POWER, CARE AND VULNERABILITY: CONSIDERING USE OF SELF IN CHILD WELFARE WORK

Abstract

The construct of ‘use of self’ in social work has fallen out of favour due to its focus on the individual and its roots in the original countertransference literature, where issues of power were largely neglected. On the other hand, structural, anti‐oppression and critical social work have tended to disregard the individual worker's personhood except for social identity as they focus on issues of power. This division leaves a gap in our understanding of how personal and social selves interact in social work encounters. Working with children and families in the context of child protection/child welfare can call forth every aspect of a worker's personhood. Where authority and care are closely intertwined in responding to vulnerability, personal, social and professional dimensions cannot be separated. This chapter argues that attention to both dimensions — authority and care — is required in all social work interactions, focusing in particular on the field of child welfare, where an imbalance of power and vulnerability in the social work relationship is underscored and where care can be compromised as a result. Suggestions for fostering critical reflection in the child welfare context are offered.

Keywords:

• child welfare
• use of self
• countertransference
• power
• worker identity
• reflective practice
• social work
• children

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge Canadian Scholars Press Inc. for their generous permission to use excerpts from Revisiting the Use of Self: Questioning Professional Identities.