Thesis (M.A. (MW Forensic))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (M.A. (Maatskaplike Werk)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (M.A. (MW Forensic))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (M.A. (Maatskaplike Werk)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

This research aims to explore the ways in which community-based mental health social workers assess the qualities of residential care facilities in order to make recommendations to their service users. The daily challenges of serving a marginalized population within the context of structural inequalities and neoliberalist service provision describe some of the contradictions that shape the work experiences of social workers. This research seeks to contribute to and further our understanding of critical social work practice, social justice, and structural oppression. In addressing the phenomenon of structural inequalities and neoliberalist service provision from the perspective of those affected, it will assist in a broader understanding of how social workers support service users to find supportive housing. Semi-structured interviews with community-based mental health social workers employed in Hamilton, Ontario were conducted and complement the existing literature on residential care facilities, the deterioration of the social welfare system, managerialism, and client-centeredness. This is an exploratory study as few previous research has been conducted with social workers in the context of lodging homes. Previous literature existed from the perspective of residents of lodging homes in Hamilton, Ontario. This research suggests that social workers are influenced by a complex number of phenomena in their daily work in order to make recommendations for supportive housing. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to get a better understanding how professionals working with unaccompanied refugee children perceive and reflect on their emotions evoked by their work and on their preparedness to handle them. Therefore, I chose to investigate how the sample of professional recognised, expressed and managed their emotions at work; what role did support and self-reflection play in exploring emotions; how the professionals saw the role of emotions in their work with unaccompanied refugee children; and how the participants described their preparedness to handle their emotions from the social work education. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine professionals working directly with unaccompanied refugee children. The findings indicated a lack of consistency in the views; where some said emotions could be utilised as a tool in social work, others viewed that expressing emotions might be seen unprofessional. Self-reflection and support of the colleagues and the counsellor in handling emotions were valued by the participants; it was seen to be helpful in working on emotions and becoming a better professional. Another emerging theme was the lack of discussion about emotions in social work education.

The purpose of this study was to understand the social workers experience of the work situation and how it affects them, in the light of the refugee stream. Eight social workers in the social child protection services participated in the study, which was designed as a qualitative study. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews to understand social workers perception of their working situation and how they were affected by it in the light of the refugee stream. The study revealed that there have been several changes in the work situation due to the refugee stream in 2015, where the changes also are the factors that social workers feel that they were affected by. The results show that social workers' ideal picture of the work situation differs from the work situation they experience right now. The working climate changed for the worse when the errand amount increased, which affected the client work and led to feelings of inadequacy. The social workers used different protection strategies to deal with the deteriorating working situation, but also had the help of various personal factors. The study results also shows that the increased demands led to reduced feelings of control and that the social workers felt supported in varying degrees and forms. Increased overtime, stress and worsening well-being, led to the impact on privacy and increased sick-leaves. The deteriorating working situation led to lower quality of work, more temporary solutions and reduced legal certainty. Lack of time meant that new employees received an inferior introduction, which affected staff turnover.

<p>The purpose of this study was to get a better understanding of how newly graduated social workers within the elderly care and the need assessment sector forms a professional identity through a focus on their experience of the socialization process.</p><p>The main questions concerned how work place culture socialized the newly graduated social worker in respect of her or his professional identity.</p><p>The study’s theoretical underpinning lies in Symbolic Interactionism. We have combined focus group interviews with follow-up personal interviews with the aim of deepening to our understanding of the socialization process of social workers and what it means for their professional identities.</p><p>Three main results were generated. First, that a well planned introduction and the teams’ significance to the formation of professional identity were shown to be important. Second that a needs assessment organization with a controlled and standardized professional role were noted to be too restrictive as they allowed little possibility for the new social worker to shape their own ways of working. This was particularly the case where new social workers were unclear about how to go about their work assignment. These results also showed that relation building and dialogue with clients was underemphasised and taken for granted.</p>

The aim of this study is to increase knowledge about how a group of newly graduated social workers reflect on the practical daily work and their positions working with clients who are in need of social and/or economic resources. More precisely the purpose is to find out how these seven newly graduated social workers viewed working with clients during theoretical and practical studies. The aim is to analyze which techniques and methods could be seen in these narratives. Furthermore the aim was to find out if and how these seven social workers reflected on the power relation between social worker and client. The material of this study consists of seven semi-structured interviews. Throughout gathering the data and analyzing it, the qualitative method in form of narrative approach was used. Theoretical tools used in both creating the theoretical perspective and analyzing the data material consisted of social constructionism and main theoretical concepts of Bauman’s stranger, Foucault’s concept of power and discipline and Reamer’s paternalism. Results and analysis of data material showed how methods and techniques in social work are used when working with a client, maintaining an unbalanced power relation between social worker and client, for example in the form of creating alliances of social workers, use of language and categorizing the clients. The power relation was directly considered and reflected on by three of seven interviewed social workers. However, it was apparent that many of those interviewed reflected indirectly on the role of power in social workers’ daily work with clients.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur biståndshandläggare förhåller sig till ansökningar i trygghetsfrämjande syfte för att därigenom öka förståelsen för deras situation i beslutsfattningsprocesssen. Åtta intervjuer med åtta informanter, varav 7 kvinnor och en man, har genomförts med en kvalitativ ansats. Resultatet visade att biståndshandläggarens arbetssituation påverkas av olika faktorer som leder till ett ökat eller minskat handlingsutrymme. Faktorer är: organisationens struktur, riktlinjer och handlingsstrategier. Resultatet visade även att begreppet trygghet uppfattas olika mellan biståndshandläggarna på grund av att Sociatjänstlagen är en målinriktad ramlag. Vidare visade resultatet att trygghet är en del i arbetet fast det benämns inte alltid med ordet trygghet. / The aim of this study was researching social workers’ attitudes towards applications having the purpose of safety promotion in order to increase the understanding of their position within the decision making process. Eight interviews with eight informers, whereof seven women and one man, were conducted using a qualitative approach. The result showed that the work situation of the social worker are affected by different aspects which leads to either an increased or a decreased discretion. The following factors are evident: the structure of the organization, guidelines and action strategies. The result also showed that the concept of safety is perceived differently between the social workers because the Social Services Act is a goal-oriented frame law. Furthermore, the result showed that safety is a part of the work even though the word safety is not always used.