The study aims to describe and analyse how case managers reflect and act in the regards to self-determination when caring for residents with dementia diagnosis. Our main questions dealt with how the case managers handle the right to self-determination in relation to the residents’ relatives’ opinions when a person has dementia. To find answers to our questions, we interviewed seven care takers within elderly care in four different municipalitys in the Southern Sweden. We used qualitative interviews based on a semi-structured interview guide and two vignettes. The vignettes were based on two fictive narratives which both included persons with dementia but with different relatives and opinions. The purpose of the vignettes were to investigate whether there was different perceptions among the case managers in terms of consideration the residents’ self-determination in relation to their relatives. The results of the study were analyzed using Hasenfeld’s theory on Human service organizations, Lipsky’s street-level bureaucracy and Strauss’ negotiation-perspective. We displayed similarities to previous research showing that the case managers work with the residents’ best interest in mind even though relatives can be very obstinate. Our main conclusions are that the interpretation of self-determination is fluidity according to the case managers is fluidity and the case managers at some occasions try to persuade the person with dementia to apply for care and welfare. Furthermore can the relatives of the person with dementia be both beneficial and disadvantageous depending of the relation between them.

The personal social services in Sweden have undergone major changes during recent decades, partly due to the reforms caused by the influence of New Public Management (NPM) and partly due to the trend towards greater specialisation. These changes have had consequences for both social work management and for social work practice. The consequences for practice have gained attention both from research and from the field, but the consequences for managers have rarely been discussed. In this thesis therefore, the attention is directed towards the managers. Inspired by a mixed methods approach, this thesis aims to explore the personal social service managers’ perceptions of their organisational conditions and the content of their everyday work, as well as to interpret the managers’ experiences against the background of NPM influence, increasing specialisation and the specific circumstances that come with managing politically governed organisations. The results show that the personal social service managers in general were former professionals with extensive social work experience. The managerial work was to a great extent perceived as reactive, entailing constant interruptions and acute situations. The managers experienced a heavy workload that appeared to prevent them from engaging in strategic work and leadership to the extent that they would have liked. Substantial proportions of managers were dissatisfied with their own levels of influence compared to that of politicians and, in general, the managers perceived themselves to have more influence regarding aspects that were operational (such as methods and working procedures) compared to aspects related to organisational structure. Through the managers’ descriptions of their relations with politicians, it was revealed that the roles could be muddled, and that both managers and politicians could have difficulties in distinguishing between politics and administration, or politics and profession. Several changes that could be attributed to the influence of NPM were described by the managers. Some changes had consequences for the more technical side of management, e.g. decentralised budget responsibility, increased focus on cost effectiveness and downsizing of support functions. Other changes were more related to the overarching concept of management, which had consequences for the choice of managerial training, the expectations placed on the managers, and to some extent the managers’ own views on what good management should be. Despite the many indications of changes that may be attributed to NPM, an important result in this thesis is that NPM does not appear to have permeated social work to the degree that might have been expected. Rather, there are clear indications of a remaining professional identity among managers on all managerial levels, as well a continuing bureau-professional regime within the personal social services.

The American social welfare system is a mixed system consisting of loosely coupled government programs, private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, grassroots and religious entities. Although religious entities historically played a key role in the development of the social welfare system, the faith-based initiative of President George W. Bush targeted religious service providers to receive government funding and take on a larger role in service delivery to at-risk populations based on the belief that these providers were substantially different from traditional providers. Using a cross-sectional research design and a survey instrument created for the study, data was collected from 121 nonprofit service providers in the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area of Virginia. Nonprofit organizations were selected from three online databases using identified criteria and sent paper surveys and/or emails inviting them to complete a web-based survey. The study identified similarities and differences between characteristics of faith-based service providers and traditional providers and used a conceptual model composed of Resource Dependence Theory and Neo-Institutional Theory to suggest dynamics impacting similarities and differences between providers. Data analysis included univariate and multivariate analysis of organization characteristics. Univariate findings identified that faith-based organizations in the study were older, served more people in 2006, generally provided services via volunteers, received more funding from congregations and other religious entities and did not favor membership in professional organizations. Other than these notable differences, faith-based providers were fairly similar to their traditional counterparts. A multivariate analysis used a two-group discriminant function (DFA) procedure to determine which variables best discriminated between provider groups. Two variables, funding from congregations/other religious entities and funding from government grants/contracts, were found to be the most important discriminating variables. Study findings were consistent with prior research comparing the provider groups. Although some differences do exist, overall similarities tended to outweigh differences suggesting that the claim of substantially differences between providers did not fit the geographic area studied. For those concerned with community service delivery, the implication is that recent economic developments suggest that attention should be placed on collaboration and service delivery capacity-building rather than on the differences between service providers.

"...empowering text for human services students that covers the skills and behaviors essential for leaders to manage themselves, their teams, and the organization. Using a unique coaching voice, author Deborah Harley-McClaskey follows a Reflection–Diagnosis–Prescription approach for leadership development with exercises built into the dialogue. The final chapter, Prognosis, offers a workbook-style exercise to help students make a personal change." --Amazon / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1115/thumbnail.jpg

In the United States, approximately 7% of nonprofits' annual revenue is lost as a result of a lack of ethical financial operations among nonprofit executive directors (EDs). This represents $85 billion in estimated annual losses in available operating funds. This study addressed the problem of ineffective leadership in nonprofit organizations from the perspective of EDs responsible for ethical financial operations. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of nonprofit EDs who self-reported the use of 1 of Burn's and Bass' 3 leadership styles and whether leadership style influenced the use of the Sarbanes Oxley Act to manage the ethical financial operations of their human service nonprofit organization. Qualitative data were collected from 12 EDs through semi structured interviews and then coded and analyzed using a modified van Kaam procedure. The results of the study indicated that EDs who self-reported using transformational leadership style were more inclined to adhere to the Sarbanes Oxley Act. In addition, participants acknowledged the need for organizational support to improve leadership qualities in EDs, efficiency, and effective ethical financial operations in nonprofit organizations. The study provides a baseline for nonprofit organizations to increase positive social change by adding knowledge on implementing strategies that will result in the enhancement of quality leadership in EDs that may ultimately result in more efficient and effective ethical financial operations in nonprofit organizations.

The exploration of the four key themes of leadership, spirituality, ethics and values and their relationship between and with employers and employees in human service charitable NGOs in Perth, Western Australian, provided the main purpose for the current research. In addition, the purpose included examining the impact of charities operating as if they were for-profit businesses; the impact of faith and secularity on the work of charities; and possible gender differences arising from the themes within this context. The qualitative research was undertaken using hermeneutic phenomenological methodology; however, feminism, post-modernism and narrative practices were used to elicit additional perspectives from the resulting material. The current research used a broad-ranging, multi-disciplinary approach, thus encompassing a literature review of the philosophical, ethical, psychological, theological and anthropological disciplines as it tracked some of the material’s substantial heritage. Additionally, the research focussed on the experience of charitable workplace cultures which provide the context for the delivery of human services, and discussed the current charitable human services paradigm. A total of 46 individuals from 8 different charities participated through in-depth interviews. They included organisational leaders, management and front-line workers who provided collectively and individually a rich mine of material for exploration and discovery from which to unravel the essence of the responses. / The emerging conclusions provide the capacity to view the charitable organisation from a gendered perspective, as female, thus reflecting the profile of the workforce; while also uncovering substantial discrimination and inequity in employment conditions. Leadership styles were gendered, as were the discourses on ethics, values and spirituality. Organisational size was a key factor in determining values and changing perspectives matched more closely, the business paradigm. The faith and secularity of each NGO also presented opportunities to map organisational intention around leadership, spirituality, ethics and values such that further research opportunities have been highlighted across the results.

<p>The possibility to be able to better manage the Swedish public health care has been a focus from way back to the middle of the 20th century. This study focuses on a middle managerial position called Base-unit Executive Officer, which we feel is of great influence to the public health care. Because of the changes to the public health care organisations over a long period of time we find it important and interesting to research a managerial role in the midst of these changes. By going through information containing opinions, attitudes, and other information from employees within a CCDO we will try to enlighten what we feel are informational currents of opinions surrounding the notion of competence, leadership and management. The purpose of our study is to be able to help create an environment of open reflections and new ideas of what sort of competencies are required for the manager role.</p><p>The study is defined by our research problem which give use the following question:</p><p>What room is there for a broader comprehension of what kinds of competencies are desirable and useable in the role as a Base-unit Executive Officer?</p><p>To be able to interpret the primary data of the study a theoretic framework was created in the purpose to function as a tool for continuation of the study. The study was done with the use of hermeneutical paradigm together with a compromise between deductive and inductive approach.</p><p>The primary data of the study was collected with a qualitative method through semi-structured interviews with six employees of whom three were Base-unit Executive Officers. The reason for the use of a qualitative method was that it gives us conditions to gather the opinions, thoughts, values etc. of the respondents.</p><p>By merging the tools of our theoretic framework and the collected data we were able to establish an analysis. We concluded that the analysis consisted of both congruence and discrepancy related to our theoretical framework. The discrepancy showed that there exist a room for a broader comprehension of what kinds of competencies are desirable and useable in the role as a Base-unit Executive Officer. There is room to develop the comprehension of competence in areas such as management and leadership as defined by our theoretical framework.</p><p>Because of our path between deductive and inductive approach the reader should carefully evaluate the truth criteria in the study. Validation in the inductive sense is a tough task for a short and small study such as this one. We do however believe that give our preconditions have reached an acceptable level in the truth criteria. When taken into practical application we have hope that our initial thoughts of enlightment will enable a positive development of the managerial role of the Base-unit Executive Officers.</p>

The possibility to be able to better manage the Swedish public health care has been a focus from way back to the middle of the 20th century. This study focuses on a middle managerial position called Base-unit Executive Officer, which we feel is of great influence to the public health care. Because of the changes to the public health care organisations over a long period of time we find it important and interesting to research a managerial role in the midst of these changes. By going through information containing opinions, attitudes, and other information from employees within a CCDO we will try to enlighten what we feel are informational currents of opinions surrounding the notion of competence, leadership and management. The purpose of our study is to be able to help create an environment of open reflections and new ideas of what sort of competencies are required for the manager role. The study is defined by our research problem which give use the following question: What room is there for a broader comprehension of what kinds of competencies are desirable and useable in the role as a Base-unit Executive Officer? To be able to interpret the primary data of the study a theoretic framework was created in the purpose to function as a tool for continuation of the study. The study was done with the use of hermeneutical paradigm together with a compromise between deductive and inductive approach. The primary data of the study was collected with a qualitative method through semi-structured interviews with six employees of whom three were Base-unit Executive Officers. The reason for the use of a qualitative method was that it gives us conditions to gather the opinions, thoughts, values etc. of the respondents. By merging the tools of our theoretic framework and the collected data we were able to establish an analysis. We concluded that the analysis consisted of both congruence and discrepancy related to our theoretical framework. The discrepancy showed that there exist a room for a broader comprehension of what kinds of competencies are desirable and useable in the role as a Base-unit Executive Officer. There is room to develop the comprehension of competence in areas such as management and leadership as defined by our theoretical framework. Because of our path between deductive and inductive approach the reader should carefully evaluate the truth criteria in the study. Validation in the inductive sense is a tough task for a short and small study such as this one. We do however believe that give our preconditions have reached an acceptable level in the truth criteria. When taken into practical application we have hope that our initial thoughts of enlightment will enable a positive development of the managerial role of the Base-unit Executive Officers.

The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding for how home care services interpret and handle situations with and around caretakers alcohol use. Interviews have been conducted with two managers and six basic staff in two different home care service-groups. The interviews were individual with the managers and in group form with the staff. The interviews have been analyzed using Hasenfeld’s theory on Human Service Organizations and moral practice together with Beronius’ interpretation of disciplinary exercise of power. Our result showed that the handling of caretakers alcohol use differed both within and between the home care service-groups and there was a lack of guidelines on how to deal with this. Consequently it seemed to be a lot of individual assessments carried out by the staff, which sometimes led to a moral practice. Another important result was the fact that the interviewees quickly became very fixed on abuse and addiction, even though the interviews had focus on alcohol use in general. It is obvious that when a substance abuse problem exists, difficulties arise in home care services work.

Abstract The aim of this qualitative case study was to examine social service workers and managers approach towards the implementation of the Signs-of-Safety (SoS) model and their comprehension of working with the model. This study took place at a children and youth unit at a social service office in Stockholm. The empiric is based on three qualitative semistructured interviews and participant observations. The result was analyzed by definitions from Hasenfeld’s Human service organizations (HSO), Lipsky’s and Johansson’s definitions of "street-level bureaucrats", and room for manoeuvre. Lundquist’s definitions of "understand", "want" and "can" was also used, as well as the core-components that Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman och Wallace draw together of a successful implementation. The main result of the study indicates that the SoS-model contributes to the participation of children and parents and that it is complicated to implement the SoS-model in such a specialized organization. The study’s result also shows that the implementation is promoted by the support and the resources of every level in the organization and the fact that the initiative came from the street-level bureaucrats. The documentary system that comes with the BBIC is complicated to combinate with the SoS-model and therefore this might become a restricting effect.