Emotional practices of care and expectations of cost-effectiveness in social work with children and families in Denmark

ABSTRACT

Research shows that emotional practices are a basic aspect of social work. This article provides knowledge about emotional practices of care in social work with children and families in Denmark in the context of governmental and managerial expectations of the cost-effectiveness of social work. Based on a Danish qualitative research project Does social work care? Exploring relational, emotional and embodied practices in social services for vulnerable children and families (2018–2023), this article identifies and presents three emotional practices: Creating a feeling of a close and authentic mutual relationship with children and parents; Being tough and maintain professional authority by distributing attention to the child and by demanding parental responsibility, and Emotional endurance based on knowledge, solidarity and sympathy with disadvantaged families. These practices reveal a differentiated socioemotional economy of sympathy and care in social work with families that interact with incentives to take the level and use of services into account. Based on these findings, the article discusses this trend and its implications for social work and suggests further research that can illuminate the broader landscape of emotional practices in different socio-economic context of sympathy and care.

ABSTRAKT

Forskning viser, at følelsesmæssige praksisser er et grundlæggende aspekt i socialt arbejde. Denne artikel tilbyder viden om følelsesmæssige praksisser i socialt arbejde med børn og familier i Danmark i konteksten af styrings- og ledelsesmæssige forventninger til socialt arbejdes omkostningseffektivitet. Baseret på et dansk kvalitativt forskningsprojekt Does social work care? Exploring relational, emotional and embodied practices in social services for vulnerable children and families (2018–2023), identificerer og præsenterer artiklen tre følelsesmæssige praksisser: At skabe en følelse af en tæt og autentisk relation med børn og forældre; At være kontant og fastholde professionel autoritet ved at distribuere opmærksomheden til barnet og kræve forældreansvar; og Følelsesmæssig udholdenhed baseret på viden, solidaritet og sympati med dårligere stillede familier. Disse praksisser synliggør en differentieret socioemotionel økonomi for sympati og omsorg i socialt arbejde med familier, som interagerer med incitamenter til at tage højde for serviceniveauet og brug af sociale indsatser. Artiklen diskuterer denne tendens og dens implikationer for socialt arbejde, og foreslår yderligere forskning, der kan belyse det bredere landskab af følelsesmæssige praksisser i forskellige socio-økonomiske kontekster for sympati og omsorg.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional practices
• care
• children
• child welfare
• family social work
• cost-effectiveness

NØGLEORD:

• Følelsesmæssige praksisser
• Omsorg
• Børn
• socialt arbejde med familier
• omkostningseffektivitet

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Associate Professor Mie Engen and Assistant Professor Andreas Møller Jørgensen for their work on our joint research project Does Social Work Care? Exploring the relational, emotional and embodied practices in social services for vulnerable children and families, as well as the research group Shaping Concepts, Practices and Advances in Social Work (SCOPAS) for instructive comments. Moreover, and not the least, we would all like to thank the families, social workers and managers, who made it possible for us to learn about their practices.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Independent Research Fund Denmark and Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, Denmark.

Notes on contributors

Maria Appel Nissen

Maria Appel Nissen is Ph.D. in sociology and Professor of Social Work at Department of Sociology and Social Work at Aalborg University. During the last 22 years, her research has been focused on the conditions for and the practices of social work in particular with children and families. Her research covers themes such as power and perceptions of risk in social work with children and families; theories of and possibilities for reflection in social work; holistic approaches to social work; historical and contemporary changes in the context and practice of social work; knowledge, technologies and views on human being in social work. In her research, she is concerned with the forms of and possibilities for solidarity and social policies that enable social work, care and support for vulnerable people in contemporary society. Maria Appel Nissen is currently responsible for the study programme Bachelor of Social Work at Aalborg University, and the research group Shaping Concepts Practices and Advances in Social Work (SCOPAS) (www.scopas.aau.dk). Full bio and list of publications: https://vbn.aau.dk/da/persons/101699