Towards an International Consensus on a Research Agenda for Social Work Supervision: Report on the First Survey of a Delphi Study

Abstract

Supervision is currently of considerable interest in social work and is seen as a vital activity for meeting many professional demands: the continuing development of professional skills, practitioner wellbeing, the safeguarding of competent and ethical practice and the oversight of casework. A recent UK review of evidence found that the empirical basis for supervision was relatively weak (Carpenter, Webb, Bostock and Comber, 2012) and evidential support for supervision as a core practice in social work is needed. This is a significant challenge to supervision educators and researchers. Given the breadth in understanding and implementation of social work across the globe and its distinctive shape in specific national settings, supervision is likely to be very different across these diverse contexts but little comparative data is available. A modified Delphi study was devised to address the question:is there an international consensus on the agenda for research and development of supervision in social work? This article will outline the processes of study design and recruitment and will report on findings from the first phase of the project.

What happens in child and family social work supervision?

“…Supervision is a crucial component in the provision of good social work and must fulfil a multitude of complex functions, not only those we have described and discussed here. Finding a model of social work supervision that avoids a dialectic between either being a therapeutic, introspective activity or as a tool for surveillance would seem critical (Manthorpe et al , p. 3, Beddoe et al , p. 1). To create good social work practice, we need to ensure that social workers are provided with the right supervision, and to ensure this, we have to provide support for managers and create the right systemic conditions.…”

“…The importance of supervision for social work practice is probably one of the most widely accepted tenets of the profession. Policy makers, managers, practitioners and academics agree that good supervision is essential for high quality social work practice (Bruce & Austin ; Bashirinia ; Goulder ; Beddoe et al ).…”

Making the connections: A practice model for reflective supervision

“…Supervision is similarly impacted by such factors and requires adaptation in order to respond to such challenges and maintain learning. Reflective supervision is essential to professional social work and further research is needed regarding the connection supervision has to improving practice and outcomes for service users (Beddoe et al, 2015;Wilkins et al, 2016). The four-layered practice model of reflective supervision enables supervisees and supervisors to critically examine the interrelationship of numerous factors impacting on practice and also supports social work values.…”

“…Further, a reflective supervision experience provides the opportunity for the social worker to maintain a level of self-awareness, to examine power relationships within and between agencies, disadvantaged groups and statutory structures promoting the best interests of service users; and to critically develop an understanding of the wider socio-cultural and political factors impacting on practice. Literature relating to social work supervision has tended to focus on tensions in balancing organisational and professional accountabilities but there is a lack of examination of actual supervision practice and what reflective supervision "needs to do" (Beddoe, Karvinen-Niinikoski, Ruch, & Tsui, 2015;O'Donoghue, 2015). In order for supervision to be used as a space for critical thinking and action, supervisors and supervisees need to become more conscious of their own experiences and identify gaps between theoretical concepts and their application in practice (Fook & Gardner, 2007).…”

How is supervision recorded in child and family social work? An analysis of 244 written records of formal supervision

“…Despite these concerns, we have little understanding of what currently happens in supervision between managers and child and family social workers, with almost all studies to date relying on self‐reporting, albeit with some notable exceptions (Wilkins et al, ; Forrester et al ., 2013; Bourn & Hafford‐Letchfield, 2011; Ruch, ). Beddoe et al () have called for a ‘a shift [away] from retrospective accounts [and towards] empirical examination’ (p. 5). This paper relies on self‐report too but of a different kind.…”