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Managing Social Work SSSW33

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Managing Social Work SSSW33 STOCKHOLM STUDIES IN SOCIAL WORK Managing social work SSSW33 Managing social work Organisational conditions and everyday work for managers in the Swedish social services Emelie Shanks ©Emelie Shanks, Stockholm University 2016 ISSN 0281-2851 ISBN 987-91-7649-416-5 Printed in Sweden by Holmbergs, Malmö 2016 Distributor: Department of Social Work To David, Nora and Harriet. Förord Att få ägna ett antal år (dessutom några fler än planerat) åt en avhandling måste beskrivas som ett fantastiskt privilegium. För mig har det också varit ett nöje. Detta är till stora delar en förtjänst av min huvudhandledare Tommy Lundström, som alltid funnits där när det behövts och som bidragit inte bara med akademisk vägledning av bästa sort, utan också med omtanke. Stort tack till dig Tommy! Stort tack också till min biträdande handledare Åke Bergmark som bistått med goda råd och värdefulla kommentarer. Att de här åren har varit så roliga är också en förtjänst av mina dokto- randkollegor, både nuvarande och tidigare. I rum 618 har jag genom åren hunnit ha ett flertal rumskamrater som gjort jobbet extra kul. Tack till er Hanna Linell, Lisa Lundberg, Alexander Björk, David Pålsson, Therese von Braun, Maria Andersson Vogel och Ylva Spånberger Weitz. Tack också alla ni andra (f.d. och nuvarande) doktorandkollegor för trevligt häng och gi- vande samtal vid lunch och andra tillfällen. Tack Hélène Lagerlöf som så generöst ställt upp på olika sätt under doktorandtiden. Tack också Lotten Cederholm Riese för allmän support. Mina manus har vid flera tillfällen lästs och kommenterats av kunniga personer, tack Gun-Britt Trydegård och Ylva Spånberger Weitz för kom- mentarer på mitt PM, tack Marta Szebehely och Fredrik Brunnström för kommentarer vid mitt kapitelseminarium och tack Staffan Johansson för kommentarer vid mitt slutseminarium. Tack också Eva Samuelsson, Karin Heimdahl, Maria Andersson Vogel, Lisa Lundberg, Ylva Spånberger Weitz, Therese Von Braun, Palle Storm, Viveca Selander, Klara Hussénius och Lisa Andersson som i skrivargruppen kommenterat på texter i olika skeden, samt alla andra kollegor som tagit er tid att läsa och komma med hjälpsamma kommentarer, både på och utanför seminarier. Det har uppskattats! Under doktorandtiden har jag, tillsammans med mina två handledare samt Stefan Wiklund och Stig Elofson, fått möjligheten att skriva några artiklar. Vilken förmån det har varit att göra det med er! Jag hade aldrig blivit doktorand om det inte vore för Lena Hübners upp- muntran i samband med att jag skrev min c-uppsats. Tack för det Lena! Slutligen, innan jag tackar familjen, vill jag också passa på att tacka alla chefer som tagit sig tid att intervjuas och svara på min ganska omfattande enkät. Tack för att ni så frikostigt delade med er av era upplevelser! Så till sist, tack till mina föräldrar som gett mig en bra start i livet och som fortfarande stöttar mig i stort och smått. Tack David, som inte bara är min älskade och alltigenom fantastiske make, utan som också har varit min språkgranskare och min kanske mest kritiske läsare. Jag är så glad att du finns vid min sida. Tack också till mina älskade döttrar Nora och Harriet för att ni finns. Contents Förord ............................................................................................................ iv 1. Introduction ........................................................................................... 11 Aim ............................................................................................................................. 13 Some clarifications .................................................................................................. 14 The personal social services ............................................................................. 14 NPM and managerialism ................................................................................... 16 Management, leadership, administration and supervision ......................... 16 2. Contextual factors for social work management and research on managerial work ........................................................................................ 19 Organisational trends affecting the everyday work of the managers in the Swedish personal social services .......................................................................... 19 New Public Management ................................................................................... 19 Increasing specialisation within the Swedish personal social services ..... 24 Managerial work ...................................................................................................... 25 Managerial work in public sector management ............................................ 26 Research on management/leadership in social work ........................................ 27 Nationally… .......................................................................................................... 27 …and internationally .......................................................................................... 30 Summary .................................................................................................................. 34 3. Perspectives on social work organisations and the social work profession .................................................................................................... 36 Personal social services are public sector organisations .................................. 37 Personal social services are human service organisations............................... 38 Interdependence between professionals and organisations ............................ 39 Organisations that are dependent on professionals .................................... 39 Professionals that are dependent on public sector organisations ............. 40 Relevance for social work management .............................................................. 42 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................ 43 4. Data and methods ................................................................................ 45 Combining qualitative and quantitative data ..................................................... 45 The interviews .......................................................................................................... 47 The selection of municipalities ......................................................................... 47 The selection of managers ............................................................................... 51 Conducting and analysing the interviews ...................................................... 53 The survey ................................................................................................................ 54 Categorisations of managerial levels and fields of social work .................. 56 Ethical considerations ............................................................................................. 57 5. Managers in the personal social services ........................................ 58 Who are the managers? ......................................................................................... 58 Sex, age and university education .................................................................. 60 Managerial levels and number of subordinates ............................................ 60 Organisational affiliation and experience ....................................................... 62 The interviewees ..................................................................................................... 63 Summary .................................................................................................................. 63 6. Becoming a social work manager – learning management ........ 65 Becoming a manager – coincidence or choice? ................................................. 66 Transition .................................................................................................................. 67 Learning management............................................................................................ 69 Post-qualifying training ..................................................................................... 69 In-service training – administration and content ......................................... 71 Other sources of managerial competences ................................................... 74 Practically derived vs. educationally derived knowledge? .......................... 78 Knowledge gaps ....................................................................................................... 83 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 83 The recruitment of social work managers – two challenges ...................... 84 Embedded in practice? ...................................................................................... 85 Generic leadership skills for social work managers? ................................... 86 7. Being a social work manager – everyday work ............................. 88 It’s fun, but… ............................................................................................................ 89 Deliberate and reactive management ................................................................. 90 Scheduled meetings; management or disturbance? ................................... 93 Administration and strategic work .................................................................. 94 Constant
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