The use of discretion in decision-making by social workers at child protection services in Italy

ABSTRACT

Child protection social workers in Italy operate within a context apparently lacking reference laws on procedures to be implemented in selecting the most appropriate intervention measures for a child's welfare. The result is a situation leaving significant operational discretion up to each professional who, although able to choose the best possible intervention based on each specific case and on local resources, also risks creating profound inequalities. The objective of this research was to identify the criteria according to which decisions are taken by child protection services social workers in Italy. Three focus groups were formed of 22 social workers operating in protection services in three cities of the Veneto region, in north-eastern Italy. The results highlight certain significant convergences on the social worker's decision-making criteria, together with the lack of both shared practices, also within individual services, and the use of standardised methods. Moreover, there is a strong shift of decision-making toward the individual rather than the institution and based on experiential-intuitive methods, rather than scientific-analytical ones.

ASTRATTO

Gli assistenti sociali che lavorano nei servizi di tutela dei minori in Italia operano entro un contesto in cui le norme di riferimento appaiono mancanti dal punto di vista delle procedure da attuare per la scelta della misura di intervento più adeguata al benessere del minore. Emerge un quadro in cui è forte la discrezionalità operativa del singolo professionista che, seppur così può definire il miglior intervento nel rispetto delle specificità del caso e delle risorse del territorio, allo stesso modo, rischia di generare profonde disuguaglianze. Obiettivo della presente ricerca è stato quello di rilevare i criteri della presa di decisione esplicitamente utilizzati dagli assistenti sociali dei servizi di tutela dei minori italiani. Sono stati realizzati 3 focus group, con 22 assistenti sociali operanti nei servizi di tutela di 3 grandi comuni della Regione Veneto, nel Nord Est italiano. I risultati permettono di evidenziare alcune importanti convergenze nei criteri utilizzati dagli assistenti sociali nella presa di decisione, unitamente alla mancanza sia di prassi condivise, anche all'interno dello stesso servizio, sia dell'utilizzo di metodi standardizzati. Inoltre, si delinea un forte spostamento dell'asse decisionale verso la dimensione individuale, piuttosto che istituzionale e con modalità operative di tipo esperienziale-intuitivo, piuttosto che scientifico-analitico.

KEYWORDS:

• Minor
• child protection
• decision making
• social worker
• professional skills

PAROLE CHIAVE:

• Minori
• Tutela dei minori
• Decisioni
• Assistente Sociale
• Competenze professionali

Acknowledgement

The authors share the responsibility of the whole paper, though A. Dal Ben wrote the first section and the results on the orientation in child welfare, B. Segatto the second section and the results on factors guiding the choice of intervention, and, S. Giacomin wrote aim and method and the results on the lack of common criteria and the emergence of operational discretion, finally the conclusions are the outcome of a common reflection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Barbara Segatto, PhD, is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Department of Political Sciences, Law and International Studies of the University of Padua (Italy) where she teaches Sociology of Family and Children. She is also Coordinator of the Bachelor's Degree in Social Work. Her research interests are mainly focused on adoptive families, child welfare, and social services practices.

Anna Dal Ben, Social worker and PhD is a Temporary Research Fellow at the Department of Political Sciences, Law and International Studies of the University of Padua (Italy) where she teaches Social Service Techniques and Methods. Her research interests concern on motherhood, adoptive families, child protection system, and social service practices.

Serena Giacomin, Social worker, got the three-year and master's degree in Social Work, at the Department of Political Sciences, Law and International Studies of the University of Padua (Italy). During his master's thesis he studied in depth the issues of the protection of minors. He currently works as a social worker in a municipality's services.

Notes

1 The decision-making task is based on the principles of ‘technical-professional autonomy’, and ‘independence of judgement’, cited first in the laws regulating the profession (L. 84/1993 ‘Regulation of the profession of social workers and institution of the professional role’), and subsequently set out in the ‘Code of Ethics of Social Workers in Italy, under Article 10’.

2 Among the few but significant experiences we note, by way of example, the studies by Munro on errors in the decision-making process (1999).

3 This certainly appears to comply with the provisions of Italian law, which in article 1 of Law 184/1983 establishes that

minors have the right to grow up and be raised within their own family. […] The State, Regions, and Local Authorities, within the sphere of their individual competence support […] nuclear families at risk, in order to prevent abandonment and to enable minors to be brought up within their own families.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Budget Integrato per la Ricerca dei Dipartimenti (BIRD), Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Giuridiche e Studi Internazionali- Università degli Studi di Padova.