Daily practice narratives of child protection social workers : the power of the frontline.
| dc.contributor.author | Gomez, Yvonne F. R. | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Strega, Susan | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2008-12-08T19:30:44Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2008-12-08T19:30:44Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2008 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 2008-12-08T19:30:44Z | |
| dc.degree.department | Faculty of Human and Social Development | |
| dc.degree.department | School of Social Work | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Social Work M.S.W. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | The notion of ‘absolute’ power underpins my own interest in power relations in Child Welfare practice but I shift the focus to the perspective of frontline child protection social workers. Missing in social work literature are the stories from workers in child protection practice. How do workers conceptualize power? How is this grey space of practice – which is not easily discussed – understood by practitioners themselves, the academy, and the system in which they practice? My completed master’s research draws on narrative methodology, adopted from Fraser’s (2002) model. It is a collection of six narratives. By using this open-ended approach, practice narratives were shared without limitation or parameters. From this rich data I analysed workers’ experiences, drawing out examples of power relations. My conclusions include; (a) the ways that frontline workers conceptualize power are strongly impacted by dominant notions of power, (b) relational practice with clients is occurring – and does so in isolation of the larger system of child welfare, and finally, (c) there is value in examining the perspectives of frontline child protection social workers as they are the one which have the greatest potential to initiate structural change from the bottom-up through transformative practice, which is happening every day. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1828/1277 | |
| dc.language | English | eng |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | en_US |
| dc.subject | Children | en_US |
| dc.subject | Child welfare | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::Social Sciences::Social service | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::Sociology::Public welfare | en_US |
| dc.title | Daily practice narratives of child protection social workers : the power of the frontline. | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |