Catherine McDonald

Workfare as welfare: governing unemployment in the advanced liberal state

Case management has become a key technology in governing the problem of unemployment in western countries such as Britain, the United States and Australia. In this paper we argue that case management represents a radical localization of governance wherein the rights and responsibilities between unemployed people and the state are articulated primarily in the relationship between the case manager and his or her client. This paper reports on a study undertaken in Australia’s Job Network system of employment services. Using a governmental analysis we show how the case management relationship is experienced by case managers and long-term unemployed people in a sample of nonprofit and for-profit Job Network agencies in two states of Australia. The research reveals the micro relations of power and authority that are invoked in the everyday politics of welfare reform. We argue that engaging in policy research at a local level of analysis acts as a necessary balance to more macro welfare state comparisons. Working within a ‘street-level’ approach illuminates how workfare policies and programmes are aligning social relations and identities with new welfare ends and means.

Pursuing Good Practice?: The Limits of Evidence-based Practice

• Summary: Many of the profession are pursuing ways to develop and promote good and accountable practice. One of the most popular courses suggested is evidence-based practice. Locating our discussion within the context of neo-liberalism, we argue here that evidence-based practice has arisen not only in response to the ongoing desire to promote scientific practice, but also to increase social work’s ‘fit’ with the current context. • Findings: We conclude that social work is an extremely complex set of activities and that evidence-based practice is too conceptually narrow and theoretically limited, particularly in its constrained capacity to take up many of the developments in social theory. Finally, we suggest that the conceptual objectives of evidence-based practice can be met by the integration of ethical reasoning in practice, which we suggest is a strategy of mature professionalism that can be more readily applied in the diverse contexts and forms of social work practice. • Applications: The ethical intent (and indeed, the cognitive discipline) of evidence-based practice can equally be realized through deployment of ethical reasoning as a mode of good practice.

Reconstructing and re-conceptualising social work in the emerging milieu

Abstract As we approach the twenty first century, social work as a collective activity is experiencing considerable uncertainty. This paper argues that the strategy embodied in promoting traditional professionalism, while moderately successful in the past, has become increasingly problematic. Similarly, the ongoing utility of current approaches to practice theory as a key part of the professional project is questioned. Identifying key challenges emerging in the environment, the paper suggests that an active debate about both the organisation and conceptualisation of Australian social work is vital for its future.

Internal control and accountability in non-profit human service organisations

The welfare state regime operative in Australia is highly dependent on the non-profit human services sector The sector; as an organisational field, has had a series of characteristics applied to it, which assume its superiority over government in many aspects of service delivery Nevertheless, knowledge about the internal functioning of non-profits is poor This article presents an initial exploration into one aspect of internal functioning, internal monitoring and control, suggesting that internal mechanisms for control are weak. As welfare stare regimes in Europe and North America are restructured different models of service financing and delivery are being imported into Australia. This article begins to sketch the organisational conditions onto which developing models are being applied, providing an initial base for informed commentary and evaluation.

Human service professionals in the community services industry

The community services industry is in the process of substantial change, resulting in uncertainty about its future within a reconstructed Australian welfare state. This paper explores the existing status of human service professionals within the industry, and identifies a series of macro and micro processes that may influence their future role. It concludes by discussing some implications and possible opportunities for human service professionals, as well as the implications for tertiary educators.

Ethical Practice in the Contemporary Human Services

•Summary: This paper examines the findings of an exploratory study of emerging ethical issues and practices reported by a sample of human service managers and practitioners in public and non-profit agencies in Queensland, Australia. •Findings: The contemporary context in which human services are delivered in Western societies is characterized by increased marketization, contractualism and managerialist practices, all of which entail different ethical values from those traditionally embraced by the social work profession. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative methodologies, this research identifies current and emerging challenges to ethical practice and existing organizational responses to it. Widespread concern about the negative aspects of changed structural arrangements on ethical practice in the contemporary human services is highlighted. Differences in the ways in which organizations and practitioners are responding to these changes are examined. The limitations of existing approaches and ethics codes are noted. •Applications: Implications for organizations, practitioners and educators are explored, and more pro-active management and training strategies are advocated. Further research is required to identify the often-understated negative effects on ethical practice of the market-based reforms of human service structures and processes.

Omissions and commissions: An analysis of professional field education literature

Abstract This article reports a review and analysis of 67 publications in the professional literature discussing social work field education published between 1980 and 1996. In doing so, it identifies a patterning of the discourse, reflecting on significant omissions (what is not discussed), as well as commissions (what is discussed). It notes that certain perspectives, particularly those of universities, dominate, while others, such as those of students and organisations providing field education are largely absent. The article argues that professional discussion of field education must address the omissions if it wishes to respond to environmentally induced change impacting upon the community services industry and on tertiary education.

“This is Who We are and This is What We Do”: Social Work Education and Self-Efficacy

Abstract Citing anecdotal evidence about the poor self-efficacy among graduating social work students manifesting in student claims that they lack the skills to practice effectively, the present paper suggests that the cause may lie, in part, in the manner in which social work education is undertaken. Instead of adjusting curriculum content, the author suggests that educators need to moderate the emphasis they place on social work as a professional project, as well as clarify the status and use of practice theory. The paper concludes with three additional recommendations for consideration by educators and suggests a research agenda for assessing student self-efficacy.

Workfare Oz-style: Welfare reform and social work in Australia

Summary Traditional approaches to the promotion of welfare have disappeared in Australia, replaced by a new institutional order represented by welfare-cum-workfare. This has impacted on social work—both as a collective entity and as a set of practices. This paper maps the shift to workfare in Australia and examines its impacts on and implications for social work. We briefly discuss the Australian model of social protection, illustrating our own brand of “exceptionalism,” and lay out what we have termed “Workfare Oz-style.” Drawing upon neo-institutional theory, we review and analyze two key contexts where “Workfare Oz-style” is operationalized—the Job Network and Centrelink. Some tentative conclusions are given and the dimensions of a research agenda, which will put any emerging propositions to empirical test, are proposed.

The challenge from within: Organisational commitment in nonprofit human service organisations

Abstract Recent developments in Australias method of delivering personal social services rely heavily on the nonprofit sector. As yet, not a great deal is known about employees of the sector. Furthermore, less is known about their attitudes towards their employing organisations and the factors which impact on employee attitude development. This paper unpacks the dimensions of organisational commitment in a sample of nonprofit human service organisations in Queensland. In doing so, it poses a warning to nonprofit managers and committees not to take employee commitment for granted.