Showing papers in "Nordic Social Work Research in 2014"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the methods by which children's exposure to domestic violence has attracted increased interest from researchers, and discuss the ways in which children are exposed to and conditioned on domestic violence.
Abstract: Children’s exposure to domestic violence has attracted increased interest from researchers. This greater interest necessitates discussion about the methods by which children’s exposure to and descr ...
57 citations
TL;DR: The restructuring of human service organisations into more lean organisations has brought increased work demands for many human service professions as discussed by the authors, and social work stands out as a particularly exposed profession in this context.
Abstract: The restructuring of human service organisations into more lean organisations has brought increased work demands for many human service professions. Social work stands out as a particularly exposed ...
36 citations
TL;DR: In 2008, a group of international social work researchers met in Salisbury (UK) to explore the nature of practice research in social work and developed some preliminary consensus that became known as the Salisbury Statement on Practice Research as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In 2008, a group of international social work researchers met in Salisbury (UK) to explore the nature of practice research in social work. They developed some preliminary consensus that became known as the Salisbury Statement on Practice Research. The statement arose from a concern that the contemporary emphasis on evidencebased practice was not adequately addressing the complexities of social work practice and the tools for improving practice. Social work and its clients might therefore be better served if we gave a stronger emphasis to practice priorities and to more active engagement with practitioners as researchers. This is reflected in the description of practice research:
33 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors connect the theoretically based definitions and described methodological approaches with concrete experiences from practice research, and connect them with concrete experience from practice re-training and social work.
Abstract: Practice Research is a meeting point between practice and research where both common understandings and different interests meet. Therefore, Practice Research has to be understood as a process in which negotiation is a central part of developing research initiatives. In these negotiations, neither practice nor research must fully give up their special interests. Both partners must maintain equal share so as to make it possible for them to hold on to their interests; to open up new understandings, new traditions, and new learning processes; and to make it possible for them to learn from each other as a part of the process. Although the overall goal in Practice Research is to qualify social work, the balance – or the conflicts – between the different partners is both an interesting and a challenging issue in Practice Research. Based on the position of Practice Research, the article connects the theoretically based definitions and described methodological approaches with concrete experiences from Practice Re...
24 citations
TL;DR: Even if "everyone" knows that Nordic histories are multilayered and that different people and locations within the Nordic region have been differently positioned in terms of appreciation, power and... as mentioned in this paper
Abstract: Even if ‘everyone’ knows that Nordic histories are multilayered and that different people and locations within the Nordic region have been differently positioned in terms of appreciation, power and...
17 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study how clients and treatment unit staff perceive the relevance and value of the alcohol treatment intervention for a positive process of change and find that the three treatment components most emphasised by clients are structure and regularity, friendship and support of the group and the personal conduct and professionalism of the staff.
Abstract: The overall aim of this study is to increase the understanding of operative factors in the treatment process by studying how clients and treatment unit staff perceive the relevance and value of the alcohol treatment intervention for a positive process of change. The specific research questions are: (1) How do clients describe the relevance and importance of treatment interventions in their own process of change? (2) How do treatment staffs describe experience and perceptions of how their work can contribute to a successful change process among treated clients? (3) How do client and the treatment staff descriptions relate to each other? Interviewees (40 clients and eight professionals) were recruited from four treatment units in the Stockholm area. In the results, the three treatment components most emphasised by clients are structure and regularity, friendship and support of the group and the personal conduct and professionalism of the staff. Both of the components referring to the client group and to the...
16 citations
TL;DR: The work of an undergraduate student illustrates how new knowledge is used to improve practice with homeless people and reveals her emergent identity as a practice researcher and identifies conditions in which students can flourish in this role.
Abstract: This paper celebrates students as co-researchers and co-constructors of knowledge. It is our assertion that students can be equal contributors in generating knowledge in, and for practice. Their fresh approach, time and enquiry enable innovative practice to occur in conditions of uncertainty and constant change. In contrast to traditional research activity, practice research is viewed as inclusive, highly contextual, embedded in practice and owned by those most directly affected by its findings. Students and people with whom they work are in a position to (re-) construct practice relevant for current conditions. In this paper, the work of an undergraduate student illustrates how new knowledge is used to improve practice with homeless people. It reveals her emergent identity as a practice researcher and identifies conditions in which students can flourish in this role.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted nine interviews with FGC coordinators conducted as part of a randomized controlled study in which FGCs were implemented in two Norwegian municipalities: Oslo and Bergen.
Abstract: Although the coordinator is essential in mobilizing and remobilizing the social network of individual participants during the family group conference (FGC) process, we lack knowledge on the coordinators’ meaning and their interaction with various FGC actors. The data in this study come from nine interviews with FGC coordinators conducted as part of a randomized controlled study in which FGCs were implemented in two Norwegian municipalities: Oslo and Bergen. Positioning theory is used as an analytical tool for interpreting the findings. The results indicate that it is a challenge for coordinators to maintain the ideal of the ‘neutral’ coordinator while building trusting relationships with participants. Coordinators’ strategies for managing these challenges are interpreted as discursive positionings that enable communication, trust and participation, potentially securing FGC as an empowering process for the participant. The results indicate that coordinators are crucial actors in carrying out the FGC process.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the significance of a methodology that includes the emotions as an integral element in the construction and analysis of data, and display how reflections on the emotions of the researchers provide increased depth of the construction of the data and the topic studied.
Abstract: This article highlights the significance of a methodology that includes the emotions as an integral element in the construction and analysis of data. The research question is: how can an emotional self-awareness of the researcher on data contribute towards understanding and knowledge. The objective is to display how reflections on the emotions of the researchers provide increased depth of the construction of the data and the topic studied. The empirical data have been obtained from two PhD projects on child and family contact with child protection authorities in Norway. The sampled material derives from situations in the interviews that particularly affected us emotionally and which we reflected on several years after the interviews took place. Through a re-analysis of the interview process, we display how the researchers constructed the data and how we, in the original research, overlooked important questions. Our analytical approach in the original project as in this re-analysis is constructivist intera...
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the theoretical literature that has guided their empirical project work in widening and deepening everyday communication in child welfare and develop methods that are based on life story work and art-based activities.
Abstract: As narrative beings, we are surrounded by our own stories and other people’s stories. We are not necessarily fully conscious of these stories and they may not even be verbal; moreover, there is never a single version of a story. A negative story and stigmatised and damaged identities are easy to encounter in child welfare. To prevent exclusion and negative social inheritance are the major tasks of child welfare, but how to combat them? One remedy is enriching communication and a self-expression. In this article, we describe the theoretical literature that has guided our empirical project work in widening and deepening everyday communication in child welfare. The methods that we have developed are based on life story work and art-based activities. Improvements in narrative surroundings in residential care have guided our efforts over a 12 year period. We have studied the opportunities and possible roles that exist for art-based activities and narrative methods in supporting children’s coping, self-...
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the first educational transition point in the transition from lower secondary school to the vocational track in upper secondary school and found that the educational attainment of child welfare clients (CWCs) is generally poor.
Abstract: This article addresses the concern that the educational attainment of child welfare clients (CWCs) is generally poor. Drawing upon previous research showing that former CWCs lack higher education, this study argues that it is necessary to examine the first educational transition that directs students away from higher education. In Norway, this first transition point occurs in the transition from lower secondary school to the vocational track in upper secondary school. This educational transition is studied by means of analysis of longitudinal survey data on youths in Oslo. The sample consists of 1500 teenagers in Grade 10 in lower secondary school and in the second year of upper secondary school, of whom about 5% had had contact with child welfare services. The results show that CWCs’ high enrolment on the vocational track – and consequently away from higher education – cannot be understood only from the characteristics that previous research has reported as general explanations for the differences in edu...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted an interview study to assess female workers' abilities in embodied care and emotion work that have traditionally been viewed as a feminine domain of care work and found that workers technical competence and occupational accountability in technology-assisted service delivery are increasingly valued over their skills in embodied and emotion care work.
Abstract: Whether and how technology-driven managerial reforms affect the field of human service work is a timely question for social sciences. In an increasingly technology-assisted working-life, material conditions such as one’s age and gender may be losing their significance as signifiers of professional identity. Welfare service work is traditionally understood as feminine work that comprises of embodied, situational and social practices of care work. Over the past few decades, public management reforms have called for reassessment of welfare service workers’ occupational skills through practices of medico-managerial service management and occupational accountability. As a result, workers technical competence and occupational accountability in technology-assisted service delivery are increasingly valued over their skills in embodied care and emotion work that have traditionally been viewed as a feminine domain of care work. This article is based on an interview study (n = 23) that assesses female workers’ conce...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the relevance and meaningfulness of the term user in Swedish social services discourse. And they highlight the power of language in social work, highlighting the need for evidence-based social work.
Abstract: The aim of the article is to accomplish a critical discussion of the terms service user/user and through this highlight the power of language in social work. Two main issues are dealt with: to study to what extent the terms service user/user are applied when addressing recipients of social services in the UK and in Sweden, and to discuss the relevance and meaningfulness of the term in Swedish social services discourse. The point of departure for the study is the reappearance of the term user in Swedish social work discourse in the context of a campaign for evidence-based social work. Through search in 11 volumes of research journals in the UK and in Sweden, it can be concluded that the application of the term service user are quite common in the UK, simply as a synonym for client. The term’s equivalent in Swedish, user is not extensively applied in Sweden. The application of the term user in Swedish social work discourse can be relevant when considering the supportive side of social work, but is shown to ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated new kinds of practices of social work in Finland through two relevant issues to all current professions: organizing effective knowledge work and organizing effective multi-professional collaboration.
Abstract: This paper investigates new kinds of practices of social work in Finland through two relevant issues to all current professions: (i) organizing effective knowledge work and (ii) organizing effective multi-professional collaboration. We look into how various forms of creating and using knowledge relate to social work and the collaboration between social work and other public services. The theoretical contribution of this paper is in the introduction of knowledge practices as a theoretical concept suitable for analysing the new forms of technology-mediated social work. The result the paper shows is that although multi-professional work has become one central issue in the development of new kinds of services, they still rely on relatively traditional knowledge tools. Majority of tools developed for the purposes of these service practices are directed at enhancement of traditional knowledge tasks such as gathering data about the client’s situation. Only few of the analysed practices actually had tools aimed a...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors tackle the crucial question about how the knowledge base for social work practice can be strengthened, and discuss a model for developing education and research in collaboration with social work practices.
Abstract: In recent years, a number of studies have shown that the scientific base for Swedish social work is weak and that methods for evaluation of practice are poorly developed. As a response to this, the government has made significant efforts to develop evidence-based practice (EBP) within social services. However, these efforts have so far been characterised as a top-down project, and as several authors have concluded, they have not proved productive. Therefore, they must, it is argued, give way to EBP where the role of the profession is central. This article should be seen as a contribution to the discussion of this alternative route. We try to tackle the crucial question about how the knowledge base for social work practice can be strengthened, and we discuss a model for developing education and research in collaboration with social work practice. In this, the tradition of Practice research has offered important points of departure.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors deal with partnership between practitioners, users and researchers in practice research and how to create recognition of each partners' knowledge contribution, based on their participation in a particular project in which a reflective approach yielded new insights and understandings.
Abstract: This article deals with partnership between practitioners, users and researchers in practice research and how to create recognition of each partners’ knowledge contribution. It is based on their participation in a particular project in which a reflective approach yielded new insights and understandings. Some challenges practitioners, users and researchers face as participants in practice research are discussed, as well as positive options explored through joint reflection. The participants must recognise and respect each other to develop a productive partnership since different partners may have their own special interests. The partners in our project identified joint reflections, where they participated as equal partners in a partnership, as their most interesting research experience. An important contribution from the researcher was to facilitate and promote a constructive process among the participants, but all participants’ expertise and special interests were utilised within the partnership that deve...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the experiences and views on knowledge production based on a case study in a small municipality and argue that by using an inclusive approach ensuring the views and experiences of different professionals, it may facilitate the development of a knowledge-based practice.
Abstract: The need for community-based research and knowledge development in municipalities is an unexplored area. This article explores the experiences and views on knowledge production based on a case study in a small municipality. It poses the question of what is relevant knowledge within social work practice framing it from a multi-actor perspective. We argue that by using an inclusive approach ensuring the views and experiences of different professionals, it may facilitate the development of a knowledge-based practice. The data material consists of focal municipality documents and semi-structured interviews with leading actors. These stakeholders represent different domains of practice within social work and the social welfare services and have different positions within the municipality. A conceptual framework of knowledge is used as a theoretical and analytical approach in the study. The results show that this approach serves as a starting point for mapping current interests and needs for knowledge developme...
TL;DR: In this paper, the issues and processes that lead individuals into poverty on individual, community and political levels, and to describe the experiences of poverty from the well-being perspective are discussed.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to disseminate knowledge about poverty among elderly people with implications for social work practices and research by reviewing the existing qualitative research literature. The tasks were to describe the issues and processes that lead individuals into poverty on individual, community and political levels, and to describe the experiences of poverty from the well-being perspective. The results suggest that the issues and processes leading to poverty can be identified on different levels in various societies although the number of studies was limited. On the individual level, being female, being single, having a low level of education, short working history and poor health status are quite clear indicators of poverty. On the community level, rural residents and minorities especially face many issues leading to poverty. On the political level, the leading issues causing poverty among elderly people are partly associated with different kinds of welfare reform. As an experience, po...
TL;DR: In this article, the different phases of user involvement in the research process are scrutinised and user involvement is analysed through the concepts of knowledge, equality and dialogue, and different forms of collaboration between research, practice, education, and service users.
Abstract: Discussions of practice research have mainly been based on researcher’s collaboration with practitioners. User involvement in practice research is described and analysed to a lesser degree. The basis of this article is a five-year-research project which aimed at developing new forms of collaboration between research, practice, education, and service users to build knowledge about improving the quality of social services. It is a government-funded research and development project in which user involvement was a prerequisite for funding. In this article, the different phases of user involvement in the research process are scrutinised and user involvement is analysed through the concepts of knowledge, equality and dialogue.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that traditional case accounts and narratives of welfare practice experiences are liable to be disparaged as unscientific and anecdotal, and that such narratives also risk de-contextualising power and organisational dynamics and providing a snapshot of a 'case' rather than unearthing broader lived experience.
Abstract: An evidence-based turn in social welfare environments has meant that traditional case accounts and narratives of welfare practice experiences are liable to be disparaged as unscientific and anecdotal. From a critical perspective, such narratives also risk de-contextualising power and organisational dynamics and providing a snapshot of a ‘case’ rather than unearthing broader lived experience. Research which focuses on the voices of service users, or narrates the background struggles of street-level workers has contributed to a more complex understanding of practice. However, even these approaches are vulnerable to accusations that they neglect other voices, particularly of managers and supervisors whose ‘hidden hand’ in development, training and support helps frame practice. Conceptual developments around dialogue and network practices which have emerged over the last two decades, particularly in the Nordic context, have stressed the role of multiple perspectives and ‘polyphony’ to understanding the comple...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present some of the evolving research standards which have been adopted in other fields, and which have the potential to inform and enhance the design and conduct of social work research.
Abstract: As social work research evolves in both quality and quantity, it is necessary that certain conventions be adopted with respect to the preparation of journal manuscripts and for the complete and accurate reporting of empirical studies. This facilitates the reader gaining an accurate understanding of a given piece of research, the legitimacy of the authors’ conclusions, and it promotes other scholars’ ability to replicate one’s research project (Thyer 2008). To this end, scholarly journals adopt some official publication style. For example, Nordic Social Work Research makes use of the Chicago Style of formatting manuscripts, referencing and citing works. Other English language journals sometimes make use of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA 2010). The focus of this editorial is on some of the evolving research standards which have been adopted in other fields, and which have the potential to inform and enhance the design and conduct of social work research.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored women-specific social work among homeless people in the context of the Finnish welfare state from the viewpoint of homeless women themselves, i.e., whether they thought they were users of the service, and whether they considered women specific service necessary at all.
Abstract: This article explores women-specific social work among homeless people in the context of the Finnish welfare state from the viewpoint of homeless women themselves. The point of departure in the research is whether homeless women located themselves as a part of the service, i.e. whether they thought they were users of the service, and whether they considered women-specific service necessary at all. The data consists of 17 client interviews, using the concept ‘interpretative repertoires’.The repertoire ‘Suits all homeless women’ is based on an idea of the women being a homogeneous group and homeless women needing a particular gender-based service. The repertoire ‘Suits none’ is based on the welfare state idea, an idea of citizens as a homogeneous group needing the provision of universal services for all homeless people with gender playing no significance. These end points of the interpretative repertoires can be described as a general discussion on the basis of providing these services within a welfare stat...