Digital Technology Utilization and the Perception of Practitioners in the Social Work Field in South Korea

Background: Recently, in the field of social welfare practice, various services such as counseling, education, and care have been provided online. The number of programs that utilize advanced digital technology is also gradually increasing. Especially in South Korea, where ICT technology has developed and the internet environment is excellent, social services using ICT technology in the social work field are rapidly increasing. However, little research examined the current status of the use of digital technology in the social work practice and the perceptions of social work practitioners. Therefore, this study aims to examine the current status of digital technology utilization in diverse social work facilities and practitioners' perceptions of digitalization in the social work field in South Korea.

Method: This study conducted a focus group interview (FGI). Participants were intentionally sampled based on facility type (service facility, residential facility) and client type (elderly, disabled, children, etc.) to examine various social work practitioners' digital capabilities. A total of 32 social work practitioners at diverse social service organizations were included as final participants. The FGI was conducted with six groups, and a semi-structured interview was conducted. The FGI data was transcribed, and the completed transcript was analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: Through the thematic analysis method, three themes were derived: (1) digital technology related to client service, (2) digital technology for administrative work, and (3) future direction of digital utilization of social work facilities. Also, six sub-themes and eighteen detailed categories were derived. This study identified an increase in work efficiency resulting from the digitalization of administrative tasks. At the same time, this study identified concerns regarding the digital gap between different organizations, social isolation due to reduced face-to-face interactions, and conflicts among practitioners due to heavy workloads. The need for establishing digital infrastructure for social work facilities and providing digital education for social workers was also derived.

Conclusion and implication: This study contributes to broadening the knowledge of the social work field by including diverse types of social work facilities and examining service-related and work-related digital technology. This study will serve as a foundation for future research to derive the direction and challenges of social work practice in the digital age.