Standardiserad interaktion - en utmaning i socialt arbete

Summary, in English

Standardized assessment instruments have been introduced in social work with the aim of measuring outcome effects and raising quality. One example, the ASI (Addiction Severity Index), is a standardi- zed questionnaire which can be regarded as a success story in Sweden and around the globe. The questionnaire, originally created by quantitative researchers and focusing on Vietnam Veterans in volun- tary care in the USA, is now widely used in Swedish social work. A different target group is identified (clients in need of social services) and different users (social workers). The results show that the pre- fabricated questions in the questionnaire restrict the institutional interaction. In social work the narrative is important. Standardized instruments change the status of the narrative and the interac- tion becomes digitized. Inspired by eth-

nomethodology and discourse analysis, the study shows that clients applying for welfare benefits or subject to pre-trial investigation at the probation office are expected to participate. The standardized interaction has special characteristics: The conversation is highly reduced to yes-no answers, leaving little or almost no space for narratives. The questionnaire changes the professional conversation and leaves the professional and the client in a new interactional situation.

In a profession where discretion has been highly valued and the professional conversation to a large extent has been shaped situationally, standardized inte- raction challenges the professional-client relationship. In the article certain techni- ques for handling the questionnaire are discerned.

• Författare: Elizabeth Martinell Barfoed
• Avdelning/ar: Socialhögskolan
• Publiceringsår: 2014
• Språk: Svenska
• Sidor: 4-23
• Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie: Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift
• Volym: 21
• Issue: 1
• Fulltext: - 141 kB; Download statistics
• Länkar: http://svt.forsa.nu/Documents/Forsa/Documents/Socialvetenskaplig%20tidskrift/Artiklar/2014/Standardiserad%20interaktion%20-%20en%20utmaning%20f%C3%B6r%20socialt%20arbete%20Av%20Elizabeth%20Martinell%20Barfoed.pdf
• Dokumenttyp: Artikel i tidskrift
• Förlag: Forsa
• Ämne: Social Work
• Nyckelord: Social sciences; Socialt arbete
• Status: Published
• Projekt: Documents, forms and paperwork – expanding documenting practices in health care and social service
• Forskningsgrupp: Kriminal- och socialvetenskapligt nätverk
• ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt: ISSN: 1104-1420