A B S T R AC TSocial workers' interventions in support of children and their families have often proved a minefield of sort, filled up with conflicting demands, expectations and tasks. This paper sets the resulting debate in the context of both social policy orientations and social work cultures. It argues that partnerships between families and practitioners have to be understood as the result of a complex set of factors. Data from a qualitative study of social work professional cultures suggest that among practitioners, policy orientations intertwine with different styles of conceiving social work; accordingly, professional cultures play an important part in connecting, or failing to connect, child protection and family support.

English Can we identify common themes characterizing the social work profession across cultures? Using Italian social workers' representations of their profession three core issues are identified that recur in international debates. Reconciling contradictory elements might be one of the common characteristics of the social work project across different countries. French Peut-on identifier des thèmes communs caractérisant les professions sociales à travers les cultures? En utilisant les représentations des travailleurs sociaux italiens sur l'identité de leur profession j'identifie trois questions centrales récurrentes dans les débats internationaux. Réconcilier des éléments contradictoires peut être une des caractéristiques communes du projet du travail social à travers différents pays. Spanish Podemos identificar temas comunes que caracterizan la profesión del trabajo social en diferentes culturas? Utilizando las representaciones que hacen los trabajadores sociales italianos de su profesión, yo identifico tres asuntos principales que son recurrentes en debates internacionales. Reconciliar elementos contradictorios es probablemente una de las características mÁs comunes de los proyectos de trabajo social alrededor del mundo.

Access to social services is a multifaceted and multifactorial process, involving social policy lines, services organization, and professional front line practices. It appears to have a crucial role in how personal social services work: depending on the way the process is handled, access to social services could provide a bridge to an inclusive and solidarizing community or worsen discrimination and marginalization. Many underline how studying the actual encounters between citizens and practitioners can provide a privileged site to highlight the interconnections between the abovementioned factors. This is the focus of our research that explored access in a specific Italian region using a case study strategy. After a pilot study, the main points of access to social services were identified, and three units were selected as best examples of different approaches. The three units were explored using mainly qualitative methods inspired by ethnography. We were able to gain in depth understanding of three cultural approaches to access, defined as the “ethical duty,” the “good organization,” and the “professional approach” and reach an in‐depth understanding of their impact on access. There is a vast literature on the power of street‐level bureaucrats, seen as similar to gatekeepers. However, our research suggests that specific organizational cultures also play an important part: different organizational cultures may impact the implementation of local social policy, the organizational procedures, and social workers' practices.

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