Italian and Nordic social workers’ assessments of families with children at risk

Abstract

The question of how social workers view child welfare problems and what are seen as appropriate interventions has been subject of debate and research the last decades. The aim of the study is to investigate how different child welfare models influence social workers’ assessment of cases involving children at risk. This is done by identifying differences and similarities between Nordic and Italian social workers’ assessments regarding the levels of intervention, their line of reasoning and the types of intervention proposed. A recent comparative study of social workers’ assessment in four Nordic countries reveals a tendency to apply a common model in social work with children and families. The data for this study, collected through a qualitative vignette study involving 18 Italian social workers, are compared with the results of the Nordic study. The analysis displays certain differences between Italian and Nordic social workers’ assessments, in particular with adolescents, but also indicates similar approaches with babies and children. The similarities in the assessment of Nordic and Italian social workers, especially in the line of reasoning, indicate a common professional base of values and knowledge among social workers working with families. The study also shows that child welfare models, as institutional factors, actually influence social workers’ assessment of cases involving children at risk, when it comes to level of intervention and intervention proposed. Such influence seems to be mediated by meso-level organisational factors related to how social work with children at risk is organised.

Keywords:

• social work assessment
• child welfare models
• vignette method
• Nordic countries
• Italy

Notes

1. The Nordic study actually does not include Iceland. The four Nordic countries represented (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) however make up for about 87% of the Nordic population (see Pösö, Marit, and Hestbæk 2014:487 n. 1).

2. The local social service network in Genoa is ruled by the regional law n. 12/2006 inspired by the National social service reform n. 328 of 2000 and follows the national pattern described here.

3. For instance, in the first vignette sjukhuskuratorn (social worker in hospital) was translated as assistente sanitaria (sanitary assistant) and psykiatrisk avdelning (psychiatric unit) as SPDC – Servizio Psichiatrico di Diagnosi a Cura (Psychiatric service for diagnostics and care), a specific service which is recognised by professionals in the local social and health network. In the third vignette kuratorn på skolan (social worker in school) was translated as psicologa della scuola (school psychologist).

4. The authors received no financial support for the research.