Supply and Demand : Evaluation Training for Social Work and Social Care in a Swedish Context

• Only during the last two decades has the discourse on evaluation been on the Swedish agenda of social work and social care. One assumption is that a conscious need for evaluation knowledge and evaluation capacity has finally surfaced. This is based on the view that work efforts of social service organizations are regarded as chiefly authority-based and to a lesser degree based upon scientific knowledge. This article addresses two questions: which actors are involved in training evaluators in, and of, social work in Sweden and what kind of knowledge is communicated in training programmes? Further, is the discourse of evidence-based practice incorporated into the training of social workers? A national study in Sweden, conducted in 2002, reveals that only a minority of social work and social care students are exposed to the concept and practice of evaluation throughout their education, and this is in a most rudimentary way. R&D units offer practitioners more training in evaluation and related knowledge development activities. However, this work is not conducted in a focused manner nor is every Swedish municipality necessarily targeted. If evaluation education and training opportunities are viewed in light of a supply-and-demand situation, we may find an explanation of the current curriculum for evaluation in the social work educational system and the corresponding evaluation practice levels in social service organizations

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

social work

social care

evaluation

evaluation training

evaluation education

evidence-based practice

social welfare organization

supply and demand

Evaluation; Social Work; Social Care

social work

social care

evaluation

evaluation training

evaluation education

supply and demand

social welfare organization

evidence-based practice

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)