15 research outputs found
The Desk as a Barrier and Carrier in Social Work
This chapter explores the desk as a material object as well as its sym- bolic representations in social work from a professional perspective. As we will demonstrate, different and sometimes incompatible meanings and functions associated with the desk reflect current tensions and profession- al dilemmas: On the one hand, ever since the emergence of the social work profession, the desk has symbolized a distanced and uncommitted social worker, even representing asymmetric power relations.2 On the other hand, recent endeavors at professionalization, evidence-based practices, and ac- countable welfare work have resulted, to some degree unintentionally, in an administrative turn and a strengthening of the bureaucratic understand- ing of the mission.3 Social workers, often described as semi-professionals striving for higher status, face trade-offs between traditional ideals of being committed and working close to the community, and administrative work in the office
From stories to standardised interaction - changing conversational formats in social work
Visst Àr man rÀdd att sjÀlv bli sjuk : en konferens om preventivt arbete för barn till psykiskt sjuka
Rapporten redovisar en konferens om preventivt arbete för barn till psykiskt sjuka. Vid konferensen presenterades bÄde verksamheter och forskning som visar att preventivt arbete med barn till psykiskt sjuka har stor effekt, bÄde pÄ individ- och samhÀllsnivÄ
Digital clients : An example of people production in social work
Digital work has become part of social workersâ daily routines in countries where digitalisation is on the agenda. As a consequence, documentation practices are expandingâon paper as well as digitallyâand include reporting detailed statistics about client interventions, filling in digital forms, and fulfilling local and national performance measurement goals. Standardised formulas with tick-box answers, fed into databases by the social worker, are examples of this digital endeavour. One example is the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), a questionnaire for estimating the clientÂŽs life situation and needs, used in addiction care. However, difficulties in making the social workers use the results of the standardised questionnaire in social work investigations, where a storied form is traditionally preferred, have made social workers reluctant to use them. To encourage the use of the ASI, a software program was invented to transform the binary data from the questionnaire into a computerised storyline, imitating the storied form. The aim of this article is to describe the context of the digital storyline production and to analyse the particular type of âdigital clientâ it creates. Possible consequences are discussed, such as the absent (or distorted) client voice. It is proposed that documentation systems, in whatever form, should not be regarded as neutral carriers of information, but must be analysed for how clients are (re)presented and, ultimately, how social work is consctructed
Standardiserad interaktion - en utmaning i socialt arbete
Standardized assessment instruments have been introduced in social work with the aim of measuring outcome effects and raising quality. One example, the ASI (Addiction Severity Index), is a standardi- zed questionnaire which can be regarded as a success story in Sweden and around the globe. The questionnaire, originally created by quantitative researchers and focusing on Vietnam Veterans in volun- tary care in the USA, is now widely used in Swedish social work. A different target group is identified (clients in need of social services) and different users (social workers). The results show that the pre- fabricated questions in the questionnaire restrict the institutional interaction. In social work the narrative is important. Standardized instruments change the status of the narrative and the interac- tion becomes digitized. Inspired by eth- nomethodology and discourse analysis, the study shows that clients applying for welfare benefits or subject to pre-trial investigation at the probation office are expected to participate. The standardized interaction has special characteristics: The conversation is highly reduced to yes-no answers, leaving little or almost no space for narratives. The questionnaire changes the professional conversation and leaves the professional and the client in a new interactional situation. In a profession where discretion has been highly valued and the professional conversation to a large extent has been shaped situationally, standardized inte- raction challenges the professional-client relationship. In the article certain techni- ques for handling the questionnaire are discerned
Standardiserade intervjuer i socialt arbete - exemplet ASI
Standardiserade bedömningsinstrument lanseras som en del i strĂ€vanden mot ett mĂ€tbart, transparent och evidensbaserat socialt arbete. Ett exempel Ă€r den standardiserade ASI-intervjun (Addiction Severity Index) som anvĂ€nds inom exempelvis socialtjĂ€nsten och kriminalvĂ„rden. ASI har transformerats frĂ„n ett kvantitativt forskningsinstrument utformat för Vietnamveteraner frivilligt inlagda pĂ„ behandlingshem i USA (McLellan 2006), till ett bedömningsinstrument för svenska socialarbetare i myndighetsutövning. Standardiserade bedömningsinstrument presenteras som ett stöd för ett systematiskt beslutsfattande bĂ„de pĂ„ individ- och verksamhetsnivĂ„. Meningen Ă€r Ă€ven att de ska fungera som ett datainsamlingsverktyg för forskning. Idag har vi kunskap om hur mĂ„nga ASI som utförts och hur integrerade de Ă€r pĂ„ organisationsnivĂ„. Vi vet dock mindre om hur dessa instrument anvĂ€nds i det vardagliga arbetet. Syftet med studien Ă€r att med etnografisk metod undersöka hur den standardiserade vĂ€ndningen i socialt arbete motiveras (i internutbildning) och hanteras (i det sociala arbetets praktik).1 Studien Ă€r kvalitativ och har en etnografiskt diskursiv ansats: deltagande observation under internutbildning samt ASI-intervjuer med klienter. DĂ€rtill ingĂ„r kvalitativa intervjuer med utredare och klienter i materialet. Genom en analys av internutbildning i ASI för socionomer har tvĂ„ professionsstilar identifierats â en âtraditionellâ professionsstil och en ny professionsstil (Martinell Barfoed & Jacobsson 2012). Den nya professionsstilen motiveras med positivt laddade begrepp som objektivitet, vetenskaplighet, oproblematisk likhet och stĂ€lls direkt och indirekt emot en traditionell professionsstil dĂ€r begrepp som magkĂ€nsla, subjektivitet och problematisk olikhet signalerar ett daterat sĂ€tt att arbeta. Studien visar hur nya metoder pĂ„verkar den vardagliga interaktionen mellan socialarbetare och klient och hur bĂ„da parter anpassar sig till densamma. FrĂ„geformulĂ€rets prefabricerade karaktĂ€r lĂ€gger restriktioner pĂ„ det professionella samtalet â sĂ€rskilda anpassningsstrategier urskiljs frĂ„n bĂ„de klientens och utredarens sida. Den standardiserade interaktionen ger inte utrymme för berĂ€ttande i klassisk mening. FrĂ„gor och svar Ă€r starkt regisserade och de standardiserade bedömningsinstrumenten kan dĂ€rigenom betraktas som aktörer i samtalet. IstĂ€llet sker en digitalisering av sprĂ„ket (âettorâ och ânollorâ), vilket skiljer sig frĂ„n de berĂ€ttelser som mer allmĂ€nt förknippas med socialt arbete och som lĂ€nge har varit en oproblematiserad del av socialarbetarens handlingsutrymme (Lipsky 1980). Den standardiserade interaktionen visar sig vara ordknapp, vilket ger en asymmetrisk relation. Socialarbetaren frĂ„gar och klienten svarar. Det stora antalet frĂ„gor (180 frĂ„gor) som idealt sett ska utföras vid ett tillfĂ€lle gör att frĂ„geformulĂ€ret Ă€r starkt styrande för hur interaktionen utvecklas och det krĂ€vs interaktionskompetens hos bĂ„de socialarbetare och klient för att genomföra intervjun. âOvanliga klienterâ uppges exempelvis vara svĂ„ra att anpassa till instrumentets logik. Klienten i bĂ„de socialtjĂ€nst och kriminalvĂ„rd Ă€r i behov av resurser av olika slag, det kan exempelvis gĂ€lla pengar (socialtjĂ€nsten) eller ett positivt omdöme inför en vĂ€ntande rĂ€ttegĂ„ng (kriminalvĂ„rdens frivĂ„rd). Att insamlade data betraktas som fakta och information snarare Ă€n positionerade berĂ€ttelser tillkomna i en lokal kontext i ett bestĂ€mt syfte behöver övervĂ€gas nĂ€r vĂ€rdet av intervjun diskuteras, sĂ„vĂ€l generellt som i det individuella fallet. Det finns fĂ„ studier av hur de data som samlats in anvĂ€nds (lokalt och i forskning) och det Ă€r angelĂ€get att med bĂ„de kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod fortsatt analysera de standardiserade bedömningsinstrumentens praktik i socialt arbete
BerÀttelser om adoption
Abstract: Adoption Stories (BerĂ€ttelser om adoption) This dissertation explores adoption stories in a Swedish context. The aim is two-fold: First, how adoption is presented by adopted adults; second, how adoption is constructed in the press. The way adoptees create meaning of âbeing adoptedâ is investigated; the way those stories are shaped culturally is also explored. The study was conducted in a qualitative tradition with a constructionist and narrative approach. The empirical material consisted of 20 individual interviews, a focus group interview and an analysis of adoption issues in media. The age span of the adoptees in the individual interviews was 25-65 years. The articles examined stemmed from daily newspapers. The time period studied was 2003-2005. 124 articles were chosen for closer investigation. Two different storylines were uncovered in the personal stories â adoption as a complicated experience and adoption as an uncomplicated experience. In the first storyline the abandoned child was linked with psychological and social interpretations of âbeing differentâ; in the second, on the other hand, a story of the chosen child, brought up with a loving family, was built. In this storyline issues of being different were not raised, on the contrary being adopted appeared almost irrelevant. In the press two discourses were identified â adoption as a solution (for ânot having childrenâ or ânot having parentsâ) and adoption as a problem (for example individual problems regarding âidentityâ or adoption as a contested practice). The analysis illustrates that personal stories are framed by culturally available resources. It is emphasized that the qualitative interview is a relational practice. This means that interviews must be considered in context, the local context of its production, but also in a broader cultural context
Ungas samarbete - Nordens framtid
I Ungas samarbete - Nordens framtid ger unga mÀnniskor runt om i Norden sin bild av nordisk samverkan och hur den kan utvecklas. NÀr ungdomar som tidigare inte haft möjligheten att delta i nordiskt samarbete ges förutsÀttningar att skapa mötesplatser, vÀxer bÄde ungdomarna sjÀlva och deras intresse för nordisk samverkan. Nokon, ett nordiskt samverkansprojekt inom arbetsmarknadsomrÄdet som pÄgÄtt under tvÄ Är, visar pÄ vikten av att ungdomars egna engagemang tas till vara och att erfarenheter frÄn olika lÀnder kan leda till att nya samarbetsmöjligheter skapas
Moving from âgut feelingâ to âpure factsâ: launching the ASI interview as part of in-service training for social workers.
Several standardized assessment instruments have been introduced in social work in the last ten years. One of them, the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), is used today in the Swedish social services, and in the Prison and probation services. Swedish state authorities make strong declarations to implement the ASI-interview while critics are sceptic to both its practical relevance and epistemological grounds. Given this background, the launching of the ASI-interview is important to study as a case of how new instruments (flagged under the banner of EBP) are introduced. How is this rather new innovation introduced to the field of social work? The aim of the article is to analyse how the ASI-interview is presented and taught through in-service training for Swedish social workers. From observations of in-service training sessions, two professional styles seem to surface: a âtraditionalâ and a ânewâ professional style. The course leader tends to use contrasting dichotomies as resources for constructing these professional styles. For example, âobjectivityâ and âscientificityâ are presented as new professional ideals, rather than common sense or âgut feelingâ, the latter connected to traditional social work. The construction of a new professional style can be seen as an endeavour to achieve professional status in a more classical sense, partly by making the profession and its content more visible, and also by asserting its legitimacy as evidence-based work