Rörelser i tiden. Professionalisering och privatisering i socialt arbete

• Movements in our times - Professionalization and privatization in social work The Swedish welfare state is in constant transition. The organization of public service production is influenced by different kinds of processes including the political changes and management on the one hand and the professionalization of occupations on the other. The aim of this article is twofold. First, the intention is to describe and discuss differences of professionalization among trained social workers active in different occupational fields within social work. Questions at issue include (i) a characterization of professionalization in terms of advanced education and supervision, (ii) comparisons between different working areas, (iii) the differences of professionalization between social workers in public and private practice. The second aim is to illuminate career patterns for social workers, focusing on the movements between different working areas and between public and private practice. The study is based on a survey with exactly 1,000 responding professional social workers. The survey was sent to a random selection of social workers in the largest social work union and had an estimated response rate of over 71 per cent. The result shows clear imbalances and stratifications in terms of professionalization between social workers in different working areas. Therapy and family counselling, along with education and research, turn out to be the most professionalized areas, whereas social assistance and the field of unemployment are the least professionalized. When indicators of professionalization are compared, private practitioners rate higher than publicly employed ones. The individual career patterns among social workers show movements towards areas with a higher level of professional discretion, higher status and wages. In the final discussion problems connected with increased stratification are presented. Connections are also noted between privatization and professionalization in social work.

Ämnesord

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

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

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