Compliance, Knowledge and Vocation in Social Work: Exploring the Effects of and Responses to Changes in The Institutional Environment of Danish Social Work

Anna Olejasz Lyneborg

Compliance, Knowledge and Vocation in Social Work: Exploring the Effects of and Responses to Changes in The Institutional Environment of Danish Social Work

Anna Olejasz Lyneborg

Publikation: Afhandling › Ph.d.-afhandling

Abstract

Denne afhandling undersøger hvordan forandringer i det institutionelle miljø på området for udsatte
børn og unge i Danmark har medvirket til at forme logikker, der påvirker policy, ledelse og
socialfaglig praksis. Afhandlingen afdækker hvordan legitimitetsproblemer forårsaget af
finanskrise, budgetoverskridelser og enkeltsager har påvirket sammensætningen af de logikker, der
omringer og gennemtrænger socialfaglig praksis og ledelse. Derudover undersøges det i afhandlingen
hvordan ledere og socialrådgivere responderer på disse forandringer, og hvad deres strategier
betyder for den socialfaglige profession. Disse spørgsmål bliver besvaret i en tredelt analyse, der
både fokuserer på makroniveau, organisatorisk mesoniveau og på mikroniveau, på basis af
teorigrundlag fra neo-institutionalismen og professionssociologien. De empiriske undersøgelser er
baseret på tre casestudier af socialt arbejde på området for udsatte børn og unge.
Det første case-studium fokuserer på effekterne af enkeltsager og digitalisering i den danske
offentlige sektor, baseret på dybdegående dokumentanalyse og efterfølgende feltarbejde i en
kommune, der var ramt af en enkeltsag. Det andet case-studium trækker på feltarbejde i en anden
dansk kommune, hvor fokus er på effekterne af forandringer i det institutionelle miljøs på praksis
og vidensdeling blandt socialrådgivere og ledere i skønsprocessen fra underretning til ydelse på
mikroniveau. Her zoomes der analytisk ind på anvendelsen af to specifikke teknologier, der er
implementeret til at understøtte sagsbehandling og skøn; brugen af visitationsudvalg og it-systemer
(CMS) i sagsbehandlingen, og hvordan disse teknologier interagerer med socialrådgivere og ledere.
Endeligt undersøges det i et tredje case-studium hvad der karakteriserer efterspørgslen på
videnstyper blandt socialrådgivere udenfor organisatoriske rammer, nærmere bestemt på en platform
på et socialt medie målrettet professionelle på socialområdet. Afhandlingen viser hvordan
historiske og samfundsmæssige forandringer i det institutionelle miljø på området for udsatte børn
og unge har forandret sammensætningen af institutionelle logikker i sektoren, hvilket har
resulteret i en reduceret autonomi for professionen og en bureaukratisering af praksis.
Afhandlingen viser hvordan flertydige institutionelle logikker (eks. bureaukrati, new public
management og evidensbaseret praksis) har bidraget til at forandre den professionelle vidensbase i
socialt arbejde – en udvikling, der forstærkes af digitalisering. Afhandlingen kaster derudover lys
over hvordan ledere og socialrådgivere reagerer på disse forandringer. Ledere udvikler strategier
for at kunne honorere et stadigt stigende behov for at kontrollere og dokumentere
lovmedholdelighed, ved at forme indretningen af it-systemet til sagsbehandling for at sikre erhvervelsen af disse typer viden
simultant med, at andre videnstyper udviskes. Afhandlingen identificerer forskellige måder hvorpå
socialrådgivere forholder sig til de udfordringer, der følger med institutionel forandring. Blandt
andet adresserer socialrådgiverne udfordringerne ved at ekspandere deres praksis til nye
fagområder, skabe alternativ videns-infrastruktur, der omgår computerteknologien, og ved at mutere
henimod bureaukrati-logikken i deres selvopfattelse, og derved bevæge sig væk fra et ’frelserkald’
henimod rollen som ’myndighedsperson’.

Afhandlingens empiriske bidrag modificerer en udbredt opfattelse i forskning; nemlig, at der er en
uforenelig konflikt mellem bureaukrati og socialt arbejde og viser, at alt imens det
institutionelle miljø, der omgiver og gennemtrænger området for udsatte børn og unge har forandret
sig, er socialrådgiverne ikke forblevet passive modtagere. Afhandlingen bidrager til
ny-institutionalismens forskningsfelt ved at viderebygge spirende forskning, der fokuserer på
institutionel forandring som institutionelt arbejde i kombination med professionssociologien.
Derudover adresserer afhandlingen et behov for empirisk forskning, der fokuserer på mikro-niveauet
i undersøgelsen af effekterne af
institutionel flertydighed og hvordan individer responderer på disse forandringer.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Bevilgende institution	Syddansk Universitet
Vejledere/rådgivere	Pedersen, John Storm, Hovedvejleder Svendsen, Gunnar Lind Haase, Bivejleder
Udgiver	Syddansk Universitet. Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet
Status	Udgivet - 31. okt. 2019

SDU link

Tjek adgangen til materialet i Syddansk Universitetsbiblioteks søgemaskine

Citationsformater

@misc{b9dfcea9f7a94917a0acb7cf8f572131,

title = "Compliance, Knowledge and Vocation in Social Work: Exploring the Effects of and Responses to Changes in The Institutional Environment of Danish Social Work",

abstract = "This dissertation investigates how changes in the institutional environment of the Danish Child Protection Services have sculpted the logics of governing policy, management and social work practice. The dissertation investigates how legitimacy problems caused by the financial crisis and high-profile cases of maladministration and neglect have affected the constellations of logics surrounding social work practice and management. Furthermore, the dissertation proceeds to analyze how managers and social work professionals are responding to these changes and how their strategies apply to the future of the social work profession. These questions are answered in a triadic analysis, focusing concurrently on the macro, organizational and micro level, drawing on a theoretical framework of neo-institutionalism and the sociology of professions. The empirical inquiry is based on three case studies of social work within the field of child protection. The first case study focuses on the effects of high-profile cases and digitization of the Danish public sector, building on extensive document analysis and fieldwork in a municipality hit by a high-profile case. The second case study draws on fieldwork in a Danish municipality focusing on the effects of changes in the institutional environment on the micro-level practices and knowledge exchange of social workers and managers in the assessment process. Here, the analysis focuses on the deployment of two specific technologies implemented to structure assessment; namely the use of Assessment Committees and Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in their interplay with social workers and managers. Finally, the third case study investigates what characterizes the knowledge types in demand among social workers outside organizational borders, namely on a social media platform targeted at social work professionals. The dissertation shows how historical and societal changes in the institutional environment of Danish Child Protection Services have changed the constellation of logics in the sector, resulting in a reduced autonomy for the profession and a bureaucratization of practice. The dissertation shows how a multiplicity of institutional logics (e.g. of bureaucracy, new public management and evidence-based practice) have prompted changes in the professional knowledge base of social work, which is strengthened by digitization. Moreover, the dissertation sheds light on how managers and social workers are responding to these changes. Managers develop strategies to satisfy an increased need for control and documentation of compliance to legislation, by sculpting the structure of ICTs for assessment to enable the acquisition of this knowledge type, simultaneously obliterating others. The dissertation identifies various ways in which social workers are adapting to the challenges fostered by institutional change, e.g. via expansion of practice, computer workarounds and via mutating towards the logic of bureaucracy, moving from the vocation of {\textquoteleft}the savior{\textquoteright} to {\textquoteleft}person of {\textquoteleft}authority{\textquoteright}. The dissertation empirically contributes to challenge the widespread scholarly assertions of an evidently irreconcilable clash between bureaucratization and social work and shows that while the institutional environment of child protection has changed, social workers have not remained passive recipients. Moreover, it contributes to the research field of neo-institutionalism by building on the emergent research focus on change in institutions as institutional work in combination with the sociology of professions. Finally, it addresses a gap for empirical research focusing on the micro-level effects of institutional multiplicity and how individuals are responding to these changes. ",

author = "Lyneborg, \{Anna Olejasz\}",

year = "2019",

month = oct,

day = "31",

language = "English",

publisher = "Syddansk Universitet. Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet",

school = "SDU",

}

TY - GEN

T1 - Compliance, Knowledge and Vocation in Social Work

T2 - Exploring the Effects of and Responses to Changes in The Institutional Environment of Danish Social Work

AU - Lyneborg, Anna Olejasz

PY - 2019/10/31

Y1 - 2019/10/31

N2 - This dissertation investigates how changes in the institutional environment of the Danish Child Protection Services have sculpted the logics of governing policy, management and social work practice. The dissertation investigates how legitimacy problems caused by the financial crisis and high-profile cases of maladministration and neglect have affected the constellations of logics surrounding social work practice and management. Furthermore, the dissertation proceeds to analyze how managers and social work professionals are responding to these changes and how their strategies apply to the future of the social work profession. These questions are answered in a triadic analysis, focusing concurrently on the macro, organizational and micro level, drawing on a theoretical framework of neo-institutionalism and the sociology of professions. The empirical inquiry is based on three case studies of social work within the field of child protection. The first case study focuses on the effects of high-profile cases and digitization of the Danish public sector, building on extensive document analysis and fieldwork in a municipality hit by a high-profile case. The second case study draws on fieldwork in a Danish municipality focusing on the effects of changes in the institutional environment on the micro-level practices and knowledge exchange of social workers and managers in the assessment process. Here, the analysis focuses on the deployment of two specific technologies implemented to structure assessment; namely the use of Assessment Committees and Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in their interplay with social workers and managers. Finally, the third case study investigates what characterizes the knowledge types in demand among social workers outside organizational borders, namely on a social media platform targeted at social work professionals. The dissertation shows how historical and societal changes in the institutional environment of Danish Child Protection Services have changed the constellation of logics in the sector, resulting in a reduced autonomy for the profession and a bureaucratization of practice. The dissertation shows how a multiplicity of institutional logics (e.g. of bureaucracy, new public management and evidence-based practice) have prompted changes in the professional knowledge base of social work, which is strengthened by digitization. Moreover, the dissertation sheds light on how managers and social workers are responding to these changes. Managers develop strategies to satisfy an increased need for control and documentation of compliance to legislation, by sculpting the structure of ICTs for assessment to enable the acquisition of this knowledge type, simultaneously obliterating others. The dissertation identifies various ways in which social workers are adapting to the challenges fostered by institutional change, e.g. via expansion of practice, computer workarounds and via mutating towards the logic of bureaucracy, moving from the vocation of ‘the savior’ to ‘person of ‘authority’. The dissertation empirically contributes to challenge the widespread scholarly assertions of an evidently irreconcilable clash between bureaucratization and social work and shows that while the institutional environment of child protection has changed, social workers have not remained passive recipients. Moreover, it contributes to the research field of neo-institutionalism by building on the emergent research focus on change in institutions as institutional work in combination with the sociology of professions. Finally, it addresses a gap for empirical research focusing on the micro-level effects of institutional multiplicity and how individuals are responding to these changes.

AB - This dissertation investigates how changes in the institutional environment of the Danish Child Protection Services have sculpted the logics of governing policy, management and social work practice. The dissertation investigates how legitimacy problems caused by the financial crisis and high-profile cases of maladministration and neglect have affected the constellations of logics surrounding social work practice and management. Furthermore, the dissertation proceeds to analyze how managers and social work professionals are responding to these changes and how their strategies apply to the future of the social work profession. These questions are answered in a triadic analysis, focusing concurrently on the macro, organizational and micro level, drawing on a theoretical framework of neo-institutionalism and the sociology of professions. The empirical inquiry is based on three case studies of social work within the field of child protection. The first case study focuses on the effects of high-profile cases and digitization of the Danish public sector, building on extensive document analysis and fieldwork in a municipality hit by a high-profile case. The second case study draws on fieldwork in a Danish municipality focusing on the effects of changes in the institutional environment on the micro-level practices and knowledge exchange of social workers and managers in the assessment process. Here, the analysis focuses on the deployment of two specific technologies implemented to structure assessment; namely the use of Assessment Committees and Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in their interplay with social workers and managers. Finally, the third case study investigates what characterizes the knowledge types in demand among social workers outside organizational borders, namely on a social media platform targeted at social work professionals. The dissertation shows how historical and societal changes in the institutional environment of Danish Child Protection Services have changed the constellation of logics in the sector, resulting in a reduced autonomy for the profession and a bureaucratization of practice. The dissertation shows how a multiplicity of institutional logics (e.g. of bureaucracy, new public management and evidence-based practice) have prompted changes in the professional knowledge base of social work, which is strengthened by digitization. Moreover, the dissertation sheds light on how managers and social workers are responding to these changes. Managers develop strategies to satisfy an increased need for control and documentation of compliance to legislation, by sculpting the structure of ICTs for assessment to enable the acquisition of this knowledge type, simultaneously obliterating others. The dissertation identifies various ways in which social workers are adapting to the challenges fostered by institutional change, e.g. via expansion of practice, computer workarounds and via mutating towards the logic of bureaucracy, moving from the vocation of ‘the savior’ to ‘person of ‘authority’. The dissertation empirically contributes to challenge the widespread scholarly assertions of an evidently irreconcilable clash between bureaucratization and social work and shows that while the institutional environment of child protection has changed, social workers have not remained passive recipients. Moreover, it contributes to the research field of neo-institutionalism by building on the emergent research focus on change in institutions as institutional work in combination with the sociology of professions. Finally, it addresses a gap for empirical research focusing on the micro-level effects of institutional multiplicity and how individuals are responding to these changes.

M3 - Ph.D. thesis

PB - Syddansk Universitet. Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet

ER -

Compliance, Knowledge and Vocation in Social Work: Exploring the Effects of and Responses to Changes in The Institutional Environment of Danish Social Work

Abstract

SDU link

Fingeraftryk

Citationsformater