What does empathy sound like in social work communication? A mixed‐methods study of empathy in child protection social work practice

It is widely accepted that empathy is important for social work practice, yet there are multiple dimensions of empathy and comparatively few studies of empathy as a component of social work skill. To date, published studies have been quantitative, and as a result, we know little about how social workers demonstrate empathy in practice or what skilled empathic practice in child and family social work might sound like. This study contributes to the development of understanding of empathy as a social work skill through a mixed‐methods analysis of 110 audio recordings of meetings in a child protection service between workers and parents, applying a coding framework for analysis. Findings indicate that workers who demonstrate higher levels of empathy skill use more open questions and reflections in their communication with parents. Further, they demonstrate curiosity about and make efforts to understand parents' often difficult experiences, including a focus on emotions. That the majority of workers were found not to demonstrate a high level of empathy skill presents concerns to be considered by the social work profession. A deeper understanding of empathy presents an opportunity for an increased focus in organizations to enable workers to demonstrate empathy towards families they work with.     

Organizational factors and child participation in decision‐making: differences between two child welfare organizations

Children in residential care tend to be less content with the quality of care arrangements and participation opportunities compared to children in foster care. This study explored possible differences in social workers' views about child participation and service quality. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test if any differences may be explained by collaboration between professionals' and social workers' work engagement. We found that social workers from residential care services seem more prudent in letting children participate in case planning compared to social workers planning for foster care. Social workers' judgements of service quality were also highly affected by their organizational affiliation, but personal factors such as work engagement may also play a part. The differences we found regarding social workers' attitudes towards participation and their rating of service quality are associated with organizational culture. Understanding how organizations shape social workers' decisions to include or exclude children in care planning may help gain a more comprehensive understanding of what is needed to take the participation agenda forward.     

Private Passions, the Public Good and Public Service Reform

There has been considerable recent discussion of the impact of public service reforms on the work ethics and motivations of public service workers. In this article we draw upon recent research on the ethical dilemmas facing regeneration workers in order to look more closely at the role of values in the working lives of public service professionals. Focusing on the commitment to social justice, we argue that such values find expression in two interlinked ways, as something workers have and as a process of giving value to different goods. Our research reveals that while both aspects of values are rooted in people's life experiences the second dimension is more contingent and relational. While public service reforms appear to have less impact upon workers’ pregiven values, they can and do have an impact on the way in which these values find expression in attachment to different goods. To understand the effect of such reform processes on workers’ motivations we therefore need a more complex conceptual framework than that provided by either simple public sector ethos/private sector ethos distinctions or by models of economic individualism offered by writers such as Julian Le Grand.     

From communication to co‐operation: Reconceptualizing social workers' engagement with children

Communicating and engaging with children is a foundational component of child care social work practice, but all too frequently, in the wake of serious incidents, it is the focus of criticism. Drawing on findings from a large‐scale ESRC‐funded research project conducted in the four U.K. nations, this paper explores, through a psychosocial analytic lens, how social workers anticipate, enact and reflect on their encounters with both children and their families. Close analysis of what social workers said about their practice alongside what they were observed to do in practice revealed perceptions, patterns and processes of communication that, first, minimize emotions and the complexity of the professional task and second, overly privilege verbal interaction. Drawing on Sennett's (2012) ideas this paper offers a reconceptualisation of this professional task, from a communicative to a co‐operative one. It affords and creates a space in which social workers can develop more attuned communicative practices that include rituals, gestures and the minimal use of force. The theoretical insights and evidence‐informed practice recommendations arising from this research have conceptual significance for the social work discipline and practical significance for the child care social work profession, across national and international contexts.     

Exploring the promotion of youth voice in community-based youth development programmes

This constructivist grounded theory study used semi-structured interviews with 19 youth service providers in community-based youth development programmes to develop a context-specific framework of how and why youth voice promotion occurred. Factors external to the youth programmes, such as funder expectations, influenced the conceptualization of role for youth workers. The social process of meaning making in relation to role identity impacted how youth workers perceived self-efficacy when working with youth, especially when engaged with behaviours falling outside programmatic expectations or norms. Workers prioritized fostering physical and psychological safe spaces for youth participants. When conflict occurred, perceptions of efficacy guided workers in taking positions that either promoted or restricted youth voice based on their perceptions of efficacy in resolving conflict safely. Youth programmes have the capacity to resist or replicate oppression present within the educational system. The adoption and adaptation of educational models of resistance offer a strategy for community-based youth organizations to promote equity and thriving youth.     

What Hindu Sati can teach us about the sociocultural and social psychological dynamics of suicide

By leveraging the case of Hindu sati, this paper elucidates the ways in which structure and culture condition suicidal behavior by way of social psychological and emotional dynamics. Conventionally, sati falls under Durkheim's discussion of altruistic suicides, or the self‐sacrifice of underindividuated or excessively integrated peoples like widows in traditional societies. In light of the fact that Durkheim's interpretation was based on uneven data, nineteenth century Eurocentric beliefs, and a theoretical framework that can no longer resist modification and elaboration, by reconsidering sati it is possible to sketch a new model that strengthens Durkheim's theory by making it more robust and generalizable. The following model is built on five principles. First, integration and regulation are not distinct causal forces, but overlapping contextual conditions. Second, to better explain the variation in suicidality across time and space, we must also pay attention to culture as it provides the underlying meanings of suicide that can increase the odds a person or class of persons become suicidal or are protected against suicidality. Third, structure still matters, but in many cases, the role power and power‐differentials play must be considered. Fourth, understanding why and how people choose suicide depends on incorporating identity and status processes. Fifth, because the expression of social emotions like shame are patterned by structural and cultural conditions, to understand how suicidality is socioculturally patterned we must further explore the link between identity/status, social emotions, and structure and culture.     

The Impact of In-service Training within Social Services

Summary In-service training within social service agencies is recognizedas a key means through which staff are provided with the necessaryknowledge and skills to improve overall agency performance andachieve the objectives of social policy. Furthermore, reportsof training expenditure within social services departments inthe UK suggest increasing amounts of monies are invested insuch activity in order to meet the changing demands placed onsocial care and greater expectations for higher standards inservice delivery. Yet to what extent is the faith placed inmuch of this training by social service agencies actually justified?In short, how much do we know about the actual impact of in-servicetraining within social service organizations in terms of itachieving the aims set by policy makers? This article attemptsto answer this question in order to assist in the developmentof a far more empirically based framework for understandingtraining processes within social service agencies. A reviewof the literature for studies published between 1974 and 1997detailing an evaluation of in-service training programmes withinsocial service agencies identified only 20 such studies. Problemsassociated with both the evaluative criteria utilized and theresearch methodologies employed in these studies meant thatin many instances conclusions regarding the actual impact oftraining could only be tentatively judged. As a result, an analysisof these studies found that although training may have an impacton trainees in terms of satisfaction or knowledge gain, resultsregarding impact on behaviour are far more inconclusive. Inaddition it is not at all certain that such training will necessarilyresult in changes in performance back in the workplace. Thefindings from the review suggest far more research is requiredof sufficient rigour to underpin our knowledge in this importantarea.     

Shame and guilt in child protection social work: new interpretations and opportunities for practice

Shame is an underexplored and misunderstood emotion. It can be described as an acute awareness of one's flawed and unworthy self. It is the primary social emotion and one of our most intimate feelings developed within the context of our family of origin, which can have a devastating effect on an individual and their relationships. Social workers are routinely faced with issues of shame as an intrinsic consequence of the matters with which social work deals and also as a result of how both families and workers experience the child protection process. This paper outlines the research on shame and guilt to argue for a re‐evaluation of the key challenges faced by child protection social workers. It is argued that shame experienced by parents and carers potentially plays a significant role in these challenges, while it may be argued that ‘guilt’ has had a bad press and may potentially play an important role in the successes. An argument is made for a shame‐reducing child protection social work practice with some key themes for practitioners to consider in their attempt to improve the accuracy of assessments and intervention.     

Bilingual Social Workers in Mental Health Service Provision: Cultural Competence,Language, and Work Experience

Many agencies actively recruit bilingual social workers. This study presents the reactions of 10 Chinese bilingual social workers to the expectations and demands of their agencies. The study employed a qualitative design with a phenomenological approach. The participants’ responses provide insight into how they manage ethnic and cultural mental health issues in Chinese populations. This study aims to improve social service delivery for clients with limited English proficiency by identifying effective, culturally competent services. The findings suggest that when hiring bilingual social workers, it is just as important for them to be culturally competent as it is for them to be an ethnic or language match with the client base. Having all of these qualities will result in staff members who can provide more effective services by making accurate diagnoses and identifying appropriate treatment plans. In addition to employing bilingual social workers, it is important to maintain good supervision as this will allow supervisees to have a unique perspective on what is involved in providing effective delivery of services to clients with limited English proficiency. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

What do children think about their social worker? A Q‐method study of children's services

Understanding how children experience social work interventions is an important part of gauging whether what is provided is genuinely helpful. In this paper, we describe the findings from a research project using Q‐method, aimed at understanding what children involved with statutory services think about their social workers and how they experience the time they spend together. Using a pre‐existing practice framework, we explored skills including empathy, collaboration, and purposefulness from the point of view of children and young people. The participants in our study (n = 22) were insightful observers of social work practice, able to describe not only how they experienced time spent with their workers but also inferring differences in motivation and approach. In addition, workers who were described in similar terms by different young people were nevertheless experienced differently. This suggests not an archetypal “good social worker”—instead, there are skills that are good for specific children at specific times within the context of specific relationships.     

The nature and culture of social work with children and families in long‐term casework: Findings from a qualitative longitudinal study

Social work in the United Kingdom is preoccupied with what social workers cannot do due to having limited time to spend with service users. Yet remarkably little research has examined what social workers actually do, especially in long‐term relationships. This paper draws from an ethnographic study of two social work departments in England that spent 15 months observing practice and organizational life. Our findings show that social work some of the time has a significant amount of involvement with some service users and the dominant view that relationship‐based practice is rarely achieved is in need of some revision. However, families at one research site received a much more substantial, reliable overall service due to the additional input of family support workers and having a stable workforce who had their own desks and were co‐located with managers in small team offices. This generated a much more supportive, reflective culture for social workers and service users than at the second site, a large open plan “hot‐desking” office. Drawing on relational, systemic, and complexity theories, the paper shows how the nature of what social workers do and culture of practice are shaped by the interaction between available services, office designs, and practitioners', managers', and service users' experiences of relating together.     

Linking macro‐level mechanisms to street‐level accountability practices. A cross‐national case study of street‐level accountability of social workers in government funded homeless shelters

Available studies on the accountability relation between social work and the government are mainly conducted in Anglo‐Saxion countries. This limits the generalizability of these findings to other countries. Moreover, these studies hardly descent to the street‐level, making the perceptions and actions of social workers barely visible. To address this gap, this article explores how three elements of governance interact with street‐level accountability of social workers in homeless care in three country cases (the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany). The data (N26) was gathered by means of a mixed method design (interviews, focus groups and document analysis). By combining a street‐level bureaucracy research approach with a relational definition of accountability, we opened up the black box of what happens in these organizations and bridged the gap between macro‐level mechanisms and street‐level accountability. Our study adds three important insights to street‐level research of accountability in social work. First, elements of governance cannot be studied in isolation. Mechanisms should always be explained in relation to the context in which they are embedded. Second, the social workers in our cases do not perceive their accountability to the government as a professional obligation. They see it as a strategic mechanism to secure funding. Third, interaction is an important condition for the engagement of the social workers in their accountability relation with the government. More research is needed to develop a multi‐level theory that identifies which mechanisms play a role in the accountability relation between the government and social workers.     

Inner and outer worlds: a psychosocial framework for child and family social work

Social workers need a framework for understanding and helping children and families which takes into account the inner world of the self and the outer world of the environment, both in terms of relationships and in terms of practicalities such as housing. It is the capacity of social workers to be aware of and integrate in their practice these different areas of concern which defines the distinctive nature of their professional identity. This paper argues that in order to address both inner and outer worlds, social workers need to use relationship-based practice at all stages of their professional involvement with families. It considers what this psychosocial approach means in relation to individual case examples, where the assessment of need and the offering of help can only be achieved in the context of a relationship. At a time when social work is being defined in terms of case management and service provision, it is necessary to reflect on traditional social work skills and values in order to defend what the professional social worker offers as a service in herself.     

Working models: A tool for synthesizing psychology,culture, and power in everyday experiences and internal representations

As social beings, we experience ourselves through interactions with others in daily routines that participate in the cultural practices and power relations of broader social structures. Social workers, and social scientists in general, however, have had difficulty conceptualizing and synthesizing this way of being in the world. This paper attempts to respond to that gap by discussing how clinical social workers can use the concept of working models as a tool for listening and understanding in psychotherapy. Utilizing a case example, the paper will discuss three working models, the enactment of power relations, cultural practices, and psychological processes, which provide an integrative framework to inform clinical work.     

Performance Management,Caseloads and the Frontline Provision of Social Services

Caseloads and performance management are important working conditions of workers delivering public social services in street‐level organizations. The literature on these working conditions argues that high caseloads and performance management have considerable consequences for workers' performance in terms of the quality of services they provide and the results they realize. This article empirically investigates and compares these consequences, drawing on the results of a quantitative study of frontline workers in 14 local welfare agencies in the Netherlands. These workers are responsible for the delivery of welfare‐to‐work policies to social assistance recipients. The findings show that high caseloads do, indeed, have a detrimental effect on workers' performance, whereas the impact of performance management is more modest, though confirming some of the findings reported in other studies on performance management. The results also show that by focusing service provision on a proportion of their caseload, workers are able to reduce the negative impact of high caseloads somewhat. Overall, the article finds that the negative impact of high caseloads is more pervasive than that of performance management. The article concludes that the recent focus in the literature on performance management and its consequences for public services should not turn scholars' attention away from the ‘traditional’ public administration problem of high caseload sizes.     

Private and public pension schemes: Elements of a comparative approach

The comparative approach offers improved understanding of what is at stake for enterprises, workers and States in developing private pension schemes to fill the gap left by public schemes. The features that distinguish private schemes result from the freedom with which they were designed — by enterprises themselves or through collective bargaining — and the limits imposed by growing state intervention in granting fiscal concessions or stipulating social guarantees. Depending on how these various components are combined, private schemes may offers workers added protection or form a source of insecurity.     

Environmental ethics for social work: Social work's responsibility to the non‐human world

Gray M, Coates J. Environmental ethics for social work: Social work's responsibility to the non‐human world This lead article in this Special Issue begins discussion on an environmental ethics for social work and raises arguments as to whether and, if so, why social workers have duties, obligations, responsibilities and commitments to the non‐human world. It provides an overview of the field of environmental ethics in searching for a moral stance to affirm an environmental social work. To what extent should social workers engage in fundamental geopolitical issues concerned with climate change, global warming, environmental degradation, pollution, chemical contamination, sustainable agriculture, disaster management, pet therapy, wilderness protection and so on and, if so, why and how? Are these issues incidental and peripheral and only of concern when they impact upon humans or do social workers have a responsibility beyond human interests? What is the significance of the ‘non‐human’ for social work? The article explores the terrain of the burgeoning field of environmental ethics to determine whether convincing ethical grounds for environmental social work might be found beyond hortatory claims of what the profession ought to be doing to address environmental concerns.     

深圳社会工作模式生成的制度同构理论分析

深圳社会工作的发展可以说是＂三新＂：一个全新的专业服务,在一个全新的工作地点,聘用一批全新的工作队伍。在这样的环境下,深圳市在很短的时间里就建立起了社会工作服务体系。学者在总结深圳社工模式的成功之处时认为：深圳社工服务模式,是政府制定政策方向、提供财政及实务支持、建立执行架构、监管及改善机制;成立社工协会为行业发展服务,面向全国招聘专业社会工作人才,向民间社工组织购买社工服务;聘用香港资深社工为深圳社工督导,提供督导及培训工作。这也就是说,深圳模式最突出的特点是制度对现实的建构。但是制度又是如何建构现实的？笔者运用社会学制度主义中的制度同构理论对这一问题进行阐释。