune as advances towards universalism and global interconnectedness in social work are underway. To date, the need to promote better global awareness, within Irish social work curricula, remains.

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“…20 A further theme in the literature related to the nature of employment within social work: Many social workers are employees within corporatized settings and, given the contentious nature of social work itself, employers may choose to refer concerns to a regulatory body as a professional practice issue rather than manage them internally as employment issues. 21 In this way, employers are better able to maintain public trust and credibility, thereby protecting themselves from blame, and instead, address misconduct or incompetence issues as individual practitioner deficits rather than employer or system-level problems. This tendency towards a blame culture produces a defensive practice orientation, preventing honest relationships and conversations among service users, social workers and employers -with the result that relatively small issues may not be resolved at the local level and instead are escalated to the regulatory level.…”

Section: Literature Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This tendency towards a blame culture produces a defensive practice orientation, preventing honest relationships and conversations among service users, social workers and employers -with the result that relatively small issues may not be resolved at the local level and instead are escalated to the regulatory level. 21 In this literature, social workers highlight the impact of organizational factors on their professional practice, which may be influencing their ability to demonstrate competence in complex situations. 22 Performance management cultures focused on penalizing errors of omission or commission, rather than supportive supervision and quality improvement coaching, tend to dominate social work employment.…”

Section: Literature Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Complaints to Regulators About Paramedics in the UK and Social Workers in England: Findings from a Multi-Method Study

Austin¹,

Gaag²,

Gallagher³

et al. 2018

Journal of Medical Regulation

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Within the regulatory community, there has been increasing interest in the issue of proportionality in regulation — that is, using the right amount and right types of regulatory interventions to achieve the primary mandate of the regulatory community in order to serve and to protect. The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the United Kingdom, one of the largest health-care regulatory bodies in the world, recently commissioned a study examining the disproportionately large number of complaints against paramedics in the UK and social workers in England. The objective of the study was to examine the nature of, and to better understand the reasons behind, this disproportionality, and to identify options and opportunities from a regulatory perspective that could be taken to address this issue. The study involved a systematic multi-methods research approach involving four key interrelated research elements:A systematic literature reviewA Delphi consultation with international expertsInterviews (n=26) and four focus groups (n=23) with UK experts, including service users and caregiversA review of a random sample (n=284) of fitness-to-practice cases over two years across the three stages of the process (initial complaint, Investigating Committee Panel, and final hearing) Findings from this study highlight the evolving nature of both professions and the influence of a binary model of complaints adjudication that may not be sufficiently nuanced to balance public protection with practitioners' learning needs. A non-binary option for understanding complaints against practitioners is suggested in this paper, offering a process that involves and engages both employers and practitioners in a more meaningful manner.

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Taking Care: Criticality and Reflexivity in the Context of Social Work Registration

Cited by 19 publications

References 15 publications

Is there a case for the registration of social workers in Australia?

Is there a case for the registration of social workers in Australia?

Globalisation and social work education in the Republic of Ireland: Towards informed transnational social work for transnational problems such as COVID-19

Understanding Complaints to Regulators About Paramedics in the UK and Social Workers in England: Findings from a Multi-Method Study

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