The Retention of Social Workersin the Health Services:

An Evidence-Based Assessment

Professor Bairbre Redmond

Dr Suzanne GuerinProfessor Brian Nolan

Ms Catherine DevittDr Arlene Egan

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

Foreword

The Retention of Social Workers in the Health Services and Evidence Based Assessment

Children and Family Services within the Health Service Executive have successfully recruited in excess of two hundredadditional Social Workers in the last year. This government backed initiative is to be commended.

It is recognised however that significant concerns remain as a consequence of the demanding nature of Children andFamilies Social Care and Social Work.

Consequently this research into the retention of Social Workers is timely. General research shows that hygiene factorscovering basic pay, conditions of service and environments are important but, of themselves, insufficient. Perhaps, giventhe perilous state of the Irish Economy this is just as well.

What can matter as much includes:

• Well articulated, supportive and appropriately challenging management structures.• Supervision focused on review and clearly defined risk assessments.• Induction with dedicated additional support and a protected case load.• Opportunities for job rotation, career advancement and progression routes not restricted to management posts.• Clear articulation between University training courses and probation.• In addition retention depends upon a clear set management principles including devolved decision making to the most

local, practical level.• An agreed set of values.• An emphasis on flexible and transferable skills, systems and teams.• Team working and collective decision making.• Clear roles and responsibilities with a distinction between strategic and operational.• The celebration of professional confidence with well supported staff benefiting from continuous professional

development, clear regarding their responsibilities and aware of their accountability.

I commend this research to you and welcome your views as a workforce development strategy is developed for the newarrangements and the new circumstances.

Gordon JeyesNational DirectorChildren and Family Services

Professor Bairbre RedmondBairbre Redmond is Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Deputy Registrar Teaching and Learning,and Associate Professor of Higher Education at University College Dublin. As a former socialworker and social work educator she has a long-standing research interest in the underlyingprofessional expectations, concerns and ambitions of social workers and how these impact ontheir developing careers. Along with Dr Suzanne Guerin she has completed a number of studiesin the area including a five-year longitudinal study of Irish social workers from training toprofessional practice and she was awarded a major research grant from the IRCHSS to supportthis work. She also works in the area of reflective practice, researching into the most effectiveteaching and training approaches for health professionals.

Professor Redmond has been one of Ireland’s Bologna Experts since 2007. She is also Chair ofthe Complaints Committee, Advertising Standards Association of Ireland and was a member ofAn Garda Síochána National Educational Training & Development Review Group (2008-9).

Dr Suzanne GuerinSuzanne Guerin is a Lecturer in Research Design and Analysis, and Director of the Centre forDisability Studies, with the UCD School of Psychology. Through her role as Director of the UCDCentre for Disability Studies she is very involved in research and training in the disability sectorin Ireland. She is a member of the Research Department at St Michael’s House and wasappointed by the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies, as their National Designated Expertin Research Methods in Intellectual Disability Research.

Dr Guerin’s research interests include Disability and Well-being and Applied Research. As aresult of her interest in applied research, and her experience designing research that can adaptto the demands of practice settings, she was invited by Bairbre Redmond to collaborate on astudy of social work students in 2000/2001. This initial invitation has resulted in an ongoingcollaboration with Professor Redmond on a number of studies examining the training and workexperiences of social workers in Ireland.

In addition to her teaching and research activities Dr Guerin serves on a number of Boards andCommittees in UCD and other organisations. She is the Vice-Chair of UCD Human ResearchEthics Committee (Humanities Subcommittee) and serves on the Board of the Tallaght WestChildhood Development Initiative and the Barretstown Childcare Advisory Committee.

Professor Brian NolanBrian Nolan is Professor of Public Policy and Principal of the College of Human Sciences in UCD.He studied for a doctorate in economics at the London School of Economics, and previouslyworked in the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Central Bank of Ireland. Hisresearch focuses on poverty, income inequality, the economics of social policy, and healtheconomics; recent publications include studies on social inclusion in the EU, tax/welfare reform,and the distributional impact of the economic crisis.

Acknowledgements

Many of the vulnerable children and adults whom the HSE support and who are in need of an effective social work servicehave experienced highly disruptive and traumatic life experiences. One of the key factors in providing an effective serviceis the availability of a stable and familiar social work presence that supports individuals and families in building strong andresilient lives.

This report on the factors which influence social work job satisfaction and retention is based on the largest single studyever completed with Irish social workers and includes the views of those from the start of their professional training up toexperienced practitioners at the height of their careers. The study provides important insights into the levels of stress andburnout experienced by social workers and also the psychological coping factors which social workers use to deal withtheir workplace challenges.

Dr Suzanne Guerin (School of Psychology, UCD) and I have now been engaged for over ten years in researching thecomplex attitudes of social workers towards their work at different stages of their careers. While our previous work hasallowed us to explore longitudinal changes in social workers from early in their careers, this current research provides animportant opportunity to broaden our understanding of the social work profession in Ireland.

We could not have undertaken this large-group study without the assistance of the Office of the Minister for Children andYouth Affairs and the HSE. In particular we want to thank Jim Breslin (now Secretary General of the Department of Childrenand Youth Affairs) who was open to and supportive of an external examination of social work in the context of the HSE. Wealso thank the many HSE staff who facilitated access to the data and to participants across the country; their role wasessential in gathering the information in this report.

A number of other colleagues in UCD have also made important contributions to this research. We are particularly gratefulto Prof Brian Nolan, Professor of Public Policy, for his expertise in analysing the employment data of social workers in theHSE, adding an extra dimension to the research. Ms Catherine Devitt and Dr Arlene Egan, both skilled researchers, havealso brought much to the project.

Most importantly we want to thank the social work students and practitioners who participated in the research. As wellas being generous with their time, they were open in sharing their own practice experiences but always in awareness ofthe complex needs of those with whom they work.

We hope that this research helps to promote understanding of the complex contexts within which social workers operateand also points the way to new approaches which will maximise the contribution of the social work profession to Irishsociety.

Professor Bairbre Redmond MSocSc, DASS, CQSW, PhDDeputy Registrar and Dean of Undergraduate StudiesUniversity College Dublin

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1. Introduction..........................................................................................................................................4IntroductiontothePresentStudy........................................................................................................4

2. Retention in Social Work—An International Perspective................................................................5MotivationforEntryintoSocialWork...................................................................................................5TurnoverofStaffinChildProtectionandWelfare...............................................................................6FactorsinfluencingJobSatisfactionandRetention...........................................................................8StaffBurnout.........................................................................................................................................10Summary...............................................................................................................................................11

3. Study Methodology..............................................................................................................................12Overview................................................................................................................................................12ParticipantsandSampling...................................................................................................................12 1. Student Cohort...........................................................................................................................13 2. Professional Cohort...................................................................................................................13 3. Institutional Data Review..........................................................................................................13Materials................................................................................................................................................14Procedure..............................................................................................................................................15

4. Analysis of HSE Institutional Data on Retention/Mobility within Social Work...........................16SocialWorkCareers:ExploitingAdministrativeData.........................................................................16TheInformationSought/Provided........................................................................................................17 1.DatafortheERHA......................................................................................................................18 2.DatafortheMidlands,North-WesternandMid-WesternHealthBoards...............................21 3.DatafortheNorth-EasternHealthBoard.................................................................................23 4.DatafortheWesternHealthBoard..........................................................................................24OverallPatterns.....................................................................................................................................25DevelopingthePotentialofAdministrativeDataonSocialWorkers.................................................26

5. Quantitative Findings..........................................................................................................................28 A.StudentCohort...........................................................................................................................28 DemographicDetails.................................................................................................................28 ResponsesregardingCurrentTrainingProgramme.................................................................29 StudentPerceptionsofProfessionalSocialWork....................................................................30 Pre-TrainingExperiences...........................................................................................................31 WorkPlansduringandafterTraining.......................................................................................34 B.ProfessionalCohortFindings....................................................................................................36 Demographicdetails..................................................................................................................36 CurrentWork..............................................................................................................................36 PerceptionsofProfessionalSocialWork..................................................................................37 BurnoutamongSocialWorkers.................................................................................................39 EngagementamongSocialWorkers.........................................................................................40 ExperienceofSupervision.........................................................................................................41

Table of Contents

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NegativeExperiencesandCoping............................................................................................43 FuturePlans...............................................................................................................................45 C.Discussion..................................................................................................................................45 PerceptionsoftheProfession...................................................................................................45 FuturePlans...............................................................................................................................46 Stress,BurnoutandEngagement.............................................................................................46 Coping.........................................................................................................................................47 ConsideringRepresentativeness..............................................................................................47

6. Qualitative Findings.............................................................................................................................49Introduction...........................................................................................................................................49PersonalEthos,ProfessionalCommitment—TheAppealofSocialWork..........................................49TranslationintoProfessionalCommitment.........................................................................................50Survivingthe‘DysfunctionalSystem’..................................................................................................51ProfessionalIdentity.............................................................................................................................53PreparednessofNewlyQualifiedSocialWorkers...............................................................................54ContinuousProfessionalLearning—LinkingTheoryandPractice......................................................55MaintainingStructure,MeasuringOutcomes.....................................................................................56Discussion.............................................................................................................................................56 PersonalEthos,ProfessionalCommitment..................................................................................57 Survivingthe‘DysfunctionalSystem’............................................................................................57 ProfessionalIdentity.......................................................................................................................57

7. Discussion and Recommendations...................................................................................................59Recommendations................................................................................................................................62 1.ProfessionalSocialWorkTraining............................................................................................62 2.Fundamentaltensionsbetweentheunderlyingvaluesandprofessionalskillsin socialworkpracticeandtheorganisationalandpracticestructuresinchildprotection.....64 3.EarlyCareerSocialWork...........................................................................................................65 Induction:....................................................................................................................................65 Supervision:................................................................................................................................65 4.SupportingMid-CareerSocialWorkersandContinuousProfessionalDevelopment............67Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................68

8. References............................................................................................................................................70

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1. Introduction

Introduction to the Present StudyChildprotectionworkcantakeitstollonthemoraleofstaff.Front-lineworkershaveademandingtask.Staffneedknowledgeandskillsandpersonalattributesofresilience,courageandcapacitytoworkinintenseandconflictedsituations.Theirtraining,supervisionandongoingskillsdevelopmentshouldreflecttherealityoftheirworkingenvironment.Themoraleandconfidenceofthestaffwillbereflectedintheirstandardofwork.Attentionshouldbepaid toensuring thatstaffwhoundertakethis important rolearesupportedtodoso.Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, 2009: Implementation Plan (2009: 76)

The ImplementationPlan for theReportof theCommission to Inquire intoChildAbuse (2009),betterknownastheRyanReport, identifiedtheretentionofsocialworkers in Irishchildcareasproblematic,with child protection teamsexperiencing a higher turnover of socialworkers than in other areas. TheImplementationPlanwentontorecommendthattheHealthServiceExecutive(HSE)undertakeresearchintostaffretentionissuesinsocialwork[Action54]andalsoarrangeforexitinterviewswithpersonnelleavingchildprotectionandresidentialcareinordertobetterunderstandissuesofstaffretention[Action84].

Whilethedesignofthisresearchstudypre-datestheseimportantrecommendations,itcomprehensivelyencompasses the key issues raised in the Ryan Report on social work retention in Irish child careservices. As well as researching the aspirations of social work students across Ireland in regard totheir forthcomingsocialworkcareers, thestudyhasalsonowcompleted in-depthon-lineassessmentwith 182 practising social workers within the HSE. These on-line assessments have explored thesocialworkers’attitudesto theirwork, thepositiveandnegativeaspectsof their job,andtheircopingstrategies throughworkengagementandburnoutscales.Anumberof theprofessionalsocialworkerswho participated in the on-line phase of the research also contributed to in-depth focus groups ortelephone interviews which allowed for a further qualitative exploration of the issues arising fromthe questionnaire data. The study has also explored and analysed the current data held by theHSEonjobmobility.

The collection and analysis of the data from the completed questionnaires, the focus groups andinterviewshavealsodrawnontheresearchteam’spreviousworkinthearea.Theyhavecompletedafive-yearlongitudinalstudy(2002-2007)fundedbytheIrishResearchCouncilfortheHumanitiesandSocialSciences(IRCHSS)whichassessedthetrainingandpracticeexperiencesofacohortof35socialworkgraduatesfromUCD’sMasters inSocialWorkprogramme(Redmondetal.,2008).Theteamhadalsoexaminedjobsatisfactionandjobmobilityamonganothercohortof75Irishsocialworkerswhostartedtheirprofessionalsocialworkcareersbetween1998and2001.ThisresearchhasproducedvaluabledataonthelevelsofpositiveandnegativeexperiencesofbothrecentlyqualifiedandmoreexperiencedsocialworkersoperatingintheIrishhealthservices(Guerinetal.,2010).

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2. Retention in Social Work— An International Perspective1

ThepresentstudyfocusesonthefactorsthatinfluenceretentioninsocialworkinIreland,particularlyintheareaofchildprotectionandwelfare.WhilethereisalimitedamountofresearchonthistopicinIreland,thereisabodyofinternationalliteraturethatcanbedrawnon.Reviewingthisbodyofliteraturehighlightsanumberofkeytrendsthatarerelevanttothepresentstudy.Thereviewwillstartwithanoverviewofthemotivatingfactorsthatleadindividualstoenterthesocialworkprofessionandwillthenexploredifferentaspectsofretention,includingstaffturnover,jobsatisfactionandburnout—withparticularfocusontheareaofchildprotectionandwelfare.

Motivation for Entry into Social WorkThe social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships andthe empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of humanbehaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact withtheir environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.Definition of Social Work, adopted by the International Federation of Social Work General Meeting in Montréal, Canada, July 2000.

The key values that underpin the social work mission provide a powerful baseline upon which newstudentsareeducatedandthedesiretohelpotherscanberegardedasacoreattributeofasocialworker(Eber&Kunz,1984).Studieshaveshownapersonal congruence formanystudentswith socialworkvalues,particularlythatofsocialjustice(Lafranceetal.,2004).Earlierstudiesoftheimpactofsocialworkeducationonthepersonalvaluesheldbysocialworkstudentsonenteringtheirtrainingsuggeststhatthesevalueschangeverylittleinspiteoftheirexposuretodiscussionanddebateontheissues(McLeod&Meyer, 1967). Reamer (1998) considered the values onwhich the socialworkmission in founded(service,socialjustice,dignityandworthoftheperson,importanceofhumanrelationships,integrityandcompetence)askeytounderstandingtheprofession’sethicalbase(Reamer,1998:494).However,Banks(1994) comments that value statements tend to be divorced from the reality of socialwork practice,differentiatingbetweencontentofthesocialworkrelationshipwhichisbasedupontraditionalsocialworkvaluesandthecontextinwhichsocialworkispractised“aspartofawelfarebureaucracywithasocialcontrolandresource-basedfunction(basedonmoreutilitarianvalues)[which]placesethicaldutiesuponthesocialworkerthatmayconflictwithherdutiestotheuserasanindividual”(Banks1995:45-46).

D’Aprixetal.(2004)questionwhetherallstudentsbeingadmittedtoprofessionalsocialworkprogrammessharethekeyaimsandvaluesofsocialwork.IntheUS,theaspirationsofstudentstomovefromtraditionalsocialworktoprivatepracticeinpsychotherapyareincreasing(Rubinetal.,1986;Abell&McDonnell,1990;Bogoetal.,1993).RubinandJohnson(1984)foundthat86%ofonecohortofUSMSW(graduatesocialworktrainingprogramme)studentshopedtoengageinprivatepracticeaspsychotherapists.Butler

1 In this section the review is focused on the research around the employment of workers who hold posts with training andresponsibilitiesasnearaspossibletothoseheldbyIrishsocialworkersintheareaofstatutorychildprotectionandwelfare.Asdifferentterminologyisusedfortheseworkers(e.g.theterm‘caseworker’maybeusedinsteadof‘socialworker’intheUS),theterm‘worker’willbetakentoimplysomeonewithsocialwork-typetraininginthissection.

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(1990)notedthat, inspiteofamajorityofstudentsintheresearchhavinganinterest inworkingwithdisadvantagedgroups,manyof thesewerealsodrawntoprivatepracticebecauseof thehigh levelofautonomy,flexibility,challengeandstatusthatsuchworkcouldofferthem.SpechtandCourtney(1995)sawthismoveawayfromtraditionalsocialworkwiththepooranddisadvantagedasbeingpartlyrelatedtopoorworkingconditionsforsocialworkersandalsoasbeingconnectedtotheaccelerationinthemarketforpsychotherapyintheUS,whereagrowingnumberofindividualsseekandpayforpsychotherapy.

ThemarketforprivatepracticehasyettobedevelopedinIrelandtoanygreatextentanditislikelythattherecentrecessionhasfurtherdiminishedopportunitiesforitsdevelopment.ThatbeingsoitisperhapsnotsurprisingtoseethefindingsofWilsonandMcCrystal(2007)andRedmondetal.(2008)showingthatfewstudentsintheirIrishstudieswereinterestedinacareerinprivatepractice.Earlierworkundertakenbythisresearchteam(Redmondetal.,2008)foundthatstudentshadaparticularlystronginterestinworkingwithchildrenbut,overtheirtwoyeartraining,theydisplayedincreasinglynegativeviewstowardsworkingintheareaofchildprotectionandwelfare.ThefactorsdeemedmostimportantininfluencingstudentstotrainassocialworkersinWilsonandMcCrystal’sNorthernIrishstudy(2007)wereadesiretoenhancetheirsocialworkskillsandtheirpotentialforservingdisadvantagedpopulations.Perry’sresearch(2003)exploredthe levelsof interest ingraduatesocialworkstudentsworkingwith the ‘poorandhomeless’.Hesuggestedthat thosemostmotivated towork in theareaofsocialandeconomicdeprivationwereprimarilypoliticallyliberalorleft-wingstudentsexpressinggoalsrelatedtoself-expressionandpersonalgrowth(asopposedtoaltruisticreasons).

Familialbackgroundasamotivatorforentryintosocialworkhasalsobeenresearchedandanumberofstudieshaveindicatedthatthosewhoentersocialworkarelikelytohavehadexperienceofdifficultiesin theirown family (Russelletal.,1993;Lackie,1983;Blacketal.,1993).RompfandRoyse (1994),in theUS, found thatearly-lifepsychosocial trauma isassociatedwith theselectionof socialworkasacareer.Usingagroupofover240socialworkstudentsandacontrolgroupof203students takinganEnglishmajor, they found significant differencesbetween the groups,with37%of the socialworkstudentsidentifyingemotionalproblemswithintheirfamilies(25%inthecomparisongroup);alcoholordrugaddiction(32%versus21%);andexperienceofchildabuseandneglect(21%versus17%).RompfandRoyse stress that these data do not imply that studentsmay be drawn to the profession due toanyformofpsychologicaldamagefromatroubledfamilybackground,buttheydohighlightthefindingthatthesestudentswerenearlythreetimesmoreinclinedtoviewtheseexperiencesasinfluencingtheirchoiceofcareerthanthoseinthecomparisongroup.Theauthorsalsohighlightthebenefitsoffirsthandexperiencethatthesestudentsmaybringtotheircareersintermsofenhancedempathyandknowledgeofcopingstrategies.However,Lafranceetal.(2004)advisesocialworkeducatorstodevelopimprovedgate-keepingmechanismsincludingdevelopingandmeasurableindicatorsforsuitabilityforsocialworkpracticeattheentrancestageofprofessionaltraining.

Turnover of Staff in Child Protection and WelfareChronicproblemsinrecruitingandretainingworkersinarangeofchildcaresettingshavebeenreportedintheUnitedKingdominrecentyears(Gubta&Blewett,2007).Thispositionisfurthercompoundedbymountingpublicexpectations(AuditCommission,2002),ascepticalpress(Eborall&Garmenson,2001)andworkersbeing temptedoutof localauthorityworkby lessstressfulalternatives (Roche&Rankin,

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2004).Tunstilletal.(2005)hadhighlightedtheimportanceofaclearunderstandingoftheexperiencesand perspectives of social workers and, from a British perspective, it is suggested that this level ofunderstandingisnecessary‘ifthegovernmentistomaketrueitspromisetodevelopstableandeffectiveservicesthatcanbothsafeguardandpromotethewelfareofsociety’smostvulnerablechildren’(Gubta&Blewett,2007:173).TheproblemswithrecruitmentandretentionofsocialworkersintheUKarenotnew.Eborall(2005)suggeststhatinthelate1990s,91%oflocalauthoritiesintheUKwerehavingdifficultyrecruitingsocialworkers intochildren’sservices,which led tomany localauthoritiesembarkingonanoverseasrecruitmentdrive.ThesefiguresaresimilartofiguresforIrishsocialworkretentionintheearlyyearsofthe21stCentury.TheIrishNationalSocialWorkQualificationsBoard(NSWQB,2002)notedthatin1999,10.8%ofsocialworkpostsinIrelandwereunfilled,andthatthisfigurehadincreasedto15.4%by2001.Measuresweretakentoaddresstheproblem,includingtherecruitmentofsocialworkersfromothercountries(NSWQB,2002;2004)andbyanationalincreaseinthenumbersbeingtrainedassocialworkersatIrishuniversities(Redmondetal.,2008).ThemostrecentstatisticsforIreland(collectedin2004) reflected an improvement in vacancy rateswhich fell to 6.1% (NSWQB, 2006) suggesting thattheincreaseintrainingpostsandnon-Irishsocialworkershadbeeneffectiveinincreasingsocialworknumbers.However,themostrecentdatafromtheNSWQBrevealthat,whilethenumbersofbothnewandnon-nationalsocialworkersshouldhavebeenadequatetomeetdemand,15.5%ofvacantpostsremainedunfilledforover12months,andnearlyhalfofsocialworkagencieswhoreportedrecruitmentdifficultiescitedashortageofqualifiedandexperiencedapplicantsasacauseoftheirdifficulties(NSWQB,2006).However,aswillbefurtherdiscussedinthisreport,thereappeartohavebeenfundamentaldifficultiesinsourcingreliableemployablestatisticsforsocialworkersfollowingtheamalgamationoftheseparatehealthboardareasintotheHSEin2005.

TheexperienceintheUnitedStatesshowshighratesofturnoverinthechildwelfareworkforceforanumberofyearswithanaverageannualturnoverof20%offrontlinechildwelfareworkersand11.3%offirst-linesupervisors(AmericanPublicHumanServicesAssociation(APHSA),2001). InastudyoftheBureauofMilwaukeeChildWelfare,itwasreportedthatturnoverratesof‘ongoingcasemanagers’werebetween34%and67%(Flower,McDonald&Sumski,2005).Accordingtotheseresearchers,ascaseworkerturnoverincreased, thechild’s likelihoodofachievingpermanencywithinasetperioddecreased,suggestingarelationshipbetweenturnoverratesandimpermanenceexperiencedbychildren.Specifically,theexampleisgiventhatwhenachildhadonlyoneworkerforthedurationofthestudy(Jan2003–Sept2004),74.5%ofchildrenachievedpermanency,whereasonly17.5%ofchildrenwhohadtwocaseworkersachievedthisgoalwithinthistimeframe.Whenchildrenhadsixorsevencaseworkers,permanencywasachievedonly0.1%ofthetime(Flower,McDonald&Sumski,2005).

Withitsauthorsclaiminghighstaffturnoverinpublicchildwelfareagenciesasanationalproblem,aUSstudywasconducted(Caringietal.,2005)whichdetailedaninterventiondesignedtoimproveworkforceretention and facilitate organisational development within child welfare. These finding are supportedbyotherresearch(e.g.,AnnieE.CaseyFoundation,2003;Thoma,2003;Zlotniketal.,2005).InsomeagenciesintheUS,turnoverratesrangedbetween23%and60%eachyear(Drake&Yadama,1996)withresultingproblemsforthequalityofcareforchildrenintheservices.Staffturnoverincludespreventableturnover—turnoveramenabletointervention—andunpreventableturnover—turnovercausedbyretirements,changesinlifecircumstances,etc.(Lawsonetal.,2005).Theliteraturesuggeststherearethreefactorsthatinfluencepreventableturnover:individualfactors,supervisoryfactors,andorganisationalfactors.

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• Individual factors include emotional background, professional affiliation and career commitment,work-lifefitanddemographicinfluences.

• Supervisoryfactorsincludecompetenceandsocialsupport.

• Organisationalfactorsincludetheagency’sclimate,culture,structuresandoperationalprocesses.

While individual, supervisory and organisational factors are important in their own right, interactionsamong themareespecially important (Strolin et al., 2008). Individually and together all three factorsoftencompriseso-called‘push-outfactors’(Lawsonetal.,2005).Push-outfactorseffectivelydriveoutgoodworkers,includingoneswhoarecommittedtochildwelfarejobsandwork

Factors influencing Job Satisfaction and RetentionRecognisingthemultitudeoffactorsthatcanimpactonturnover,researchershaveexploredthosefactorsthatmightbeapositiveinfluence.Centraltotheliteratureinthisareaistheroleofjobsatisfaction.OnelargeUSstudy (Barthetal.,2008)describescharacteristicsassociatedwith reported jobsatisfactionamong a national sample of child welfare workers, focusing on education and training interventionsthatmaystrengthenthechildwelfareworkforce(Foxetal.,2003).ResultsfromresearchconductedbyLandsmann(2001)reportedfindingswhichsuggestthatpersonalfactorswhichrelatetojobsatisfactionincludeperceivedsupervisorysupport,promotionalopportunitieswithintheagencyororganisation,andabelief in thevalueof childwelfarework.On theotherhand,UmandHarrison (1998) reported thatrole conflict and the perception of a non-supportive organisational climate are associated with lowerlevelsofjobsatisfaction.Infact,GilssonandDurick(1988)reportedfromtheirstudyofhumanservicesworkers that the strongest predictors of worker satisfaction–skill variety and role ambiguity–were jobcharacteristics. Likewise,a reviewof jobsatisfaction research in childwelfarebyDickinsonandPerry(2002)foundapositiverelationshiptootherjobcharacteristics:compensation,promotionopportunities,supportandlowroleconflict.

Theliteratureonworkplacerecruitmentandretentionsuggeststhatthosewhoremaininchildprotectionarethosewhohavehadamorepositiveexperienceintheirrole.Intheirstudyofchildwelfareworkers,DickinsonandPerry(2002)foundthatthoseworkersremaininginchildwelfarejobshadsignificantlyhigherlevelsofjobsatisfactionwithregardtopersonalandjobcharacteristics,includingsupervisorsupportandrecognition,opportunitiesforpersonalandprofessionalgrowth,recognitionfromotherprofessionalsandopportunitiestomakeadifferenceinaclient’slife.Personalfactors(includingprofessionalcommitment,previousworkexperience,education,jobsatisfaction,efficacyandpersonalcharacteristicssuchasage)canhaveapositiveinfluenceontheretentionofchildcarestaff(e.g.,Smith,2005).Thisisalsotrueinthecaseoforganisationalfactors, includinghighersalaries,supervisorysupport,reasonableworkload,co-workersupport,opportunitiesforadvancement,organisationalcommitmentandvaluingemployees(Ellet,Ellet&Rugutt,2003).Accordingtomanystudieswhichexaminedthefactorsaffectingstaffrecruitmentandretentioninchildwelfareagencies,lowsalariesandhighcaseloadscontributetostressandburnoutofstaffandincreasedstaffturnover(Yoo,2002;Zlotnicketal.,2005;Elletetal.,2003).Researchonperceivedorganisationalsupporthassuggestedthatworkersinanorganisationformopinionsaboutthedegreetowhichtheyarevaluedbytheorganisationthroughsuchindicatorsascaseloadsizeandsalarylevels(Smith,2005).Followingthislineofthinking,highcaseloadsandlowsalariessuggesttoworkersthat

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theircontributionstotheorganisationareheldinlowesteemandthattheirwelfareisnotaconsideration.Thisresultsinloworganisationalcommitmentandhighstaffturnover.GlissonandHemmelgarn’s(1998)studyof theTennesseechildwelfaresystemreported thatorganisationalclimate (which included rolestressorssuchasroleclarity,roleoverload,androleconflict)ismorepredictiveofserviceoutcomethanservicequality,althoughorganisationalclimateaffectsboth.

ArecentstudyconductedbyEvansandHuxley(2009)focusedspecificallyonthefactorsthatareassociatedwiththerecruitmentandretentionofsocialworkersinWales.There,aselsewhere,staffshortagesareinevidenceacrossthewholecaresector,affectingprofessionallyqualifiedandnon-professionallyqualifiedcarestaff(Fleming&Taylor,2007),butaccordingtoHarlow(2004)theproblemisparticularlyacuteinnursingandsocialworkwithstaffshortagesarisingfromaconsequenceofdifficultiesinrecruitingandretainingqualifiedstaff.Harlow(2004)statesalsothattherearehighratesofsicknessabsenceandanoverallreductioninthenumbersbeingattractedontosocialworktrainingprogrammes.Thecomplexissuessurroundingjobdissatisfactionhavebeenhighlightedearlierandasaresultofthesefindingsinitiativessuchasusinginternationalrecruitmentandagencyworkersorusingothertypesofincentivesaimedatattractingandretainingstaffhavebeentried,thoughthere is littleevidenceabouttheireffectiveness.AccordingtoEvansandHuxley(2009), ifrecruitmentandretentionproblemsaretoberesolvedinthelongterm,data(preferablylongitudinal)thatinformourunderstandingofthecharacteristicsandfutureintentionsofthecurrentworkforce,thecharacteristicsandfutureworkplansofthoseintendingtoleavetheworkforce,predictorsofhighrecruitmentandretentionproblemratesandstaffintentiontoleavemustbemadeavailableforconsideration,alongsideprojectionsoffuturecareneeds.

Sofartheresearchreviewedhasplacedagreatlevelofsignificanceonhowsocialworkersperceivethesupport they receive and how support and effective peer supervision can influence a social worker’sdecisiontoleavetheirjob,oreventheamountofsatisfactionthattheycanderivefromit.Smith(2005)attempted to study this notion in detail. The impetus for this work came from the fact that, despiteongoingeffortstodevelopreliablemeasuresforcollectingandreportingstaffturnover,currentestimatedwithdrawal rates for child socialworkers rangeashighas23% to85%per year, varying substantiallyamongagencies(Thoma,2003).Ofcourse,conceptualmodelstoexplainemployeeturnoverhavebeendevelopedandtestedinthepsycho-sociologicalandmanagementliterature.Thesemodels,incorporatingconceptssuchasperceivedpsychologicalsupportandorganisationalcommitment,havebeenappliedtoavarietyofworkplacesettings,includinghumanservices,butfewstudieshavetestedsuchconceptualmodelsinthiscontext.AccordingtoSmith(2005)thereisabeliefthatfrontlinechildwelfarestaffstayintheirrelativelylow-paid,high-demandjobsbecausetheyfindintrinsicvalueintheirworkeventhoughthepressroutinelycriticisestheirwork.JayaratneandChess(1984)foundthatcomparedwithotherhumanservicesstaff,childwelfarestaffdescribedtheirworkenvironmentsasmorestressful,moredemandingand less challenging. These perspectives on social work stress, job satisfaction and work challengearemirroredinthepresentresearchteam’spreviousfindingsintheirresearchonsocialworkersatthebeginningoftheircareers(Redmondetal.,2008).

Studies have identified the importance of interactions among individuals in theworkplace (Glisson&Durick,1988;Sandfort,1999)andnotionsofreciprocityandsocialexchange(Blau,1964).Boththetheoryandempirical findings indicate that throughworkplacesocial interactions,employeesdevelopnotionsaboutwhattoexpectfromajobandhowtoappropriatelyrespondtojobconditions.Oncesuchnotions

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develop,theybecomereinforcedthroughsubsequentinteractions.Organisationalsupporttheorysuggeststhatemployeesdevelopperceptionsabouttheextenttowhichtheiremployingorganisationvaluestheircontributionsandcaresabout theirwelfare (Eisenbergeretal.,1986;Rhoades&Eisenberger,2002).Theseresearchersidentifiedtherelativeimportanceoforganisational,jobandindividualcharacteristicsassociatedwithjobretentioninchildwelfare,assessingtheroleoforganisationalsupportasexpressedthroughextrinsicrewards,supervisorsupportandintrinsicjobvalueinexplainingjobretention.Theyfoundthatstaffwhoperceivetheirorganisationand/orsupervisorstobesupportiveandthosewhofindintrinsicvalueintheirworkaremorecommittedtotheirjobsandlesslikelytoleave.

Staff BurnoutWithinthecontextofjobsatisfactionandretentiononesignificanttopicofresearchhasbeenstaffburnout.Thereisdebateintheliteratureastotheprecisedefinitionofburnout(Brill,1984),butitrepresentsasignificantcomponentofchronicstress,containingelementsofchronicexhaustion,depersonalisationandreducedfeelingofpersonalaccomplishment(Maslachetal.,1996).Importantlyforthefindingsofthisreport,burnoutcanimpairtheeffectivenessoftheworker(Collins&Murray,1996).Intermsofstaffburnout,theworkofSmith(2005)echoesthefindingsfromareviewconductedbyBednar(2003)whichfocusedattentionon factors thatareneeded tocreateachildwelfareservice thatcouldsupportandretainitsworkers.Bednar’s(2003)concernsemergedfromthefactthatrapidstaffturnover,alongwiththepresenceof theburnoutsymptomsofstress-relatedemotionalexhaustion,depersonalisation,andimpairedperformancearecommonlyraisedasseriousconcernsaboutmanychildwelfareworkers(Drake&Yadama,1996).

Burnoutandturnoveramongchildwelfareworkerscreateaproblemofcrisisproportions,withturnoverratesof46%to90%overa2-yearperiodbeingcommon(Drake&Yadama,1996).Thislossoftrainedandexperiencedworkersdrainsdesperatelyneededskillsandenergyfromthesystem.Jobsatisfaction,burnoutandstaffturnoverhavebeenshowntobestronglycorrelated,anddecreasedsatisfactionandincreasingburnoutmayimpairworkerslongbeforetheydecidetoleavetheirpositions(Silveretal.,1997).Thereisevidencethatorganisationalclimate–ortheattitudeswhichemployeescollectivelyholdabouttheirworkenvironment–affectsnotonlyjobsatisfaction,butqualityofservices,consumersatisfaction,clientoutcomesandeventheriskofchildmaltreatmentbystaff(Glisson&Hemmelgarn,1998).Aboveall, a supportiveandconsultative supervisor canhelp todevelopanatmosphereof trustwhereopencommunication,cooperationandhonestexpressionoffeelingsflourish.Responsiblesupervisioncreatesarelationshipinwhichthesocialworkerfeelssafeinexpressingfears,concernsandinadequacies(Welfel,1998).

SummaryAccordingtotheliterature,therecruitmentandretentionofsocialworkerswithinthechildprotectionandwelfarefieldaretwoof thegreatestchallengesfaced internationally in thecontextofsocialwork.Theknock-oneffectofstaffturnoverleadstoconcernoverthequalityofcarethatcanbegivenbyserviceprovidersthatareshort-staffedorpressurisedtomeetsupplydemands.Fromthe literaturereviewwelearnthatmanyauthorsandresearchersareinagreementthatinordertoensurequalityofservice(aswellascreatingstableworkenvironmentsforsocialworkstaff),specificissuesassociatedwithrecruitment

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andretentionneedtobeaddressed.Tobegin,theliteratureseemstosuggestthatwhenrecruitingstaffitiscrucialthattheyarehighlymotivatedtoworkinconditionsconducivetosocialworkpractice(e.g.,oneswithoutheavycaseloads,unregulatedsupervision,bureaucraticrestraintsandfrequentmediacriticism).Wealsolearnfromthisreview,specificallyregardingretention,thatinteresthasbeenpaidtothetypeoffactorswhichleadtojobdissatisfactionandthesuggestionstoimprovethisconcept.Oneoftheprimarymeanssuggestedtoimprovethisistoensurethatahighqualityofsupervisionandmentoringisprovided.Theimpactofsuchsupervisionandmentoring,accordingtotheliterature,helpsfrontlinesocialworkersovercomesomeofthechallengesthattheyface.Finally,thereviewrevealsthatthosewhofindgreaterlevelsofintrinsicvalueintheirworkmaybemorecommittedtotheirjobsandlesslikelytoleave.Thisisanimportantissue,especiallyinviewofearlierfindingsfromtheresearchteam(Guerinetal.,2010)that,evenatthebeginningoftheirtraining,socialworkstudentshadclearlynegativeperceptionsaboutthelevelsofjobsatisfactionintheareaofchildprotectionandwelfareintheHSE.

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3. Study Methodology

OverviewBasedonexistingknowledgeof international trends inworkplaceexperiencesandbehaviourofsocialworkstaff in theareaofchildprotection, thisstudyhasexploredtheexpectationsandexperiencesofsocialworkers inrelationtoemployment in theareaofchildprotectionandwelfare fromanumberofperspectives.Inordertodothis,thestudyusedacomplexmixed-methodsdesign(Creswell,2003)thatinvolvedanumberofcorecomponents.Thesewere:

• Analysisofexistingdatasources,e.g.relevantservicedataregardingemploymentpatterns,retention,etc.heldwithintheHSE.

• A pencil-and-paper questionnaire developed to assess the experiences and perceptions of firstyear trainees in four Irish universities, studying for either aMasters degree in social work or anundergraduatedegreeinsocialwork.

• A web-based questionnaire survey designed to explore the experiences and views of practisingsocialworkersandtomeasurelevelsofbothburnoutandengagementandcopingstrategies,usingstandardisedinstruments.

• In-depthqualitativefocusgroupsandtelephoneinterviewsheldwithanumberofparticipantsfromthepractisingsocialworkgroup(above).

• Finalqualitativefocusgroupwithexperiencedsocialworkersinhigh-levelmanagementpositionsinthefieldofchildprotection.

Within this research methodology, a sequential explanatory design (Creswell, 2003) was used. Thisstrategyrepresentsahighlyeffectivewayofbalancingtheperceivedweaknessesoftraditionalqualitativeandquantitativedatausedontheirown.Inaddition,thisapproachenablesassurancestobegainedinthevalidityoftheresultingfindings,bybasingthemoninformationthatistriangulatedacrossdifferentmethods. These represent both quantitative assessment and the qualitative ‘lived experiences’ andperceptionsofparticipants.Asaresultofthisstrategy,datahavebeencollectedthroughbothself-reportquestionnaires,focusgroupsandtelephoneinterviews,andduringdataanalysisthedifferenttypesofdatahavebeentreatedwithequalweight.

Participants and SamplingInsamplingparticipants,twomaingroupsandthreesub-groupsweretargeted:

1. ThosecurrentlycompletingprofessionalsocialworktrainingprogrammesinIreland

2. Thosewiththeirsocialworktrainingcompleted,currentlyworkingintheHSE.Theseweredistinguishedinthreesub-groups:

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a. Thosewith5–10yearsexperience;

b. Thosewith10andmoreyearspost-qualificationexperience;

c. Thoseinhigh-levelleadershipposts(PrincipalSocialWorkersetc.).

1. Student CohortStudentortraineeparticipantsforthestudyweresourcedthroughthefourIrishuniversities(NUIG,UCC,UCDandTCD)whodeliverIrishprofessionalsocialworktraining.Allstudentstakingupplacesonthesetrainingcoursesduringtheacademicsession2008/2009wereinvitedtotakepartinthequestionnairecomponent–atotalofN=166trainees.Overall,N=123studentsfromacrossthefouruniversitiestookpartinthisphase;a75%responserate.Thissamplegroupwasmadeupofn=101femaleandn=21maleparticipants(oneparticipantdidnotidentifytheirgender).Themeanage(M)oftheoverallgroupwas25.77years(SD=6.99),withtheagerangebeing17–55years.Appropriateethicalapprovalforthecollectionofthesedatawithstudentswassoughtandgranted.

2. Professional CohortTogatherquantitativedatafromtheprofessionalcohort,allsocialworkersemployedbytheHSEwereinvitedtotakepartinthisstudy.Asthedistributionofaweb-basedquestionnairewascontrolledbytheCommunicationsSectionoftheHSE,theexactnumbercontactedcannotbejudged.However,theHSEestimatethatapotentialpoolofapproximatelyN=1200socialworkerswerecontactedfromwhichn=182participated.Ofthese,n=36weremaleandn=146werefemale.Thissamplegrouphadanagerangespreadfrom20-25yearsto60-65years(assessedusingagecategories).

Participantsforfocusgroupsandtelephoneinterviewsweredrawnfromworkerswhoself-identifiedontheirweb-basedquestionnaireasbeingagreeable to further involvement in thestudy.All thosedoingso were contacted by phone or email (n = 24). Two focus groupswere subsequently set up; one forparticipantswith5-10yearsexperienceandoneforthosewith10yearsexperienceandover.However,workpressurescausedasmallchangeinthegroupsatthelastminute(oneparticipantdidnotattendtheirallocatedgroup,butdidattendalaterone),sotheworkexperienceprofileofthesegroupschangedslightlywithn=5inthe5-10yearexperiencegroupandn=6inthe10years+experiencegroup.Therestoftheself-identifyinggroupwereofferedtelephoneinterviews(usingthesametopicscheduleasthefocusgroups)andallbuttwoofthisgroup(n=11)tookpartinsuchindividualinterviews.Lastly,theresearchteamputoutacall,withthehelpofacontactfromtheIASW,forparticipantsforthegroupofexperiencedsocialworkersinhigh-levelleadershiproles.APrincipalSocialWorkerresponded,agreedtopublicisetheresearch,andarrangedmembershipofthisfinalgroup(n=4participants).

3. Institutional Data ReviewTheresearchteamfeltitimportanttogetasaccurateapictureaspossibleofcurrentandpastretention,inter-agency jobmobilityand intra-agency jobturnoverofsocialworkers in theHSE,particularly in theareaofchildprotectionandwelfare.TothisendtheHSEwereapproachedandaskedforaccesstoanyemploymentrecordsthatmightshedlightonsocialworkstaffrecruitment,includinginter-HSEgeographicmobilityand/orinter-HSEmobilityintermsofprofessionalsocialworkposts(includingmovementtoposts

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ofresponsibility).Anyotherdemographicdetailsthatcouldhelptheteam(suchasage,gender,nationalityandtrainingbackground)werealsosought.ItwashopedthatsuchdatamightallowtheteamtotrackHSEsocialworkcareerevolution,identifygeographicalandroleareaswithsignificantlyhigher/lowerareasofemploymentattrition,andanyotheremergingemploymentpattersacrossthegroupasawhole.Anyrecordsprovidedtotheresearchteamwereutilisedinthecurrentresearch.

MaterialsThekeymaterialsforthequantitativeaspectofthisstudyweretwoanonymousself-reportquestionnaires,specifically developed for the present study. Firstly, a non-standardised self-report questionnaire wasdesignedforusewiththetraineesampletogatherdataontheopinions,perceptionsandexpectationsoftraineesaboutsocialwork.Aspectsofthisquestionnairedrewontheresearchteam’spreviousworkinthearea,allowingforagreatercapacityfordatacomparison(Redmondetal.,2008;Guerinetal.,2010)Thisquestionnairewasdividedintosixsections.

1. The first focusedon collectingdemographicdata in order tounderstandmoreabout the sampletakingpart.

2. Thenextsectionasked traineeshow relevant they felta rangeof topics (e.g., socialwork theory,socialworkandthelaw,childcarepractice,etc.)wereassubjectsontheirtrainingcourses.

3. The thirdsectionquestioned traineeson theirperceptionsof the levelsofprofessionalexpertise,job satisfaction and work-related stress that were attached to the primary areas of social workemployment.

4. Thefourthsectionfocusedontrainees’recentstressexperiencesandtheircopingtechniques.Partofthissectioninvitedtraineestoratethelevelsofjobsatisfactiontheyhadexperiencedwhileworkingonemonthpriortocompletingthesurvey.Italsoaskedaprospectivequestiononhowstressfultheyperceivedthecoursetheyweretakingpartin.ThissectionalsoincludedquestionsadaptedfromtheCopeScale(Carver,1997),whichwasincludedtoallowforgreaterlearningontrainees’approachestodealingwithstress.

5. Thefifthsectioninquiredintolevelsandsourcesofsupportreceivedbythetrainee.

6. Thefinalsectionaskedthetraineeparticipantsabouttheirplansforworkingasasocialworker,oncetheyqualified.

Another self-report web-based questionnaire was developed specifically for use with the professionalsocialworksample.Thisincludedanumberofthesectionsdescribedinthestudentversionwithextradataalsobeingexplored,suchasdemographiccharacteristicsofthesampletakingpartinthestudy.Aswiththetraineecohort,participantswereaskedtoratethelevelsofprofessionalexpertise,jobsatisfactionandwork-relatedstressthattheyfeltwasattachedtotheprimaryareasofsocialworkemployment.Thequestionnairealsocontainedasectionwhichquestionedthesampleontheirsocialworkexperiencetodateandthelengthoftimetheyspentworkinginvariousareas.Inaddition,theprofessionalquestionnairealso includedTheMaslachBurnout Inventory (Maslach&Jackson1981;1986)and theUtrechtWork

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EngagementScale (Schaufelietal.,2006).Thisquestionnairealso includedanumberofopen-endedquestions which focused on gaining insight into the experiences of social workers, such as theirinterpretationsoftheprimarychallengesandstrengthsofworkingasasocialworker,theirexperienceofsupervision,traininganddevelopment.Lastly,theparticipantswereinvitedtomakerecommendationsonhowtheirexperiencesofsocialworkemploymentcouldbeenhanced.

ProcedureCollectionofdatafromthetraineesamplewasconcludedoverafour-monthperiod.Arrangementsweremade ineachof the fouruniversities toallowdata tobecollectedviapencilandpaperquestionnaireduringonehourofscheduledclass time.Participantswerealso invited toprovide theirdetails if theywishedtobecontactedregardingfocusgroupparticipation.Thesesheetswereimmediatelyseparatedfromtheparticipants’questionnaireresponsesheetstoensurethatanonymitywasmaintained.OncethisphaseoftestingwascompletethequantitativedatawereenteredintoSPSS™andanalysed.

Inordertocommunicateaboutthestudywiththecohortofprofessionalsocialworkerscurrentlyemployedby theHSE,a letterwaselectronicallydistributedvia internalcommunications in theHSE toallsocialworkers.Thisletterwasdesignedtoinformindividualsofthenatureandaimsofthestudy,anditcamefromamemberoftheresearchteamwithabackgroundinsocialwork.Followingfromthis,ane-mailwasagaindistributedinternallytoallworkerswhichcontainedalinktotheweb-pagesupportingthequestionnaire.Atthattime,therehadbeenadecisiontoleavethequestionnaireopentopotentialparticipantsforfourweeks.However,attheendofthatfourweekperiodtherewereveryfewresponses,despitearemindere-mailhavingbeensentouttwoweekspreviously.Adecisionwasthentakentoextendthedatacollectiontimebyanotherfourweeks.Ane-mailwasagaininternallydistributedinformingallsocialworkemployeesofthetimeextension.Attheendofthattimeperiod,therewasaresponserateofapproximately22%.Thedatagatheredbytheweb-basedquestionnairewasdownloadedintoExcelandthentransferredtoSPSS™.

Participantsforthefocusgroupsandtelephoneinterviewswereorganisedusingthenamesofthosewhohad indicatedon theweb-basedquestionnaire that theywere interested in further involvement in theresearchproject.Everyrespondentwhoindicatedaninterestwastelephonedand,whenitsuitedtheirschedules,theywereofferedaplaceinoneofthetwofocusgroupsheldinDublin.In-depthtelephoneinterviewswereofferedtothosewhocouldnotattendfocusgroups.Thesametopicschedule,designedtofurtherexploreissuesarisingfromthepreviousstagesoftheresearchwasusedwiththefocusgroupsandthetelephoneinterviews.Allqualitativegroupsandinterviewswererecorded,transcribedandanalysed.

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4. Analysis of HSE Institutional Data on Retention/ Mobility within Social Work2

Social Work Careers: Exploiting Administrative Data Thefocusofthisstudyhasbeenontheexperienceofsocialworkersastheytrainfor,takeupandcontinueinemploymentinthepublichealthservices.Severalinter-relatedconcernsunderpinthisfocus,notablyinrelationtoretentionofstaffwithappropriateskills,jobsatisfactionandmorale,andjobmobilityandcareerdevelopment.Thestudyhaspursuedtheseconcerns,exploringtheexperiencesandviewsoftrainees,socialworkersandthein-depthqualitativeinterviewswithasmallersampleofeachofthesegroups,eachdescribedindetailinthepresentreport.Inaddition,theprojecthasalsosoughttoexplorethepotentialofexistingadministrativedata,routinelycollectedbytheHSEitself,toshedlightonthecareertrajectoriesofthoseenteringsocialwork,andonstaffretentionanddevelopment,findingsofwhicharereportedinthissectionofthereport.

Awarenessof theenormouspotentialofadministrativedatacollectionsystemstoserveassourcesofinformationforstatisticalandplanningpurposeshasincreasedmarkedlyinrecentyearsinIreland,asexemplifiedbytheemphasisintheNationalStatisticsBoard’sStrategyforStatistics2003-2008ongreaterstatistical useof administrativedata, and theprogressmadeby theCentralStatisticsOffice (CSO) inpushingforwardthatagenda.Thehealthservicesarerecognizedasaparticularlyimportantareainthisregard.Investigatingthecurrentsituationwithrespecttoadministrativedataonsocialwork,andpointingtohowbesttodevelopthesesourcessotheyprovideasmuchrelevantinformationastheycan,isthusanimportantcomponentofthisbroaderthrustacrosstheIrishpublicsector.

Ideally,tounderstandtheextentofretentionissuesintheorganisation,administrativedatashouldenabletrackingofanumberof inter-related factors, following theevolutionover timeof thecareersof thosetakingupemploymentassocialworkerswiththeHSE.Thesefactorsincludehowlongindividualsserveinparticularrolesandlocations;whensuchrolesandlocationschange;howmanyleavefromdifferentrolesandareas;andperhapsevenwhatemployment(ifany)theytakeuponleaving.Suchdatacouldproduceapictureofthe“typical”careerpathofthosewhoenteredatvariouspointsinthepast,andhowboththosecareersandthe likelihoodof leavingdependonthepointatwhichtheycameontothe jobmarket/enteredtheHSE.Theextentofmobilitybothgeographicallyandacrossareasofworkcouldbetracked,andareas(bothintermsofroleandgeography)forwhichretentionappearstobeaparticularproblem,couldbeidentified.Importantlythiswouldallowanalysisofboththe“stock”and“flow”aspectsofthedata.Focusingonthecurrently-employedsocialworkstaff,onewouldwanttobeabletoprofilethat“stock”intermsnotonlyofage,grade,pointonthesalaryscale,qualificationsonentryetc.,butalsotheirexperienceoverthecourseoftheircareerindifferentroles—requiringdetailedretrospectivedataoncurrentemployees.Inaddition,though,onewouldalsowanttobeabletocaptureandanalyseflowsintoandoutofemployment,andintoandoutofdifferentrolesandareasofactivity.Thus,forexample,itwould

2SeeforexampleStatistical Potential of Administrative Records: An Examination of Data Holdings in Six Government Departments,WorkingReport,CentralStatisticsOffice,September2003,Statistical Potential of Business and Environment Enterprise Data Holdings in Selected Government Departments,WorkingReportCentralStatisticsOffice,December2006

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beofgreatvaluetobeabletotakethestockofemployeesatsomepointinthepast—say5or10yearsago—andprofiletheirtrajectorieswithintheorganizationorexit.Theunitofinterestisthusnotjustthosecurrentlyinemploymentassocialworkersinthehealthservices,butthosewhoareinsuchemploymentatanypointovertime.

Whetherthispotentialcouldinfactbeexploitedbytheresearchteamdependedcruciallyonwhatdataareroutinelycollectedinthecourseofadministeringthesystem,notablyitspayrollandHRfunction,andthewaythatinformationisrecordedandaccessed.Thisstudybeganbysettingoutthetypeofinformationthatmightpotentiallybeavailable,andexploringwithrelevantHSEstafftheextenttowhichcurrentdatasystemsallowedsuchinformationtobeproduced,iteratingtotheproductionandsupplyofavailableandaccessibledatatobedescribedshortly.Weareindebtedtothesestafffortheirunstintingco-operation,withoutwhichnoprogresswouldhavebeenpossible.Ouraimhasbeentoexamineanddiscussthedatasupplied,servingtobringouthowthisinformationsourcecanbedevelopedtoenableitspotentialtobemoreeffectivelyexploitedinthefuture.

The Information Sought/ProvidedInengagingwiththepotentialforextractionofrelevantdatafrompersonnel/administrativesystems,thefirstaimwas toseehowcomprehensiveapictureof thecurrentHSEsocialworkworkforceand theircareerswasattainable.Tothisend,informationwassoughttoenabletheprofilingoftheseemployeesintermsof:

• Currentage;

• Gender;

• CurrentGrade;

• Currentareaofwork–childprotection,mentalhealth,childandadolescenthealth,etc.;

• Qualifications.

Toenablethecareertrajectoryofcurrentstafftobetracked,informationwassoughton:

• DatejoinedtheHealthBoard/HSE;

• Pointonthescaleatwhichjoined;

• Previousareasofwork;

• Progressionthroughthegradestructuresincefirstemployed–numberofyearsspentateachgrade;

• Qualificationsonentryandthosesubsequentlyacquired,ifany.

Focusing not on current staff but on turnover/retention, informationwas sought on howmany socialworkersleftinthelastyear,lastthreeyears,lastfiveyearsandlasttenyears,andforeach,theirdistributionintermsofageandtheareaofactivityinwhichtheylastworked.Turnoverinagivenperiodindifferent

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areasofactivityandgeographicalareaswasalsoofinterest—thatis,howmanystaffwerereplacedinaparticularcommunitycareareaandareaofactivityinthepreviousyear,threeyearsandfiveyears.

ItbecameclearatanearlystageinthisphaseoftheresearchthattheHSE’sadministrativesystemswereinapositiontoaccessinformationfromPPARSonemployeesinmostoftheformerhealthboards,butnottheSouthorSouth-East.Thesocialworkerscoveredwouldbethoseemployedbytherelevanthealthboardonly (not forexample thoseemployedbyvoluntaryhospitals). Italsoemerged that theanalysiswouldnotbepossibleacrosstheHSEasawhole,butinformerhealthboards(coveredbythedata)sincethatwasthebasisonwhichtheadministrative/payrollsystemshadbeenconstructed.ThisalsomeantthatintermsofcareertrajectoriesthedateofjoiningorleavingtheHealthBoardinquestionwasavailable,butnotifthepersonmovedfromortoanotherHealthBoard.ItwasalsothecasethattheinformationavailablevariedacrosstheformerHealthBoards,andwasthusprovidedseparatelyfortheEasternRegionHealthArea(ERHA),theMidlands,NorthWestandMid-West,theNorthEastern,andtheWestern.Wenowdescribeandanalysetheinformationprovidedforeachoftheseinturn.

1. Data for the ERHAThedataprovidedfortheformerERHA,asfortheotherareastobediscussed,wasintheformofanumberofspreadsheets.TheseshowedfirstalistingofsocialworkstaffinHSEemployment(asoflate-2008)bygeographicallocation,grade,andcurrentpointonthesalaryscale.FromthisonecouldderivefirstthestaffprofilebygradeshowninTable1.Thegradecategoriesemployedwerenottransparent—forexamplethe distinction between “Professionally Qualified SocialWorker”, “SocialWorker”, and “SocialWorkerProfessionalGrade”.AtotalofN=382staffwereshown,ofwhomn=291(76%)wereinthecategory“Social Worker Professional Grade” and a further n = 64 (17%) were categorised as “ProfessionallyQualifiedSocialWorker”.Thelevelofresponsibilitywithinthesecategoriesmaypresumablyhavevariedsignificantly,andtheextentoftheteamleadershiprolesassumedbysocialworkstaffwasnotclear.TheN=382socialworkstaffcoveredbythedatadidnotappeartoincludequalifiedsocialworkstaffworkinginmanagementroles.ThusitwasdifficulttoachieveaclearpictureofthehierarchicalandteamstructureswithinwhichsocialworkwaspractisedintheHSE.

Table 1: ERHA Social Work Staff (Late-2008)Grade Number %Professionallyqualifiedsocialworker 64 16.8SocialCareLeader 3 0.8SocialWorker 9 2.4SocialWorker(non-professionallyqualified) 2 0.5SocialWorkerProfessionalGrade 291 76.2SocialWorkerHeadMedical 2 0.5SocialWorkerMedical 8 2.1SeniorSocialWorker 2 0.5SocialWorker,SeniorMedical 1 0.2Total 382 100

TheinformationprovidedoncurrentpointinthesalaryscalewasusedinTable2tolookatthedistributionoftheseN=382staffinthoseterms.Weseethat35%wereonpointsoneortwo,whileonly8%wereonthetoppointofthescale.Thissuggeststhatopportunitiesforgradeadvancementhadbeenavailablein

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recentyears—ahigherproportiononthetoppointmightbeacauseforconcerninthatrespect—althoughthatmaynotcontinuetobethecaseinthechangedeconomicenvironment;thesubstantialproportionattheintakelevelsuggeststhateffectiveincorporationofnewstaffintoexistingteamswaslikelytohavebeenasignificantchallenge.

Table 2: ERHA Social Work Staff by Point on Salary Scale Grade Point Number %1 59 15.62 73 19.23 53 13.94 46 12.15 43 11.36 22 5.87 52 13.78 32 8.4Total 380 100

Theresearcherswouldhave likedtoprofilecurrentstaffbyareaofactivity,butthedatasupplied listsstaffonlybygeographicallocation.However,whileactivitytypecouldbeinferredfromlocationinatleastsomecases,thiswouldonlyhavebeenpossibleonacase-by-casebasiswithdetailedknowledgeoftheactivitiescarriedoutindifferentcentres/locations.Thishighlightstheimportanceofhavinginformationonactivitytypedirectlyincludedinandavailablefromthedatabase.

Age and gender were not shown in the data supplied, though they are presumably recorded in theunderlyingdatabasesinsomeform.Asfarasqualificationsareconcerned,noinformationwasincluded,althoughinsomecasestheabsenceofaprofessionalsocialworkqualificationcanbeinferredfromthegradedescription.

Turningtoturnoverandretention,anotherofthespreadsheetsprovidedliststhoseleavingtheERHAovertheperiod2001-2008,atotalofN=575cases.Table3showsthedistributionofthesecasesbyyear,witharelativelyevenspreadovertheyearsupto2007,butasignificantdipin2008.Table4showstheagedistributionofthesecases,andtheywereheavilyconcentratedintheyoungerageranges,withonlyasmallproportionattributabletoretirementonagegrounds.However,theinterpretationofthesedataisproblematicbecauseinsomecasesthesameindividualwsshowntohaveleftonanumberofdifferentoccasions/dates—presumablysubsequentlybeingrehired—butalsobecausetransferringtoemploymentoutsidetheERHAwouldappeartobeincluded.

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Table 3: ERHA Social Work Staff Leaving 2001-2008Year Number %2008 42 7.32007 75 13.02006 74 12.92005 66 11.52004 84 14.62003 113 19.62002 84 14.62001 37 6.4Total 575 100

Table 4: ERHA Social Work Staff Leaving by Age, 2001-2008Age Number %Lessthan30 207 36.130—39 245 42.740-49 60 10.450-59 49 8.560+ 13 2.3Total 574 100

Finally, a spreadsheet showingdataonstaff “hires” since2000wasalsoprovided, showing thedateemploymentcommenced.ThiscoveredN=975cases,butwasagaincomplicatedbythefactthat“rehires”werecountedasseparatecasessothesameindividualoftenappearedanumberoftimes—onoccasion,asmanyasfour.Strippingtheseoutleftn=777individualcases,andTable5showstheseby“yearssincestarted”.However,itisnotclearhowthisistobeinterpreted,sincesomehaveleft—anditisyearsinHSEemploymentthatwouldbeofinterest.

Table 5: ERHA Social Work Staff “Hires” by “Years Since Started”, 2000-2008NumberofYears Number %0 38 4.91 72 9.32 85 10.93 75 9.74 103 13.25 61 7.86 143 18.47 147 18.98 53 6.8Total 777 100

Itwouldbeveryadvantageoustobeabletolinkthisinformationon“hires”totheinformationon“leavers”andtheassignmentofindividualcaseidentifiersinthesystem/spreadsheetsshouldmakethispossible.However,linkingthespreadsheetsasprovidedonacase-by-casebasiswouldbeacircuitousandtime-consumingwayofarrivingataonce-off linkage,withonly very limited informationoneachcase.Thisbringsoutthedesirabilityofdesigningthedatacapture,storageandretrievalsystemstoincorporatethefacilitytoanalysecareertrajectoriesovertimeforthecurrentstockofsocialworkstafflookingbackwardsandtotrackthosetrajectoriesgoingforward.

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2. Data for the Midlands, North-Western and Mid-Western Health BoardsWenowdescribeandexaminethedataprovided,againintheformofanumberofspreadsheets,fortheformerMidlands,North-WesternandWesternHealthBoardareas.Table6showsthestaffnumbers inlate-2008bygrade,coveringN=415socialworkstaff.ThegradecategoriesarenotidenticaltothoseusedintheERHA,butshowthatn=237outoftheN=415staff,or57%,wereshownas“SocialWorkerProfessionallyQualified”.Inthiscase“TeamLeaders”aredistinguishedandaccountforone-fifthofthetotal.

Table 6: M, N-W, M-W Social Work Staff Late-2008Grade Number %MWHBPrincipalSocialWorker 15 3.6MWHBSeniorSocialWorkPractitioner 12 2.9SocialWorkPractitionerSenior 16 3.9SocialWorker(non-professionallyqualified) 23 5.5SocialWorkerProfessionallyQualified 237 57.1PrincipalSocialWorker 12 2.9SocialWorkerPsychiatric 6 1.4SocialWorkerMedical 10 2.4SocialWorkerTeamLeader 84 20.2Total 415 100

ThedistributionofthesestaffbypointonthesalaryscaleisshowninTable7.IncontrasttotheERHA,amuchsmallerpercentageofsocialworkerswereonpointsoneortwo—only8%–whereasthemajoritywereonpoints7or8.ThisrepresentsaverydifferentprofileandmightbeexpectedtogiverisetodifferentchallengesfromamanagementandHRperspective.

Table 7: M, N-W, M-W Social Work Staff by Point on Salary ScaleGrade Point Number %1 16 3.92 18 4.33 23 5.54 27 6.55 28 6.86 43 10.47 139 33.58 108 26.09 7 1.710 6 1.4Total 415 100

Inthiscase,bothageandgenderwerealsoavailableinthedataprovided.OfthetotalofN=415,349or84%werefemaleandtheremaining66or16%weremale.Table8showsthatmostwereinthe30-49agerange,withonly12%under30and3%aged60orabove.

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Table 8: M, N-W, M-W Social Work Staff by AgeAge Number %Lessthan30 51 12.230—39 149 36.040-49 122 29.350-59 80 19.360+ 13 3.1Total 415 100

Focusingonareaofactivity,onceagainmoreinformationwasavailablethanwasthecasefortheERHA:caseswerelistedby“HSEServiceDepartment”.Whilethisprovidesafirmerbasisonwhichtoinferareaofactivityinmanycases,thereremainaconsiderablenumberofinstanceswherethiswouldbedonereliablyonlybysomeoneintimatelyfamiliarwiththedetailsoftheserviceprovisionstructureinthearea.Onceagain,enteringaflagvariableindicatingactivitytypeonthedatabasewouldbeextremelyvaluable.

Some information was also available and provided for these former health boards relating to careertrajectoriesintermsofgradesforcurrentstaff,showingdateemployedandgradeatthatpointandothergradessubsequentlyoccupied(ifany),togetherwithnumberofyearsateachgrade.Thisispresentedonacase-by-casebasisandwouldbecumbersometoanalyseinthatformat,butitcouldformthebasisofavaluableanalysisqueryingtheunderlyingdatabase.

Turningtoturnoverandretention,Table9showsthenumberleavingovertheperiodfrom2000to2008byage.Weseethatn=303staffareshowntohaveleft,andthatalmosttwo-thirdsofthesewereagedunder40withveryfewleavingonreachingretirementage.Onceagain,though,notknowingwhetherthesestaffhavetransferredtootherHSEareas,takenupothersocialworkemployment,orlefttheprofessionmakesithardtointerpretthesefiguresinsubstantiveterms.

Table 9: M, N-W, M-W Social Work Staff Leaving by Age, 2000-2008Age Number %Lessthan30 56 18.530—39 138 45.540-49 55 18.250-59 43 14.260+ 11 3.6Total 303 100

StaffturnovercanagainbeexploredusingdatasuppliedfortheseformerHealthboardareas.Table10showsthatatotalofn=501casesareshownontherelevantspreadsheet,withinthiscaseabouthalfbeingat least six years sincedateof employment.Onceagain, it is difficult to interpret thesefigureswithoutlinkingthemdirectlytowhichemployeeshavelefttheareaandwhichhavelefttheHSE.

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Table 10: M, N-W, M-W Social Work Staff “Hires” by “Years Since Started”, 2000-2008Number of Years Number %0 14 2.81 16 3.22 56 11.23 46 9.24 48 9.65 68 13.66 90 18.07ormore 162 32.3Total 501 100

3. Data for the North-Eastern Health BoardDatawasalsosupplied,separately,fortheformerNorth-EasternandtheWesternHealthBoards.ThesecoveredthemorelimitedinformationavailablefortheERHAratherthanthemoreextensivesetavailablefortheMidlands,North-WestandMid-Westareas.Thenumbersinvolvedweresmall,andthefiguresarepresentedherefortheformerNorth-Easternareainthissection,withthecorrespondingfiguresfortheWesternareainthefollowingsection.AtotalofN=52socialworkstaffwerereportedintheformerNorth-Easternarea,andTable11showstheirprofilebygrade.Whilethegrade/positioncategoriesareagaindifferent,almost70%areshownasinthe“SocialWorkerProfessionallyQualified”category.

Table 11: N-E Social Work Staff Late-2008Grade Number %SocialWorker(non-professionallyqualified) 1 1.9SocialWorkerProfessionallyQualified 36 69.2SocialWorkerMedical 4 7.7SocialWorkerSeniorMedical 8 15.4SocialWorker,SingleHanded 3 5.8Total 52 100

Table12showsthedistributionofthesestaffbypointonthesalaryscale,whereabout40%wereonthetoptwopointsandonlyasmallproportionwereonthefirst3points.

Table 12: N-E Social Work Staff by Point on Salary Scale Grade Point Number %1 2 3.82 5 9.63 2 3.84 9 17.35 8 15.36 5 9.67 14 26.98 7 13.5Total 52 100

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Ingenderterms,n=47oftheN=52staffwerewomen,withonlyfivemen.TheirageprofileisshowninTable13,whereweseethatmostwereinthe30-39rangeandveryfewwereaged50orover.

Table 13: N-E Social Work Staff by AgeAge Number %Lessthan30 10 19.230—39 33 63.540-49 7 13.550-59 1 1.960+ 1 1.9Total 52 100

Thespreadsheetprovidedon“leavers”since2001shows34cases,withtheiragedistributionasshowninTable14—withonlyasmallproportionareaged40orover.

Table 14: N-E Social Work Staff “Leavers” 2001-2008 by AgeAge Number %Lessthan30 12 35.330—39 16 47.140-49 3 8.850-59 4 11.860+ 0 0Total 34 100

Theseparatespreadsheetprovidedshowing“hires”overthesameperiodcoversn=86cases,mostlydifferentindividualsratherthanrehires.

4. Data for the Western Health BoardThecorrespondingfiguresfortheformerWesternHealthBoardareashowatotalofN=65socialworkstaffinemploymentinlate2008,andtheirdistributionacrossthegradesisgiveninTable15.Inthiscaseabout70%areinthe“SocialWorkerProfessionallyQualified”category,witharelativelyhighproportion—35%—eitherMedicalSocialWorkersorSeniorMedicalSocialWorkers.

Table 15: Western Social Work Staff Late-2008Grade Number %SocialWorker(non-professionallyqualified) 1 1.5SocialWorkerProfessionallyQualified 40 61.5SocialWorkerMedical 15 23.1SocialWorkerSenior 1 1.5SocialWorkerSeniorMedical 8 12.3Total 65 100

Table16showsthedistributionofthesestaffbypointonthesalaryscale,withabout45%onthetoptwopointsandonceagainonlyasmallproportiononthefirst3points.

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Table 16: Western Social Work Staff by Point on Salary ScaleGrade Point Number %1 2 3.12 5 7.73 7 10.84 5 7.75 8 12.36 8 12.37 21 32.38 9 13.8Total 65 100

Ingenderterms,n=58oftheN=65staffwerewomen,withonlysevenmen.TheirageprofileisshowninTable17.Amajoritywereinthe30-39rangeandveryfewwereaged50orover.

Table 17: Western Social Work Staff by AgeAge Number %Lessthan30 13 20.030—39 34 52.340-49 12 18.550-59 5 7.760+ 1 1.5Total 65 100

Thespreadsheetprovidedon“leavers”since2001showsn=54cases;theiragedistributionisshowninTable18,with70%agedunder40.

Table 18: Western Social Work Staff “Leavers” 2001-2008 by AgeAge Number %Lessthan30 21 38.930—39 17 31.540-49 4 7.450-59 8 14.860+ 4 7.4Total 54 100

Thespreadsheetprovidedshowing“hires”overthesameperiodcomprisesn=120cases,mostlydifferentindividualsratherthanrehires.

Overall Patterns Given the limitations of the data collected, discussed inmore detail below, it is hard to present anysignificantfindingshere fromtheanalysis.However,someroughpatternsdoemergewhichshouldbenoted.Firstly thegenderdistributionof thesocialworkers in thesedatashow them tobe in linewithnationalfiguresforsocialworkersinIrelandin2005(NSWQB,2006)of83%femaleand17%male,andwithinternationalfigureswhereadivideof80:20isthenormintheUS(Kang&Krysik,2010).Anotherpatternistherelativelyyoungageoftheworkers,withthemajorityofthoserecordedinpostintheperiod2001-2008beingunder40andthoseleavingtheirpostswiththebiggestgroupofleaversbeingthose

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between30-39yearsofage.Giventhelimitationsofanyfurtherpossibleanalysis,therestofthissectionwillfocusonadiscussiononthepotentialforthistypeofdatainofferingclearevidenceofcurrentmobilitywithintheprofessionandasameanswherebytheimpactofanynewretentioninitiativecouldbefullyevaluatedusingrobustdata.

Developing the Potential of Administrative Data on Social WorkersWebeganthisdiscussionbypointingtowhatcouldideallybedonewithadministrativedata:totracktheevolutionovertimeofthecareersofthosetakingupemploymentassocialworkerswiththeHSE,howlongtheyserveinparticularrolesandlocationsandwhenthosechange,howmanyleavefromdifferentrolesandareas,andperhapsevenwhatemploymentifanytheyhadonleaving.Theextentofmobilitybothgeographicallyandacrossareasofworkcouldbetracked,andareaswhereretentionappearstobeaparticularproblemidentified.Theimmediateaimoftheprojecthasbeentoinvestigatethecurrentsituationwithrespect toadministrativedataonsocialwork,with thecooperationofHSEstaffwithoutwhichitwouldnothavebeenpossible.Havingsetoutandexaminedherethetypeofinformationthatiscurrentlyavailable;thisfallsshortofwhatcouldpotentiallybeproducedfromsuchadministrativedata.WeconcludebyhighlightingsomekeyconsiderationsinthinkingabouthowbesttodevelopthesesourcessotheycanbetterservetheanalyticalandplanningneedsoftheHSE,aswellasthebroaderresearchandpolicycommunitymoregenerally.

Asnotedearlier,whethersuchinformationcanbeproduceddependscruciallyfirstonpreciselywhatdataareroutinelycollectedinthecourseofadministeringthesystem,notablyitspayrollandHRfunction,butadditionallyonthewayinformationisrecordedandaccessed.ThefirstrequirementisthatthismustcovertheentireHSEinaconsistentharmonizedfashion.Thisisclearlyamajorchallenge,giventhelegacyofhealthboard-specificsystems,butitishardtoseehowsuitabledataonthesocialworkworkforceasawholecanbeproducedotherwise.Secondly,theneedforharmonizeddataatoutputstagemeansnotonlythattheinformationobtainedatinputstagemustcoverthesametopics,butthatthewayitisrecordedandstoredintermsofcategoriesemployed—forexamplethegradeandroleoftheemployee—mustalsobe consistent. Furthermore, if the area of activity inwhich the socialworker is engaged is of centralinterest,thenthismustalsobeenteredontothedatarecord,againinafashionthatisconsistentacrossdifferentpartsofthecountry.

Thewayinformationisstoredandaccessedisalsocriticallyimportant.Wehaveemphasizedtheimportanceofnotonlybeingabletoprofilethecurrentworkforce,butalsobeingabletomeasureand investigateretentionandexits.Tobeabletostudyandunderstandcareerchoices,both“hires”and“leavers”havetobetracked,soonecanseeforexamplenotonlytheageatwhichstaffexit,butalsotheareaofworktheywereengagedin.Inadditiontothenatureoftheinformationrecorded,though,thedataalsohastobestoredandaccessedinawaywhichenablesdifferentanalyticalperspectivestobeadopted—toidentify,forexample,allthoseleavingoveraperiodofyearsandnotrehired.Itwouldalsobeveryuseful,wherepossible;torecordonexitanyinformationavailableastowhetherthepersonwasgoingtoanothersocialworkrolewithadifferentemploymentversusnotworking.AnalysisacrosstheHSEasawholeisclearlyessentialiftrue“exits”fromthepublicsocialworkservicearetobedistinguishedfromtransfersacrossformerhealthboards.

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Thepotentialvalueofdatafromadministrativesourcesisgreat.Toenablethispotentialtobefulfilled,itisessentialthatfirstaclearspecificationofwhatonewouldwanttoknowissetout.Giventhatspecification,enhancingthedatacurrentlyobtainedandtheprogrammingandotheraspectsofstorageandretrievalcanbecomeaprojectinitself,withprogresstobeachievedoveraperiodbutaroad-mapavailableatanearlystage.Itishopedthatthediscussionandanalysisinthepresentreportservestohighlightthevalueofsuchanenterpriseandprovidesapointofdeparture.

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5. Quantitative Findings Inreportingthefindingsfromthequantitativequestionnaires,theanalysisofthestudentandprofessionalcohortswillbepresentedseparately.Anypatternsorcomparisonswillbediscussedinalatersection.

A. Student Cohort

Demographic DetailsAtotalofN=123studentsfromfouruniversities(NUIG,UCC,UCDandTCD)tookpartinthisphase.Thisrepresented74%ofthetotalpopulationacrossthefourinstitutions.Datawerecollectedfromfivesamplegroupsintotal,studentswhowerestudyingforeitherapostgraduatequalificationoranundergraduatequalificationinsocialwork.ResponseratesacrosseachofthefiveprogrammesarereportedinTable19below,andtheresponseraterangedfrom44%to92%.

ThissamplegroupwasmadeupofN=101femaleandN=21maleparticipants(oneparticipantdidnotidentifytheirgender).Themeanage(M)oftheoverallgroupwas25.77years,withtheagerangebeing17-55years.Withinthisgroup,9.9%ofthesampleweremarried,62.8%weresingle,1.7%weredivorced,and0.8%wereseparatedand24%reportedbeinginalongtermrelationship.Oftheparticipants,81.9%hadnochildren,7.4%hadonechild,3.2%hadtwochildren,6.4%hadthreechildrenand1.1%hadfourchildren.Theageofthechildrenrangedfrom6weeksto32years.Accordingtoparticipantresponses,86.2%wereborninIreland,0.8%ofthesamplegroupreportedbeingborninCanada,1.6%wereborninEngland,0.8%wereborninItalyandalsoinNorthernIreland,4.9%wereborninNigeriaandfinally,2.4%werebornintheUSA.

Table 19: Key demographics for each university sample (N = 123)University Sample % Gender Age Country of birthNUIG 44% 1male

7femaleM=25.5yrs,Sd=1.77Range=23—29yrs

Ireland=100%

UCC 51% 3male22female

M=23.12yrs,Sd=2.94Range=20—31yrs

Ireland=92%USA=4%

TCD(PG) 90% 1male22female1missing

M=27.43yrs,Sd=6.08Range=21-44yrs

Ireland=79.2%OtherEngland=4.2%USA=12.5%

TCD(UG) 92% 6male20female

M=25.34yrs,Sd=11.26Range=17—55yrs

Ireland=96.2%Nigeria=3.8%

UCD 90% 10male30female

M=26.77yrsSd=5.92Range=21—46yrs

Ireland=77.5%England=2.5%Italy=2.5%N.Ireland=2.5%Nigeria=12.5%

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Having looked at the demographics of the entire participant group, Table 19 above also displays keydemographicsforthesamplegroupswhichrepresenteachoftheuniversitytrainingprogrammes.However,fromthispointon,theresultspresentedinthisreportwillbebasedontheentiresamplegroupandwillnotbebrokendownintorespectiveuniversitygroups.

Responses regarding Current Training ProgrammeResponsestothequestion‘which of the components of your social work programme do you think will be most valuable in preparing you for a career in social work’, revealed that a significantmajority ofrespondents(n=109participants,93.2%)feltthatsupervisedplacementswouldbemostvaluableascomparedwitheightothers(6.8%)whobelievedthatuniversitycourseworkwouldbemostvaluabletothem.Bycomparison, responses to thequestion ‘on this course which of the following proportions of course work and supervised practice placements do you think would best prepare you to practice as a Professionally Qualified Social Worker?’wereslightly lessdefinitive.Nonetheless thefindings revealedthatthemostcommonresponsewasfora50:50structure:n=26participants(21.1%)optedforOptionA(25%universitycoursework:75%supervisedplacements),n=92participants(74.8%)optedforOptionB(50%universitycoursework:50%supervisedplacements)andfiveparticipants(4.1%)optedforOptionC(75%universitycoursework:25%supervisedplacements).

Thesamplegroupwerealsoaskedhowstressfultheyexpectedthesocialworkprogrammetobe,with‘1’indicatinglowstressand‘10’indicatinghighstress.Fromtheresponsesgiventothisquestion(n=121),themeanscorewas7.54(SD=1.45)withscoresrangingfrom2—10,suggestingthatmoderatelyhighstresslevelswereexpected.

Participantswerenextaskedtoratetherelevanceofarangeoftopicsgenerallycoveredaspartofsocialworktraininginpreparingthemforacareerinsocialwork,witharatingof‘1’indicatinglittlerelevanceand‘10’indicatingmostrelevance.Resultsfromdescriptiveanalysisreportedthatanoverallmeanscoreof7.98(SD=1.06)emerged,whichsuggeststhatmoststudentsconsideredthecoursetopicsingeneraltobevery relevant in theirpreparation forsocialwork.Table20below indicates themeanscores forparticipantsoneachoftheareaswithinthesocialworktrainingprogramme.Itisnotedthatnoneoftheareashadameanratinglowerthan6.9,suggestingthattherewasnoevidencethatareaswereseenasbeingirrelevanttoworkingasasocialworker.However,itisclearthatareassuchaschildprotectionandwelfarewereseenasveryrelevant,aswerecounsellingandpracticeskills.

Table 20: Participants mean scores for each area within the social work training programme N Min Max Mean SDChildprotectionandwelfare 121 4.00 10.00 9.0992 1.24100

Counselling/practiceskills 121 4.00 10.00 8.8595 1.37420

Crime,socialjusticeandprobation 121 4.00 10.00 7.7934 1.59121

Healthanddisabilitystudies 121 3.00 10.00 7.3471 1.66188

Humanbehaviour(psychology) 121 4.00 10.00 8.2562 1.63059

Mentalhealthandhealthpromotion 121 4.00 10.00 7.8347 1.52396

Lawforsocialworkers 121 4.00 10.00 8.6860 1.39064

Socialpolicy 117 2.00 10.00 7.2479 1.89330

Socialworkresearch 121 3.00 10.00 6.9256 1.78029

Socialworktheoriesandmodels 121 3.00 10.00 8.1240 1.59985

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Student Perceptions of Professional Social WorkFollowingonfromthis,participantswereaskedtoindicatethe‘LevelofProfessionalExpertise’thattheyfeltaprofessionallyqualifiedsocialworkerwouldneedtooperateeffectivelyinanumberofareas.Inthissituation ‘1’was indicativeof littleexpertise,while ‘10’ indicatedthemostexpertise.Resultsshowed,thatonaverageparticipantsreportedthatahighlevelofexpertisewouldbeneededgenerallyacrosstheareas(M=8.18,SD=1.13).Table21reportstheratingsgivenforarangeofareaswithinprofessionalsocialworkandakeypatternisthatnoareareceivedaratinglowerthan7.5.However,itisnotablethathighratingsweregiventocommunitycare(childProtection&welfare),childandadolescentmentalhealthservicesandspecialistchildservices(fosteringandadoption).

Table 21: Participants mean scores for levels of expertise in areas of social work N Minimum Maximum Mean SDAddictionservices-alcoholanddrugs 123 4.00 10.00 8.2846 1.47948

Communitycare-childprotection&welfare 123 5.00 10.00 8.8537 1.25895

Specialistchildservicesi.e.fosteringandadoption 122 4.00 10.00 8.5082 1.33761

Disabilitylearningdisability 123 3.00 10.00 7.7236 1.57491

Disabilityphysicaldisability 121 3.00 10.00 7.6033 1.65569

Generalmedical-hospitalbased 123 4.00 10.00 7.9593 1.37542

Mentalhealth-adultpsychiatry 123 5.00 10.00 8.4878 1.26339

Probationandwelfareservices 123 4.00 10.00 8.1301 1.43698

Childandadolescentmentalhealthservices 123 5.00 10.00 8.6504 1.22128

Specialistagerelatedservices(olderpeople) 123 3.00 10.00 7.5772 1.62465

Participantswere then invited to indicate the level of ‘Job Satisfaction’ that they felt a professionallyqualifiedsocialworkerwouldderivefromworkingineachoftheareas.With‘1’representinglowlevelsofjobsatisfactionand‘10’indicatingthehighestlevels,theoverallmeanforthisquestionemergedas6.96(SD=1.29),suggestingmoderatetohighjobsatisfactiononaverage.Participants’meanscoresforeachareaaredisplayedinTable22below.Akeypatternistheconsistencyinthemeanratingsofthe10areas(rangesfrom6.5to7.6),suggestingthatnooneareaisratedasinherentlymoresatisfyingthatothers.

Table 22: Participants mean scores for job satisfaction in areas of social work N Minimum Maximum Mean SDAddictionservices-alcoholanddrugs 122 2.00 10.00 6.8197 1.71535

Communitycare-childprotection&welfare 122 2.00 10.00 7.0000 1.94978

Specialistchildservicesi.e.fosteringandadoption 122 3.00 10.00 7.6475 1.61051

Disabilitylearningdisability 121 1.00 10.00 7.0579 1.98031

Disabilityphysicaldisability 122 2.00 10.00 6.9098 1.87636

Generalmedical-hospitalbased 121 3.00 10.00 6.9504 1.60131

Mentalhealth-adultpsychiatry 122 1.00 10.00 6.6803 1.63771

Probationandwelfareservices 122 1.00 10.00 6.5820 1.83105

Childandadolescentmentalhealthservices 121 2.00 10.00 7.0000 1.70783

Specialistagerelatedservices(olderpeople) 122 2.00 10.00 6.8279 1.88378

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Thenextareafocusedoninthequestionnaireconcernedstudents’perceptionsofwork-relatedstress.Specifically,studentswereaskedtoindicatethelevelof‘Work-RelatedStress’thattheyfeltaprofessionallyqualified social workerwould experience in each of the areas,with ‘1’ indicating low stress and ‘10’indicatinghighstress.Theoverallmeanscoreonaveragewas7.13(SD=1.05),suggestingmoderatelyhighstress.

Table23belowdisplays participantsmean scores for their perception of socialworkers’work-relatedstressindifferentworkareas.Itisinterestingtonotethatthiscategoryshowedthemostvariationacrossthe10areasoftheprofession.Theareaofphysicaldisabilityhasthelowestlevelofperceivedstress(5.9),whilechildprotectionandwelfarehadthehigheststressrating(8.7).

Table 23: Participants mean scores for work related stress in areas of social work N Minimum Maximum Mean SDAddictionservices-alcoholanddrugs 123 4.00 10.00 7.2927 1.55622

Communitycare-childprotection&welfare 123 4.00 10.00 8.7480 1.34648

Specialistchildservicesi.e.fosteringandadoption 121 3.00 10.00 7.1901 1.65989

Disabilitylearningdisability 123 2.00 10.00 6.1220 1.72534

Disabilityphysicaldisability 122 1.00 10.00 5.9016 1.76939

Generalmedical-hospitalbased 122 2.00 10.00 7.1066 1.70951

Mentalhealth-adultpsychiatry 122 2.00 10.00 7.5164 1.62742

Probationandwelfareservices 122 2.00 10.00 7.6230 1.60746

Childandadolescentmentalhealthservices 121 4.00 10.00 7.7273 1.45488

Specialistagerelatedservices(olderpeople) 121 1.00 10.00 5.9339 1.82910

Pre-Training ExperiencesThenextpartofthesurveyexploredtheparticipants’experiencesintheirworkplacesbeforestartingtheirMaster’sorundergraduatesocialworkcourses. Inparticular, thesequestions related to their feelingsandthoughtsduringthemonthbeforetheycompletedoursurvey.Ifparticipantswerenotworkingpriortobeginningthecourse,theywereaskedtoanswerinrelationtotheexperiencesoftheirmostrecentlyheldposition.Table24belowrevealstheresults.Itisnotedthatformanyofthenegativelywordedstatements,responses such as ‘Never’ or ‘AlmostNever’weremost common.However exceptions to this patternincludedthequestion“In the last month, how often have you felt that you didn’t have enough time to finish your work?”,“In the last month, how often did you feel that you were unable to use certain skills?”and“In the last month, how often have you felt stressed because of things happening at work?”,eachofwhichshowedhigherratingsforresponsesof‘Sometimes’and‘FairlyOften’.

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Table 24: Participants scores relating to previous workplace experiencesNever Almost

NeverSometimes Fairly

OftenVery Often

In the last month, how often have you felt unable to complete the tasks in your job? N = 122

25.20.5%

48.39.3%

43.35.2%

4.3.3%

2.1.6%

In the last month, how often have you felt that you didn’t have enough time to finish your work? N = 120

20.16.7%

27.22.5%

46.38.4%

24.20%

3.2.5%

In the last month, how often have you felt unclear about what to do in your job? N = 122

22.18%

48.39.3%

34.27.9%

15.12.3%

3.2.5%

In the last month, how often have you felt that your role conflicted with others in the workplace? N = 122

22.23%

39.32%

37.30.3%

15.12.3%

3.2.5%

In the last month, how often have you had to explain to others what you do? N = 120

17.14.2%

36.30%

42.35%

17.14.2%

8.6.7%

In the last month, how often have you considered leaving your current job? N = 119

42.35.3%

22.18.5%

32.26.9%

13.10.9%

10.8.4%

In the last month, how often have you felt that your work has not been adequately acknowledged? N = 121

24.19.8%

32.26.4%

36.29.8%

18.14.9%

11.9.1%

In the last month, how often did you feel confident in making certain job decisions? N = 122

23 18.9%

53.43.4%

36.29.5%

9.7.4%

1.0.8%

In the last month, how often did you feel that you were unable to use certain skills? N = 122

10.8.2%

39.32%

52.42.6%

17.13.9%

4.3.3%

In the last month, how often have you felt stressed because of things happening at work? N = 120

12.10%

20.16.7%

51.42.5%

29.24.2%

8.6.7%

In the last month, how often have you felt that things were going your way? N = 120

8.6.7%

40.33.3%

59.49.2%

10.8.3%

3.2.5%

In the last month, how often have you felt unable to overcome the problems at work? N = 122

26.21.3%

46.37.7%

34.27.9%

12.9.8%

4.3.3%

In the last month, how often have you found yourself worrying about work at home? N = 122

19.15.6%

37.30.3%

36.29.5%

23.18.9%

7.5.7%

Participants were also asked about their use of different coping strategies (based on Carver’s Brief Cope Scale, 1997). Table 25 below reports the responses to each of the statements. Within the literature methods of coping include emotion-focused (e.g. seeking support from others), solution-focused (e.g. tackling the difficulty) and avoidant-based (e.g. I try to forget about it) approaches. Using this framework, we can see that support-based strategies such as getting support from friends, family and colleagues (reported fairly often/often by approximately 50% of the sample) are reported more frequently that seeking formal support or approaching a supervisor or manager (reported fairly often/often by 16% and 35% of the sample respectively). However, it should be noted that this may be a function of the settings the students are remembering when reporting their experiences. On a positive note, avoidant strategies such as giving up, use of drugs and alcohol, blaming others and making jokes are less common than solution-focused strategies such as dealing with the circumstances, identifying new strategies and reflecting on the situation before acting. Nevertheless, it should be noted that avoidant-based approaches such as turning to other activities and ‘switching off at the end of the day’ are still relatively common (reported fairly often/often by 70% and 60% of the sample respectively)

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Table 25: Responses on use of coping strategiesNever Almost

NeverSometimes Fairly

OftenVery Often

IturntoactivitiesoutsideofworktotakemymindoffthingsN=122

2.4%(3)

4.9%(6)

20.3%(25)

43.1%(53)

28.5%(35)

Idrinkalcohol/takedrugsinordertothinkaboutitlessN=122

39%(48)

32.5%(40)

19.5%(24)

6.5%(8)

1.6%(2)

ItrytotakeadayoffworksoIcanjustrelaxN=121

22%(27)

35%(43) 33.3%(41)

6.5%(8)

1.6%(2)

IturntosupportfromothercolleaguesatworkN=122

6.5%(8)

15.4%(19)

28.5%(35)

38.2%(47)

10.6%(13)

Irequestmoresupervision/formalsupportN=120

25.2%(31)

25.2%(31)

30.9%(38)

13%(16)

3.3%(4)

IrelyonsupportfrommyfriendsandfamilyN=121

3.3%(4)

11.4%(14)

32.5%(40)

26.8%(33)

24.4%(30)

ItrytodealwiththecircumstancesofthesituationN=122

0%(0)

4.1%(5)

17.9%(22)

61%(75)

16.3%(20)

ItrytocomeupwithnewstrategiestodealwiththeproblemN=122

1.6%(2)

7.3%(9)

34.1%(42)

42.3%(52)

13.8%(17)

Iapproachmymanager/supervisorN=120

4.9%(6)

15.4%(19)

41.5%(51)

26.8%(33)

8.9%(11)

ImakejokesaboutthesituationN=122

22%(27)

19.5%(24)

34.1%(42)

15.4%(19)

8.1%(10)

IgiveuptryingtodealwithitN=121

39%(48)

43.1%(53)

13.8%(17)

1.6%(2)

0.8%(1)

IblamemyselfforthingsthathavehappenedN=121

22%(27)

29.3%(36)

39.8%(49)

6.5%(8)

0.8%(1)

IreflectonthesituationcarefullybeforedecidingwhattodoN=121

1.6%(2)

4.1%(5)

34.1%(42)

42.3%(52)

16.3%(20)

IprayormeditateN=121

49.6%(61)

17.1%(21)

15.4%(19)

6.5%(8)

9.8%(12)

Iacceptwhathashappenedanddon’tattempttocopewithitN=121

30.1%(37)

41.5%(51)

18.7%(23)

7.3%(9)

0.8%(1)

ItrytorealisethatitisnotmyfaultN=121

4.1%(5)

6.5%(8)

44.7%(55)

33.3%(41)

9.8%(12)

IunderstandthatIhaveachoiceandthereforecanchoosetoseekemploymentelsewhereN=120

9.8%(12)

24.4%(30)

35.8%(44)

14.6%(18)

13%(16)

ItrytothinkaboutitpositivelyN=121

0.8%(1)

1.6%(2)

30.1%(37)

39.8%(49)

26%(32)

IblameothersforwhathashappenedN=121

33.3%(41)

30.9%(38)

30.9%(38)

3.3%(4)

0%0

IjustswitchoffattheendofthedayandtrytoleaveworkatworkN=121

0%0

10.6%(13)

28.5%(35)

30.1%(37)

29.3%(36)

ItrytofocusonmyownprofessionalandpersonaldevelopmentN=122

0.8%(1)

1.6%(2)

30.9%(38)

44.7%(55)

21.1%(26)

Thenextpartofthesurveyfocusedonresponsesthatstudentswerereceivingfromdifferentgroupsontheirdecisiontotrainassocialworkers.Specifically,studentswereaskedto indicatetheseresponseson a scale from1—10,with ‘1’ representing very negative responses fromothers and ‘10’ indicatingverypositiveresponses.Table26belowdisplaysthemeanresponseforeachtypeofgroup,alongwithstandarddeviation,rangeandthenumberofresponsesreceived.Thelowerresponseratestothelast

34

twocategoriesrepresentthesmallernumberofrespondentswhoworkedalongsidesocialworkersorwithclientspriortotraining.Itisnotedthatalloftheratingsarerelativelyhigh;howeveritisclearthatfamilyandfriendswerereportedasbeingmostsupportiveofthedecisiontotrainasasocialworker.

Table 26: Frequencies scores for responses from groups to social work trainingGroup N Mean SD RangeFamily 123 8.29 1.91 1-10Friends 123 8.01 1.76 3-10Non-SWcolleaguesatwork 122 7.20 2.00 2-10Socialworkcolleaguesatwork 64 7.67 2.15 2-10Theclientsyouareworkingwith 68 6.91 2.12 1-10

Work Plans during and after TrainingAspartofthesurvey,studentswereaskediftheywereplanningtoundertakepaidworkwhileattendingtheirprofessionalsocialworkprogramme.Theresults thatemergedsuggestedthat justoverhalf (n=69,56.1%)wouldtakeonwork,n=31participants(25.2%)wouldnotandn=23(18.7%)didnotknow.Whilethequestionwasaskedaboutwork ingeneral,participantswereaskedto indicatewhattypeofworktheyplannedtoundertake.Areviewoftheresponsessuggeststhat,whilesomewouldworkinnon-relatedsettings(e.g.barwork,salesetc)themajorityreferredtosocialcareworkincludingresidentialcare,homelessservices,anddisability.Inaddition,n=85respondents(92.4%)alsostatedthatthepaidemploymenttheywereundertakingwasduetofinancialnecessity,whilen=6(6.5%)statedthatitwastogainmoreexperience.Also,theresultsofthissurveyrevealedthatoutoftheN=123studentswhoresponded,n=2(1.6%)wereinreceiptoffinancialsecondmentfromanagencythatrequiredthemtoreturntoworkasasocialworkerinthatagencyaftergraduation,withtheremainingn=121(98.4%)notinreceiptofthissecondment.

Participantswereaskedonhowmanyyearstheyenvisagedworkingasaprofessionallyqualifiedsocialworker.Table27belowdisplaystheseresultsandsuggeststhatjustoverhalfofthegroupplannedtostayintheprofessionformorethan20years,withonlyarelativelysmallproportionplanningonstayingforlessthan10years.

Table 27: Frequency scores for participants’ expectation to stay in social work Time planned to be spent in social work Frequency (N = 122) Percent

5-10years 16 13.0

10-15years 23 18.7

15-20years 21 17.1

20years+ 62 50.4

Studentswerethenasked,iftheyweretoleavetheprofession,whatworktheythoughttheywouldliketodo.TheresultsfromthefrequencyanalysisrunontheN=121responsesgiventothisquestionsuggestedthat the largestgroupof respondentsn=53 (43.8%)wouldmove intoprivatepractice,whilen=33(26.8%)wouldmoveintosocialworkmanagement.Justover10%(n=13,10.6%)wouldhaveacompletechangeofcareerandtheremainingparticipants(n=22,17.9%)reportedtheywouldengagein‘other’activities.Studentsinthissamplegroupwerealsoaskediftheyhadanyplanstoworkasaqualifiedsocial

35

workeroutsideofIrelandafterqualifying.OftheN=123participantswhoansweredthisquestion,justoverhalf(n=67,54.5%)reportedyes,withn=14(11.4%)reportingtheyhadnosuchplansandn=42(34.1%)unsureiftheywouldworkoutsideIrelandornot.

Thefinalpartofthissurveyaskedtheparticipantstothinkaboutwhichareasofsocialworktheywouldliketoworkininthelong-term.Table28below,displaysthefrequencydistributionofresponsestothisquestion. Themost commonly reported areas of plannedwork included child protection andwelfare,generalmedicalsocialwork,andspecialistservicesforchildrenandolderadults.Lessfrequentlyreportedareasincludeddisabilityservicesandchildandadolescentmentalhealthservices.

Table 28: Frequency distribution of responses to areas participants would like to work inArea N %AddictionServices—Alcohol&Drugs 122 Yes=39

No=833268

CommunityCare—ChildProtection&Welfare 122 Yes=64No=54

55.744.3

SpecialistChild-focusedServices 122 Yes=47No=75

38.561.5

Disability-LearningDisability 122 Yes=18 No=104

14.885.2

Disability-PhysicalDisability 121 Yes=12No=109

9.990.1

GeneralMedical(HospitalBased) 122 Yes=50No=72

41.959.0

MentalHealth(AdultPsychiatry) 122 Yes=30No=90

24.675.4

Child&AdolescentMentalHealthServices 122 Yes=16No=106

13.186.9

SpecialistAgeRelatedServices(OlderPeople)

122 Yes=43No=79

35.264.2

Probation&WelfareServices 122 Yes=34No=88

27.972.1

36

B. Professional Cohort Findings

Demographic detailsThesample(N=182)ofsocialworkerswhocompletedthisquestionnairecomprisedn=36maleandn=146female,agedincategoriesfrombetween20-25yearsoldto61-65yearsold.Table29belowdisplaysthefrequencyandthepercentageofrespondentswithineachagecategory,withthe30-35yearoldagegroupbeingslightlymorecommon.

Table 29: Frequency and percentage of respondents within each category (n = 182)Age category Frequency Percentage20—25years 5 2.726—30years 34 18.731—35years 41 22.536—40years 23 12.641—45years 24 13.246—50years 23 12.651—55years 21 11.556—60years 9 4.961—65years 2 1.1

Themajority of the sample reported beingmarried (n = 80, 44%), with n = 52 (28.6%) being singleparticipants,n=36(19.8%)inlongtermrelationships,n=7(3.8%)separated,n=4(2.2%)divorced,andn=3(1.6%)widowed.Themajorityofthegroup,(53.2%)suppliedaresponseof‘n/a’whenaskedthenumberofchildrentheyhad.Ofthosewhohadchildren,theagerangeextendedfromthreemonthsto38years.ThelargestgroupofrespondentslivedinDublin(n=48,26.4%).AmongsomeoftheothercountiesrepresentedwereCork(byn=27participants(14.8%)),Sligobyn=9(4.9%),Limerickbyn=8(4.4%)andGalwaybyn=5(2.7%).

Current WorkTable30belowdisplays theamountof time respondentshavespentso far in full timeandpart timeemploymentinsocialwork.Itisclearthatthesamplerepresentsabroadrangeoflevelsofexperiencefromlessthanoneyearuptoandahighof37years.

Table 30: Amount of time spent in full time and part time employment (n = 176)Full time Freq (n=176) Full time % Part time Freq (n=58) Part time %

Never

1yrorUnder

2—5years

6—10years

11—20years

21yearsplus

1

6

45

55

48

21

0.5

3.3

24.7

30.1

26.1

11.2

17

8

13

11

5

4

29.3

13.8

22.4

18.9

8.6

6.8

The variety in the group is further stressed when the areas in which respondents are working wasconsidered.Thefollowingtable(Table31)displaystheareasthatcurrentrespondentscurrentlyworkin,withcommunitycarebeingthesinglebiggestgroupatalmost45%ofthesample.Inexplainingwhytheparticipantschosetoworkintheareastheyarecurrentlyin,themostcommonresponsewas‘interest’.

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Table 31: The respondents’ current areas of work (n = 182)Area Frequency PercentageAddiction

Communitycare

Specialisedchild-focused

Disability—learning

Disability—physical

Generalmedical

Mentalhealth—adult

Childandadolescentmentalhealth

Specialistagerelatedservices

Other

6

81

13

4

3

13

27

5

9

21

3.3

44.5

7.1

2.2

1.6

7.1

14.8

2.7

4.9

11.5

Thenextquantitativequestionthatwasaskedconcernedtheimpactoftheeconomyonsocialworkers’currentsituations.Examiningtheresponsesitwasrevealedthatthemajorityofrespondents(n=121,66.5%)reportedthatitishavinga‘significantnegativeimpact’.Thisfigurecanbecomparedwithn=59(32%)whoreporteditwashavinga‘somewhatnegative’impactandn=2(1.1%)whostatedthatitwashaving‘noimpact’ontheircurrentworksituation.

Inresponsetoaquestionregardingexperienceofworkinginothercountries,justoverhalfofthesamplereportedthattheyhadnotworkedabroad(n=92;50.5%), incomparisonton=23(12.6%)whohadworkedabroad.(Thisquestiondidnotapplyton=66(36.3%)ofrespondents).Ofthosewhohadworkedabroad,thecountriesconcernedwere:Scotland,Australia,England,Brazil,Canada,Belgium,SouthAfrica,NorthernIreland,Germany,Greece,USA,theNetherlands,Kenya,NewZealandandWales.Thetimespentabroadrangedfrombetweensixmonthsto18years.Whenthissub-sample(n=44)wasaskedwhethertheyfoundanydifferencesbetweentheirexperienceofworkingabroadandthatofworkinginIreland,themajorityofrespondentsinthiscaseresponded‘yes’(n=41)withn=3responding‘no’.

Havinglookedattheparticipantprofile,attentionwillnowbeturnedtotheresultsoftheirscoresonthequantitativeelementsofthesurvey.

Perceptions of Professional Social WorkAswiththestudentcohort,participantsfromtheprofessionalcohortwereaskedaseriesofquestionsinrelationtotheirperceptionsofsocialworkitself.Firstly,participantswereaskedtoindicatethe‘LevelofProfessionalExpertise’thattheyfeltasocialworkerneedstooperateeffectivelyinanumberofareas(Table 32). As before, ‘1’ was indicative of ‘little expertise’, while ‘10’ indicated the ‘most expertise’.Results showed that on average participants reported amoderately high level of expertise would beneededgenerallyacrossallareas(M=7.24;SD=1.98);withthehighestlevelofexpertiserequiredbeingattributedtothatofcommunitycare.Thisisaninterestingpointasthisiswherethemajorityofthesamplecurrentlyworks.

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Table 32: Participants mean scores for levels of expertise in areas of social work N Minimum Maximum Mean SDAddictionservices-alcoholanddrugs 167 1 10 7.44 2.09

Communitycare-childprotection&welfare 170 1 10 8.21 1.96

Specialistchildservicesi.e.fostering&adoption 167 1 10 7.18 2.33

Disabilitylearningdisability 168 1 10 6.85 2.30

Disabilityphysicaldisability 168 1 10 6.63 2.41

Generalmedical-hospitalbased 168 1 10 6.73 2.37

Mentalhealth-adultpsychiatry 167 1 10 7.68 2.05

Probationandwelfareservices 167 1 10 6.82 2.41

childandadolescentmentalhealthservices 166 1 10 7.90 2.04

specialistagerelatedservices(olderpeople) 166 1 10 6.97 2.29

Participantsweretheninvitedtoindicatethelevelof‘JobSatisfaction’thattheyfeltsocialworkerswouldderivefromworkingineacharea.Aresponseof‘1’representedlowlevelsofjobsatisfactionwhile‘10’indicatedthehighestlevels.Theoverallmeanforthisquestionemergedas6.20(SD=1.30),suggestingmoderatelevelsofjobsatisfaction.Participants’meanscoresfortheeachareaaredisplayedinTable33below.Theratingsappearlowerthanthoseobservedforthestudentcohort.Itcanbegleanedfromtheseresultsthatparticipantsconsidersocialworkersoperatingintheareaofcommunitycaretobederivingtheleastamountofsatisfactionfromtheir jobswiththeareaofphysicaldisabilitybeingconsideredtoofferthegreatestchanceofemployeejobsatisfactionfromalloftheareas.

Table 33: Participants’ mean scores for job satisfaction in areas of social work N Minimum Maximum Mean SDAddictionservices-alcoholanddrugs 157 1 10 5.76 1.94

Communitycare-childprotection&welfare 163 1 10 4.76 2.30

Specialistchildservicesi.e.fostering&adoption 159 1 10 6.79 1.77

Disabilitylearningdisability 156 1 10 6.80 1.82

Disabilityphysicaldisability 157 1 10 6.83 1.80

Generalmedical—hospitalbased 155 1 10 6.30 2.05

Mentalhealth-adultpsychiatry 157 1 10 5.77 1.99

Probationandwelfareservices 152 1 10 5.70 2.03

Childandadolescentmentalhealthservices 156 1 10 6.35 1.98

Specialistagerelatedservices(olderpeople) 157 1 10 6.77 1.76

Thenextareafocusedoninthesurveywasparticipants’perceptionsofwork-relatedstress.Specifically,respondentswereaskedtoindicatethelevelof‘Work-RelatedStress’theyfeltsocialworkersexperienceineachoftheareas,with‘1’indicatinglowstressand‘10’indicatinghighstress(Table34).Theoverallmeanscoreforthiswas6.22(SD=1.21),suggestingamoderatelevelofstress.Thetablebelowdisplaysparticipants’ mean scores for their perception of social workers’ work-related stress experienced indifferentareas.Aswiththestudentcohort,childprotectionandwelfarehadthehighestratingofstress,andatameanof9.23,thisisnoticeablyhigherthanotherareas.Thelowestratingswereintheareaofphysicaldisability.

39

Table 34: Participants mean scores for work related stress in areas of social work N Minimum Maximum Mean SDAddictionservices-alcoholanddrugs 158 2 10 6.47 1.71

Communitycare-childprotection&welfare 167 4 10 9.23 1.16

Specialistchildservicesi.e.fosteringandadoption 163 1 10 6.02 2.23

Disabilitylearningdisability 160 1 10 5.27 1.67

Disabilityphysicaldisability 157 1 10 5.16 1.67

Generalmedical-hospitalbased 159 1 10 5.67 2.02

Mentalhealth-adultpsychiatry 160 1 10 6.74 1.87

Probationandwelfareservices 159 1 10 5.83 2.15

Childandadolescentmentalhealthservices 160 1 10 6.43 2.03

Specialistagerelatedservices(olderpeople) 160 1 10 5.54 1.99

Burnout among Social WorkersToassesslevelsofburnoutinthesampleofsocialworkerswhoparticipatedinthestudy,theMaslachBurnoutInventorywasincludedaspartoftheweb-basedsurvey.Thismeasureisdesignedtoexaminethreespecificareasrelatedtoburnoutsyndrome;emotionalexhaustion;depersonalisation;andlackofpersonalcommitment.Maslachetal.(1996:4)explainthemeaningofthesesubscalesasfollows:

¾ EmotionalExhaustion(EE)—feelingsofbeingemotionallyoverextendedandexhaustedbyone’swork

¾ Depersonalisation(DP)—lackoffeelingandimpersonalresponsestowardrecipientsofone’sservice

¾ PersonalAccomplishment(PA)—feelingsofcompetenceandsuccessfulachievementinone’sworkwithpeople.

Inordertoenhancethemeaningfulnessoftheresults,Maslachetal.(1996:5)makesomenoteworthyrecommendations. Firstly, “burnout is conceptualised as a continuous variable, ranging from low tomoderatetohighdegreesofexperiencedfeeling”.Theimportanceofthisisthatithighlightstheassumptionthateachindividualexperiencesburnouttosomedegree.

InTable35below,theburnoutscoresofthesamplethatparticipatedinthisstudyaredisplayed.Alongwiththesearethenormativescoresforindividualsworkinginsocialservices.

Table 35: Normative and HSE sample scores for burnoutSamples Low Average High Normsample(n=1538) EE <16

DP <5PA >37

EE 17-27DP 6-10PA 36-30

EE >28DP >11PA <29

HSESample(n=166(EE),168(DP),166(PA)

PA=39.7SD=4.86 EE=31.88SD=8.08DP=14.03SD=4.38

Thefiguresinthistablerevealthefollowingcombination:highemotionalexhaustion;highdepersonalisation;andlowpersonalaccomplishment,whichmeanthatthissamplegroupareexperiencingoverallhighlevelsofburnout.

40

Engagement among Social WorkersAmeasureoftheparticipants’engagementatworkwasassessedusingtheUtrechtWorkEngagementScale.Therationaleforincludingthisscaleintheweb-basedsurveywasthefactthatengagementneedsto be explored apart from the concept of burnout. As Shaufeli andBakker (2003, p. 4) explain; “the opposite to burnout is not necessarily engagement and therefore if workers report low burnout levels it does not necessarily follow that they will be highly engaged”.ThisisanassumptionmadeintheMaslachBurnoutInventory.Therefore,toensureaccuratemeasurementoflevelsofengagementexperiencedbythesampleinthepresentstudy,astandalonemeasurewasused(theUtrechtWorkEngagementScale,2003).Adefinitionoftheterm‘workengagement’comesfromShaufelietal.(2002:74),whoexplain

Engagementisapositive,fulfilling,work-relatedstateofmindthatischaracterisedbyvigour,dedicationandabsorption.Ratherthanamomentaryandspecificstate,engagementreferstoamorepersistentandpervasiveaffective-cognitivestatethatisnotfocusedonanyparticularobject,event,individualorbehaviour…

Includingthismeasureallowedformoreaccurateconclusionstobedrawnaboutthesamplelevelsofbothburnoutandengagementwiththeirjobs.

While the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (2003) allows for the calculation of an overall score, itrecommendsthatlevelsofengagementbeconsideredinrelationtothreesub-scales:vigour(e.g.,feelingsofhighlevelsofenergyandmentalresiliencewhileworking);dedication(e.g.,beingstronglyinvolvedinone’sworkandexperiencingpositiveimplicitrewards);andabsorption(e.g.,beingfullyconcentratedandhappilyengrossedinone’swork).Thetablebelow(Table36)displaysthesamplescoresforeachofthesesub-scalesaswellasthetotalscore.

Table 36: Sample group scores for levels of engagementMean SD

Vigour(n=166) 4.65 0.49Dedication(n=172) 5.05 0.85Absorption(n=165) 4.13 0.58Totalscore(N=161) 4.59 0.52

Tohelpmakesenseofthesescores,ShaufeliandBakker(2003)provideaclearguideforinterpretation;

¾ 0-.99→1(onceayearorless)

¾ 1to1.99→2(atleastonceayear)

¾ 2to2.99→3(atleastonceamonth)

¾ 3to3.99→4(atleastacoupleoftimesamonth)

¾ 4to4.99→5(atleastonceaweek)

¾ 5to5.99→6(acoupleoftimesperweekordaily)

Byusingthissimpleschemetocomparethescoresofthesample,itcanbeseenthatoverall,thisgroupfeelslevelsofengagementintheirworkatleastonceaweek.Morespecifically,theyfeelvigouratleastonceaweek,aspectsofdedicationtotheirworkatleastacoupleoftimesperweek(orevendaily),andabsorbedintheirworkatleastonceaweek.Todeepenourunderstandingofthescoresyieldedbytheparticipantsonthismeasure,itisimportanttoattachmeaningtothemeanscorespresentedabove.By

41

doingthiswecanlearnaboutactuallevelsofengagement.AccordingtoShaufeliandBakker(2003)—themeanscoresofthesampleinthisstudytranslateasfollows:

¾ Vigour:meanof4.65indicatesanaveragelevelofthisformofengagement

¾ Dedication:meanof5.05indicatesahighlevelofthisformofengagement

¾ Absorption:meanof4.13indicatesanaveragelevelofthisformofengagement

¾ Overall:meanof4.59indicatesanaveragelevelofemployeeengagement

Theresultsof theMaslachBurnout Inventory (1996)andtheUtrechtWorkEngagementScale (2003)suggest that the sample participating in this study have high levels of burnout and average levels ofengagementoverall.

Experience of SupervisionThenextareathatwasfocusedoninthestudywasparticipants’experiencesofimmediatesupervision.Aseriesofquestionswereusedtoexploredifferentaspectsofthesupervisionexperience.Table37reportsrespondents’participationinsupervisionandhighlightsthemixednatureofthegroup,includingthosewhoreceivesupervisionandthosewhosuperviseothers.

Table 37: Responses to quantitative supervision related questionQuestion Yes NoDoyousuperviseothers?(n=117)

Doyoureceivesupervision?(n=87)

2864

8923

Table38reportsonthefrequencyofsupervisionreceivedorrequired.Themostcommonresponseforthose receiving supervisionwasmonthly, however it is noted thatmore participantswould like to bereceivingmonthlysupervision.

Table 38: Responses to quantitative supervision related questionNA Annually Few times

a year2ce a yr 1ce a

month

2ce a

weekHowoftendoyougivesupervision

Howoftendoyoureceivesupervision?

Ideallyhowmuchsupervisionwouldyou

liketoreceive?

123

68%

34

18.7%

22

12.1%

-

-

1

0.5%

2

1.1%

3

1.7%

55

30.2%

16

8.8%

-

-

3

1.6%

2

1.1%

48

26.5%

88

48.4%

134

73.6%

7

3.9%

1

0.5%

6

3.3%

Inaddition,theinteractionbetweenrespondentsandtheirsupervisorswasexploredbyaskingparticipantstorespondtoaseriesofstatements.Theparticipants’responsestoeachstatementaredisplayedinTable39below,andthemostfrequentresponseforeachishighlighted.Forthemostpart,positivelywordedstatementshadhigherlevelsofagreement(forexample;‘My immediate supervisor is very supportive of my work’),whilenegativelywordeditemshadhigherlevelsofdisagreement(e.g.‘My immediate supervisor is antagonistic towards me’).

42

However,theexceptiontothispatternrelatestotheresponsestothestatement“My immediate supervisor seldom gives me information about my work performance”.Responsesindicatedthatalmost60%oftherespondentsagreedwith thisstatement.Thisappears tocontradict thehigh levelsofagreementwiththestatement.Thisfindingneedstobereadinconjunctionwiththeseeminglycontradictoryhighlevelofagreementswith thestatement“My supervisor provides me with enough feedback to do my work”.However,thedifferencethatmightbesuggestedisthatrespondentsmayequatefeedbackwithadviceand/orguidanceon theiron-goingwork,while theconceptof informationonworkperformancecouldsuggest theprovisionofamoreevaluative judgementonpractice.Nonetheless, itcanbearguedthatparticipantshavegenerallypositiveexperienceswiththeirsupervisors.

Finally,participantswerealsoinvitedtoratetheirgenerallevelofsatisfactionwiththesupervisiontheyreceived.Whilen=24respondents(13.2%)reportedthatthisquestiondidnotapplytothem,anothern=35 (19.2%) stated theywere very satisfied,withn=69 (37.9%) reporting ‘satisfaction’with theirsupervision.Incomparison,n=37participants(20.3%)statedtheywere‘dissatisfied’whilen=17(9.3%)reportedthattheywere‘verydissatisfied’withthesupervisiontheyreceived.Participantswerethenaskediftheyfelttheyhadopportunitiesfortraininganddevelopmentwithintheirjobs;n=73(40.3%)ofthesamplereportedthatthisdid‘notapply’tothem,whilen=53(29.3%)saidtheyhadtheseopportunitiesandn=55(30.4%)reportedtheyhadnosuchopportunities.

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Table 39: Participants’ experiences with their immediate supervisorsStatements S t r o n g l y

DisagreeDisagree M o d .

DisagreeM o d . Agree

Agree Strongly Agree

EvenifIdidapoorjobinmywork,Iwouldreceivelittlecriticismaboutit(n=170)

2112.4%

5834.1%

3621.2%

3017.6%

1910.4%

63.3&

Myimmediatesupervisorisverysupportiveofmywork(n=170)

84.7%

137.6%

105.9%

3922.9%

6135.9%

3922.9%

Myimmediatesupervisorseldomgivesmeinformationaboutmyworkperformance(n=170)

74.1%

3218.8%

2815.4%

3822.4%

3822.4%

2714.8%

Myimmediatesupervisorisantagonistictowardsme(n=169)

8952.75

4727.8%

116.5%

148.3%

63.6%

21.2

Ihavegreatrespectformyimmediatesupervisorscapabilities(n=169)

105.9%

95.3%

116.5%

4426.0%

5733.7%

3822.5%

CommunicationsbetweenmyimmediatesupervisorandIaregood(n=170)

22.4%

74.1%

137.6%

3420.0%

8047.1%

3218.8%

Ireceivesufficientfeedbackfrommysupervisoraboutmyworkperformance(n=169)

1710.1%

1911.2%

3218.9%

4526.6%

3923.1%

1710.1%

Itisdifficulttogetmyworkdonebecausemysupervisorisseldomavailableforconsultation(n=169)

4828.4%

5633.1%

2615.4%

2313.6%

63.6%

105.9%

Iwouldpreferworkingforsomeoneothermyimmediatesupervisor(n=166)

6539.2%

4325.9%

127.2%

2112.7%

1911.4%

63.6%

Mysupervisorprovidesmewithenoughfeedbacktodomywork(n=167)

74.2%

148.4%

169.6%

3923.4%

5532.9%

3621.6%

Negative Experiences and CopingA final aspect of the survey explored participants’ experiences of violent and aggressive behaviourspecificallyandalsohowtheycopedwiththeirexperiencesmoregenerally.CopingwasassessedusingtheBriefCopetool(Carver,1997).Table40reportstheresponsesregardingparticipants’experiencesof violentandaggressivebehaviour.Whilea small proportion reportedexperiencing thesebehavioursoften,onethirdhadexperiencedthemfairlyoftenormoresointheircurrentjob.However,overhalfhadexperiencedthesebehavioursfairlyoftenormoresointheircareer.

Table 40: Experience of violent or aggressive behaviourNever Seldom F. often Reg V. often

Howoften,ifeverhaveyouexperiencedviolentoraggressivebehaviourinyourworkasasocialworker?(n=171)

--

7443.3%

6839.8%

2212.9

74.1%

Howoften,ifeverhaveyouexperiencedviolentoraggressivebehaviourinyourcurrentjob?(n=171)

1911.1%

8952.0%

4526.3%

13137.6%

52.9%

44

Thenextissueexploredhowtheparticipantscopewiththeirworkexperiencesingeneral.Table41belowdisplaysthefindingsforeachoftheitemsadaptedfromtheBriefCopescale.

Table 41: Responses to Cope ItemsStatements Never Almost

neverSometimes Fairly

oftenVery often

Iturntoactivitiesoutsideofworktotakemymindoffthings(n=171)

--

63.5%

3822.2%

7543.9%

5230.4%

Idrinkalcohol/takedrugstothinkaboutitless(n=172)

8247.7%

5632.6%

2615.1%

74.1%

10.6%

ItrytotakeadayoffworksoIcanjustrelax(n=173)

2212.7%

3419.7%

8649.7%

2514.5%

63.5%

Iturntosupportfromothercolleaguesfromwork(n=173)

21.2%

1810.4%

5129.5%

5833.5%

4425.4$

Irequestmoresupervisionorformalsupport(n=173)

2514.5%

4827.7%

7141.0%

2514.5%

42.3%

Irelyonsupportfromfamilyandfriends(n=171)

663.5%

2816.4%

6336.8%

5029.2%

2414.0%

Itrytodealwiththecircumstancesofthesituation(n=172)

--

21.2%

3319.2%

8650.0%

5129.7%

Itrytocomeupwithnewstrategiestodealwiththeproblem(n=172)

--

31.7%

4123.8%

9354.1%

3519.2%

Iapproachmymanagerorsupervisor(n=172)

884.7%

2615.1%

6236.0%

5630.8%

2011.0%

Imakejokesaboutthesituation(n=173)

105.8%

2112.1%

7744.5%

4224.3%

2313.3%

Igiveuptryingtodealwithit(n=172)

5330.8%

7945.9%

3319.2%

63.5%

10.6%

Iblamemyselfforthingsthathavehappened(n=171)

127.0%

6839.8%

7543.9%

127.0%

42.3%

Ireflectonthesituationcarefullybeforedecidingwhattodo(n=171)

--

10.6%

2514.6%

9455.0%

5129.8%

Iprayormeditate(n=170)

6135.9%

4325.3%

4023.5%

137.6%

137.6%

Iacceptwhathashappenedanddon’tattempttocopewithit(n=171)

2816.4%

6940.4%

5733.3%

169.4%

10.6%

Itrytorealisethatitisnotmyfault(n=170)

10.6%

116.5%

6236.5%

7342.9%

2313.5%

IunderstandthatIhaveachoiceandcanthereforechoosetoseekemploymentelsewhere(n=169)

2917.2%

3017.8%

6136.1%

3218.9%

1710.1%

Itrytothinkaboutitpositively(n=172)

110.6%

63.5%

3620.9%

8650.0%

4325.0%

Iblameothersforwhathashappened(n=170)

2615.3%

8550.0%

5431.8%

42.4%

10.6

Ijustswitchoffattheendofthedayandtrytoleaveworkatwork(n=172)

21.2%

105.8%

4526.2%

6336.6%

5230.2%

Itrytofocusonmyownpersonalandprofessionaldevelopment(n=172)

21.2%

137.6%

5230.2%

7141.3%

3419.8%

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Anumberofthestatementsshowinghighproportionsoffrequentuse(FairlyOftenorVeryOften)canbedefinedassolutionfocusedcopingstrategies(e.g.‘I try to deal with the circumstances of the situation’or‘I try to come up with strategies to deal with the problem’).Alsocommonaremethodsofcopingthatinvolveseekingsupportfromothers.However,themorenegativeformsofcopingarereportedwithlessfrequency(NeverorAlmostNever)including‘I drink alcohol or take drugs to think about it less’,‘I give up trying to deal with it and I blame others for what has happened’.

Future PlansFinallyinthissection,resultswillbedisplayedforparticipants’responsestotheirperceivedlengthoftimetheywillspendinvarioussocialworkareas(Table42).Itisworthnotingthatdespitethelargestgroupofparticipantswishingtostayintheircurrentrolesforatleast20years,asimilarproportionalsohopestoworkfortheHSEforbetween5-10years.TheproportionthatplanonchangingrolesorleavingtheHSEinlessthanfiveyearsisalsonotable.

Table 42: Length of time spent in rolesUnder 5 yrs 5-10 yrs 10-15yrs 15-20yrs +20yrs

How long do you plan to spend in currentrole?(n=181)

HowlongdoyouplantoworkfortheHSE?(n=182)

2815.5%

4323.6%

3318.2%

4926.9%

3519.3%

3217.6%

3821.0%

2111.5%

4726.0%

3720.3%

C. DiscussionGatheringdatafromtwocohorts,withsimilarquestionsaskedofeach,allowsforcomparisonacrossthegroups.Whilenotasinsightfulasalongitudinalstudyfollowingagroupfromtrainingintopractice,theissuesfacingtheprofessionalgroupwill,morethanlikely,continuetobeevidentintheworkplacewhenthesestudentsqualify.

Perceptions of the ProfessionOneofthefirstissuestobeconsideredinthequestionnairewasviewsontheprofession.Inthestudentcohort, thereareclearpatternsshowingchildprotectionandwelfareasanarea thatprovokesstrongviews andattitudes. For example, this area is perceivedby students as requiring thehighest level ofexpertise,ashavingthehighest levelof jobstress,comparable levelsof jobsatisfactionandasbeingthemost relevantareaof their training curriculum. In termsof the currentparticipants’ responses toperceivedjobsatisfaction,thisstudentcohorthadrelativelyuniformlypositiveattitudestopotentialjobsatisfactioninallareasofsocialwork.Bycomparison,inratingperceivedstressthereisclearevidenceofvariation,reflectingdifferingattitudestotheareas.Thismightsuggestthatthesestudents,evenintheearlystagesoftrainingandpriortocompletingafieldplacement,havealreadyformedstrongopinionsonlevelsofstressbetweendifferentareasofsocialwork.

Theprofessional groupwereasked the samequestionsand thefirstpatternofnote is the very cleardifferenceintheprofessionals’perceptionsof jobsatisfactionwhencomparedtothelessexperiencedstudentcohort.Theprofessionalsratechildprotectionandwelfareastheareaofleastjobsatisfaction,

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withphysicalandintellectualdisabilitybothratedhighlyinthisarea.Interestingly,thehighestratinginregardtostressisalsoforchildprotectionandwelfare,whichwasrated25%higherthanthenext(mentalhealth).Itisworthnotingthat,withtheexceptionofchildprotectionandwelfare,theotherareasweregenerallyratedasmoderatelystressful.Inthefinalareaofexpertise,childprotectionandwelfareisagainseenas thearearequiring themostexpertise,withchildandadolescentmentalhealthandaddictionservicesalsoratedhighly.However,thereislittlevariationinthisarea.

Similarperceptionsofhighstressandhighlevelsofexpertisewerefoundinrecentresearchonsmallersamplesof studentsandprofessionals (Redmondetal.,2008;Guerinetal.,2010), providing furtherevidence for this pattern. However, the perception of high levels of job satisfaction in child care andprotectioninthestudentpopulationisatoddswiththeseearlierstudieswhichfoundthatbothstudentandprofessionalsocialworkersperceivedchildprotectionandwelfareashavinglowerlevelofjobsatisfaction.Itisnoted,however,thatthelowlevelsofjobsatisfactioninthisareareportedbytheprofessionalcohortisinlinewiththepreviousIrishstudies.

Future PlansThepatternsnotedinthestudents’perceptionsofstress,jobsatisfactionandjobexpertisemayrepresentattitudesthatinfluenceearlydecisionsinpreferencesforfutureareasofwork.Theimplicationsofthiscanbeseeninthereportedpreferencesforemployment,wherebychildprotectionandwelfareisthemostfrequentlyreportedarea,withphysical/learningdisabilityandchildandadolescentmentalhealthbeingreportedleastoften. Inanoverallsenseit isalso importanttonotethatthelargestpercentageofthegroup(justoverhalf)reportedthattheyplannedtostayinsocialworkforatleast20years.

Itisdifficulttodrawsimilarinterpretationsfromtheprofessionalcohort’sresponses,asthevariationintimespentinsocialworkmeansthatsomeparticipantsmayreportthattheyintendtoleaveinashorttime(lessthanfiveyears),butthiscouldbeduetoretirementratherthandissatisfaction.However,itwasnotablethathalfoftheprofessionalcohortwereplanningtoleavetheHSEinlessthantenyears.

Stress, Burnout and EngagementOneareawheredifferentinformationwasgatheredwasinrelationtoreportedlevelsofstress.Giventheprofessionalcohort’scurrentparticipationinsocialworkservices,acentralelementofthestudywasanexplorationoflevelsofburnoutandengagement.IncomparisonthestudentquestionnairedrewonthePerceivedStressScale,asitwasfeltthiswasmoreappropriatetoatraineegroup.

Using theMaslach et al. Burnout Inventory (1996), the professional respondents display overall highlevelsofburnout;withhighscoresinbothEmotionalExhaustionandDepersonalisationandlowlevelsofPersonalAccomplishment.TocomplementtheBurnoutScaletheUtrechtEngagementScalewasalsoused.Thiswasdonetoallow formoreaccurateconclusions tobedrawnabout thesamples’ levelsofbothburnoutandengagementwiththeirjobs.AkeyfindinghereisthehighlevelofDedicationshowbythegroup,withlowerlevelsofVigourandAbsorptionintheirwork.HighlevelsofDedicationindicatethatindividualsmaintainenthusiasm,prideandinspirationinthejob(Schaufeli&Bakker,2004).However,thisfindinghastobeseeninthelightofthelowlevelsofVigourandAbsorptionrecordedinthecohort,whichsuggestspoorlevelsofenergyandmentalresilienceandlackofconcentration,enjoymentandasenseofcontrolovertheirwork(Csikszentmihalyi,1990).

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Oneissuethatmaycontributetostressandburnoutamongtheprofessionalcohortisthereportedlevelofaggressionandviolenceexperienced.One-thirdof thegrouphadexperiencedviolentoraggressivebehavioursfairly oftenormore often intheircurrentposition,whilehalfhadexperiencedit fairly often ormore often intheircareer.Takenasawhole,thehighlevelsofburnoutandthelowlevelsofVigourandAbsorptionintermsofEngagementaresignificantasinidealcircumstances(butnotinthisgroup)engagementcanbalanceoutthenegativeeffectsofburnout.

Itisdifficulttodrawcomparisonswiththestudentsampleastheywereaskedquestionsaboutperceptionsofstressintheirpreviousemployment.Whileformanystudentsthisemploymentmanyhavebeenrelatedtosocialworkorsocialcarework,adirectconnectioncannotbedrawn.Nevertheless,itwasnotedthatthestudentcohorthadalreadyhadsomeexperienceofstressfulworkingenvironments,reportingpressureofwork,feelingunabletousekeyskillsandfeelingstressedasaresult.

CopingGiventhedemandsoftheworkingenvironmenttheresearchteamalsoconsideredmethodsofcoping,withbothgroupsansweringquestionsadaptedfromtheBriefCopescale(1997).Amongthestudentgroupavarietyofmethodsofcopingwerereported.Itwasnotedthatthisgroupweremorelikelytodrawsupportfrom friends, family and colleagues than frommanagers or formal supervision. In comparison, thereappearedtobemoreuseofsupportfrommanagersamongtheprofessionalcohort.Itwasinterestingandsomewhatpositivetonotehighlevelsofsolution-focusedapproachesinbothgroups,withparticipantsreportingthattheytrytodealwiththecircumstancescausingdifficultyoridentifynewstrategies.Similarlybothgroupsreportedlowerlevelsofavoidantstrategies.

Giventhehighstressreportedbytheprofessionalcohort,theuseofmoreeffectivemethodsofcoping,such as seeking support and less use of avoidant strategies might suggest that both students andprofessionalshavesomeofthecopingskillsneededtodealwiththesestressors.

Considering RepresentativenessBeforedrawingonthesefindingstoinformthefinalconclusionsofthestudy,itisimportanttoreflectontheextenttowhichtheresearchersfeelthatthesampletakingpartinthepresentstudyisrepresentativeoftraineesandprofessionalsinsocialwork.Akeychallengeinanystudyistheabilitytosecureavalidsampleofthepopulation.Asignificantoutcomeofthisstudyisthesuccessingatheringarepresentativesampleofsocialworkstudents.Nearlythree-quartersofallstudentsinnationalprofessionalsocialworkcoursesonanationalbasisin2008/2009tookpartinthestudy.Thisallowsforaconfidentreflectionontheexperiencesandviewsofthisgroup.Withintheprofessionalsample,akeypointtobenotedisthatalesspositiveresponseratewassecured.Nevertheless,withasampleofN=182professionalsocialworkers,itrepresentsthelargestin-depthsurveyofsocialworkpractitionersinIrelandinrecentyears.Centraltothevalidityofthefindingsistheclearvariationindemographics,whichsuggeststhatabroadsamplehasbeensecured.Thisincludesbothfullandpart-timestaff,ranginginagefrom20-65years,andpredominantly(butnotsurprisingly)female.Thisgroupincludedindividualswithdifferentstatusandthosewithandwithoutchildren.Finally,whilethelargestgroupcamefromtheDublinarea,areassuchasCork,Sligo,LimerickandGalwaywerealsorepresented.

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Lookingattheareasofsocialworkrepresented,notsurprisinglythelargestproportionwereworkinginchildprotectionandwelfare,withthesecondlargestgroupbeingthoseworkinginadultmentalhealth.However,abroadrangeofareaswereincludedsuchasdisability,generalhealthandspecialistservices.In termsofexposure todifferentworkexperiences,asignificantproportionhadexperienceofworkingabroad.

On thebasisof theclearvariationevident in thesample,weareconfident that thesefindingswillbemeaningfultoothersocialworkersandsocialworkstudents.

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6. Qualitative Findings

IntroductionEvansandHuxley(2009)arguethatinresolvingrecruitmentandretentioninthesocialworkprofession,itisfirstnecessarytounderstandpredictorsofhighrecruitmentandretentionproblemratesandsocialworkers’ intentions to leave theprofession. This sectionof the researchprovides richqualitativedatainto experiences, perceptions and intentions of an experienced group of socialworkerswith between5–15yearspost-qualificationexperienceassocialworkers.Followingafullcontentanalysisofthedatacollectedinthisphaseoftheresearch(basedonGuerin&Hennessy,2002;andBraun&Clarke,2006),findingsarediscussedunderthreekeytopics:

• Personal Ethos, Professional Commitment—exploringsocialworkers’reasonsonwhytheydecidedtobecomesocialworkers,andhowthenatureoftheprofessionmeetstheirvaluesandideals,inturn,informingtheircommitment;

• Surviving the ‘Dysfunctional System’—exploringsocialworkers’perceptionsandexperiencesaroundtheorganisationalclimateoftheprofession,particularlyforthoseinchildprotectionandwelfare,andtheimpactofthisontheirprofessionalcommitment;

• Professional Identity—exploringhowsocialworkersseethestructuralandorganisationalcontextoftheprofessionintermsofpresentchallengesandfuturedirection.

Personal Ethos, Professional Commitment—The Appeal of Social Work Manyoftheparticipantsinthisphaseoftheresearchdrewonapersonalethoswhenexplainingtheirinitialdecisionstobecomesocialworkersandtheirprofessionalcommitmenttothesocialworkprofession.Thispersonalethosisbasedonadesiretoadvocate,tobringaboutsocialchangeand‘social justice’and‘social equality’, andwhile ‘trying to make a difference and promoting advocacy and equal access to services…’.Thesocialworkprofessionand,inparticular,thesocialworker-clientrelationship,isseenasprovidingaconduitforwhichthispersonalethoscanbefulfilled.‘They[youngpeople]needed support and all that… so it suited my altruistic ego’,withparticipantsreferringtotheintricaterewardsreceivedasaresult, ‘when you feel that you can do something for someone… the immediacy, the smile of the person and even the thanks for giving me time to talk… it’s really important for me personally’.Thisisespeciallysowhenthereexiststheopportunitywithintheprofessiontoadvocateforprogressionwhich,inturn,informsfavourableexperiencesandsustainsasubsequentprofessionalcommitment.Participantscommentedonprogressionwithclients,forexample:‘building with them and seeing how things progress’orby‘ensuringthatclientsgetwhattheyneed’,andthesenseofpersonalachievementthatgoeswiththis:‘sometimes I feel like I’ve really achieved something… there’s a kind of crisis thing that goes on with this sort of work—I have relative success’.

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Translation into Professional Commitment Thetranslationofpersonalethosintoprofessionalcommitmentisreflectedintheparticipants’longtermcommitmenttotheprofession.Examplesofparticipantstatementsreflectiveofthiscommitmentinclude:‘I don’t think I could do anything else’… ‘I can’t see myself doing anything else’.Oneparticipantexplainedhowshe‘did family therapy, and I saw that for a period as a potential escape route… but I think it was very clear over the last few years, that it wasn’t a route I wanted to go into. I’m quite clear that, yes, I very much like social work and I’ll stay’.

Alongside the relationship between a personal ethos/professional commitment, social workersdemonstrateastrongpreferenceforautonomyindecisionmakingprocesses;autonomy,variationanddiversityintheirdailytasksandintheapplicationofskills;andintermsoftheprofileoftheclientgroup.Lookingatsupportingstatements,inspeakingonautonomy,oneparticipantremarkedthat‘autonomy is what I like, to be in the position to make decisions and manage my work day’,anotherfeltthatwithintheprofession:‘we can kind of go in with ideas that we think are interesting or areas that we are interested in working in and kind of make our own work—the autonomy in it’.Forotherparticipants,emphasisisplacedontheappealofdiversitywithintheirrole: ‘I like the diversity of the different children and families we work with and all the issues. I find that stimulating and it’s great to try make a difference and link families into support’and‘I would hate to be doing the same thing every day… I also like the unpredictability—but within a range’.

Forsomeof theparticipants,commitment tosocialworkwasaugmentedby theiroverallconcernsfortheprofessionintermsofstaffturnoverandstructuralchanges.Despiteacknowledgmentsofongoingchallengesthattheprofessioncontinuestoencounter,oneparticipantcommentedthat‘I just want things to improve; I think things need to improve, I’d like to be part of that’.Expressingconcernsonstaffturnover,a second participant expressed a long-term commitment to social work, ‘I see people move out of it into counselling or psychotherapy and drifting off, and they don’t really acknowledge their social work background… so I think I want to fly the flag for as long as I can and promote social work, because I think it deserves it.’

Apersonalethosunderpinnedbytheneedforsocialchangeandadvocatingonbehalfof theclient isevidentinthecommentsfromthisprofessionalcohort.Inaddition,theappealofautonomyanddiversitycombinestoinfluencethesesocialworkers’favourableandunfavourableperceptionsofthevariousareasoftheprofession:‘because of the wide range of the client base… it would give me an opportunity to get involved’,andtheopportunityfortheapplicationanddevelopmentoftheirskills:‘my career is going back into child protection to develop my court skills… that’s why I’m drawn particularly into child protection, so I can do the hands-on work that I thoughts I’d be doing when I first went into social work… we go into social work to meet a need within ourselves... that has drawn us into it’.Theabilitytoworkinsocialwork,todevelopdifferentskillsandexpertiseinarangeofareas,andtheneedforcontinuouslearningwascommentedupon,withsocialworkersacknowledgingthebenefitsforprofessionaldevelopmentofmovingfromoneareaofsocialwork toanother, ‘if you start in one place and never leave, in some ways you somehow minimise your ability to spread your skills and learn different skill bases… There are so many other types of social work jobs’.

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Participantsdiscussedthefactorsthatwouldcausesocialworkerstoleavetheprofessionandidentifiedthemaslargelyfactorsthatundermineorpreventtheirpersonalethosfrombeingfulfilled,thuserodingtheirsenseofcommitmenttotheprofession.Thesefactorsincludedtheemergenceofwhattheyperceivedasamorerigid,managerialandbureaucraticworkenvironmentwhichimpactsnegatively,especiallyonthe individualsocialworkrole-client relationship: ‘if I were to become purely a case manager it would not meet my need to develop relationships with clients and I wouldn’t be interested in that to the same extent.’Managerialismandbureaucracyareoftencitedasfactorsresponsibleforcreatinganemergingworkenvironmentthatispresentedasa‘dysfunctionalsystem’(afactorthatwillbeexploredingreaterdetail).Personalresponsibilitiessuchasfinancialandfamilycommitmentsalsoplayedaninfluentialroleinparticipants’decisiontoremaininsocialwork,withparticipantsremarkinghow‘I have all the practical issues of supporting my family and paying the mortgage’,andintheirdecisionstoremaininparticularareasofsocialwork:‘but when you have a family, I could no longer control the hours… I had to get home’and‘I remember a colleague of mine saying her daughter said to her, you spend more time with other people’s children than you do with us.’

Despitethesignificanceofapersonalethosininfluencingprofessionalcommitment,participantswereoftheopinionthatincreasingly,greateremphasisisplacedontheneedforthedevelopmentofadministrativeskillsand(aswillexploredingreaterdetail)thelinkingoftheoryandpracticeincarryingoutassessments,researchandevaluation.Forexample,oneparticipantcommentedthat‘personal social values are the core of social work, but I don’t think they should be seen in isolation of its skills... you could have a lovely relationship with your client, but you mightn’t be able to know how to relate to the other parts of the system to get things for your client, and evidence of what you need.’Recommendationstheyputforwardhighlightedtheneedforsupportstructurestobeputinplaceinordertoinvestinandcomplementthepersonalethosthatsocialworkersbringtotheprofession.

Surviving the ‘Dysfunctional System’ Amajorthemeemergingfromthisphaseoftheresearchwastheperceivednegativerelationshipbetweenthepersonalethosandprofessionalcommitmentofthesesocialworkersandwhatwasdescribedasadysfunctionalsysteminwhichtheypractise.Theparticipantsexplainedthatworkingwithinthisstructurecreates a tension that undermines the important personal ethos and professional commitment thatunderpins theirwork. For example, one participant argued thatworking in the profession reflects the‘individual values that individual social workers hold—it’s all about relationship building’.Butinresponsetothis:,‘I don’t think that this is as respected now by other parts of the system… it’s too wishy-washy, too airy-fairy. We’re now a business; we’re not a caring organisation. It’s a business organisation.’

Thebasisofthisperceptionofadysfunctionalsystemwasformedaroundconcernsonchangeswithinthestructuralcontextofthesocialworkprofession,mostnotablywithintheHealthServiceExecutive(HSE),intheprovisionofchildwelfareandprotection.Thisdysfunctionalsystemwascharacterisedby:

• thedecisionmakingprocessesatastructurallevelandtheextenttowhichtheseareinconflictwithindividualsocialworkers’ideologicalandprofessionalconcerns,‘I only worked in community care for a year, but for me, it was the conflict around how and why decisions were being made… I ultimately couldn’t resolve that and that’s what pushed me out’;

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• theemergenceof a riskmanagement and ‘performance management’ approachwithin theHSEwhichwasdescribedasbeingconcernedprimarilywith‘reactionary decisions being made by senior management. Lots of ticked boxes exercise, no quality assurance of the work’and‘the HSE corporate has a particular notion of risk over the last year. It’s much more focused on governance risk and all that’;

• asubsequentincreaseinadministrativetasksfromastructurallevel,withparticipantsreportinghow‘I’ve been in this job seven years and there has been more paperwork now than ever before, which consequently means there’s less time with families’,andarisingfromthis,reportedfeelingsofbeingtornbetweenadministrativecommitmentsversusclient-relatedcommitments:‘before we would have had scope of providing counselling and talking to people…whereas now we are being asked to be efficient, efficient, efficient and to throw people out as if they were pieces of furniture’.Referringtotheconsequencesofthesestructuralchanges,participantsreportedhowchangestotheirroleinvolve‘becoming more and more bureaucratic and [how] there’s less time to actually work with families and children…’andbeing‘more about management, more an administration role’.Arisingfromthiswererecommendationsforsocialworkersto‘reclaim the groundwork’,to‘be more politically active’.Additionally,recommendationswereputforwardforcourseandtrainingproviderstodevelopskillsformanagingandprioritisingtasksamongtraineesocialworkersinrelationto‘paperwork, form filling, caseloads, phone calls and advocacy’;

• areportedlackofacknowledgment,leadershipandunderstandingbytheemployingagencyofthesocialworkroleatastructurallevel,despiteariseintheneedforaccountabilityandanincreasingcomplexity in caseloads. Participants spoke of there being ‘no bigger picture or no leadership…meaningthatforsocialworkers:‘you’re trying to do what you consider to be a really good job, but there’s no support and no one ever says thank you… no back-up from above’.Thisresultsinasenseofprofessionalisolation:‘there’s nobody with an idea of how community work can enhance children and family teams… we’re kind of banging away in a small way…’. Aperceived lackof support intermsofprofessionalsupervisionwasalsoblamedprimarilyasa resultofproblems in the largerinstitutionalstructuresordescribedbyoneparticipantas‘those bigger structural pieces… I do feel supported by my own line manager. He’s quite limited in- he’s not supported either, I don’t feel supported by the HSE…’.

Arising from a reported lack of understanding, support, supervision and acknowledgement, and aperceivedstructurethatlacksleadership,wastheemergenceoftheindividualsocialworkerinoppositionandconflicttotheverysysteminwhichtheywork,asapparentfromthefollowingstatement:‘the HSE will only respond if we need resources, if it’s a case in the High Court, or if it’s in the media. They only care about being sued—there’s no corporate responsibility, which is what they talk about. It’s very much individual workers carrying out the responsibility and being hung out to dry and doing all the overtime’.Anexplanationwasofferedbyoneparticipant that thesocialworkprofession is largely regardedasaseparateentityinthesystemofwhichitispartof,‘social work, for a long time, has been a bad name, and it seems to be troublesome. Difficult, radical over the years, and they’ve tried to squash social work.’Thesepoints suggest that related to concernsof a ‘dysfunctional system’are concernson the futureprogressionofsocialwork,especiallyindevelopingandmanagingprofessionalidentityandprofessionalcohesiveness.

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Professional IdentityConsidering perceptions and experiences of working in a perceived dysfunctional system, emphasiswas placed by the participants on the greater need to maintain a professional identity. Discussionsandrecommendations formaintainingaprofessional identitydrewonhowthesocialworkerssawtheprofessionintermsofdefinitionandclarityaroundroledefinition,professionalexperience,cohesivenessandprofessionalstructure.

As well as a lack of professional cohesiveness, the participants also reported a lack of definition intheirprofessional role.Thesedifficultieswereseenasbeingcompoundedby theemploymentsystem,particularlybythereportedabsenceofunderstandingontherealitiesofsocialworkatastructurallevelandtheobjectivesofthesocialworkrole,asapparentfromthefollowingstatement,‘I’ve met with general managers and local health officers—they have no idea what we do, and they make really key decisions for our profession—I think if they had a better idea of what we do…’

Responsessuggestedthatprofessionalcohesivenessisbeingerodedbyalackofunderstandingofthesocial work role. Unfavourable views on other areas of social work seem to have been influenced byplacement experiences and/or professional encounters. For example, in reference to medical healthsocialwork, thisparticipantexplainedhow ‘I’d avoid child guidance because I don’t like working in a medical model and I find in my dealing with them, in my role in child protection, I find them incredibly narrow-minded and irritating… they just want to dump things on us.’ The concentrationof resources,mediafocusandemploymentopportunitiesinspecificareasoftheprofession,particularlychildprotectionandwelfare,werealsocommentedupon.Oneparticipantexplainedhow‘… there’s been so much focus on child protection and money put into it, services for older people have been far less developed and also in mental health’…Foranother,toomuchemphasisisplacedonchildprotection:‘I think this is crap, that there’s a hierarchy of social workers, with child protection—all areas of social work require a certain level of expertise and I think that needs to be recognised within the discipline’.Recommendationsmadecalledfora‘re-engaging’acrosstheprofessiontobuildastrongersocialworkidentity:‘to call themselves social workers and not child protection workers’.

Thisperceivedlackofcohesivenessandclarityaroundthesocialworkrolewascomparedunfavourablywithwhatwasperceivedasamorestructuredframeworkandapproachinotherprofessions,

we’re not very cohesive, like clinical psychologists are, because you have got some who maybe really believe in the concept of social justice and social work and then you’ve got some who do it because it was something they studied and they ended up in a job.. and so as a profession, I think we’re not as cohesive maybe as other professions, like physiotherapy, OT,[occupationaltherapy]psychology….

Theseperceptionswereinfluencedbyworkingalongsideotherprofessionaldisciplines.Forexample,thisparticipantexplainshowsheregarded‘Psychologists—the people I work with—they’ve a really clear sense of what they’re about and what they do. And they’ve a very high professional self-esteem that I don’t think social workers have’.Anextensionofthiswereconcernsrelatingtotheoutsourcingofperceivedtraditionalcomponentsofsocialworktootherprofessions,addedtobyareportedlackofcleardefinitionandlackofprofessionalconfidencewithintheprofession.Participantsremarkedhow‘I see other professions likes nurses taking over a lot of counselling role that social workers would have done traditionally, and I suppose I see that as a bit of a threat within social work’and‘Therapy…counselling… their basic skill set, they

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[social workers] don’t believe they have them’.Inresponse,the‘need to reclaim social work…reclaiming it for social workers’iscalledfor.

Arguably,thisunfavourablecomparisonofsocialworkwithotherrelatedprofessionscanbealliedtothereportedabsenceofprofessionalconfidenceandlackofrelatedcohesiveness.Arisingfromtheseconcernswastherecommendationforamoreactiveprofession,‘promoted by the HSE, by the government and in the media… a really positive campaign to promote social work’,thatcentredonbuildingapositiveimageofthesocialworkerswhileclarifyingthenatureofwhatitisthatsocialworkersdo,

People need to hear the message about the good things that are going on, the good practice that we can hear from each other. And having a sense of achievement about what we’re doing. And then we’d be better able for the criticism from the media. It’s essentially—it’s like that everywhere, isn’t it?

Increased multi-disciplinary work with other professions, including presence on multi-disciplinarycommittees,wasregardedasameansofbuildingprofessionalidentityandcohesion.

Preparedness of Newly Qualified Social WorkersIn relation to thedevelopmentof theprofession, the levelofpreparednessandcommitmentofnewlyqualifiedsocialworkers coming into theprofession (particularly into childprotectionandwelfare)wasdiscussed bymany of the participants,with a belief that i) the capability of this incoming group haddiminishedinrecentyears:‘those doing degree courses [directCAOentry], I just find they’re much vaguer about their commitment, and they come in because it’s something they just filled in and it sounded okay on the application, but do they know what a social worker is?’andii)alackofcommitmentinthisincominggroup:‘a lot of new graduates would openly say ‘I don’t want to be here’. I’m here because it’s the only job’.

Notably, child protection andwelfarewas viewed as an area requiring preparedness, experience andcommitmentandseriousquestionswereaskedaboutthepreparednessofmostnewlyqualifiedsocialworkerstoworkinthisarea,withthebeliefthat‘the most experienced social workers should be in child protection’,and ‘I would not ask newly qualified social workers to work in child protection’.Anumberof participants recalled seeing the area of child protection as being very negatively perceived duringuniversity training. Participants report that ‘when I was a student, I always felt I would never work in child protection… I went to work in it six days after handing in my dissertations’and‘I developed such a negative view of child protection in college that I didn’t want to go into it at all, but that was where all the jobs where at the time and here I am.’Manyparticipantshighlightedtheneedforgreateremphasisoninductionandmentoringatauniversitylevelandinthefieldplacementprocess.Araisingofacademicrequirements forworking in theprofessionwasalsodiscussed,withsomeparticipantsexpressing theopinionthat,likeotherprofessions,PhDcompletionwasrequiredinordertobringgreaterexperienceandprofessionalcredibilityintotheprofession:‘the university and social work trainers have let the profession down over the years—I think there needs to be a qualification level that needs to be at a minimum, at master level, and more toward PhD level’.Thisreflectsconcernsdiscussedaboveinrelationtothelackofpreparednessofnewlyqualifiedsocialworkerstoworkeffectivelyintheprofession.However,forothersthenecessityofPhDcompletionwasregardedasremovingsocialworkersfromthemorepracticalaspectsof the profession, i.e. client-oriented relationships.Recommendationsput forward to build experienceincluded:

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i) anapprenticeshipprogrammeina‘protective learning environment’asameansofadequatelypreparingnewlyqualifiedsocialworkersforworkingintheprofession;

ii) toputinplaceanexperiencedteamleaderthatwouldprovideadequatesupportsfornewlyqualifiedemployees;

iii) ‘practice learning opportunities’ to promote sharingof expertisebetweenexperiencedandnewly qualified social workers: ‘integrating those knowledge skills and using them on a continuous basis using shared learning’;

iv) thepromotionoflinkagesbetweenpotentialemployersandcolleges.

Continuous Professional Learning—Linking Theory and Practice Participantsplacedemphasisontheneedtolinktheoryandpractice,bothatatraineelevelandwithintheworkingprofession.Oneparticipantrecalledthefocusintheirtrainingonachievingaconnectionbetweenatheoreticalandpracticeapproachwhichwasofgreatvalueaftergraduation.Participantscommentedthat ‘if you stated any theory you had to relate it back to practice and vice versa… not just doing an action but knowing why you were doing it and how it would work and I found that very practical’.Otherparticipantscommentedonthelackofaunifiedapproachandtheneedtopreparenewentrantstothefieldofchildprotectionandwelfare,forexample,implementinganapprenticeshipprogramme:‘having an apprenticeship would be such a great way to train a social worker… there’s a lot of academic stuff there, and very little knowledge of families and children and problems’.Participantsrecommendedthatcourseproviderstryandpromoteagreaterbalancebetweentheoryandpractice,encouragingstudentsto‘reflect on their own experiences and link to theory.’

Aswellassuggestionsforcourseproviders,therewasalsoageneralconsensusontheneedforcontinuousprofessionaldevelopmentandlearningforsocialworkerswhileworkingintheprofession,withtheneedespecially for ‘a skills-based post-qualification’. Highlighting the importance of continued professionaldevelopment,oneparticipantexplainedthat‘people have been coming with a very high standard-Masters qualifications in social work, very motivated, great people for the job. But they need continuing professional development… I think we all need it’.Importancewasalsoattributedtofacilitatingfactors,suchastheaccessibilityofinformation:‘I want to read relevant articles and I’m more interested… the[organisation]I work with—they’ve an online library, so we can easily access articles- it’s made it easier’,andhavingavailabletimeandmechanismstopursuecontinuouslearningopportunities:‘I just don’t have the time to keep up with anything that going on out there… you can’t keep your head above developments’,forexample,throughtheimplementationofweeklyteammeetings:‘we have weekly team meetings that we devote to professional development stuff, rather than case issues… it’s about making sure that you protect the time and value it’.Facilitatingfactorsalsoincludedtherangeofopportunitiesavailableforcontinuouslearningespeciallyformoreexperiencedsocialworkers.Participantsreportedthat‘the problem is getting a skills-based post-qualification—it can be sort ofacademic’and‘there’s loads of stuff out there for your first few years and when you’re newly qualified, but it’s post-ten years to 40 years...’.

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Maintaining Structure, Measuring Outcomes Indiscussionsonthefutureofsocialwork,upcomingregistrationwasregardedasapositivedirectionin building a more cohesive and confident profession, with recommendations being made for theimplementationofaadvocacyrolei)atapublic/professionallevel:‘to have a paid and identified person who can speak on behalf of social workers in Ireland’andii)atatraininglevelwithinacademia:‘we need a few people who will pioneer social work through academia, as well as through the IASW [IrishAssociationofSocialWorkers].

Again,makinglinkagesbetweentheoryandpracticeandtheneedforongoingprofessionaldevelopment,other professions were discussed in relation to the prevalence of a scientific approach inmeasuringoutcomes and progress. Such an approach was perceived by many as lacking in social work and,therefore,impactingonitsprofessionalstanding.Callsweremadefortheprofessionto‘become stronger academically’,fortraininginandupdatingaroundtheapplicationofmoreconsistentassessmenttools,andforagreaterbeliefandconfidenceintheskill-setofsocialworkers.Participantsindicatedthatthiscouldbeachievedparticularlybyengaginginmoreresearchandevaluationthatwouldactivelylinktheoryandresearchintopracticeandpromoteasharingoflearningandconfidence-buildingwithintheprofession:‘great research in children and families, but it never translates down into what they’re doing… it need to be based on actual work’,whilemeasuringandsharingoutcomesarisingfromsocialworkinteractions:‘the contact with people… it is really rewarding. When you feel that you can do something for someone. And I’m not sure we do—because we don’t do any research into it. We don’t ask after.’Supportingthesesuggestions,oneparticipantcalledforsharingofmoreinformationaroundresearchoutcomes:‘we really need information and the information need to be of a quality—the research needs to be conducted and we need to know exactly what’s going on and how- what the outcomes are, how we’re going to support children in our area’.

Participantsdescribedsocialworktrainingasincorporatinglaw,sociology,andpsychology,forexample,andhowthesedisciplinesareusedandcombinedintheapplicationofassessmentmodels-areportedstrengthof theprofessionand reflectiveofsocialwork training, thoughproblematic in termsofsocialworkerability tobring together thesedisciplines in theapplicationofassessments.Otherprofessionsare lookedat in termsof their ability to integrate researchand theuseof specificassessment tools.Theimplementationofclearassessmentmodelswasidentifiedasawayofintegratingtheory,practiceand evidence based research, while measuring outcomes. In building professional cohesiveness,recommendationswereputforwardfor‘going right back and examining where we are as practitioners in terms of our assessment skills, our engagement, and having time—how do we knit that in’,andalsoforintegratingamultidisciplinaryapproachtowardsassessmentswithintheprofessionitselfandwithotherprofessions.

Discussion

ResultsfrominterviewsandfocusgroupswithN=15experiencedsocialworkerswerepresentedundertheheadings ofPersonal Ethos, Professional Commitment, Surviving the ‘Dysfunctional System’, and Professional Identity.Tosummarise, theseareas identifiedwhatmotivatessocialworkers toenter theprofession and what sustains their professional commitment; participants’ disillusions as a result ofstructural changeswithin the profession; and concerns over a lack of professional cohesiveness and

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strongprofessionalidentity.Whilemanyofthefindingsinthissectionoftheresearchareclearlyinlinewithsimilarissuesexploredintheliteraturereview,thissectionhasbeenabletoexploretheseissuesindepthandhasalsopresentedpracticalrecommendationsdirectfromparticipantsonhowtobuildamorecohesiveandsupportiveprofession,thusaddressingkeyaspectsofstaffretention.

Personal Ethos, Professional Commitment Eber&Kunz (1984) suggest that the desire to help others is a key attribute of a socialworker,withinherentvaluesbeingalignedwithsocialjustice(Lafranceetal.,2004).Inthisstudy,thepersonalethosofsocialworkers,thatisadesireforadvocacy,socialjusticeandequalityincombinationwithautonomy,diversityandvarietywithinone’srole,hasshowntobeacriticallyimportantaspectfortheprofessionalcommitmenttosocialwork.Theabilitytofulfilthispersonalethos,aswellashaveautonomy,informshowsocialworkersseethevariousareasthatmakeupthesocialworkprofession;theirfavourableexperiences;theirlevelofjobsatisfaction;andlong-termcommitmenttotheprofession.Banks(1995)commentsthatsocialworkers’values (content)areoftendivorcedfromtheactual realities (context)ofworking in theprofession.However,Smith (2005)suggested that frontlinechildwelfarestaff remainedcommitted totheirprofession,despiteobviouschallengesandstresses,becauseoftheperceivedvalueoftheirwork.Inthisstudy,factorsthatwouldcausesocialworkerstoleavetheprofessionwerethosethatpreventedthispersonalethosfrombeingfulfilledandthatimpactedonthedesiredlevelofautonomyandvarietywithintherole.

Surviving the ‘Dysfunctional System’Researchsuggeststhatsocialworkerswithmorefavourablepositiveexperiencesarethosewhoremainintheprofessionforlonger(Dickinson&Perry,2002).Contributingfactorstotheseexperiencesincludedsupervisor support and recognition; opportunities for professional growth; recognition from otherprofessionals;andopportunities tomakeadifference inaclient’s life. In thisstudy,negativeversionsofthesesamefactorsweretouchedonasinformingnegativeexperiencesforsocialworkersand,inturnunderminingtheirprofessionalcommitmenttosocialwork.SocialworkersinthisresearchhavereferredtowhattheyregardedasthechangingstructureoftheprofessionwithinthecontextoftheHSE,withareportedlackofinvolvementindecisionmakingandconflictingdecisions,andtheemergenceofamoremanagerialapproach.Theyalsonotedconcernwithanincreaseinadministrativetasks,areportedlackofrecognition,acknowledgementandsupport,andthelackofavailabletimetoworkdirectlywithclients.Evidencesuggeststhatthesereportedexperiencescombinetoinformhowsocialworkersseethemselvesinoppositiontotheverysystemtheyareworkingin,leadingtoasenseofisolatedidentitywhichinturnimpacts on the cohesiveness of the profession. These findings are reflective of other researchwhichpointstotheconnectionbetweenperceivedlackoforganisationalsupportsandvalueforworkerswithintheorganisationandtheresulting lowesteem, loworganisationalcommitmentandhighstaffturnover(Smith,2005;Glisson&Hellelgarn,1998).

Professional IdentityInthisstudy,theimpactoftheperceiveddysfunctionalorganisationalsystemwasmagnifiedbyconcernsoverthelackofcleardefinition,cohesivenessandconfidencewithintheprofession,concernsthatsufficeinaugmenting thesenseofprofessional isolation for the individualsocialworker.Theseconcernsareundoubtedlyaddedtoby: i)howdifferentareasof thesocialworkprofessionareviewednegativelyby

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socialworkers;andii)howcomparisonsaremadewiththestructuralandwhatisregardedasthemorescientific approach of other care-basedprofessions. Repeated concernsweremade in relation to thepreparednessandcommitmentofnewlyqualifiedsocialworkerscomingintotheprofession,especiallyforworkinginchildprotectionandwelfare.Emphasiswasplacedbysocialworkersontheneedtobuildexperienceandpreparednesswhile building overall professional cohesiveness and confidence. Socialworkersreportedthatthiscouldbeachievedbylinkingtheoryandpracticeduringprofessionaltraining:throughcontinuedprofessionaldevelopmenT:intheimplementationandstandardisationofassessments,andgreatercompletionofresearchmeasuringpracticeandoutcomes.

Socialworkersthemselves,reportedthatinduction,mentoring,anapprenticeship-basedprogrammeandasupervisedlearningenvironmentcouldprovideameansinwhichtobuildpreparednessandexperience,whileexposingsocialworkers to the realitiesof theprofession.Thesesuggestionsgowellbeyond theconceptofsupervisionascommonlyunderstoodinsocialworkand,indeed,anumberoftheparticipantssaw themselves receivingsupervision fromseniorcolleagueswhowere themselvesunsupervisedandunsupportedprofessionally.Theproposalsrecordedinthisresearchreflectfindingsfromotherstudieswhichpointtotheimportanceofsocialinteractionsandsocialexchangeintheworkplacetoinformjobexpectations and resilience (Blau, 1964; Sandfort, 1999). Explicit recommendations made by socialworkerspointedtowardstheneedforamoreintegrativeapproachwithintheprofession,withparticularemphasisplacedonthegrowingimportanceofresearchandevaluationaswaysofbuildingprofessionalprofile, measuring outcomes and sharing of expertise within social work and with other professions.Thereisalsotheneedforasupportiveenvironment,linkagesbetweentheuniversityandemployerlevel,opportunities for reflective learning combining theory and practice, the development and applicationof researchskills topromoteevaluationofpractice,andmethodsoforganisationtopromoteresearchdissemination,networkingandacultureofprofessionalsharing.

Support,includingacknowledgementofone’srole,canbesaidtoalleviatestresslevelsandcontributeto jobsatisfaction(Ballochetal.,1998;Coyle,2005;Gibsonetal.,1989).Themainformsofsupportreferredtobysocialworkersincludesupervisionfromamanageriallevelandpeerorcolleaguesupport(Ballochetal.,1998)andthesearereportedtobeafactorinraisedlevelsofjobsatisfaction.Researchindicatesthatperceivedjobsatisfactionmaybeasignificantfactorinsocialworkerschoosingapreferredareaofemployment.Butler’s(1990)studyofMSWstudentsintheUSAnotedthat,inspiteofamajorityofstudentsintheresearchhavinganinterestinworkwithdisadvantagedgroups,manyofthesewerealsodrawntoprivatepracticebecauseofthehighlevelofautonomy,flexibility,challengeandstatusthatsuchworkcouldofferthem.

Theliteraturereviewpointstowardthealleviatingimpactofsupportandsupervisionontheconsequencesofnegativeexperiencesforsocialworkersandstaffturnover.Inthisstudy,theneedisorientedparticularlytowards structural acknowledgement, recognition and promotion of the personal ethos/professionalcommitmentofsocialworkers,widerprofessionalchangesattheleveloftraining,asoutlinedabove,andchangeswithintheprofessionitselfintermsofprofessionalidentityandcohesiveness.Inadditiontotheimplicationsoffindingsdiscussedabove,resultsalsoshowtheneedforthedevelopmentofacultureofvaluewithintheprofessionthatiscentredontheprovisionoforganisationalsupport(Eisenbergeretal.,1986;Rhoades&Eisenberger,2002)andorganisationalstructure.

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7. Discussion and RecommendationsThisstudyrevealsacomplexsetofpatternsemerging fromthedifferentparticipantcohorts in regardtotheiroverallattitudestosocialwork,theirownpersonalvalue-base,theirattitudestotheclientswithwhomtheyworkandtheirexpectationsabouttheirowncurrentandfuturejobsatisfaction.Thelimitedemploymentdatashowedthemtobearelativelyyoungandlargelyfemaleworkforcewhochangedtheirjobsrelativelyfrequentlyupuntil2007andlesssoin2008(afactorwhichmustberelatedtothenationaleconomic downturn and the embargo on recruitment in theHSE).However, these data do serve oneparticularlyimportantfunctioninrelationtothequestionnairedatacollected.Thedemographicpatternsidentifiedintheemploymentdataaregenerallyreflectedinthesampleswhotookpartinthesurveys,withallgroupsbeingpredominantlyfemale.Inaddition,theageprofileidentifiedintheHSEdataissimilartothatreportedbytheprofessionalcohort.Whilethelowresponseratestothisquestionnaireisaconcern,thesimilaritiesbetweentheinstitutionaldataandtheprofessionaldatacanonlyaddtoconfidenceintherelevanceofthefindingstothelargergroupintheHSE.

Anotherpointrelatestotheattitudesheldbythegroup.Beforeweconsiderthespecificattitudesheld,thepresenceof theseattitudes themselveshas implications forunderstanding theworkingcontextofsocialworkers.Tobegin,thestudentcohorthadveryparticularattitudesabouttheprofession,withclearperceptionsevident at the start of their trainingaboutdifferentareasof theprofession in relation tolevelsof stress, job satisfaction, expertise requiredetc.Redmondetal., (2008) reportedan increasein negative attitudes about stress and job satisfaction in the area of child protection andwelfare asstudentsprogressedthroughtheirtraining,butthebiggercohortofstudentsinthiscurrentstudyheldmoreoptimisticviewsaboutjobsatisfactioninchildprotectionatthestartoftheirtraining—ahopefulsigninitself.Jobsatisfactioninchildprotectionisperceivedaslowerintheprofessionalgroupalthoughthetwoareasthatparticipantstalkedaboutininterviewsandfocusgroupsasgivingthemmostsatisfactionrelated to seeing clients develop positively as a result of their interventions and a broader level ofsatisfactionatsuccessfullyaddressing issuesofsocialdeprivationand inequality—twoof thefoundingvaluesinthesocialwork‘mission’.Whatishardertojudgeiswhytheattitudestowardsjobsatisfactionmight changebetween trainingandprofessionalpractice,but it is telling that, in thequalitativedata,experiencedprofessionalsrememberedbeing‘warnedoff’socialworkinchildprotectionpractice,bothbythoseinsocialworkeducationandbyothersocialworkers—aphenomenonalsoreportedinRedmondetal.(2008).Onesuggestion,ofcourse,mightbetheimpactofactualexposuretotherealitiesofworkinginthisareaofsocialwork.Banks(1995)consideredtheseparationbetweenthecontentofstudentvaluesforworkingintheprofessionandtheactualcontextoftheprofessionitself;thisseparationmayhavebeenbridgedbytheprofessionalgroup.

Thisnotionofwarningstudentsagainstworkinchildprotectionandwelfareappearsinanothercontextinthisresearch,butinamorepositiveprofessionallydevelopmentalway.Boththestudentandprofessionalcohortsseestressandtheneedforexpertiseasbeinghigherinchildprotectionthaninotherareasofsocialwork.Reports fromtheexperiencedsocialworkersargue that this isalsowheremost jobsandresourcesarebased;however, the recommendation isput forward thatnewlyqualifiedsocialworkersshouldnotcommence their career in thisarea,due towhat theyseeas thehigh levelofexperience,expertiseandresiliencerequired.Instead,thesuggestionisputforwardforanemploymentnormtobe

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putinplacecomprisingan‘apprenticeship’orheavilymentoredfirstyearwithlimitedcaseloadsfornewlyqualifiedworkers.Thisrecommendationaccordswiththefindingsofmanyinternationalstudiesthatlinkpoorretentionwithhighcaseloadsandpoorsupervision(Yoo,2002;Zlotnick,etal.,2005;Welfel,1998).Therecommendationforafirstyearapprenticeshipwasputforwardmoreoftenthantheneedforanysignificantchangesinthesocialworktrainingcurriculum.

Therewereanumberofcommonfindingsbetweenthestudentgroupandprofessionalcohortinrelationtosocialworktraining.Moststudentsfavouredabalancebetweentheoryandpractice,whichisamixtureofuniversitycourseworkandsupervisedplacements.Counselling,practiceskillsandspecificskillsrelatingtochildprotectionandwelfarewereseenasbeingparticularlyrelevantbystudentsocialworkersintheirtraining.Arguably,thiscanbeseenasreflectingtheirexpectationsoftheprofessionintermsoftheskilllevelspecificallyneededinareasinwhichtheyarelikelytowork,andwhichtheyalsorateasneedinghigherlevelsofprofessionalexpertise(i.e.childprotectionandwelfare).Asimilarperspectiveisreflectedindiscussionswiththeexperiencedgroup—withemphasisplacedontheimportanceofabalancebetweentheoryandpractice.Thisisevidentintheirviewsontheimportanceoftheoryandpracticeatthird-leveltrainingandintheircallsforagreaterintegrationoftheoryandpracticewithintheprofessionthroughthestandardisationandimplementationofassessments,andcarryingoutofresearchandevaluation.This,inturn,willinformagreaterclarificationanddefiningofwhatsocialworkersdo,reflectingparticipants’desireforthedevelopmentofamore‘professional’approachtosocialworkandaclearerarticulationofwhatsocialworkersdo-mostspecificallyforthoseoutsideoftheprofession.

Theliteraturereviewrevealsthatthosewhofindgreaterlevelsofintrinsicvalueintheirworkmaybemorecommittedtotheirjobsandlesslikelytoleave(Dickinson&Perry,2002).Findingsfromthequantitativeanalysissuggest that theexperiencedsocialworkercohortexhibitaverage levelsofengagement,highlevelsofburnout,highemotionalexhaustion,highdepersonalisation,andlowpersonalaccomplishment.The prevalence of frequent experiences of violent and aggressive behaviour, augmented by a lack ofsupervision,undoubtedlyaddstolevelsofburnout.Nearly30%ofexperiencedsocialworkersindicatedthat theyweredissatisfied/verydissatisfiedwithsupervision,and30%said theyhadnoopportunitiesfortraining.Morein-depthqualitativeinsightscanbereferredtoinsuggestingtheimpactofworkinginastructurewhichisperceivedas‘dysfunctional’onlevelsofburnoutamongexperiencedsocialworkers.Notably, their level of engagement in this structure is impacted on by a reported loss of autonomy,participation and agreement in decision-making processes, as well as reported feelings of not beingacknowledged, understood or supported at a structural level. This is supported by the finding that anotablepercentageoftheexperiencedcohortplanonleavingtheHSEinunder5years(24%),orina5-10yearperiod(27%).

The preceding paragraph paints a depressing picture of the participants’ perception of the quality oftheirworkplace, their levelsof supervisionand their ability towork ina collegialmannerwithagencymanagementinchildprotectionandwelfare.Theinternationalresearchreviewedclearlyindicatesthatthesearepreciselythefactorsthatmakesocialworkersunhappyintheirworkandmoreliabletoseekemploymentelsewhere.Inthequalitativedatacollectedfromtheprofessionalcohort,thesmallnumberofsocialworkersemployedinmedicalorprimarycaresettingswhoparticipatedweremorepositiveabouttheirworkenvironmentsandmoreoptimisticabouthowwelltheyweresupportedtodevelopandprogressintheprofessionthantheirchildprotectioncolleagues.However,whatthisresearchalsoshowsisthat,ata

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morefundamentallevel,allofthesesocialworkstudentsandprofessionalshavehighlevelsofcommitmenttotheprofessionasawholeandthissenseofcommitmentisconfirmedbythehigherlevelsofdedicationrecordedintheBriefCopescale(1997).Thattheserecordedlevelsofdedicationremain,inspiteofthereporteddifficultiesintheworkenvironment,isindicativeoftheunderlyingsenseofsocialwork‘mission’thatappearstoremainastrongdriverfortheirprofessionalidentities.Boththequantitativeresponsesfromthestudentsocialworkersandthequantitativeandqualitativefindingsfromtheexperiencedgroupshowastronglong-termcommitmenttoworkinginthesocialworkprofessioningeneral.Overhalfofthestudentcohortindicatedthattheyplannedtostayintheprofessionformorethan20years,arelativelysmallproportionplannedonstayingforlessthan10years.Notably,however,thiscommitmentdoesnotnecessarilytranslateintoalong-termcommitmenttoworkingwithintheHSE.QuantitativefindingsfromtheexperiencedgroupshowthatahighproportionofsocialworkersindicatedthattheyplanonworkingfortheHSEforlessthan10yearsintothefuture,plansthatarearguablyinfluencedbytheirconcernsonalossofautonomyanddiversityandlesseningavailabilityoftimetoworkdirectlywithclients.Althoughsomeofthequalifiedsocialworkersreferredininterviewstocolleaguesmovingtoprivatepractice,thisappearstobearareoccurrenceandneithercohortshowanythingakintothelevelofinterestinmovingintoprivatepracticeasnotedinthecurrentresearchwiththesegroupsintheUnitedStates(Rubinetal.,1986;Abell&McDonnell1990;Bogoetal.,1993).

Inconclusion,thisresearchpaintsapictureofarelativelyyoung,largelyfemaleprofessionwithastrongsense of the core social workmission, addressing issues of inequality and striving for social justice,whoarepreparedtostayintheprofessionforthelongterm.Althoughrelativelyoptimisticaboutworkintheareaofchildprotectionandwelfareatthestartoftheirtraining,thosewhoworkintheareareportconsiderablestressors,primarilyrelatedtothenatureoftheemploymentenvironmentratherthanthenatureoftheirworkwithclients,andthoseinchildprotectionshowlesswillingnesstostayinthisareaforthelongerterm.Inspiteoftheirstrongcommitmenttotheprofession,thoseinworkdisplaylowlevelsofmentalresilienceandenergy.Theliteratureonburnoutstronglysuggeststhatworkersdisplayingsuchlevelswill notbeworking to their optimal level ofperformance,and in somecasesmaybe impaired.Therefore, it is importanttoensuretheir retention inareas identifiedashighlystressful,suchaschildprotectionandwelfare,andtosupporttheprofessionalperformanceofthosewhoremaininsuchareas.Todoso,necessarysupportstructuresneedtobeput inplacetobuildthementalresilienceofsocialworkersnotonlytosurvivetheworkenvironmentinchildprotection,butalsotoworktotheirfullpotentialandtoremaininthatarea.Improvedlevelsofpracticeandretentionwillnotonlybenefitthesocialworkersintermsoftheirownprofessionaljobsatisfaction,butveryimportantlyforthewelfareofthoseclientswithwhomtheywork.

Thedata collected from the student group showan improvement in theattitudesof Irish socialworkstudents towards the potential job satisfaction in the area of child protection and welfare againstcomparabledatacollectedbytheresearchteamwithinthepasteightyears(Redmondetal.,2008).Thisindicatesthat,fromatrainingperspective,studentsseemtobereceivingrelativelypositiveexposuretotheoryandpracticeinthisarea.Thefindingsofthisresearchstronglysuggestthatakeyissueinsocialworkretentionintheareaofchildprotectionliesintheneedtoaddressdifficultiesencounteredintheworkenvironmentforqualifiedsocialworkers.Necessarysupportmechanismsneedtobeputinplacethatfirstlysustainthesocialworkers’existingsenseofcommitmenttotheprofessioningeneralandtotheprofessionalvaluesystemthatsupportsthemtoworksuccessfullywithdisadvantagedandmarginalised

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groups.Personalandmentalresiliencealsoneedtobedevelopedthroughacombinationofenhancedtraining,thedevelopmentofasupported‘trainee’phasefornewlyqualifiedworkers,improvedsupervision,andgreateraccesstopsychologicalsupport.Consideringtheviewpointofthesocialworkerworkinginisolation,resilienceshouldalsobedevelopedwithintheprofessionbypromotingmoreinternalsharingandinteractionbetweensocialworkers,particularlybyinvolvementinandsharingofpractice-basedresearch.This,inturn,wouldalsoallowformoreprofessionalcohesivenessanddirectiontoemerge,allowingsocialworkerstodevelopamorefavourableperspectiveontheprofessioninwhichtheywork.

RecommendationsThisstudyhasexaminedtheviewsandexperiencesofsocialworktraineesandpractisingprofessionalsworkinginthecontextoftheHSE.Inreflectingonthemanyfindings,thereisaneedtofocusonthosethathighlightimplicationsfortheprofessionandtheexperienceofthoseenteringandworkinginthearea.Inreflectingonthefindingswewouldhighlightfourkeyareas.

1. Professional Social Work TrainingRecruitmentintosocialworktrainingintheRepublicofIrelandhasundergoneconsiderablechangeoverthepasttwentyyears,withanimpactontheprofileofgraduatingstudents.Measurestakentoaddressunfilled socialworkpositionsapproximately a decadeago includedamajor expansion in thenumberofMasters inSocialWorkcourses in Ireland,withover four times thenumberofstudentsgraduatingwithaprofessionalsocialworkqualificationinIrelandin2004,comparedwithtenyearsearlier(NSWQB2004).Thisisunderpinnedbytheoverallgrowthofnumbersenteringhighereducation,bothnationallyandinternationally,whichhasgreatlyincreasedtheeducationalopportunitiesandroutesintosocialworkeducation for students fromprogressivelymorediversebackgrounds.While this studyhasnot lookedspecificallyatlevelsofpre-courseexperience,stronganecdotalevidenceexiststhatmanystudentsarenowenteringsocialworktrainingwithlessrelevantpre-courseexperiencethanpreviousgenerations.Iftrue,thisplacesgrowingpressureonsocialworkeducatorsandfieldtrainerstobringthis increasinglydiversegrouptorequiredlevelsofbasiccompetencywithinadefinedperiod.Atthesametimethepracticecontextforthesegraduatesbecomesmorecomplex,asnationalchildcareandprotectionpracticesandcaseloadsincreasethedemandforknowledgeableandexperiencedsocialworkersintheworkplace.

This research recommends that social work training needs to provide a blended approach to childprotectioneducation,withanemphasisnotjustonthebasiclegislativeandoperationalknowledgeneededtofunctionwithinthechildcarefield,butalsoonthefundamentalattitudesandperceptionsthatunderpinthewaythatthesebeginningsocialworkerspractiseinthefield.Thiscombinationofasoundknowledgeoftheinstrumentalaspectsofsocialworkpracticewiththedevelopmentofcriticalthought,gooddecisionmakingskillsandcapacityforteamworkandprofessionalleadershipisneededtoproduceefficientandeffectivebeginningprofessionalswhocansuccessfullyrespondtothecontextinwhichtheywillwork.

Anotherelement tobe recognised inprofessional training is the influenceof trainees’expectationsoftheprofessionandtheemploymentcontext.Thisstudyandthepreviousworkoftheresearchteamhavedemonstratedthat,evenwhentheyhavelimitedpre-courseworkexperience,studentsdonotentersocialworktrainingas‘blankslates’.Indeedmanyofthemholdquitefixedperceptionsaboutwhattheythinkworkinprofessionalsocialworkpracticewillbelike,particularlyworkintheareaofchildprotectionand

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welfare.Earlierlongitudinalresearchwithagroupofsocialworkstudentsinoneinstitution(Redmondetal.,2008)foundthatthiscohortwereexpressingincreasinglynegativeviewsaboutchildprotectionandwelfarepracticeastheirtrainingprogressedandtherewassomeevidencethattheseviewshadbeenreinforcedbymoreexperiencedpractitionersand,moreworryingly,bysomecourseproviders.Buildingonourpreviousresearch,thecurrentstudyhasbeenabletocapturetheattitudestopracticeindifferentareasoftheprofessionfromasignificantnumberofallthestudentsinthefirstfewmonthoftheirsocialworktraininginoneyearinIreland.Thisresearchfoundthattheyheldamorepositiveviewofperceivedjobsatisfactionandstressinsocialworkpracticeinchildprotectionandwelfareintheearlystagesoftheirtraining.Whilethisfindinggivescauseforoptimism,thereisaneedtounderstandwhytheseviewschange.

In addition there is a strong onus on course developers and providers to foster the early positiveperspectivesheldbystudentsbyopenlychallenginganddebatingthestrongtacitbeliefsystemsaboutchildprotection that studentsbringwith them into training.Most importantlyprofessional socialworktraininghas tocontribute tobuilding themental resilience inbeginningpractitioners thatwill supportthemintheircareers,particularlyinstressfulenvironments.

Experiencedsocialworkersparticipatinginthisstudyemphasisedthevalueofengaginginresearchandevaluationasameansofcontributingtoreflectivepractice,buildingstandardisationacrosstheprofession,andbuildingprofessionalidentity.Thedevelopmentandapplicationofresearchskillsshouldbeincludedineducatingonreflectivepracticesinsocialworkatthetraininglevel.

Recommendations: Inregardtotrainingcourses,thisstudyhasshownthatthecurrentstructuresofprofessionalsocialworktrainingwhichcombinetheoreticalandfieldexperiencesremainsthepreferredmodelbystudents.However,in termsofspecificchildprotectionteachingandtraining, theuniversitiesshouldfocusonaproactivequalityenhancementapproach,ratherthanthemoredefensivequalityassuranceapproachtocurriculumdevelopment, using feedback from present and past students, from employers and the professionalaccreditationprocessestoinformtheirwork.Theuseofadjunctpractitionersasteachersandtutorsonchildprotectionmodulesisanimportantelementofsuchmodules,asitallowsthestudentstoheartherealityofcontemporarypractice.However,suchadjunctcontributionsneedtobepartofawider,well-plannedcurriculumleadingtotheachievementofclearstudentlearningoutcomes,ratherthanaseriesofad-hocencounters sharingpracticeexperiences.Considerationcouldbegiven to thedevelopment,withtheHSE,ofon-lineorblended-learningelementsofchildprotectionmoduleswhichcouldbesharedacrosssocialworkprogrammesonanationalbasis.Alllecturersandadjunctpractitionerscontributingto socialwork education should also be fully cognisant of the post-qualifying orientation and trainingapproachesthatthestudentswillsubsequentlybeofferedbytheHSE.Centraltosuccessfulprofessionalsocialworkeducation is theuseof teachingand trainingapproachesproven tohelpbeginningsocialworkersachievelevelsofindependent,reflectivecriticalthoughtandofpersonalandmentalresiliencetowardtheirpractice.Suchapproachesneedtobedevelopedwithsocialworkeducators,practitionersandresearchers,adoptedbybothlecturingstaffandthoseinvolvedinskillsdevelopment,andbecomethepedagogicalbasisuponwhichthelayersofsocialworkknowledgeandskillscanthenbesuccessfullydeveloped.Aswiththeearlierdiscussion,thefindingsofthisreportcouldprovideanimportantstimulusfortrainersandemployerstoreflectonthelinksbetweenthem.

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Finally,giventheimportanceofearlyfieldplacementexperiencesintheformationofprofessionalskills,it is recommendedthatallstudentson Irishprofessionalsocialworkprogrammeshaveaccesstoonefieldplacementintheareaofchildprotectionduringtheirtraining.ThisrequirementneedstobeactivelysupportedbytheHSEbyassuringappropriatenumbersofsocialworkplacementsofasufficientquality,inatimelyfashion,tothetraininguniversities.Theseplacementsshouldengagestudentsintheapplicationoftheoreticalandpracticalknowledge,extendingtheblendedapproachelaboratedonaboveinstudenttraining.Whileacknowledging thecompetitiveelement thatexistsbetweenuniversities, thesharingoftheoreticalteachingresources,offieldtrainingopportunitiesandofbestpracticebetweentheuniversitiesandtheHSEneedstounderpinanationalhighereducationalapproachtothechildprotectiondimensionofsocialwork training.Theongoingworkof theSocialWorkNationalPlacementForum isparticularlywelcomedinthisregard.

2. Fundamental tensions between the underlying values and professional skills in social work practice and the organisational and practice structures in child protection.

This research has shown that social workers operating in the field of child protection find suchworkstressfulandthatmanyaredisplayingworryingsignsofburnout.However,thecohortalsoshowsastrongconnectiontotheunderlyingvaluesoftheirprofessionandsuchvaluesappeartoactasaverypositivefactorinthesesocialworkers’commitmenttotheirworkandtheirdecisiontostayworkingintheareaofchildprotection.Twokeyfindingsinthecurrentresearchhavebeentherelativelyhighlevelsofdedicationrecordedinthesocialworkers,indicatingtheircapabilitytomaintainenthusiasm,prideandinspirationintheirwork.Ithasalsobeenfoundthatthecohortdisplayedastrongidentitywiththecoreethicsandvaluesofsocialwork,includingastrongsenseofsocialjusticeandidentificationwiththeneedsofindividualsandcommunitiestouchedbysocialdeprivationandinequality.Theresearchhasalsoshownthatsourcesofsocialworkstressarelessconnectedtothenatureoftheworkthattheydoandtheirrelationshipswithserviceusersratherthantothestructuresinwhichtheyoperate.Thisappearstoindicateanessentialconflictbetweenthemotivationsofmanysocialworkerstowardstheirworkandthemannerandcontextinwhichtheycarrythatworkout.

RecommendationsWenoteinreviewingthecurrentinductionandsupervisionpoliciesappliedinpracticeintheHSE,thatthereneedstobescopeforthesedocumentstorecognisethevalue-drivennatureofsocialworkwithintheorganisationalstructureoftheHSE.InordertooperationalisethisappreciationwefeelthatthefindingsofthisreportcouldprovideastimulusfordiscussionswithintheHSEexploringthesetensionsandraisingawarenessofthepotentialfordifferencesintheperceptionofthoseinandinteractingwiththesocialworkprofession.

Therefore, this research recommends thata fullerappreciationof the fundamental tensions thatmayexistbetweenlargelyvalue-drivensocialworkpracticeandtheperformance-drivenworkplacemustberecognisedanddeveloped.Moreimportantly,thisappreciationhastounderpinanyspecificchangesinhowsocialworkersoperatewithintheorganisationalcontextoftheHSE.Thisisnotasimplequestionofdiminishingoreliminatingoneelementoftheequation.Ratheritinvolvesamorecomplexunderstandingandincorporationoftensionsintheconstructionofawell-functioningprofessionalresponse—arealisationthatbothperspectivesareimportantfactorsinthedevelopmentanddeliveryofqualityservices.

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3. Early Career Social WorkInternational research shows that the decision to leave one’s profession during the early years of aprofessionalcareerisprimarilyrelatedtolackofsupportandproblemswithworkplaceconditions(Boser,2000)Intermsofrespondingtostressinajob,Langetal.(2005)arguethatsocialworkerscanalleviatestressbyfulfillingthetasksthattheirroleinvolves,whilereceivingadequatesupportandacknowledgementfromfellowcolleagues,aswellashavingtheopportunitytopursueprofessionaldevelopment.Thecurrentresearchhashighlightedhigh levelsofstress in thecohortofsocialworkerswhoresponded,with thestressexperiencedbeingmoststronglyrelatedbythosetakingparttoworkplaceissuesratherthanonesthatarerole-relatedorclient-related.Thisfindingcorrespondstotheresearchteam’sfindingontheextentandnature ofworkplace stresswith a cohort of 73 early careerworkers (Guerin et al, 2010). In anyorganisationthat isdependentonhumancapital,staff turnover representsasignificant threat to thatorganisation’sstability,athreattothedepletionofproductivecapacityandathreattotheorganisation’stechnical core (McGregor,1988).Such threatsareparticularly serious inanorganisationsuchas theHSE,which is a ‘knowledge-dependanthumanservice’ (Balfour&Neff,1993).Well-designed trainingandsupervisorystructures inhumanserviceorganisationsareexpensive,but theyplayadual role inproducingsocialworkerscapableofindependent,effectiveandefficientpracticeand,equallyimportant,greatlyincreasethechancesthatsuchworkerswillstayintheorganisation,therebyjustifyingthecostofthetraining.

Induction: Looking first to the systems in place for those beginning work with the HSE, the existing inductionarrangementsfornewsocialworkersprovideausefulframeworkuponwhichtodevelopthesetrainingandsupportstructures,astheyincludethecriticalknowledgeelementsnecessaryforsafeandinformedpractice.ThesekeyelementsincludeChildrenFirstandothercorepoliciesandlegislation.ThecurrentHSE inductionpolicy recognises thatbeginningsocialworkersshouldnotundertakeasdemandingorcomplexacaseloadasthatexpectedfromexperiencedsocialworkers,afactorwhichisverywelcome.It istemptingtomeettheneedtoreduceworkloads,astheinductionpolicyhasdone,byestablishinga numerical reduction in caseloads (10% reduction).However, this approachmaybe too simplistic toaddressthemultifaceteddevelopmentofthebeginningsocialworkerortheconsiderabledifferenceinthecomplexitiesofsomecases,whichcannotbereducedtoamathematicalformula.Researchhasshownthatlevelsofstressrisesignificantlyinsocialworkerswhofeelthemselvesunabletoreachplannedworktargets(Collings&Murray,1996).Specifyingthesizeofcaseloadwithinwhichbeginningsocialworkersoperatetomaximumeffectivenessneedstobecomeamorenuancedjudgement,whichshouldalsobeinformedbythedecisionofthatsocialworker’ssupervisorastothesupervisee’scurrentcapabilitiesandthedynamicprocessofsupervision,towhichwenowturn.

Supervision:Reviewing thesupervisionpolicy currentlyemployed in theHSE,wenote that thiswasdue for formalreviewin2010.Wefeelthereisscopeinthispolicytodescribethetypeofsupervisionmodelsthatcanmoreeffectivelyaddressthestressesreportedbysocialworkersinthepresentstudy.Itisrecommendedthat a comprehensive set of training and professional development support structures be developedforsocialworkersemployedinchildprotectionwork,particularthosewhoarerecentgraduates.These

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structuresneedtooffernewsocialworkersboththenecessaryknowledgeandskillstopractisesafelyandcompetentlyinthearea,butalsotoaddresstheiroverall longer-termprofessionaldevelopmentneeds.Thesestructureswouldneedtorecognisethatsupervisionoffersanopportunitytobothreflectonpractice(therebyallowingopportunitiesfordevelopment)andidentifyareasforfurthersupportandinput.Suchstructures, when properly implemented, can create a cohort of social workers who are committed todevelopingtheircareersinthelong-termwithintheareaandwhoareconfidentthattheywillbesupportedindoingso.Thisstudy’sfindingsofhigh levelofdedicationandastrong identifywith thecoreethicsand values of socialwork need to be incorporated in a positiveway in the professional developmentofbeginningsocialworkers.Thesearefactorswhich,whendevelopedandsupportedwithinatrainingandsupervisionstructure,willactasstrongretentiondriverfortheprofessionalsandalsounderpinthedevelopmentofcompetentpractice.

Recommendations:Itisrecommendedthatacoherentsocialworksupervisoryprovisionbedevelopedtooperateintandemwiththeexisting,moreinstrumentalsupervisionandtrainingpolicy.Thisapproachshouldnotonlymonitorthelevelofpracticeofindividuals,butalsocontributetotheirprofessionaldevelopment.Thisincludestheidentificationofprofessionalstrengths,andspecificallythedevelopmentofmentalresilience,necessaryto successfully undertake the complex decision-making inherent in child protection social work andstrengthencorevaluesthatunderpindedicationtotheprofession.

Finally,thecurrentgenericguidelinesonsupervision,assetoutbytheHSE,articulatesoundsupervisoryprinciples,butitisrecommendedthatspecificsocialworksupervisoryguidelinesbedrawnupwhichreflecttheunique,discipline-specificissueswhichemergeforsocialworkers,particularlyatthebeginningstagesoftheircareersinchildprotection.Suchsupervisoryguidelinesshouldbedevelopedtakingaccountofthestrongvaluebasetosocialworkandshouldmobilisesuchvaluestosupportandmaintainhigh-qualityprofessionalpractice.

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4. Supporting Mid-Career Social Workers and Continuous Professional Development

Justastrainingandprofessionaldevelopmentplayakeyroleinthedevelopmentofthebeginningsocialworker,thecurrentresearchhasidentifiedastronginterestamongthecohortforprofessionaldevelopmentfor those at mid-career and beyond, including the need for continuous professional development. Inparticular, themoreexperiencedsocialworkers inboththefocusgroupsandthe individual interviewsexpressedinterestinbeinginvolvedinmorework-basedtraining,researchandevaluationthatwouldactivelylinktheoryandresearchintopractice.Theneedtofindaclearerwayfortheprofessiontoarticulatewhatitdoes,particularlytootherprofessionalgroups,wasanissueidentifiedbymanyoftheparticipants.Theydiscussedtheneedfortrainingthatwouldhelpdevelopthisstrongerprofessionalidentityandthatwouldalsohelpsocialworkersbecomemoreawareoftheirprovenprofessionalstrengthsandcapabilities.

The commitment to this ongoing training and development fits well with the complex social andorganisationalworkcontextconsideredabove,asitallowsforprofessionalstoaddtoandcomplementtheskillsandknowledgedevelopedinprofessionaltraining.Thismayalsocontributetobridgingexistingtensionsbetweensocialworkervaluesandidealsandtherealisticstructuralcontextoftheprofessiontheyareworkingin.Itisimportanttorecognisethatbasictrainingprogrammeswillchangeovertime,resultingindifferencesinthefoundationtrainingexperiencedbythoseemployedintheHSE.OngoingprofessionaltrainingcanbedevelopedinresponsetotheneedsofthoseinemploymentwiththeHSE.However,thereis alsoaneed to recognise that ongoing training is a necessity anda corepart of effective practice,particularlywhenpressuresintheorganisationalcontexthavenegativeimplicationsfortheavailabilityofresourcesinthisarea.

Interestingly, theparticipants inthisstudy identifiedthedevelopmentofpractice-basedresearchskillsasbeingawayofbeingabletomoreaccuratelymeasurethe impactof theirpractice.Suchskillscanbedeveloped to form thebasisof aneffectivebase forevidence-basedpractice. Theyalso sawsuchpractice-basedresearchasameansofincreasinglearningandconfidence-buildingwithintheprofession,by measuring and sharing outcomes arising from social work interactions. Importantly, participantsmentioned this type of practice-based research, carried out by practising social workers themselves,asprovidingaway foroutcomesofeffective socialworkpractice tobedisseminatedbothwithinandoutsideoftheprofession,therebyimprovingthecross-professionalappreciationofthesocialworkrole,particularlyinchildprotectionandwelfare.WhilesomerespondentstalkedoftheneedtoeducatesocialworkpractitionerstoPhDlevel,thecostandtheextraworkcommitmentofundertakingfurtherpart-timeuniversityeducationwasalsonotedasasignificantproblemforalreadytime-constrainedsocialworkers.SuchconcernstallywiththeobservationsoftheresearchteamwhohaveseentheconsiderabledifficultiesencounteredbyseniorsocialworkpractitionersattemptingfurtherstudywhileholdingdowndemandingjobsandtherelativelylowcompletionrateoffurtherMastersorPhDsbypractisingsocialworkersinIrishuniversities.

Recommendations: Itisrecommendedthatasuiteofcontinuousprofessionaldevelopmentoptionsbedevelopedinlinewiththesuggestionsemergingfromthesesocialworkers.Theseoptionsshouldexplorecreativetechnologiesandteachingtechniquesthatmightoffermoreflexibilityintermsofaccessandtimedemands.Thismight

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includeonlineandself-directedlearning.Thereisclearpotentialfortheseresourcestobedevelopedincollaborationwithsocialworktrainingprogrammes,butalsowithotherprofessionsintheHSE(inthecaseofmoregenericskills). Inaddition,particularconsiderationshouldbegiventosupportingexperiencedsocialworkerscarryoutpractice-basedresearch,particularlyshortpiecesofworkwhichrobustlyevaluateand inform specific elements of social work practice. Discussion should take place with the traininguniversitiesaboutprovidingsupportandaccreditationtosuchpractitionerresearchasaformofCPD.Theflexibilityofthemodularstructurenowavailableinhighereducationmayallowsomeoftheuniversitiestoprovideshortmodulesinresearchmethodsandresearchsupervision.Tosupporttheplaceofresearchincontinuousprofessionaldevelopment,acultureofresearchfacilitationshouldbeputinplacethatactivelyencouragesand facilitatessharingof research resourcesand researchfindingswithin thesocialworkprofessionandacrossprofessions.

In preference such modules should use a ‘blended learning’ approach which would incorporate on-line learning,minimising theneed for travelandallowingsocialworkers toengagewithsuchstudyatatimethatfitswiththeirworkschedules.Successfulshortpiecesofpractice-basedresearchcanthenbeaccreditedandcreditsaccumulatedover time.The introductionofsuchaflexible,cumulative,CPDstructureshouldnotonlyallowforincreasedprofessionaldevelopmentfortheindividual,butalsoproduceimportantpractice-basedresearch.Importantlyitwillalsohelpsocialworkersusesuchresearch-basedevidenceandtoarticulatethecontributionofeffectivesocialworkskillsandapproachesbothwithintheprofessionandtoawideraudience.

ConclusionSocialworkersintheareaofchildprotectionandwelfareworkcloselywithsomeofthemostvulnerableandmarginalisedindividualsandgroupsinsocietywhorelyontheirsocialworkers’assessment,decision-making and therapeutic skills. Few individuals enter socialwork, particularly child protection,withoutbeingawareof thestressesthatwill facethemin theirwork,but this researchhasshownthecost tomanysocialworkers intermsofhigh levelsofstressandburnout. Internationalresearchhasrevealedthatsocialworkburnoutisassociatedwiththeconflictbetweenthenatureofsocialworkpracticeandthedemandsoftheworkplace(Lloydetal.,2002).Theresultsofthiscurrentresearchcorrespondcloselytothesepreviousfindings,withmanyofthestudy’spractisingsocialworkersexperiencingadisconnectbetweentheirvalue-basedpracticeandtheorganisationalstructuresinwhichtheywork.Thisfinding,andtheaccompanyinglevelsofstressandburnoutrecordedinthisstudy,needstoberegardedwithattention,notonlybecauseofthelong-termpsychologicalimpactontheindividualprofessionaloperatingwithinastressfulenvironment.Justasimportantisthecloseconnectionbetweenstressandburnoutandpoorlevelsofworkplaceretentionwiththeresultingdamageknowntooccurforvulnerableandfragilechildrenfromstaffturnover.

Thestudyalsoofferswhatmaybepartofthesolutiontomovingtowardsamoreeffectiveandrewardingworkingenvironmentforsocialworkers.Theenthusiasmandpositiveattitudestowardschildprotectionasanareaofworkfromthestudentcohort,andthehighlevelsofdedicationtotheirworkrecordedinthepractisingsocialworkercohortneedtobeseenasimportantandencouragingfactors.Suchpositiveattitudesandconvictionsneedtobeencouragedintrainees,developedinbeginningsocialworkersandsupportedandaffirmedinmoreexperiencedpractitioners.Thiscanhappenthroughtrainingandorientation

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thatcapitaliseonearlyenthusiasminaplannedandsupportiveenvironment;throughsupervisionthatgoesbeyondperformanceinspectionandchallengesthemorecomplexaspectsoftherole:andthroughtrainingthatincreasesskillsandplacesnewevaluatoryresearchcapacitiesinthehandsofexperiencedpractitioners.Bydoingso,thefundamentalstrengthsoftheprofessioncanbechannelledbetterintohigh-qualitypractice,whichcanonlybenefitsocialworkersandthosewithwhomtheyengage.

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