Working in Human Services: How Do Experiences and Working Conditions in Child Welfare Social Work Compare?

‘Lost in transition?’ – Newly educated social workers’ reflections on their first months in practice

“…It was found that not feeling valued in the workplace was connected to the worker's intention to leave the job (Tham, 2007;Tham & Meagher, 2009). The 'wish to help others' emerged as a strong theme in the first wave of data that examined participants' motives for choosing social work education (Tham & Lynch, 2014).…”

'Career Preference', 'Transients' and 'Converts': A Study of Social Workers' Retention in Child Protection and Welfare

“…In mid-2009, The Irish Times quoted an unpublished HSE report stating that 6,500 children at risk had no allocated social worker (O'Brien, 2009). Career pathways for newly-qualified social workers A recurring theme in the literature addressing retention in child protection and welfare is the number of newly-qualified (often young) or 'novice professional phase' (Rønnestad and Skovholt, 2003) social workers employed in this setting, and the relatively short length of time they stay in work (see, for example, Gibbs and Keating, 1999;Healy et al, 2009;Tham and Meagher, 2009). In Ireland, data from the most recent social work labour force report (National Social Work Qualifications Board, 2006) showed that a disproportionate number (nearly 60%) of newly-qualified graduates begin their social work careers in child protection and welfare.…”

Re-visioning Child Protection Management Embedded in Family Empowerment

“…The term 'compatibility' (Moore, 2007 p. 203) has been defined as an ability for coexistence as needed to connect with the "hard to reach" vulnerable people under the values of unconditional positive regard and congruent communications (Cherry, Carpenter, Water, Hawkins, Satterwhite, Stepien, Ruppelt and Herring, 2008;Itzhaky and Dekel, 2008;Forrester et al, 2008). In developing the emotional skills, Tham and Meagher (2009)'s study in Sweden noted the value of a collective initiative (i.e. a group based support approach) in building working conditions that foster worker's emotional resilience and compatibility.…”

“…a group based support approach) in building working conditions that foster worker's emotional resilience and compatibility. However, Tham and Meagher (2009) noted a significantly lower mean score in the area of "feeling mastery" in the human services industry in Sweden, which they attributed to the deficit in the leadership and operational management in building appropriate working conditions (Tham and Meagher, 2009 p. 817). The similar experience noted in the UK context by Morrison (2007) who attributed organisational or systemic support factors and individual life experiences in building the emotional intelligence or resilience linked to compatibility.…”

“…So, there needs to have a discussion, which is empirically driven that can offer a systemic policy response to create a culture that value the connection within the team and externally (i.e. with stakeholders, clients like families) and regular learning to build emotional skills and compatibility (Moore, 2007;Tham and Meagher, 2009;Cherry et al, 2008;Munro, 2010). …”