Kieran O'Donoghue

Culturally Relevant, Socially Just Social Work Supervision: Becoming Visible Through a Social Constructionist Lens

Developing a conceptualization of the supervision relationship that can successfully encourage cultural relevancy and the pursuit of social justice is a challenge facing social workers today. We propose that a social constructionist perspective invites social work supervisors influenced by Euro-Western discourse to (1) seek understanding about differences rather than strive to achieve some preconceived notion of cultural competence, and (2) seek opportunities to advocate for cultural community “insiders” to develop their own configuration of social work supervision. Supervision examples from Aotearoa New Zealand are presented and discussed for potential transferability to other countries such as the United States and Canada.

Windows on the Supervisee Experience: An Exploration of Supervisees’ Supervision Histories

Abstract This article presents a qualitative study of New Zealand social work practitioners’ experiences as supervisees. This study was part of a wider mixed-methods study of social work supervision. The aims of the paper were to explore how social work practitioners developed their understanding, participation, and use of supervision, and how their histories influenced their development and behaviour as supervisees. Sixteen participants were interviewed regarding their supervision histories. These histories were thematically analysed. Results showed that practitioners developed their understanding, participation in, and use of supervision over time. In addition, their supervision histories influenced their development and behaviour as supervisees both positively and negatively. These findings provide a starting point for further research into theorising about supervision from the supervisees perspective and encouraging practitioners and supervisors to consider the influence that supervision histories have within their supervision.

Issues and challenges facing social work supervision in the twenty-first century

This article discusses the issues and challenges facing social work supervision in the twenty-first century. The key issues explored concern: (1) the evolving nature of supervision and its relationship to the professionalization of social work practice; (2) the influence of changes within health and social service organizations, professions and regulatory authorities upon supervision; and (3) the influence of evidence-based practice discourse on social work supervision. The challenges arising from this discussion pertain to: (i) the need to reconstruct the theory of social work supervision to align with the plurality and diversity of supervision practices; (ii) the case for revisiting the sanctioning, mandating and regulation of supervision; and (iii) the development of a future research agenda for supervision that focuses on how supervision contributes to social work practice with clients and the social work practitioners competence. The article concludes with suggestions regarding how social work scholars can contribute to the development of supervision both locally and internationally.

Psychometric testing of a person-centred care scale the Eden Warmth Survey in a long-term care home in New Zealand

Background: Traditional nursing homes have been viewed as dominated by the medical model. Since the 1990s, the Eden AlternativeTM has become a significant model in systemic transformations in nursing homes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric performance of the 20 items of the Eden Warmth Survey – Residents (EWS-R) in an aged-care home. Design: A residents satisfaction survey was used to collect a sample of 85 long-term care home residents. Methods: Psychometric evaluation included item analyses, reliability including internal consistency and stability, criterion-related validity and construct validity. Results: The reduced 13 items demonstrated adequate reliability (α = 0.82) with two factors, Trust and Connectedness with Others and Care Practices, extracted and contributed to 57.9% of the total variance. Conclusions: The 13-item of EWS-R can be considered as a reliable and predictive scale for assessing quality of life and overall satisfaction on people living in long-term care facilities.

Social work practice research for the twenty-first century

This book is essential reading for practitioners and social work practice researchers. It pays a fitting tribute to the legacy of William Reid as well as providing an inspiring vision for social work practice research in the next decade and beyond. This elegant volume comprises of four parts. The first traces the history of social work practice research and discusses matters pertaining to the infrastructure for practice-based research, empirical practice and the contribution of qualitative research. The coverage of these areas is excellent and captures the salient issues pertaining to funding, research, empirical practice and practice evaluation. At the end of this part, I was left wondering about role and contribution of mixed methods research and whether this ought to have been included as a distinct chapter. Part 2 traverses the status of evidence-based practice in a range of selected areas of social work practice. The respective chapters within this part of the book were of a high quality and provide both researchers and practitioners with useful and transferable practice knowledge across the fields of group work, social development, children’s mental health, child services, aging and drug use prevention. This section concludes with a very good chapter on the development of an intervention model with overwhelmed clients and a thorough discussion of the art and science of research synthesis. In part 3, the empirical development and dissemination of the task-centred model is reviewed internationally. Of particular interest to the readers of the China Journal of Social Work will be the last two chapters which concern task-centred practice in Hong Kong and Taiwan. After reading this part I had a renewed appreciation of the significance of the task-centred model and its utility in practice across a range of fields, practice settings and countries. The final part focuses on the future directions for social work practice research and contains chapters which outline a clear agenda for practice-based research, as well as providing guidance in terms of building research capacity for intervention research and evidence-based practice intervention models. As a whole, the book provides both a passionate and well reasoned argument for social work practice research. The chapters contained within it showcase a broad range of approaches. Overall this is an excellent and unparalleled book. The only area in which it could possibly be enhanced is through the inclusion of specific material about the utility and application of mixed methods approaches in practice research and evaluation. Such an inclusion in my view would have further strengthened the pragmatic approaches presented in the book as well as aligned with the empirical-based practice legacy of Professor William Reid.