Management in Social Work

Abstract

Social work is at an important stage in its development. All professions must be responsive to changing social and economic conditions if they are to meet the needs of those they serve. This series focuses on sound practice and the specific contributions which social workers can make to the well-being of our society. The British Association of Social Workers has always been conscious of its role in setting guidelines for practice and in seeking to raise professional standards. The conception of the Practical Social Work series arose from a survey of BASW members to discover where they, the practitioners in social work, felt there was the most need for new literature. The response was overwhelming and enthusiastic, and the result is a carefully planned, coherent series of books. The emphasis is firmly on practice, set in a theoretical framework. The books will inform, stimulate and promote discussion, thus adding to the further development of skills and high professional standards. All the authors are practitioners and teachers of social work representing a wide variety of experience.

Revisiting the Esoteric Question: Can Non-Social Workers Manage and Supervise Social Workers?

“…Management is essential to all in social work (Coulshed & Mullender, 2006). Be that as it may, defining the field encompassed by social work management is at best a challenging task, as boundaries in human affairs tend to be arbitrary.…”

“…Coulshed, 1990;Skidmore, 1983). When analysing these distinctions, it becomes clear that social work management chiefly involves management of professionals with a specific knowledge, skill and value base in contrast with general management of a mixed professional and a non-professional workforce.…”

“…A plethora of international authors such as Coulshed and Mullender (2006), Lawler and Bilson (2010), Patti (2000), Hughes and Wearing (2013), commenting on social work management and supervision, acknowledge that worldwide non-professional managers are increasingly managing and supervising social workers. This was also observed in South Africa in the National Supervision Framework for the Social Work Profession (Department of Social Development & SACSSP, 2012) and during a recent social work indaba held by the Department of Social Development (Department of Social Development, 2015a) with the theme: Revitalising the social work profession in South Africa.…”

Management in care of older persons and persons with disabilities in Sweden

“…The quality assurance work in social care is documented and evaluated annually and is based on the standards of working procedures according to Investors in People, IIP (Coulshed & Mullender, 2006). IIP is an internationally acknowledged quality scheme where the aim is to develop the employee's involvement in their work and their understanding of their role in it (Investors in People, 2006;Coulshed & Mullender, 2006).…”

A competence based approach to management education in social work: A discussion of the approach and its relevance

“…The rise of this managerialism is well documented (Metcalfe and Richards, 1987;Harrow and WiUcocks, 1990). We have also seen the rise of literature dealing with the issue of management within welfare organisations (Coulshed, 1990;Hearn et al, 1992;Statham and Whitehead, 1992;Willcocks and Harrow, 1992). This growing literature has, as yet, to address the issue of managerial competences in any depth.…”