Burnout among child welfare social workers negatively affects social workers and the social welfare system. The purpose of this action research study was to explore what child welfare social workers do to alleviate burnout. The practice-focused research questions for this study center on two elements: (a) the experiences of burnout among child welfare social workers employed by the Department of Family and Children services in the southeastern region of the United States and (b) the social work practices used to alleviate burnout. The conceptual framework for this study was the Maslach theory on burnout. Action research study procedures were used to facilitate analysis of the research problem. Data were collected using semistructured questions administered to 6 child welfare social workers in a focus group. The selection criteria for the child welfare social workers were social workers who work for the department of children and family services for at least 6 months. The data were transcribed verbatim from an audio recording. Codes were assigned to the data and reliability checks were conducted. The themes that emerged from analysis of the data included workload, lack of influence on the job, lack of rewards on the job, negative social interaction, and value differences in individuals and their jobs. The findings of this study might contribute to positive social change by enhancing awareness regarding burnout in child welfare social workers and providing an opportunity for child welfare social workers and child welfare agencies to learn how to address causes of burnout in child welfare social workers in the southeastern United States.

The implications of extensive organizational turnover and the subsequent challenge of retaining child welfare social workers have been highlighted as problematic in Sweden. For that reason, child welfare social workers experiences of organizational turnover in their work life and subsequent intentions to remain in or leave the job are explored. This dissertation comprises of qualitative semi-structured interviews with eight (8) child welfare social workers working in different municipalities across Sweden. Collegial social support, making a difference in children’s lives, regular supervision, salary and several organizational incentives such as flexitime, wellness allowance implemented by the organization appeared as factors for child welfare social workers’intention to stay. Discernment of irregular supervision, not being able to make a difference; as a result of the crisis nature of the job, lack of time caused by high caseload, access to crucial resources and management prioritizing financial gain rather than children’s needs, physical (e.g., high blood pressure) and emotional health (e.g.,emotional exhaustion), and lack of salary proportional to their task are factors for their intention to leave. Negative impacts on novice practitioners (e.g., lack of proper induction), caseload size impacting investigation processing time frame negatively, diminished quality (e.g., mismatched interventions), and being directly or indirectly coerced to take cases were perceived as implications of extensive organizationalturnover.

Uppsatsens syfte var att öka förståelsen för hur utredande socialsekreterare i arbetet med barn och unga förhåller sig till insatsen kontaktfamilj och vad som påverkar deras bedömning av den. I studien användes en kvalitativ metod och sammanlagt genomfördes nio intervjuer med yrkesverksamma socialsekreterare som arbetar med barn och unga. De teoretiska perspektiv som använts i studien är utvecklingsekologi och gräsrotsbyråkrati. Studiens resultat visar att kontaktfamiljsinsatsen är en insats med blandade åsikter och erfarenheter av. Det skiljer sig emellan socialsekreterarna vad som bedöms vara barnets bästa och det finns även en delad bild gällande om barnen har nytta av insatsen om den är riktad till barnets vårdnadshavare. Resultaten visar också att det saknas kriterier för när insatsen ska användas samt att de få riktlinjer som finns belyser när insatsen inte ska användas. / The purpose of the study was to increase the understanding of how Child welfare social workers address the intervention contact family and what factors impact their assessment of it. The study uses a qualitative method, and nine interviews were made with social workers who work with children and youngsters. The theoretical perspectives used in the study is ecological systems theory and street-level bureaucracy theory. The result of the study shows that the contact family is an intervention with divided views and experiences. What is seen as the best interest of the child differs between the social workers and there is also a divided opinion regarding the benefits for the children if the intervention is targeted at the parents. The results also show a lack of criteria of when the intervention should be used, and the few existing guidelines highlight when the intervention should not be used.