The Role of Reflection in Family Support Social Work and Its Possible Promotion by a Research-Supported Model

Figures & data

Table 1. Focus group participants

Participants (n = 19)
No. of focus groups	5
Female	18
Male	1
Age range (years)	34–62
Mean age	47,57
Work experience range (years)	7,5–40
Mean work experience (years)	19,97

Table 2. Themes and sub themes

Themes	Subthemes
1. Reflection – a necessity in social work ^p	1.1. A protective function
2. The structuring of reflective practices
3. A matter of priorities and resources	3.1. Facilitate and promote reflection with Family-Check Up?
	3.2. A model that limits reflection?

Table 3. The six steps of evidence-based practice (reproduced from Gibbs, 2003a, in Mullen et al., 2005).

1. Convert information need (prevention, assessment, treatment, risk) into an answerable question;

2. Track down the best evidence to answer the question;

3. Critically appraise the evidence for its validity (closeness to the truth), impact (size of the effect), and applicability (usefulness in our practice);

4. Integrate critical appraisal with practice experience, client’s strengths, values and circumstances;

5. Evaluate effectiveness and efficiency in exercising steps 1–4 and seek ways to improve them next time;

6. Teach others to follow the same process (Sackett, et al., 2000)

Table 4. Defining reflective practice (reproduced from White, Fook & Gardner, 2006)

1. A process (cognitive, emotional, experiential) of examining assumptions (of many different types and levels) embedded in actions or experience.

2. A linking of these assumptions with many different origins (personal, emotional, social, cultural, historical, political).

3. A review and reevaluation of these according to relevant criteria (context, purpose etc.).

4. A reworking of concepts and practice based on this re-evaluation.

Table

Phase	Description	Example
Transcribing ^p	All transcriptions of what the focus groups said are verbatim, using the software ExpressScribe.
Reading through	All transcriptions were read through so that I became familiarized with the content. Important content and initial ideas about interpretations and connections were noted.	Example of content noted as important: ^p‘I think that it is also in relation to the goals you are working towards together with the family. It is there, in that you are discussing and reflecting upon, like, where are we going and how far have we come and what is left before we reach the end of the road, and so on. I mean it is, there wouldn’t be any point, I think… I mean if it wasn’t included in our work. And that it is also to help the families in that way of thinking. That you, like you are saying, discuss together with the parents “where are we and how does it look”, sort of. And if we didn’t have that possibility, I mean with our colleagues, together in these various, like you are saying, these [situations] with supervision and method and so on, then I think it also would have been difficult for us to do it together with the family…’
Coding	A second reading of the transcripts followed, using the software MAXQDA, and simultaneously organizing data into initial codes that later were organized into groups of codes (i.e. categories). The created codes identified features of the data with relevance to the aim of the study. Codes were reworked after the initial coding.	The extract above was organized into the following codes: Benefits and need reflection, Reflection as process/analysis, Collective reflection, Structured reflection, Supervision The codes were later organized, and thus summarized, into one common category: Reflection importance/meaning
Searching for themes	Final codes were categorized into different, initial, themes. Codes relevant to one area of interest where collected under one theme, some with subthemes, with the aim of providing a true description of the data and in relation to the aim of the study.	For example: the codes mentioned above, which were summarized into the category Reflection importance/meaning, were considered to be related to the importance of reflection in a social work practice. Thus, there were various reasons for the importance of reflection according to the participants. An idea which was initially described by the theme “The need for reflection in social work”.
Reworking of themes	Initial themes were reworked to ensure that they highlight the content of the data. Initial theme-names were reworked during the process to ensure their consistency with the data set.	The coded segments categorized into the theme “The need for reflection in social work” was reviewed and adjusted to fit the theme, with some being removed and other new codes, added. During the process, the theme was renamed “Reflection – a necessity in social work”.
Findings	The final themes were used to describe the findings of the study. Quotes from the participants are used to further illustrate the content and meaning of each theme.	This specific theme was then used to describe the participants’ thoughts and discussions of the importance and need of reflection in social work practice. The goal of this specific, and quite broad theme, was to capture the various reasons why reflection was considered important, like adding processes and progress to the client-related work, and serving as a coping-mechanism for practitioners, to mention a few examples.

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