Academic literature on the topic 'Social workers Supervision of Victoria'

In 2008, as coordinator and lecturer of a postgraduate allied mental health programme, I asked clinical supervisors and their supervisees who were completing the programme what their ‘most difficult’ practice scenario taken to supervision had been as part of a research project approved for ethics by Victoria University. Secondly, I asked clinical supervisees and clinical supervisors about how they had re- solved or dealt with this practice issue. The aim of the research was to determine if the self reflective and reflexive process described by Napier and Fook (2001) and Gardner (2009) was experienced by the social workers and occupational therapists completing their post- graduate studies. The results indicate that for students, through discussing complex and difficult cases in clinical supervision, they came to view their practice both more positively and more self reflectively and reflexively through engagement in clinical supervision. For supervisors, the most difficult scenarios for those who were the students’ line managers involved navigating a mixed role that balanced providing performance feedback in addition to clinical supervision. The implications for clinical supervision as the method of learning in fieldwork education are discussed.

INTRODUCTION: The question of whether the practice of professional supervision is effective, and how its effectiveness can be measured, has been debated by both social work and other professions. This study explored how practitioners, supervisors and managers in Aotearoa New Zealand currently evaluate the supervision they receive, provide and/or resource. The study was interprofessional involving counsellors, mental health nurses, psychologists and social workers. This article focuses on the findings from the social work cohort.METHODS: Through an on-line Qualtrics survey participants were asked: 1) how they currently evaluated professional/clinical supervision; and 2) how they thought professional/clinical supervision could be evaluated. Data were extracted through the Qualtrics reporting functions and thematic analysis was used to identify themes. A total of 329 participants completed the survey of which 145 (44%) were social workers. FINDINGS: A majority of the social work participants reported that they evaluated supervision in some form. No culture or policy emerged regarding supervision evaluation, but social workers expressed interest in training and resources to assist evaluation and some saw a supportive and endorsement role for the professional or regulatory bodies. An unexpected finding was reports of unsatisfactory and harmful supervision.CONCLUSION: Evaluation of supervision is an activity with which social workers engage, but further research is needed to explore how evaluation can be embedded in supervision practice. More critically, a broader audit is required to reconsider the definition and model of social work supervision in Aotearoa New Zealand and the environments within which supervision occurs.

Supervision is an imperative practice within the social work field. It provides social workers with support systems, ensures that social workers are adhering to professional standards, and protects clients. Research has also shown that quality supervision can improve social workers’ professional capacity and reduce work stress. However, most of this research has been confined to social workers’ experiences within Western countries and has been largely qualitative in nature. Thus, this study aims to examine the experience of 489 social workers based in Guangzhou, China to understand how supervision affects their negative affect and psychological distress. The findings indicate that supervision not only reduces negative affect and psychological distress amongst Chinese social workers, but also is especially effective for social workers with high job demands. When job demands are high, social workers who receive both individual and group supervision also appear to have lower negative affect and psychological distress as compared to social workers who only receive individual supervision. These findings emphasize the significance of supervision as a buffer factor to reduce negative affect and psychological distress amongst Chinese social workers who face high job demands.

INTRODUCTION: Registered social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand are expected to participate in supervision in accordance with the Social Workers Registration Board’s policies. This article reports baseline findings on the supervision of registered social workers, comparing their supervision with the Board’s policy and guidelines.METHODS: A postal survey of 278 registered social workers was conducted to establish a baseline regarding their supervision. IBM SPSS 24 was used to analyse the data. Descriptive analysis, one-way ANOVA and post hoc tests were applied to explore variances in means for the independent variables of registration type, gender, age, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, recognised qualifications, and experience as social worker across 11 scales concerning the respondents’ supervision.FINDINGS: The findings report demographic information about the supervisees as well as a description of the supervision they participated in. This includes detail about various aspects of supervision, including forms, overall emphasis, logistics, types of contact, climate, methods and processes, experiences of their supervisor’s approaches and models, session processes and content and their overall satisfaction and evaluation.CONCLUSIONS: While most registered social workers’ supervision is in accordance with the Board’s expectations and Code of Conduct, further work is needed to ensure all registered social workers participate in appropriate supervision that meets these expectations. Concerns are raised about the cultural responsiveness of supervision in relation to supervisees and clients. Suggestions are made concerning further research in relation to the influence of gender, culture, sexual orientation, experience, qualifications, and registration status within supervision.

Cross-disciplinary supervision is occurring amongst social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand and it is regarded positively. However, the findings of this research involving 54 social workers who are members of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) indicates there is a) no clear understanding of what constitutes cross-disciplinary supervision; b) potential for issues to arise and c) a need for guidelines. The results are discussed in terms of developing knowledge, practice competence and accountability in relation to the practice of cross-disciplinary supervision and a framework for cross disciplinary supervision is presented.

This article discusses research findings that highlight the importance of leadership support of supervision for social workers in human service organizations. While supervision is considered a cornerstone of social work practice, whether and how such supervision is supported by human service leaders is not adequately analyzed. Using qualitative research data from interviews with supervisors and managers in southern Ontario, this article presents the vital role social work leaders play in supporting supervision by modelling values, and creating a safe organizational culture. The challenges of providing this support are also discussed in the current context of new public management. The article concludes with a series of recommendations, including: prioritizing supervision to promote organizational learning, organizational restructuring to reduce power differentials, modelling social work values to create a safe learning culture, and supporting supervisory and leadership training for social workers. Findings may be of interest to social workers who are leading, supervising, teaching or practicing in human service organizations.

Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, 1997.
A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a supervisão de estágio como parte integrante do processo de trabalho do assistente social na contemporaneidade. Para tanto, foram levadas em conta as transformações que vêm ocorrendo no mundo do trabalho e os impactos que estas vêm trazendo para a profissão, tanto no sentido da formação como no da atuação dos assistentes sociais, bem como suas implicações para a efetivação do Projeto Ético-Político da profissão. Assim, constituem-se como elementos norteadores desta pesquisa o conhecimento e a reflexão sobre o papel da supervisão no processo de trabalho do assistente social, bem como sobre as formas de enfrentamento aos desafios impostos aos cursos de Serviço Social no que se refere à supervisão de estágio supervisionado. Por outro lado, observou-se que a supervisão e o estágio vêm recebendo impactos similares aos sofridos pela profissão em virtude das mudanças no mundo do trabalho. Especificamente, buscou-se conhecer de que forma as instituições campo de estágio do curso de Serviço Social da PUC-Rio vêm tratando a mediação entre a teoria e a prática e a política de estágio adotada pelo curso, no período 2009.1, traçando-se um perfil dos assistentes sociais supervisores de estágio. Ademais, foi necessário identificar o entendimento acerca da temática processo de trabalho, de forma a ser possível compreender como a dimensão ético-política da profissão ganha expressão no processo de supervisão e, também, de forma a contribuir para a construção de estratégias que busquem a efetivação do estágio e da supervisão nos moldes defendidos pelas diretrizes curriculares da Associação Brasileira de Ensino e Pesquisa em Serviço Social (ABEPSS). A metodologia utilizada foi a quali-quantitativa, que se compôs de estudos sobre o projeto político-pedagógico do curso de Serviço Social da PUC-Rio, além de outros documentos, bem como de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com supervisores das unidades campo de estágio.
This study has as its objective to analyze the internship supervision as an integrant part of the labor process of the social assistant nowadays. To achieve this we took in consideration the transformations that are occurring in the world of the work and its consequences for the Social Work as much as in the sense of the graduation of social workers as in the sense of the performance of these professionals.Thus the comprehension and the reflection about de internship supervision and the challenges that the Social Work faces nowadays are central aspects of this study. On the other hand, it was possible to observe that the internship and its supervision are suffering similar impacts of those suffered by the Social Work in reason of the transformations that are occurring in world of work. Specifically we sought to know how the training fields of the PUC-Rio Social Work course are addressing the question of the mediation between theory and practical application in the context of the internship policy adopted in the first semester of the year 2009. Therefore we traced profiles of the internship supervisors and it was also necessary to identify the comprehension about the theme labor process. That was accomplished in such way that was possible to understand how the ethical-political dimension of the profession is expressed in the supervision process and also as a contribution for the construction of new strategies in the direction pointed out by the curricular directives of the Associação Brasileira de Ensino e Pesquisa em Serviço Social (ABEPSS). The methodology was qualitative and quantitative and we used interviews as well as documental analysis.

There is a shortage of Licensed Independent Social Workers with the Training Supervision Designation (LISW-S) in a county in rural Ohio. If there are not enough LISW-Ss, social workers may not have the ability or opportunity to work independently or gain the supervision needed to become more competent in specific areas of practice. The purpose of this project was to gain a better understanding of why some social workers in rural Ohio decide not to pursue an LISW-S credential, as well as whether there are resources or incentives that might prompt individuals to pursue this credential. This action research project was grounded in systems theory, which helped in identifying interactions among systems that may influence an individual's decision to become an LISW-S. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants (N = 5) from the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board. A focus group was conducted to gather data from Licensed Social Workers. Participants mentioned they did not pursue the credential due to age, their employers not requiring it, being unaware of the added value, and because acquiring the credential was not a personal or a familial priority. The findings from this study may support positive social change at practice and policy levels by helping social workers overcome barriers to achieving the LISW-S credential, which could result in more competent, well-trained social workers who can provide valuable services to consumers. Further research on this topic is suggested to test the possible solutions provided by the participants and the findings of the study.

Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, .2002
A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Thesis (M Social Work)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mentoring, which is described as an activity in social work supervision, is promoted to assist with the recruitment and retention of newly qualified social workers. However research relating to the execution of mentoring within the context of social work supervision is limited. Also, a lack of supervision of newly qualified as well as existing social workers has resulted in a critical shortage of social workers in South Africa. This in turn decreases the quality of social work service rendering to communities in South Africa. In an effort to reverse the aforementioned circumstances, the South African government introduced the “Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Social Workers” in 2006. The Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Social Workers reaffirmed the value of supervision for social workers as well as the utilisation of mentoring in order to provide adequate support to newly qualified as well as existing social workers. Hence the study was undertaken, first to provide an overview of social work supervision and second, to explore the use of mentoring in the context of social work supervision. A combined qualitative and quantitative research approach was utilised to explore the experiences of social work supervisors in the Department of Social Development (Western Cape), with regard to the use of mentoring as an activity of social work supervision. The motivation for this study originated from an apparent lack of research relating to the use of mentoring as an activity in social work supervision of newly qualified social workers within the Department of Social Development in the Western Cape. The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of the features and use of mentoring as well as how mentoring can be utilised as an activity in social work supervision of newly qualified social workers. The literature study first focused on giving an overview of social work supervision, to provide a contextual basis for mentoring as an activity in social work supervision of newly qualified social workers. The literature study then explored the features and use of mentoring as an activity in social work supervision of newly qualified social workers. The researcher utilised a purposive sample of 20 social work supervisors. These supervisors have been appointed to the different regional and local offices of the Department of Social Development in the Western Cape and provide supervision to social workers, specifically newly qualified social workers. Newly qualified social workers refer to social workers with a maximum experience of 24 months in the practical field. The researcher utilised an interview schedule as a measuring instrument. The results of the investigation confirmed that supervision of newly qualified social workers is essential to ensure quality service rendering. Second, the results concluded that due to the allocation of responsibilities other than supervision, inadequate time is spent on the execution of the social work supervision process. Third, the lack of formal training of supervisors in social work supervision, has a negative impact on the execution of the supervision process, as most of the supervisors provide supervision to newly qualified social workers, based on their own experience of supervision as well as the fact that social work supervision follows a process running parallel to the social work process. Fourth, a majority of the social work supervisors execute mentoring on an informal basis. Fifth, most of the social work supervisors are in favour of the appointment of multiple mentors for each newly qualified social worker. Lastly, senior social workers are viewed as important mentors to assist newly qualified social workers with the acquisition of skills relating to social work service delivery. Recommendations made by this study highlighted the importance of providing accredited supervision training to social work supervisors as well as introducing a policy on the execution of supervision, and mentoring as an activity in social work supervision. Further recommendations focused on the provision of training to all selected mentors as well as on the use of multiple mentors for each newly qualified social worker. Lastly, the use of senior social workers both within the Department and organisations in the NPO sector is promoted, especially to assist newly qualified social workers to attain those skills relating to the execution of their statutory duties and to improve quality service rendering through the enhancement of their professional report writing skills.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mentorskap, wat as ‘n aktiwiteit in maatskaplikewerk-supervisie omskryf word, bevorder die werwing en behoud van pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers. Navorsing wat verband hou met die uitvoering van mentorskap binne die konteks van maatskaplikewerk-supervisie is egter beperk. Daarbenewens het ‘n gebrek aan supervisie van pas gekwalifiseerde sowel as van die meer ervare maatskaplike werkers gelei tot ‘n kritieke tekort aan maatskaplike werkers in Suid- Afrika. Dit het weer gelei tot ‘n afname in die gehalte van maatskaplikewerk-dienslewering aan gemeenskappe in Suid-Afrika. In ‘n poging om die genoemde omstandighede om te keer, het die Suid-Afrikaanse regering die Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Social Workers in 2006 geloods. Die Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Social Workers benadruk die waarde van supervisie aan maatskaplike werkers sowel as die benutting van mentorskap om voldoende ondersteuning te bied aan pas gekwalifiseerde sowel as meer ervare maatskaplike werkers. Die studie word dus onderneem, eerstens om ‘n oorsig van maatskaplikewerk-supervisie te verkry en tweedens om die gebruik van mentorskap binne die konteks van maatskaplikewerk-supervisie te verken. ‘n Gekombineerde kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering is benut om die ervarings van maatskaplikewerk-supervisors in die Wes-Kaapse Departement van Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling, rakende mentorskap as ‘n aktiwiteit in maatskaplikewerk-supervisie van pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers te ontbloot. Die studie is gemotiveer deur ‘n opmerklike gebrek aan navorsing ten opsigte van die benutting van mentorskap as ‘n aktiwiteit in maatskaplikewerk-supervisie van pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers in die Wes-Kaapse Departement van Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling. Die doel van die studie was om begrip te ontwikkel rondom die eienskappe en benutting van mentorskap sowel as hoe mentorskap as ‘n aktiwiteit in maatskaplikewerk-supervisie benut kan word. Die literatuurstudie verskaf eerstens ‘n oorsig van maatskaplikewerk-supervisie om sodoende ‘n kontekstuele basis vir mentorskap as ‘n aktiwiteit in maatskaplikewerk-supervisie van pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers aan te bied. Die literatuurstudie verken voorts die eienskappe en benutting van mentorskap as ‘n aktiwiteit in maatskaplikewerk-supervisie van pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers. Die navorser het ‘n doelbewuste steekproef van 20 maatskaplikewerk supervisors benut. Hierdie supervisors is werksaam in die verskillende streeks- en plaaslike kantore van die Wes-Kaapse Departement van Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling en verskaf supervisie aan onder andere pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers. Pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers verwys na alle maatskaplike werkers met minder as 24 maande ervaring in die praktyk. Die navorser het ‘n onderhoudskedule as meetinstrument benut. Die resultate van die ondersoek bevestig eerstens dat die verskaffing van supervisie aan pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers noodsaaklik is vir die versekering van kwaliteit dienslewering. Tweedens bevestig die bevindinge ook dat, as gevolg van die aanwysing van verantwoordelikhede, buiten supervisie, daar onvoldoende tyd aan die uitvoering van maatskaplikewerk-supervisieprosesse bestee word. Derdens het die gebrek aan formele supervisie-onderrig, ‘n negatiewe uitwerking op die uitvoering van die supervisieproses, aangesien die meeste supervisors wat supervisie aan pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers verskaf, dit baseer op hul eie ervarings van supervisie sowel as die feit dat die supervisie parallel verloop met die maatskaplikewerk-proses. Vierdens verrig die meeste maatskaplikewerk-supervisors hul mentorskap op ‘n informele wyse. Vyfdens is die meeste supervisors ten gunste van die aanstelling van meer as een mentor vir elke pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werker. Laastens word senior maatskaplike werkers beskou as belangrike mentors om pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers te help met die verkryging van daardie vaardighede wat verband hou met maatskaplikewerk-dienslewering. Aanbevelings wat in die studie gemaak is beklemtoon die belangrikheid van die verskaffing van geakkrediteerde supervisie-onderrig aan maatskaplikewerk-supervisors, die daarstelling van ‘n supervisiebeleid sowel as die benutting van mentorskap as ‘n aktwiteit in maatskaplikewerksupervisie. Verdere aanbevelings fokus op die verskaffing van opleiding aangaande die proses van mentorskap. Laastens word die gebruik van senior maatskaplike werkers sowel in die Wes- Kaapse Departement van Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling as in ander organisasies in die nieregerings sektor, as mentors ondersteun, ten einde meer spesifiek pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers te help met die aanleer van daardie vaardighede wat verband hou met die uitvoering van hul statutêre verpligtinge en om die kwaliteit van dienslewering te bevorder deur die verbetering van die professionele skryfvaardighede van pas gekwalifiseerde maatskaplike werkers.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW)
Generally, studies on social work supervision, in the university setting, has focused mainly on students’ experiences. Research on the experience of the supervisor, or agency, providing guidance is scant. This study argues that the narrow focus on students’ experiences is disproportionate, and marginalises all the other stakeholders involved in fieldwork education. In addition, the existing studies create blind spots for programme evaluation, as they are not holistic. This current study proposes a broader analysis. Global and national standards for social work training involve the theory and practice component of the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) programme. The practice component requires students to conduct fieldwork training at social work organisations, under the supervision of a qualified and experienced social worker. International and local studies on the supervision of BSW students reveal that social workers often consider themselves to be underprepared to supervise students. In addition, social workers often lack post-qualifying training to undertake student supervision, specifically, which is further exacerbated by the dearth of policies, or legislation, stipulating post-qualifying training and experience for the supervision of BSW students. The purpose of this current study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of social workers, related to fieldwork supervision in the BSW degree, at a selected university in the Western Cape (WC), South Africa (SA). A qualitative research approach was used, as it is attentive to the personal experiences, from the insider’s perspective, and aims to understand multiple realities. This approach is relevant to the current study, as it focuses on exploring and describing the perceptions and experiences of the participants, which the qualitative method underscores. A case study design was utilised, as it is descriptive, and is an in-depth study of a single instance of a social phenomenon. The case, in this instance, is the BSW programme at a selected university. Purposive sampling was used, as the participants, who are most representative of the study, were selected in the sampling process. The sample for this study comprised of twenty four participants: 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted and 13 questionnaires were completed by registered social workers. The following data verification methods were used: http://etd.uwc.ac.za ii member checking (See Annexure J); triangulation; researcher reflexivity; peer debriefing and an on-going dialogue, regarding the researcher’s interpretations of the data, as this aided the accuracy of the findings. Coding was applied by the researcher to create categories within the data, and thematic analysis to further identify the emerging themes and sub-themes, which were subsequently funnelled. Typologies are interpreted and developed, and the data, finally presented. Four themes and sixteen sub-themes emerged from the data (See Chapter 4). The focus of theme four was on continuous professional development (CPD), which reiterates the importance of post-qualifying training of social workers who supervise BSW students, and the importance of this study. This study recommends CPD of all social workers who provide fieldwork supervision in the BSW programme. There is also a need for emotional support for students and essentially fieldwork supervision needs to be viewed as indispensable to academia. An implication of the lack of CPD could be detrimental to students and could lead to stagnation in the field of social work and ultimately affect the standard of the profession.

Supervision and mentoring in palliative social work are critical for guiding, teaching, supporting, and inspiring palliative social workers at all career stages. Supervision and mentoring are mutually beneficial to the individuals in the relationship, as well as to organizations. Best practices in supervision and mentoring are important for meeting the goals set by the participants. There are many similarities between supervision and mentoring but also important differences. The multiple models and modalities used in supervision and mentoring provide flexibility to tailor these relationships to meet the preferences and needs of the individuals involved, as well as institutional requirements and feasibility considerations. Supervision and mentoring facilitate the goal of all palliative social workers to be lifelong learners.

The chapter discusses the complexities involved in the supervision and mentoring process for school social workers. The orientation and training of social workers is often in contrast to that of their school colleagues and administrators, so they may need to educate their supervisors and colleagues about a variety of social work topics. This chapter explains the importance of connecting with professional organizations for continued professional development. It explores ways to bridge the gap between orientation and training and offers tips and tools to help new social workers become leaders in their profession and in their district. The experiences of the chapter authors, an educator and a social worker, are highlighted.

This chapter continues to prepare the reader to understand and appreciate the garrison duties of combat social workers (CSWs) and their day-to-day duties. Military social worker duties are similar to those within U.S. Veterans Administration and other institutions: administration, supervision, and direct practice. But a very special job of social workers within the military, including but not limited to CSWs, is to care for those who were deployed and their families. This includes services for combat social workers, as the authors note. This, at times, is challenging for CSWs who must not only care for themselves but for many clients they live near.

In this paper, we study an explainable COVID-19 misinformation detection problem where the goal is to accurately identify COVID-19 misleading posts on social media and explain the posts with natural language explanations (NLEs). Our problem is motivated by the limitations of current explainable misinformation detection approaches that cannot provide NLEs for COVID-19 posts due to the lack of sufficient professional COVID-19 knowledge for supervision. To address such a limitation, we develop CEA-COVID, a crowd-expert-AI framework that jointly exploits the common logical reasoning ability of online crowd workers and the professional knowledge of COVID-19 experts to effectively generate NLEs for detecting and explaining COVID-19 misinformation. We evaluate CEA-COVID using two public COVID-19 misinformation datasets on social media. Results demonstrate that CEA-COVID outperforms existing explainable misinformation detection models in terms of both explainability and detection accuracy.

In 1992, the Population Council established the Family Planning Operations Research and Training (FPORT) Program in the Philippines. It brought together program managers and regional researchers to identify problem areas that might benefit from operations research. From Western Visayas (Region VI), the City Population Office (CPO) of Iloilo City in collaboration with the Social Science Research Institute of the Central Philippine University, identified a problem concerning the poor performance of volunteer family planning (FP) workers and undertook to study it. The study focused on the Barangay Service Point Officers (BSPOs) who assist in the delivery of FP services under the supervision of the CPO, and Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) who concentrate on maternal and child care but have minimal involvement in FP and are supervised by the City Health Office. As this report states, the objective was to compare the FP activities and performance of the BSPOs and BHWs in Iloilo City and determine the factors that influence their performance.