Social Justice in Social Work: The Role of Distributive Leadership and Organization Type
Distributive leadership has been shown to predict positive perceptions of social justice action in social work organizations, but does this relationship differ by type of organization? Institutional theory suggests that organization type (i.e., government, for-profit or non-profit organizations), due to differences in amounts of systemic hierarchy and bureaucracy, may impact the degree to which distributive leadership practices influence perceptions of social justice in the workplace. The purpose of this study is to explore individual and organizational factors that may promote social justice in the workplace with a particular focus on the relationship between distributive leadership and organization type.
Methods
A total of 250 registered licensed social workers in Maryland and Pennsylvania were randomly selected from each state, resulting in a survey sample of 500 individuals. The valid response rate for this study was 133 (34.4%). The majority of respondents were female (91%), white (84%) and married or partnered (68%). The average respondent had been practicing 17 years and was 47 years old.
The subjective norms subscale (SJN) of the Social Justice Scale was used to measure social justice perceptions. The individual factor of psychological empowerment was measured through Spreitzer’s (1995) psychological empowerment scale. Distributive leadership was measured through three items on the leadership sub-scale from the Comprehensive Health Assessment. Organization type included non-profit, government and for-profit.
A series of three-level hierarchical linear regressions were used to test whether individual characteristics, distributive leadership, and organization type impacted perceptions of social justice in the workplace.
Results
Results showed that the individual factors of psychological empowerment, gender, ethnicity, relationship status and years in practice were not significantly related to social justice perceptions. In all three models, distributive leadership was a significant predictor of social justice perceptions. In model 1 (government) and model 2 (non-profit) the interaction between sector and leadership was not significant. In the third model, there was a significant interaction between for-profit and distributive leadership. At low levels of distributive leadership participants who worked in for-profit organizations reported lower levels of social justice perceptions compared to workers in other sectors. At high levels of leadership workers in for-profit organizations reported higher levels of social justice perceptions compared to workers in other sectors.
Implications
Findings support that the distribution of power in an organization through communication and teamwork may promote social justice within social work organizations, particularly in for-profit social work organizations. In line with institutional theory, the relationship between leadership and social justice perceptions is dependent on work sector. Future studies might employ a more detailed assessment of social justice actions by individual respondents, coworkers at various levels within the organization, as well as the organization’s commitment to social justice as a whole, allowing a more thorough analysis of the relationship between organization type and social justice behaviors. Identifying the factors that are related to social justice actions could aid in the promotion of social justice behavior on an institutional and organizational level in social work organizations.