Why do they stay? A study of resilient child protection workers in three European countries

Abstract

Whilst 50% of child protection workers across much of Europe and the affluent 'West' leave after 2 years, many stay and develop substantial professional careers. This paper discusses research in Italy, Sweden and England examining what factors explain 'remaining' for more than 3 years in this stressful job. Underpinned by a hermeneutic epistemology, qualitative interviews were undertaken and subject to an interpretative thematic analysis. The findings proved to be complex and multi-layered and this paper presents an overview of these. The theoretical framework for the project mainly drew on organizations and resilience, and the initial sections of the paper consider how formulations of resilience as contextual and relational can elucidate professional sustainability. Organisational issues are considered, including the impact of work management, of supervision and of allocation in different national contexts. The paper also focuses on the role of friendships and informal support at work. Threaded through these established themes are more, perhaps surprising, concepts: e.g. creativity, power, reflexive spaces and interpersonal relations as explanatory of remaining in child protection work.

Retaining Social Workers: The Role of Quality of Work and Psychosocial Safety Climate for Work Engagement, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment

“…However, lowering the standards for quality of work has been reported to relate to health impairment and turnover among social workers (Astvik & Melin, 2012). Importantly, though social workers face different conditions in various welfare systems, reports suggest that moral concerns related to the quality of services has an effect on social workers' retention in different European countries and the United States (Frost et al, 2017;Giffords, 2009). To our best knowledge, researchers have not yet addressed the importance of quality of work for social workers' work engagement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.…”

“…As social work inevitably places high demands on employees, the importance of adequate job resources is vital. With regard to the retention of social workers, previous research notes the importance of job resources in terms of a supportive environment in general (i.e., social community at work) and social support from superiors (Frost et al, 2017;Johnco et al, 2014;McFadden, Campbell, & Taylor, 2014).…”

“…To date, quite a substantial amount of research has examined factors relating to turnover among social workers (e.g., Kim & Kao, 2014;Kim & Stoner, 2008;Tham, 2007). However, though the public social services face high turnover rates, many social workers decide to remain in the profession because they are satisfied with their jobs as well as engaged and committed to their work (Frost, Höjer, Campanini, Sicora, & Kullburg, 2017;Hakanen, Ropponen, Schaufeli, & De Witte, 2018). Enhancing the understanding of the factors that contribute to positive work attitudes among social workers can add valuable insight for efforts and interventions aiming to increase retention (Collins, 2008).…”

Instrumental, Interpersonal or Holistic: Social Work Managers’ Conceptions of Safety in the Psychosocial Work Environment

“…Particular to the Swedish context is the way in which the Social Services Act does not give much guidance in individual cases, giving managers and caseworkers extensive discretion in individual assessments. Similar to an American (Kim & Kao, 2014), European (Frost, Hojer, Campanini, Sicora, & Kullburg, 2018) and Swedish (Tham & Meagher, 2009) pattern for social workers, both areas have a high caseworker turnover, indicating potential work environment problems.…”

“…On the other hand, in the second logic, the logic of security, social work managers must provide safety for their employees by establishing values and norms of health and safety in the workplace (Dollard & Bakker, 2010). Supportive management is important for social workers' retention (Frost, Hojer, Campanini, Sicora, & Kullburg, 2018), trust between managers and employees is fundamental (T€ orner, Ekl€ of, Larsman, & Pousette, 2013) and implementation of safety measures is best carried out bottom-up through the involvement of employees (Wikman & Rickfors, 2018).…”