The self-referral affordances of school-based social work support: a case study

ABSTRACT

School-based social work can reach children at risk through the promotion of children’s participation in seeking support. Drawing on Gibson’s theory of affordances, the aim of this interview-based study was to identify affordances for self-referral associated with school-based social work support. Results reveal three affordances facilitating children’s self-initiated contact: (i) the day-to-day presence of social workers in the school environment supports investment in relationships, (ii) use of communication technologies facilitates contact and (iii) the visibility of the social workers’ practice encourages contact-initiation. Common to all three affordances are the accessibility of the social workers, and the generation of trust.

ABSTRAKT

Skolsocialt arbete kan främja att barn som far illa eller riskera fara illa upptäcks tidigare genom barns delaktighet i att söka stöd. Med utgångspunkt i Gibsońs teori om affordances (användningsegenskaper, vår översättning) var syftet med denna intervjustudie att identifiera vilka användningsegenskaper för att själva söka stöd var associerat med skolsocialt arbete. Resultatet visade tre användningsegenskaper som möjliggjorde att barnen själva initierade stöd: (i) varje-dag-närvaro av socialarbetare i skolmiljön underbygger att barnen investerar i relation med socialarbetarna (ii) användande av kommunikationsteknologi med hög igenkänningsfaktor understöder att barnen tar kontakt (iii) socialarbetarnas synlighet understödjer att barnen tar kontakt. Gemensamt för alla tre användningsegenskaper är socialarbetarnas tillgänglighet för barnen, och den tillit det tycks skapa.

KEYWORDS:

• School-based social work
• affordances
• children’s self-referrals
• child protection
• children at risk
• child welfare
• organization
• Sweden

NYCKELORD:

• Skolsocialt arbete
• barns hjälpsökande
• social barnavård
• samverkan skola och socialtjänst

Notes on contributors

Anette Bolin holds a Ph.D. in Social Work and is associate professor at University West. Her research concerns organizational issues in social work, both from a professional perspective as well as from a children’s and young peoplés perspective. She has also recently completed a post-doctoral project at the Mayflower Charity Foundation for Children. In this research she has used an agency perspective to examine the experiences of children in families in receipt of economic support.

Emma Sorbring is a Professor in Child and Youth Studies. Her research concerns parenthood and the development of children and young people. She often assumes the children’s and young people’s perspective in her research and is deeply engaged in their rights. She also has the position of Research Director of the Child and Youth Studies Research Center at University West.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by Public Health Agency of Sweden.