Comparing public perceptions of social work and social workers’ expectations of the public view

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have explored public perception of social work and social workers. There is little written about what social workers think about how they, and the profession of social work, are viewed by the public. This article explores the views of a sample of social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand about their beliefs around the public perception of social work and social workers.AIMS: This article aims to explore social worker views on the public perception of social work, and then compares these findings with a previous study which looked at the public perception of social workers.METHODOLOGY: An online survey was conducted with 403 social workers from the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Work, which asked them about their perceptions on how social work and social workers are viewed by the public. The results are then compared to a previous telephone survey, which asked 386 members of the public their views on social work and social workers.FINDINGS: Results demonstrate that the social workers generally had a poorer impression of what the public believed in most areas, compared to what the public had indicated in the prior study.CONCLUSION: Social workers, social work professional bodies and social work educators need to be proactive in promoting accurate information about social work and what social workers do.

Social work perceptions and identity: How social workers perceive public and professional attitudes towards their vocation and discipline

“…Other negative comments social workers expected the public to use to describe them included "do gooders" and "interfering/busy body." Earlier research by Davidson and King (2005) also supports the findings from Staniforth et al (2016). Davidson and King (2005) discovered that twice as many people were likely to have positive views of social work than negative ones.…”

“…These views were then compared with those of the 386 members of the public from Staniforth, Fouché, and Beddoe's 2014 study. Staniforth et al (2016) found that members of the public actually perceived social work in a more positive light than social workers believe they do. In the 2014 study, members of the public were asked to suggest three words that define social workers; most often people said "helper," "meets specific need" or "children/youth help."…”

Empirical Study of the Formation of the Personality Image of a Social Work Specialist at Different Stages of Professional Development

“…Зарубіжні науковці, досліджуючи імідж соціальних працівників і сприйняття громадськістю їх як фахівців із соціальної роботи дійшли висновку, що, насамперед, фахівці повинні інформувати суспільство про цілі своєї діяльності, її результативність, перспективи. Автори зазначають, що для того, щоб сформувати позитивну думку населення щодо професії, варто проводити просвітницьку роботу і формувати образ професії і фахівця (Staniforth, Deane, Kelsey, Beddoe, 2016). Крім того, імідж соціального працівника повинен включати турботу про людей, задоволення їхніх потреб, адже фахівець із соціальної роботи виступає джерелом допомоги для людей (Williams, Simon, Bell, 2015).…”

“…824-837. Staniforth, B., Deane, Kelsey L., & Beddoe, L. (2016). Comparing public perceptions of social work and social workers' expectations of the public view.…”

Five years in the news: A media analysis of Child, Youth and Family in two daily newspapers (2008–2012)

“…One reason for this is that many people may never have met a social worker, nor are social workers particularly visible in popular culture (Zugazaga, Surette, Mendez, & Otto, 2006 This study was conducted as part of a multi-phase data collection project focused on public perceptions of social work. Other reported phases included a phone survey on this subject (Staniforth, Fouché, & Beddoe, 2014) and an online survey on social workers' beliefs about public perceptions of social work (Beddoe, Staniforth, & Fouché, 2017;Staniforth, Deane, & Beddoe, 2016).…”