Exploring Social Workers' Experiences of Working with Bushfire-affected Families

Abstract

Following the devastating Victorian bushfires in February 2009, social workers engaged with people affected by this event in a variety of roles, including bushfire case manager, counsellor, and community development worker. This paper explores the experiences of social workers who worked with bushfire-affected families to understand their role and the context in which they practised. It describes the personal impact of disaster recovery work. Secondly, by drawing on the knowledge and experiences of these social workers, this investigation identified skills and personal qualities that can be used to inform the preparation and support of social workers responding in future disaster events or emergency recovery situations. The research design featured a mixed methodology that included an anonymous online survey completed by 22 participants and personal interviews with 6 social workers. Narrative data analysis was performed to identify themes. A key finding of the study was that, while social workers frequently work in contexts of uncertainty, the demands placed on practice were exacerbated by the lack of familiarity with geography, social networks, and resources, as well as by higher levels of uncertainty and lack of clarity and detail relating to the event itself.

2009年2月维多利亚省丛林火灾之后，社会工作者以不同角色如林火案件管理者、咨询师以及社区发展工作者，接触了受大火影响的人。本文首先探讨了社会工作者 与受林火影响的家庭接触的经历，以理解他们的角色和工作的环境。文章描述了灾难恢复工作中的个人影响。其次，根据知识和那些社会工作者的经验，确定哪些技能和个人品质会有助于社会工作者应对将来可能发生的灾难及紧急恢复的情况。本研究设计了一套混合式方法，包括由22位参与者完成的匿名在线调查和对6位社工人员的访谈。研究者对记述资料做了分析以确定题目。该研究的一个关键发现是，社工人员经常在不确定的环境里工作，工作强度由于不熟悉地理、社会网络和资源而放大，对事件本身细节不了解，缺少清晰的概念，属于更深层的不确定，更让局面变本加厉。

Keywords:

• Bushfire Recovery
• Disaster Recovery
• Social Work Practice
• Case Management
• Self Care

Acknowledgements

Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) supported the research by awarding Helen Hickson the Practitioner Research Grant in June 2010.