Passing the Baton: Principles and Implications for Transferring the Leadership of a Group

ABSTRACT

Poor practice in the transferring of groups abounds. This paper examines the process of transferring a group from one worker to another. Five concepts are discussed: giving early notice of the transfer; having one-on-one discussions between the arriving and departing workers; effecting the actual transfer; evaluating the group and establishing a new purpose and goals; and working through members' feelings and reactions to the transfer.     

Applying for money The encounter between social workers and clients--A question of morality

Correspondence to Lars-Christer Hydén, Department of Social Work, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden Summary The facts of household finances generally obtain their meaningfrom the moral standards of everyday life: it is in relationto these standards that we evaluate our personal finances. Personswho lack money and apply for social welfare compensation generallyhave to turn to a public social welfare bureau where their eligibilityis assessed by a professional social worker. The central questionfor the present study is how social workers and clients dealwith the morally delicate question of personal financial deficitsand how this question should be processed in a formal and institutionalsetting by formal means. This problem is discussed through ananalysis of conversations between social workers and clientsat social welfare bureaux in the municipality of Stockholm,Sweden. In pursuing a formal inquiry the social worker is conductinga moral search: the social worker has to determine the moralcharacter of the client and the circumstances around his/herhandling of his/her own financial situation. The ‘relevantcharacteristics of the citizen’ that the social workertries to match with the beneficiary rules are of a moral nature.In this respect, the social worker is not only a social workerbut also a moral worker. In order to define and defend his orher moral character the client has to pursue the financial issueas a moral issue. In the encounter, the client alludes to everydaycircumstances to account for his/her financial situation andto justify it by applying everyday moral standards.     

The group worker becoming: moving from anxiety to spontaneity with the guys

ABSTRACT

This narrative follows an ongoing open-form process group in an abstinence-based sober-living house as residents deal with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, interpersonal difficulties, and maintenance of recovery from Substance Use Disorder. The story illustrates the role development, role conflict, and role demand that group social workers experience and highlights a new social worker’s transition from professional anxiety and rigidity to spontaneity, nuance, and confidence in his practice.     

Intention to Leave the Profession: Welfare Social Workers Compared to Health Care and Community Social Workers in Israel

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to compare specific work related-factors (personal factor: length of work experience; structural factors: personal subjection to violence and fear of being subjected to violence; and psychological factors: professional quality of life—compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue) between welfare social workers (SWs) (n = 200) and health care and community SWs (n = 173). Furthermore, since the issue of turnover among SWs has important implications for the provision and programming of social services, the study also aimed to assess the relationship between these factors and SW intention to leave the profession. For the purpose of this study, online questionnaires were distributed to SWs working at social agencies and services. The findings suggest that the two categories of SWs showed a similarity with regard to the association between the personal and structural factors and intention to leave the profession. However, with regard to the psychological factors, the components of professional quality of life were found to operate differently in each category of SWs. It is suggested that future research examine other work-related factors and explore the intention to leave the profession among other social work specializations and employment sectors.     

A Worker's Personal Grief and Its Impact on Processing a Group's Termination

SUMMARY

This article deals with a worker struggling with a personal loss while simultaneously helping her group with the termination of a valued long term member. The focus is on the parallel grieving process and the resistance to mourning.     

Pentimento

Abstract

When asked to consider writing a personal essay about a transformational moment in the development of myself as a clinician, this unfolding of events immediately came to mind. This moment captures a story about my development as a clinical social worker through my personal psychoanalysis. Sometimes, when one can contain his/her anxiety about receiving, a spontaneous and wonderful gift may present itself for the opening. This is my offering-a gift to students of clinical process.     

Health and distress in social workers: Results of a national survey

Abstract

This study investigated the physical and emotional health status of professional social workers as well as their levels of distress. The results of this national survey of 668 randomly selected NASW‐member social workers indicated that while most were healthy and satisfied with work and relationships, 17% experienced distress, defined as substance abuse, emotional problems, and/or physical illness. The distressed social workers were more likely to experience difficulties in many areas of their lives, including dissatisfaction with work and low self‐esteem. Some of the social workers reported seeking help for personal/ emotional problems, but very few sought help for alcohol/other drug problems.     

Professional Identity,Job Satisfaction,and Retention of Licensed Social Workers in Korea

This paper reports the results from a survey of 735 social workers in South Korea on their professional identity as a social worker, job satisfaction, and intention to leave the profession. The overall result shows that there was a high level of job satisfaction. Social workers' intention to leave the profession was significantly related to their integrated feelings of professional identity. This relationship was partially mediated by job satisfaction. Social workers' sense of professional identity can be tapped to help social workers feel adequate to carry out their professional responsibility. Boundaries of their practice should be well defined.     

个人价值观与社会工作价值观之整合——社工之专业自我的形塑路径初探

每一个社会工作者首先是作为普通的个人而存在的，尔后才逐渐作为专业自我而存在。在长期的社会生活过程中，作为个人而存在的存在者都会基于其所处文化，形成一套自我主动或潜意实施的个人价值观，这将天然地与社会工作之“无差别对待生命”的人本主义价值观存在或多或少的张力或冲突。对此，本文尝试以“拟亲属化”和“主体意识投射”两种手段之架构，来做个人价值观与社会工作价值观之整合的努力，以期探寻一种社工之专业自我的形塑路径。     

The story of the PPO queen: the development and acceptance of a spoiled identity in child protection social work

The efficacy of child protection social work is regularly being questioned in the media as vociferous critics deride the profession for the apparent failings of its practitioners. This paper aims to examine the impact this hostility can have on practice and the relationship practitioners develop with their organization and subsequently the families they work with. By using autoethnography, a personal experience I encountered whilst working as a statutory social worker for an Emergency Duty Team will be explored in detail in order to analyse how discursive regimes can endorse and encourage particular ways of thinking and doing for social workers. I also intend to demonstrate that when workers operate in a risk averse environment, oppressive practices can develop subconsciously. These not only affect professionals’ values and assumptions but also fortify distance between the social worker and the client. If social work is to facilitate positive change in the current climate of uncertainty, then it is hoped that this story may enable both practitioners, and their critics, to recognize that being open to different forms of knowledge could lead to better outcomes for all involved.     

The effect of characteristics of human service workers on subsequent morale and turnover

The authors examine the relationship of sociopsychological characteristics of human services workers to their subsequent morale and continuance on the job. Eighty-two intensive case managers (half of them social workers) who had caseloads of clients with severe mental disorders were invited to participate in a four-wave panel study. Explored are the relationships between 16 predictors (general background, prior work experience and training, and social psychological variables) and worker outcomes (beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and turnover). The major finding was that better personal well-being at the time of hiring was the most consistent and significant predictor of lower burnout, higher job satisfaction, and generally higher worker morale at later points in time. Those from higher social class backgrounds and those with lower starting salaries were more likely to leave the job. Those workers with more experience had a tendency to perceive greater client improvement.     

The effect of newspaper feature articles on referrals to a child guidance clinic 1

This study investigates the key factors influencing turnover intentions of social workers, adopting a comparative approach within the two patterns. Based on planned behaviors theory, the personal attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived competences of social workers were measured to predict organizational and occupational turnover intention, with controlling variables being demographic factors, work-related factors, and professional perception. It was found that social workers from Guangzhou (as “autonomous-embedded” patterns) expressed stronger intention to leave their current organizations than did their counterparts in Beijing (as “dependent-embedded” patterns), and their attitudes played a salient role in the prediction of organizational or occupational turnover intention. However, personal attitude was not a determinant of either organizational or occupational turnover intention in Beijing. This research sheds light on the importance of subjective norms in dependent-embedded patterns, points out the dominant role of personal belief in autonomous-embedded patterns, and highlights the key role of job satisfaction in the turnover process.     

Moral distress among social workers: The role of insufficient resources

The present study examined moral distress among Finnish social workers and the role of perceived resource insufficiencies in explaining it. The aim was to shed light on this understudied phenomenon in the field of social welfare. The study focused on work‐related moral distress, defined as impaired wellbeing that is connected to the continual inability to implement actions that one considers morally appropriate. The survey data were collected with an electronic questionnaire between the years 2011 and 2012. The respondents (n = 817) were social workers in the public social welfare services and the overall response rate was 46.5 per cent. Nearly 11 per cent of the respondents reported experiencing moral distress and perceived resource insufficiencies strongly explained this experience. Moreover, social workers with moral distress reported that they were less willing to continue in their post, were more frequently on sick leave and had positive work‐related experiences less often than their colleagues who did not experience moral distress. Key Practitioner Message: ● The concept of moral distress is useful in describing the experiences of social welfare workers when they are unable to practise their profession according to their moral code and the emotional burden related to this inability; ● Perceived resource insufficiencies are strongly associated with experiences of moral distress among frontline social workers; ● Social workers experiencing moral distress are less willing to continue in their work, take sick leave more often and less frequently have positive experiences related to their work.     

Group Work Camp as Nondeliberative Process

ABSTRACT

The article seeks to identify examples of several features of nondeliberative practice within the process of Group Work Camp, an experiential training program. Camp provides an alternative environment for learning, in which novice group workers can effectively deal with their anxiety about facilitating groups. Examples of specific features of nondeliberative process are identified, including “worker of the self” nondeliberative and deliberative process working in tandem, problem solving without awareness of a problem, casting the problem in manageable form, transforming nondeliberative experience into analog, shifting from artful to actional to analogic forms, and worker role.     

A STUDY OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE WITH GROUPS

This paper presents the second stage of a study on group use in social work in Quebec. The first stage had identified 72 practitioners working with 130 client groups, and 60 of these workers participated in the second stage interview. The interview explored characteristics of social work practice with groups, and studied personal and organizational factors which may influence group use. The findings suggest group use in social work is characterized by a diversity of group goals, client populations and service settings. Most groups are small units formed by the worker. and their membership is closed during the duration of the group which is usually from 8 to 15 meetings. Structure varies, but most groups base program on discussion or structured exercises, and most workers assume a facilitator or therapist role. Despite these commonalities, there appear to be several distinct styles of practice which vary according to type of group goal, role of worker, and theoretical influences on the worker. These styles vary especially in the extent to which the worker takes a central leadership position or shares group tasks with members.     

Single-Session Groups: Issues for Social Workers

ABSRACT

Single-session groups in hospital settings provide a lifeline to overwhelmed patients and family members. Although these groups are becoming more common, they present special issues for the social worker committed to making them as useful as possible to participants. This paper highlights four major issues: handling ongoing recruitment, allowing sufficient time for the beginning phase, setting realistic goals, and dealing with heterogeneous group membership. Illustrative examples are based on the author's experience with single-session groups for family members of liver transplant patients. Learning more about the special nature of single-session groups will help workers prepare for them and also capitalize on the unique opportunities they offer.     

Bringing the Community In

Summary

Aging enrichment of undergraduate social work curricula ensures that program graduates will be prepared to practice with older adults. This article reports the results of focus group research that was designed to engage social workers from community agencies serving older adults in preparing students to become ‘aging-savvy’ social workers. The workers highlighted the importance of wide-ranging exposure to older adults, the changing needs of older adults, and the importance of increasing students' comfort with self-determination. These findings informed the program's ongoing curricular transformation process through the incorporation of new assignments that enabled increased contact with older adults in a variety of settings.     

The Role of the Social Worker in Long-Term Care

Abstract

Making use of a formulation by Rosalie Kane of the ingredients necessary to “a good life” for residents of homes for the aged and other long term care facilities, the role of the social worker in insuring the presence of these ingredients is discussed. Included is an analysis of the responsibilities and tasks of the social worker which must be carried and fulfilled in order that social workers make appropriate contributions to “the good life.”     

Perceptions of Caregiving Role by Son's Caring for a Parent with Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

In this qualitative study, 18 sons were interviewed about the factors that led them to assume the role of primary caregiver for a parent with progressive memory loss, such as Alzheimer's disease, as well as the personal challenge that they experienced in this role. The analysis demonstrated that sons experience a range of emotional reactions, personal and professional conflict, as well as learn about new roles and responsibilities as they attempt to access the needed services for their parent. Clinical recommendations for geriatric social workers are discussed.