Transformation from Social Workers' Direct Practice to Engagement in Policy Practices - A Qualitative Analysis

Background and Purpose: In Israel, most social workers are trained as case-managers/family-workers, while a smaller percentage specializes as community developers. The training of family-workers focuses their work on direct assistance, rather than on working to change the political and regulatory arena in which they and their clients operate. Recently, workers find themselves called-upon to engage in policy changing activities. Thus, the research question was what factors influence the decision of social workers to broaden their perspectives to include community development approaches and engage in policy-practices to help clients at-risk?

Methods: The study was a qualitative study, based on purposive sampling and snowball processes of social workers in public social services agencies in Israel. Inclusion criteria were based on selecting social  workers from services operating in zones in which it was previously ascertained that either local or national policies were negatively affecting local service clients, for example – gentrification policies, or scarcity of feasible public transportation. The study combined focus-groups and individual interviews with social workers. Three focus-groups of 15 members each (a total of 45 participants), as well as 28 personal interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. Interviews were conducted based on interview-guides (for individual and for group interviews). Thematic analysis focused on perceptions of practice and practice philosophies of workers.

Findings: The findings highlight the "decision tree" social workers trained as case-mangers and family-workers face when presented with the need to engage in policy-practice in order to help clients. By dealing with a series of decision-making processes vis-à-vis internal and external barriers (personal and organizational), social-workers go through a significant professional transformation, expanding their professional outlook and identity to include policy practices.

Conclusions: Barriers to job performance create a role conflict that in turn serves as a catalyst for a personal and professional process of decision-making and action that influences broadening practice perspectives to include policy changing activities. This process is dialectic, representing a constant change in the perception of professional role and is differential and contextual. This personal and professional process of decision making helps social workers overcome the barriers and expand their involvement in the community and policy arenas. The findings indicate that in order to increase social workers involvement and engagement in policy arena there is a need to identify the mechanisms that shape role-perceptions and the interchange between those perceptions and the ways by which social workers practice in the field. In order to achieve that, changes and adaptations should be conducted in public social welfare services, and allocate resources and opportunities for social workers to engage in policy changing practices.