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Understanding the social worker–family relationship through self‐determination theory: A realist synthesis of Signs of Safety.
- Source :
- Child & Family Social Work; Aug2022, Vol. 27 Issue 3, p513-525, 13p, 5 Diagrams, 3 Charts
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Signs of Safety (SofS) is a popular framework for child protection social work practice, used in more than 200 jurisdictions worldwide. Although workers tend to find SofS tools easy to use, skilled application of the approach is challenging, and research has found that SofS is often not implemented as intended. This study aimed to deepen and inform the explanation (initial theory) of what key SofS tools and processes are expected to achieve in the family–worker interaction and why. A realist synthesis was used, involving a realist review of literature and focus groups with 22 international SofS experts. Using self‐determination theory, we detail how SofS can be conceptualized as aiming to support families to experience 'autonomous' rather than 'controlled' motivation by supporting basic human needs for 'autonomy' (feeling a sense of volition), 'competence' (feeling effective) and 'relatedness' (feeling cared for). This explanation can be used for training and evaluation purposes to better explain and test how SofS expects to engage families in the child protection process. More broadly, we suggest that self‐determination theory may contribute a mechanistic explanation of effective social work practice more generally and that this hypothesis should be empirically investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- FOCUS groups
EMPATHY
MOTIVATION (Psychology)
WORK
MEDICAL personnel
PSYCHOLOGY
PATIENTS' families
CHILDREN'S accident prevention
CONCEPTUAL structures
THEORY
CHILD welfare
AUTONOMY (Psychology)
EXPERIENTIAL learning
SOUND recordings
RESEARCH funding
NEED (Psychology)
DATA analysis software
SOCIAL case work
BEHAVIOR modification
GOAL (Psychology)
VIDEO recording
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 13567500
- Volume :
- 27
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Child & Family Social Work
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 157815745
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12903