The Essentials of the Helping Relationship between Social Workers and Clients

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-256
Author(s):  
Hagit Sinai-Glazer
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
Being There ◽  
Similar Elements

Abstract The helping relationship between a client and a practitioner is often described as the heart and soul in social work. This research explored the helping relationship between social workers and clients (the clients were mothers) in the context of public social services in Israel. The results presented here are part of a larger ethnographic study that included interviews with 14 social workers, 20 mothers who are clients, and extensive participant observations and textual analysis. Presented in this article are the results pertaining to the essential elements of the helping relationship as perceived by the research participants. Social workers and clients pointed to similar elements that comprise a good helping relationship: love and support; trust and feeling safe; listening and feeling understood; making an effort to help; humanness, compassion, and sensitivity; availability, continuity, and being there when needed; and chemistry. Participants’ accounts exemplify the importance and centrality of the helping relationship in social work. The article concludes with a discussion of the study’s implications for practice, policy, and research.

Modes of Relational Agency among Welfare-reliant Mothers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hagit Sinai-Glazer ◽  
Boris H J M Brummans
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
Relational Agency ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Seeking Help ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract How do welfare-reliant mothers enact their agency in relationships with social workers and social services? The present article addresses this question by investigating how twenty Israeli welfare-reliant mothers expressed different modes of human agency in in-depth interviews. Results show how research participants enact agency through (i) expressing anger, (ii) seeking help, (iii) resisting and (iv) engaging in non-action. By highlighting the multidimensional and situational nature of agency, this article offers a new relational lens for conceptualising and empirically studying human agency in social work.

scholarly journals Social Work with Families in Special Distress: Collaborative Practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Tatiana Casado ◽  
Joan Albert Riera ◽  
Josefa Cardona
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Active Listening ◽  
Collaborative Practices ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Social Work Interventions ◽  
Level Of Importance

Collaborative practices have emerged as an effective approach for conducting social work interventions with families in special distress. This study aimed to ascertain the perspective of the social workers located in basic community social services, in relation to the development of a collaborative approach with families in special distress. The main objective was to find out the level of importance and the level of implementation that participants (N = 121) gave to the different intervention criteria included in an Inventory of Collaborative Practices. The results indicate that criteria related to basic issues in social case work (active listening, respect, and empathy) as well as the management and bureaucracy of the specific case are the most valued and performed by social workers. The least valued and performed criteria have to do with issues that involve reflective processes in the helping relationship, both with the family and with the rest of the professionals. Implications for practice and quality enhancement are discussed, as they are key aspects in the development of collaborative interventions in social work.

scholarly journals The effectiveness of social work services for families whose children are in temporary custody

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 01003
Author(s):  
R. Bardauskiene ◽  
J. Pivoriene
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Effective Work ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Work Effectiveness ◽  
High Workload ◽  
Definition Of

Despite that there is an operating social support system for families, social workers are affected by factors that limit effectiveness of their activities in working with families whose children are taken into temporary custody. The article aims to uncover what hinders social worker to carry out effective work in providing social services for families whose children are in temporary custody. Qualitative research data shows that the research participants’ awareness of social work effectiveness is limited to its individual components. Putting together these components one can get a broad definition of effectivenessof social work though the research participants themselves donot use such a concept. The research data reveals that micro level factors influencing effectiveness of social workers’ activities working with families whose children are in temporary custody are as follows: absence of parental motivation to seek changes and unfavourable environment as well as negative community approach to social risk families. Macro level factors limiting social work effectiveness working with the families at social risk lie in the system of social services. Inadequate management of social work, limited social workers’ access to resources necessary to restore family functions; too high workload for social workers are essential factors limiting social work effectiveness.

Navigating helping relationships amidst heavy workloads: An institutional ethnography of social workers’ accounts

2020 ◽  
pp. 146801732094936
Author(s):  
Hagit Sinai-Glazer ◽  
Julia Krane
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Helping Relationships ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
Heavy Workload ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Organizational Reality

Summary One major effect of the demise of the welfare state on public social services is increased heavy workload which leads to stress, burnout, and compromised well-being among social workers. Less explored are the ways in which heavy workload shapes the helping relationship between social workers and clients. Extrapolating from the narratives of 14 Israeli social workers who participated in an institutional ethnographic study, this paper offers a nuanced understanding of the toll that heavy workload takes on the helping relationship. Findings Results showcase heavy workload as a ruling relation, an organizational reality outside the control of social workers and clients. The damaging effects of heavy workload on the helping relationship as well as on the social workers were apparent: social workers expected to slice themselves thin and deal with frustration and guilt in the face of an organizational reality that deters them from investing in their clients the time and energy required to cultivate helping relationships. Application The helping relationship has been paramount to social work throughout the history of the profession. This research contributes to this longstanding focus with a renewed understanding of the helping relationship in public social services as a political and public encounter between social workers and clients, one that is governed by extra-local relations of ruling. Heavy workload is one such ruling relation that organizes the helping relationship. As such, this organizational reality can be reorganized to eliminate, or at least reduce, the toll that heavy workload takes on the helping relationship.

Parenting in migration: Critical aspects and challenges of “doing family” of refugee families and social workers

2021 ◽  
pp. 146801732110146
Author(s):  
Nadia Rania ◽  
Laura Pinna ◽  
Ilaria Coppola
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Host Community ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Family Identity ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
Refugee Families ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Migrant Families ◽  
Italian Context

Summary Although migrant families comprise a small number of immigrants, they present a significant challenge for the host community. In the Italian context, social services support migrant families through paths to autonomy and integration in the community. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions that families and social workers have of “parenting” and “doing family” (training and management of family identity, roles and daily practices) in the complexity of migration. The study involved 15 immigrant parental couples, using family interview techniques and 12 social workers in 3 mini-focus groups. The collected materials were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using grounded theory. Findings The main results are identified and discussed as strengths, critical points and challenges. Some of the themes such as “willingness to work” or “lack of job opportunities” are common to both family members and social workers. Other themes are relevant to one group only. Among these, “availability and support of social workers” only emerged among families, whereas “education and respecting the rules” only emerged among social workers. Applications The results indicate that it is necessary for social workers to engage in a meaningful helping relationship with families, build networks of inclusion services, and also with the support of mediators overcome linguistic and cultural barriers. Social workers should involve families throughout he integration process. Furthermore, social services must also consider how families experience the difficulty of relating to social workers, which represents an obstacle to support for social integration.

Zvereva, Iryna

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetyana Semigina ◽  
Tetiana Basiuk
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Social Pedagogy ◽  
National University

Dr. Iryna Zvereva (1952–2013) was one of the prominent founders of social work and social pedagogy in Ukraine. From 1992 through to 1998 she worked at the State Center of Social Services for Youth, the first professional public social work organization in Ukraine. She became a professor at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Borys Grinchenko University of Kyiv. She led the development and international recognition of the Ukrainian professional community: under her leadership the Ukrainian Association of Social Educators and Social Work Specialists had joined the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) in 1994. She initiated the elaboration of the National Code of Ethics for Social Workers in accordance with international standards. She worked for the Ukrainian and international organizations that had introduced innovative, pioneer social work practices in Ukraine, and she authored over 200 publications on social work and social pedagogy.

scholarly journals Containment: Exploring the concept of agency in children’s statutory encounters with social workers

Childhood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Morrison ◽  
Viviene Cree ◽  
Gillian Ruch ◽  
Karen Michelle Winter ◽  
Mark Hadfield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Children’S Agency

This article examines children’s agency in their interactions with social workers during statutory encounters in a child protection context. It draws from a UK-wide ethnographic study. It finds that much of social workers’ responses to children’s agency in this context are best understood as a form of ‘containment’. In doing so, it offers an original and significant contribution to the theoretical understanding of children’s agency, as well as its application in social work practice.

Social Work and Public Social Services Practice: A Status Report

1996 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Gibelman ◽  
Philip H. Schervish
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Status Report ◽  
The Public ◽  
Education Experience ◽  
The Social

The authors review the current status of the social work labor force within the public sector by means of an analysis of the National Association of Social Workers member data base for 1988 and 1991, with additional data drawn from a 1993 member survey. Changes in the proportion and composition of the public social services labor force are documented, including education, experience, gender, and ethnicity. The decreasing professional social work labor force within public social services is discussed within the context of the realities of public social services practice and social work's historic place within this sector. The authors encourage debate about the implications of these trends, focusing on whether social work should influence labor-force trends or be influenced by them.

scholarly journals METHODS OF SOCIAL WORK MANAGEMENT IN THE ACTIVITIES OF A SOCIAL WORKER

2021 ◽  
pp. 51-61
Author(s):  
Maryna Lekholetova
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Management

The article presents an analysis of different approaches of domestic scientists to the interpretation of the concept of «social work management». The author surveys the features of management as an object of governance in the activities of a social worker. Features include the social nature of management information; the need for motivation methods that effectively influences and motivates professionals to better results in social work; availability of social workers' professional competence; the presence of problems with forecasting the results of management in the social sphere; the importance of current and final management results. The author proves the necessity of social workers' self-management skills (time management, motivation, stress resistance and recuperation, development of emotional intelligence) for the effective performance of management tasks in professional activities.  The article highlights the principles that should be followed in solving organizational and managerial tasks in social work management (purposefulness, ability of realization, adaptability, efficiency). The researcher presents the structure of social work management methods in the study (economic, administrative, social counselling, psychological and pedagogical influence, social influence). Research characterizes the methods of social work management while working with recipients of social services (methods of individual social work, methods of group social work, methods of community work, methods of social service design).

scholarly journals Construction of Reflexivity in Social Workers Working with Vulnerable Children in the Czech Republic

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Kateřina Glumbíková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Situational Analysis ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
The Impact

Social work in the Czech Republic is confronted with the impact of global neoliberalism, which is manifested by privatisation of social services, individualisation of social risks and economisation. Reflexivity of social workers working with vulnerable children and their families has the potential to lead to a higher quality of social work, strengthening of social workers' identity, and empowering social workers to promote changes in everyday practice. Meeting this potential requires an understanding of constructing reflexivity by social workers, which is the objective of this paper. We used a qualitative research strategy, particularly group and individual interviews with social workers and their analysis using current approaches to grounded theory. Concerning data analysis, we found out that constructing reflexivity (nature and subject of reflexion) derives from the perceived roles of social workers (social worker as an ununderstood artist, social worker a as mediator between social and individual, social workers as an agent of a (society) change, social workers as an agent of normalisation and reflexive professional). The acquired data, within the situational analysis, was inserted into a position map on the scale of holistic and technical reflection. The conclusion discusses the implication for practice and education in social work.

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