Staffan Höjer

Supervision reviewed: reflections on two different social work models in England and Sweden

This article draws on the findings of two independent research projects on supervision: one based in England and the second in Sweden. The findings cited illustrate predominantly the perspectives on supervision held by social workers and managers in the statutory services. In the process of contextualising, theorising and pulling together the threads from their respective findings, the authors reflect on the fabric and models of supervision in the two countries. The opportunities and disadvantages of the two contrasting models in current practice are discussed. This includes the steps that could be taken in either country to improve the quality of supervision within learning organisations.

Supervision : a force for change? Three stories told

Drawing on research, we contextualize social work and describe the role of supervisors in child welfare settings in South Africa, England and Sweden. Exploratory frameworks and models of supervision illustrate how it has been influenced by principles of New Public Management and the concluding discussion proposes an agenda for change.

Privatisation as professionalisation? Attitudes, motives and achievements among Swedish social workers

The purpose of this article is to discuss the relationship between privatisation and professionalisation in social work. In social services, privatisation is often seen as a politically planned (policy-driven) process as part of liberalisation strategies for market orientation of the welfare state. However, there are several reasons to believe that there is also a process of spontaneous privatisation (sometimes driven by demand), where professionals go private and provide various types of services to local welfare authorities. In this article, our aim is to explore the extent, impact and consequences of such profession-driven privatisation and to discuss whether privatisation is a strategy for professionalisation. This article investigates: (1) attitudes among social workers and social work students toward privatisation in general and private practice in particular; (2) the extent and types of activities being performed privately; (3) the motives whether or not to choose self-employment; (4) the differences between public and self-employed social workers in terms of professionalisation. Data are based on surveys of 1,000 Swedish social workers and 801 social work students. The results show ambivalence among professionals toward privatisation. The authors discuss the reasons for this at an individual and collective level. Although the share of social workers in private practice in Sweden is low, between 6 and 8%, more than one third of Swedish social workers expect to be working in private practice within 10 years. The circumstances faced by self-employed social workers, who rank higher on almost every professionalisation indicator (i.e. formal education, attitude toward research, internal status, wage level, autonomy), support the hypothesis about profession-driven privatisation.

The politics of social work research—Ph.D. theses in Sweden

Ph.D. dissertations have a special role in the formation of academic knowledge. In addition to producing new knowledge they usually reflect disciplinary traditions, trends and research fronts. The article presents a mapping of form and content of all doctoral dissertations in social work in Sweden from the establishment in the late 1970s up to 2009 (a total number of 253 theses). The review shows not only some patterns still remaining but also some new trends. For example, in the 2000s the interest in social work methods, and compilation theses based on scientific articles, has been growing. In an introductory section academicisation processes and tensions they generate are described. The article concludes with a general remark about dual legitimacy, and the need in future to navigate between the scientific worlds growing demand for excellence and, on the other hand, political and professional demands on instrumental and evidence-oriented research.

The heroine and the capitalist: the profession's debate about privatisation of Swedish social work

Since the 1990s, as a consequence of economic crisis and ideological and political redirections, welfare provision in Sweden has undergone processes of decentralisation, market orientation and privatisation. Publicly financed services provided by subcontracted private enterprises have increased substantially in every welfare sector, including social work. Furthermore, numbers of self-employed social workers also appear to be increasing. The aim of the article is to describe and analyse the debate on privatisation in professional social work journals. More than 700 articles gleaned from 1100 issues of four professional journals spanning the period 1985–2003 have been analysed using a combination of quantitative content and qualitative discourse analysis. The results show that the debate has shifted from ideology to pragmatics in the two major social work unions, although, despite de-polarisation tendencies, ambivalence towards private social work is evident.

Towards autonomy? On theoretical knowledge in Swedish social work

Social work is held to be interdisciplinary in character, meaning education, practice and research need to import knowledge from other disciplines. At the same time, there are professional claims for the development of a scientific, theoretical knowledge of its own. The aim of this article is to investigate conceptions like interdisciplinarity, knowledge import and paradigmatic openness and thereby discuss the potential contradiction between import and theoretical development within the discipline. This is done through the description and analysis of the use of theory in all of the 89 dissertations so far produced in social work in Sweden and, for comparative reasons, in more than 500 theses written on undergraduate and master’s level courses in 1977–97. On the whole the discipline displays a great deal of knowledge import, theoretical pluralism and a high level of paradigmatic openness. Results show a very strong position for sociology in dissertation research and a strong position for psychology in the educational system. References to social work research are more concealed but in growth. The article closes with the prediction of a change, from the 10/90-relation of today, towards a 50/50-relation between borrowed and domestic theoretical knowledge. Finally, reasons for the erosion of the contradiction are presented.

Questions of control in child protection decision making: Laypersons’ monitoring and governance in child protection committees in Sweden

Summary In Sweden, decision making in child protection is heavily dependent on laypersons appointed to municipal child protection committees (CPCs). These laypersons have the power to decide upon proposals coming from professionals. Members of the committees are appointed from among their political party’s members. In the committee, they are supposed to act as judicious laypersons equipped with sound judgement. In this study, 31 committee meetings in three municipalities were followed using observational techniques and audio recordings. The appointed CPC members’ decision-making processes and communicative strategies to influence social work practice were analysed. Findings The results show differences between the CPCs, indicating localized decision-making cultures. The representatives worked (not as party politicians, but) as a team with the professionals as counterparts. Communication strategies, most frequently questions, were used to govern the social work practice, over and above the decision making. Questions served both to obtain the information needed and also to exert normative influence by setting up a normative grid for ways to pass the committee. Applications This research shows that social work in Sweden has a long way to go until it is acknowledged full professional status. The study also suggests that improvements in the CPCs’ decision making need to be based on a closer look at the laypersons’ knowledge, values and common sense and how these aspects affect decision making.

Academization of social work in Sweden and China

All professions with claims to status and trustworthiness must build a knowledge base of their own. This article is the product of over 10 years of study of social work research. It explores the academization of Swedish social work according to three phases: the establishment of a social work discipline, the consolidation of the discipline, and the challenges ahead. It also examines the challenges facing doctoral research in the social work discipline in China. The establishment of the discipline depends on stakeholders both within the academic sphere and outside it. Social work is a discipline that must achieve legitimacy in both the academic context and the political/professional context. 摘要：专业的地位与诚信来自于自身知识体系的建设。本文基于对社会工作研究十多年的考察，从三个阶段探讨瑞典社会工作的学术化：社会工作专业建立期、社会工作专业巩固期及未来的挑战。本文也检视了中国社会工作专业在博士生层面的研究所面对的挑战。专业的建立依赖于学术领域内外两方面的利益相关者，社会工作专业合法性的获得需要同时考虑学术领域以及政治/专业领域的相关背景。

Orphanhood and mistreatment drive children to leave home – A study from early AIDS-affected Kagera region, Tanzania:

The aim of this mixed-method study was to explore the trajectories of leaving home, and views and experiences among children and youth in the Kagera region in Tanzania, who have lived on the streets or been domestic workers. The main results showed that orphanhood and mistreatment were the main reasons for leaving home: few children lived with their parents before they left, and leaving home was a complex process over several years where three trajectories were identified. The children who had left home showed strong agency and competency but lived in vulnerable conditions, especially young children living on the streets.

Outsiders and learners: Negotiating meaning in comparative European social work research practice

This paper draws on two experiences of undertaking comparative research in England, Sweden and Italy, and offers a discussion of the kinds of dilemmas raised in relation to language and meaning surfaced by these. Its primary focus is to examine the reflexive construction of meaning, both in relation generally to the workings of an international research team and, more specifically, how such construction of meaning impacts on the process of qualitative interviewing across linguistic and cultural boundaries. The article argues that a culture of reflexive research practice is helpful for approaching national differences, to facilitate understanding in internationally mixed research teams and to support and empower participants in research, in second languages and differing cultures. Overall, the paper attempts to advance some tentative ideas that other international researchers may be able to consider and deploy in relation to their own research ambitions.