Social workers as willful subjects

How does social workers' agency come about amid the structural constraints they face in their everyday practice? Based on ethnographic fieldwork at a social services department in Israel, this article offers insights into social workers' agentic performances. Fieldwork lasted four and a ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of social work : JSW 2023-07, Vol.23 (4), p.761-778
Main Authors: Sinai-Glazer, Hagit, Krumer-Nevo, Michal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bureaucracy
Ethnography
Fieldwork
Social services
Social workers
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Summary:How does social workers' agency come about amid the structural constraints they face in their everyday practice? Based on ethnographic fieldwork at a social services department in Israel, this article offers insights into social workers' agentic performances. Fieldwork lasted four and a half months (March–August 2021) and included daily participation in the department life, multiple interviews with all staff members (n = 28), and participant observations at various professional meetings. We identified four modes of agency among social workers: challenging bureaucracy and regulations, standing up to colleagues, supervisors, and managers, pushing through austerity, and disrupting professional norms and expectations. We conclude with illustrating social workers as Willful Subjects, recognizing the limitations of social workers' agency while acknowledging its powerful effects and prime importance.
ISSN:1468-0173
1741-296X
DOI:10.1177/14680173231165000