Editorial: Relationships matter - well they do, relatively speaking
| Published date | 04 May 2008 |
| Date | 04 May 2008 |
| Pages | 2-4 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17466660200800013 |
| Author | Nick Axford,Michael Little |
2Journal of Children’s Services
Volume 3 Issue 3 November 2008
© Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
1Dartington Social
Research Unit, UK
2Dartington Social
Research Unit, UK,
and Chapin Hall
Center for Children,
University of
Chicago, US
Nick Axford1 and Michael Little2
Editorial: Relationships
matter – well they do,
relatively speaking
One of the more common among the myriad diagnoses
offered following a child abuse scandal such as the
recent tragic case of Baby P1 runs something like this.
The regulators behind children’s services are
obsessed with recording information and hitting
targets. Opportunities for direct work with clients are
being squeezed out. Yet, these relationships are what
professionals and service users really value, and when
they are undermined children suffer – sometimes
fatally. The solution is to reduce the amount of form-
filling and key-pressing so that practitioners can spend
more time seeing real children and families.
Do that and fewer children will die.
Sometimes this argument is bundled up in a more
expansive broadside against the preoccupation with
outcomes and evidence-based practice, which are
dismissed as a front for sinister managerial obsessions
with saving money, monitoring performance and
controlling frontline workers’ every move.
We are urged to remember that the actual process
of social work is what matters, not a narrow focus on
outcomes or task: ‘There are some areas of social work
practice in which goal achievement is less important
than simply being with the client.’ (Healy, 2005, cited
in Thompson, 2008)
So relationships and outcome-focused, evidence-
based practice are often presented as being in
opposition. But does more of one really mean less
of the other? And if relationships matter, what do we
mean by matter?
In this ed ition, Helen Masso n and her collea gues
report on the strength of feeling among expe rienced
practitioners that the relatio nal aspects of s ocial
work are v alued by service users and make
a significan t contribution to their own work-
satisfaction. This chimes with other research (Gupta
& Blewett, 2007) showing tha t service users most
value social work’s ‘social’ approach, in part icular
the positive personal qualitie s it purportedly
embodies – warmth, respect, non-judgmental
attitudes, e qual treatment and so on.
Social work is, therefore, ‘essentially a human
rather than a technical or scientific activity’ (p61), yet
it is becoming an ‘increasingly distant, procedure-
bound role’ (p61). Most respondents to the Masson
survey agreed that they were spending less time with
service users, and many cited increased amounts of
ICT (Information and Communication Technology),
recording and bureaucracy as among the biggest
changes in work practices since their careers had
started. Some felt that their ability to serve children
and families was being harmed: ‘Feels like I spend
a lot of time tied to my computer replying to emails,
completing paper work when I should be carrying out
home visits’. (p59)
It has become popular in recent years to criticise
this ‘electronic turn’ on the grounds that it is in
danger of transforming social work and children’s
services more generally into an informational activity
at the expense of relationships. But other empirical
research should prompt us at least to pause before
jumping to conclusions.
For example, an ethnographic study in one English
local authority of the pilot phase of an electronic
database2 shows that ‘professional cultures and
working practices are not sufficiently malleable to be
eroded by imperatives to service the demands of ICTs’
(Peckover et al, 2008, p378). One reason for this is that
ICTs ‘often act in unintended ways, like simply failing
to work’ (p378). Practitioners in this ethnographic
study tended to distinguish between the ‘real work’,
which includes seeing children and families, and
the other tasks or ‘chores’, which tend to include
logging data. The electronic database in question was
perceived by practitioners to add to the daily workload
rather to alleviate it, but when there was a tension
between ‘putting [data] in’ and ‘going out’ to see
families it was usually resolved in favour of the latter.
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting