The welfare service practitioners' perception of their power position in the user participation imperative

In the popular user participation rhetoric of social work practice, and amid the outcry for sharing power with the welfare service users when providers make service decisions, much research attention has been put on the circumstances that impeded the users' voices, presuming that the service pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development 2016-10, Vol.26 (4), p.231-244
Main Author: Leung, Terry T. F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
power
social service management
User participation
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Summary:In the popular user participation rhetoric of social work practice, and amid the outcry for sharing power with the welfare service users when providers make service decisions, much research attention has been put on the circumstances that impeded the users' voices, presuming that the service practitioners actually have de facto power over the service users. Based on the findings of a participatory research project conducted in Hong Kong, this paper scrutinises this presumed position of power from the service providers' own perspective. Drawn from interviews of 47 service practitioners individually or in group, this phenomenological account is important for deciphering the conscious experiences that influence the service practitioners' actions and reactions within participative spaces.
ISSN:0218-5385
2165-0993
DOI:10.1080/02185385.2016.1201432