Social work ‘logged on’: contemporary dilemmas in an evolving ‘techno-habitat’

ABSTRACT

Information and communication technologies have become an integral part of daily life. This article explores the impact of the social networking site, Facebook, e-mail and text messaging for social workers in the Republic of Ireland. The study is small-scale and the findings, derived from a number of research interviews with practitioners and a survey of social work students, cannot be regarded as representative. However, the findings illuminate key dilemmas which are becoming apparent in social work’s evolving ‘techno-habitat’ and these are likely to be replicated, to different degrees, elsewhere in Europe.

ACHOIMRE

Tá páirt lárnach ag Teicneolaíocht Faisnéise agus Cumarsáide i saol an lae inniu. Fiosraíonn an t-alt seo an tionchar a bhíonn ag an láithreán líonraithe sóisialta, Facebook, ríomhphost agus teachtaireachtaí téacs ar oibrithe sóisialta in i bPoblacht na hÉireann. Is mionstaidéar atá i gceist: fuarthas na torthaí trí agallaimh taighde a chur ar oibrithe sóisialta agus trí shuirbhé a dhéanamh ar mhic léinn a bhfuil staidéar a dhéanamh acu ar obair shóisialta agus ní féidir glacadh leis go bhfuil siad ionadaíoch. Ina dhiaidh sin féin, tugann torthaí na príomhfhadhbanna atá á nochtadh i bhfearann teicneolaíochta na hoibre sóisialta chun solais, agus tá an chosúlacht ann gurb iad na fadhbanna céanna, a bheagán ná a mhórán, a bheidh le sonrú in áiteanna eile san Eoraip.

KEYWORDS:

• ICT
• E-mail
• Facebook
• social media
• ethics

EOCHAIRFHOCAIL:

• TCE
• R-phoist
• Facebook
• Na Meáin Shóisialta
• Eitice

Acknowledgement

Thank you to Mairéad Ní Chualáin for undertaking the Irish translation of the Abstract.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Denise Ryan completed an MA in Social Work at NUI Galway. Currently she is a social worker with Tusla – the Child and Family Agency in the Republic of Ireland. Her research interests focus on transformations taking place within social work and especially the impact of new technologies on the practices on the profession.

Paul Michael Garrett, Ph.D., works at NUI Galway and his Social Work and Social Theory (2013) was published, with Chinese translation, in 2016. He is also the author of three books which map facets of social work with children and families during the period of New Labour (1997–2010). Paul’s interventions, in a range of debates on social work’s evolution, have appeared in academic journals across a range of disciplines. For several years he has been a member of the editorial boards of Critical Social Policy and the European Journal of Social Work. Email: [email protected]