The social work professionalisation project before the 1990s in Aotearoa New Zealand: The dream

Hunt, Sonya

doi:10.11157/anzswj-vol28iss3id245

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…(Buster Curson, July 12, 2016) Professional leaders were appointed to support allied health professions in the sector, including social work. While there was a general expectation that social workers employed in the health sector should hold a minimum Level B diploma iv qualification in social work (Hunt, 2016), gaps in professional accountability mechanisms were apparent:…”

Section: Health Sector Voicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is useful to begin examination of this part of the history of social work in Aotearoa with an exploration of professionalisation, a process by which an occupational group aspires to professional status -shared internally and recognised externally VOLUME 32 • NUMBER 1 • 2020 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL WORK (Beddoe, 2013;Evetts, 2006;Hunt, 2016Hunt, , 2017Olgiati, 2006). Internationally and in Aotearoa New Zealand over the decades up to the early 2000s, social work professionalisation projects gained traction (Weiss-Gal & Welbourne, 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Disrupting the grassroots narrative of social work in Aotearoa New Zealand

Hunt

Staniforth

Beddoe

2020

ANZSWJ

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INTRODUCTION: The Aotearoa New Zealand social work professionalisation project disrupted underpinning grassroots narratives of the profession and led to decades of debate and conflict. Social work emphasises egalitarian approaches and, during the 1980s and 1990s, social workers responded to internal and external challenges of elitism, racism, and sexism. However, the ongoing professionalisation project has been at times, at odds with social justice imperatives and undermined by neoliberal drivers.METHODS: This research investigated how political, sociocultural and economic dimensions impacted on the development and initial implementation of the Social Workers Registration Act (2003) and how key actors at the time were affected. A qualitative realist research methodology has been utilised, analysing qualitative interviews with 22 participants, policy documents and archival data to clarify discourses of power and capture the voices and rich stories of those involved in the debates at the time.FINDINGS: A sociological lens was utilised to focus and frame the coalescing political, socio-cultural and economic forces that contributed to the problematising of social work professionalisation and the determining of the need for registration. Insight from some key actors at the time, including educators, the profession, tangata whenua, employers, practitioners, the State, and the public were considered.CONCLUSIONS: Examining these forces behind the professionalisation project provides a platform to consider if social work in Aotearoa New Zealand has been strengthened with registration. There are ongoing challenges and threats to the independence and social justice focus of the profession that grew alongside the grassroots of social work.

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Section: Health Sector Voicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Disrupting the grassroots narrative of social work in Aotearoa New Zealand

Hunt

Staniforth

Beddoe

2020

ANZSWJ

Self Cite

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“…And so a process of professional self-regulation (1990) was established. Within those 25 intervening years members had hotly debated the pros and cons and implications of professional status, elitism, and whether membership should be determined on the basis of educational qualification or some other criteria as well as the ramifications for social work should the status of registration be sought (Fraser & Briggs, 2016;Hessey, 1983;Hunt, 2016;C. Jones, 1979;P.…”

Section: The Professional Association and Statutory Registrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lifting the veil on the government’s regulatory agenda for the social work profession in Aotearoa New Zealand

Randal¹

2018

ANZSWJ

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INTRODUCTION: The article discusses the two contrasting agendas evident when statutory registration for social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand was introduced in 2003 – that of the professional association and that of the government.METHOD: The approach taken draws on a longitudinal research study of the aspirations for statutory registration held by a sample of members of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZSW). In addition, the motives behind the professionalisation strategy introduced by the principal government social work service are examined and analysed applying Foucault’s concept of governmentality.FINDINGS: The qualitative analysis of the data shows that the profession, although aspiring to having some role in statutory registration, also held concerns about its implications. By way of contrast, the professionalisation strategy adopted by the government social work service shows it was driven by public service performance, fiscal and risk management imperatives.CONCLUSIONS: The application of the Foucauldian theory of governmentality to the data and findings shows that the introduction of statutory registration is a manifestation of the managerial and statutory controls adopted by government and a means of governmentality. This has resulted in the government holding the upper hand in providing public accountability for social work practice thereby perpetuating its hold over the profession with the risk that the ANZASW is left in its wake.

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“…The data for these studies were collected in New Zealand, in which social work has had a particular trajectory of professionalisation (Hunt, 2016(Hunt, , 2017. No study of public perceptions had been reported in New Zealand prior to the implementation of registration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…No study of public perceptions had been reported in New Zealand prior to the implementation of registration. However, literature reports criticism of social work in the preregistration period, leading in part to the drive for statutory registration (Hunt, 2016). In 2003 partial, voluntary registration was introduced via legislation but its non-mandatory nature left social work in an ambiguous status, only partially professionalised (Hunt, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Proud of what I do but often … I would be happier to say I drive trucks’: Ambiguity in social workers’ self-perception

Beddoe

Staniforth

Fouché

2017

Qualitative Social Work

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A public perception of social work research programme commenced 10 years after the introduction of limited professional registration of social workers in New Zealand. A first study explored public perceptions of social workers via a telephone survey. In a second study, social workers were asked, amongst other questions, how they thought the public would respond to the same questions about their profession that were asked in the first survey. An online survey accessed the views of 403 social workers and generated rich quantitative and qualitative responses, including to two very specific open questions (the focus of this article), first about social workers’ expression of pride and second, felt stigma as potentially encountered in their professional and personal domains. These two concepts, pride and stigma, constitute organising constructs in this article, along with aspects of professional identity expressed in participants’ imagining of the public view: ambivalence, hard work, difficult journeys, professional virtues, and being misunderstood. The complexity of a social work professional identity is further examined.

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The social work professionalisation project before the 1990s in Aotearoa New Zealand: The dream

Cited by 9 publications

References 31 publications

Disrupting the grassroots narrative of social work in Aotearoa New Zealand

Disrupting the grassroots narrative of social work in Aotearoa New Zealand

Lifting the veil on the government’s regulatory agenda for the social work profession in Aotearoa New Zealand

‘Proud of what I do but often … I would be happier to say I drive trucks’: Ambiguity in social workers’ self-perception

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