The effects of the economic crisis and managerialism in social work: a study of working practices and relationship reshaping

Giovanni Cellini; Alice Scavarda

doi:10.14198/ALTERN2020.27.01

Autores/as

Giovanni Cellini Dipartmento di Culture, Politica e Società - Università degli Studi di Torino, Italia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1671-3967
Alice Scavarda Dipartmento di Culture, Politica e Società - Università degli Studi di Torino, Italia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0972-318X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14198/ALTERN2020.27.01

Palabras clave:

Trabajo social, Crisis económica, Gerencialismo, Desprofesionalización, Prácticas laborales

Resumen

Introducción. El propósito de este trabajo es comprender algunas de las recientes transformaciones en el Trabajo Social in Italia, en el contexto de la crisis económica y los procesos de racionalización. Específicamente, el objetivo es el conocimiento de la relación entre el gerencialismo y la autonomía profesional del Trabajo Social. Metodología. El artículo presenta una investigación cualitativa, realizada en el norte de Italia mediante 40 entrevistas con profesionales y directivos de dos servicios diferentes. El método de investigación se centra en el análisis comparativa de las representaciones de las prácticas laborales. Resultados. El gerencialismo tiene consecuencias directas en las prácticas profesionales de los trabajadores sociales. La búsqueda de la eficiencia ha llevado a la estandarización del trabajo e a la reducción de la autonomía profesional. La redefinición del tiempo de trabajo, debido a la ampliación de tareas burocráticas, reduce el espacio dedicado a la relación profesional. Discusión y conclusiones. El desarrollo del gerencialismo puede agotar los contenidos éticos de la práctica del Trabajo Social. Sin embargo, los datos empíricos muestran la ausencia de un enfrentamiento entre gestores y profesionales; no hay indicios de estrategias colectivas de resistencia al riesgo de desprofesionalización.

Citas

ALBANO, R. & DELLAVALLE, M. (a cura di) (2013). Organizzare il servizio sociale [Managing social work]. Milano: Il Mulino.

BOUQUET, B. (2004). Ethics and social work. Paris: Dunod.

CARDANO, M. (2010). La ricerca qualitativa [Qualitative research]. Bologna: Il Mulino.

CLARK, D. (2000). Public Service Reform: A Comparative West European Perspective. West European Politics, 23(3), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402380008425382

COURPASSON, D. (2000). Managerial Strategies of Domination. Power in Soft Bureaucracies. Organization Studies, 21(1), 141-161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840600211001

DELLAVALLE, M. & PALMISANO, S. (2013). Il servizio sociale: la doppia appartenenza della professione tra paradossi, conflitti e sfide [Social work: the dual membership of the profession amid paradoxes, conflicts and challenges]. In R. Albano & M. Dellavalle (a cura di), Organizzare il servizio sociale [Managing social work] (pp. 155-184). Milano: Il Mulino.

DOMINELLI, L. (2004). Social work: theory and practice for a changing profession. Cambridge: Polity Press.

FACCHINI, C. (a cura di) (2010). Tra impegno e professione. Gli assistenti sociali come soggetti del welfare [Between engagement and profession. Social workers in the welfare system]. Bologna: Il Mulino.

FARGION, S. (2009). Il servizio sociale [Social work]. Roma-Bari: Laterza.

FERGUSON, H. (2001). Social work, individualization and life politics. British Journal of Social Work, 31(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/31.1.41

FERRERA, M. (2007). Trent’anni dopo. Il welfare state europeo tra crisi e trasformazione [Thirty years on. The European welfare state between crisis and transformation], Stato e Mercato, 3, 341–376. DOI: 10.1425/25907

FREIDSON, E. (2001). Professionalism. The Third Logic. Cambridge: Polity Press.

GARLAND, D. (2001). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226190174.001.0001

GOULDNER, A. W. (1954). Patterns of industrial bureaucracy. New York: Free Press of Glencoe.

HARLOW, E., BERG E., BARRY J. & CHANDLER J. (2013). Neoliberalism, managerialism and the reconfiguring of social work in Sweden and the United Kingdom. Organization, 20(4), 534-549. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508412448222

HOOD, C. (1991). A Public Management for All Seasons. Public Administration, 69(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1991.tb00779.x

HOOD, C. (1995). The “New Public Management” in the 1980s: variations on a theme. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 20(2/3), 93-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(93)E0001-W

JONES, C. (2011). Voices From the Front Line: State Social Workers and New Labour. British Journal of Social Work, 31(4), 547-562. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/31.4.547

KING, N. (1998). Template analysis. In G. Simon & C. Cassel (eds.), Qualitative methods and analysis in organizational research. A practical guide (pp. 118-134). London: Sage.

KIRKPATRICK, I. (2006). Taking Stock of the New Managerialism in English Social Service. Social Work and Society, 4(1), 14-24. Retrieved from https://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/173/233

LA ROSA, M. (a cura di) (1995). Soggetti e organizzazioni [Individuals and organizations]. Milano: Franco Angeli.

LYMBERY, M. (2001). Social work at the crossroads. British Journal of Social Work, 31(3), 369-384. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/31.3.369

LORENZ, W. (2005). Social work and a new social order: Challenging neo-liberalism’s erosion of solidarity. Social Work and Society, 3(1), 93-101. Retrieved from https://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/205

LORENZ, W. (2010). Globablizzazione e servizio sociale in Europa [Globalization and social work in Europe]. Roma: Carocci.

MINTZBERG, H. (1979). The Structuring of Organizations: A Synthesis of the Research. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

PIERSON, P. (2001). Coping with permanent austerity: Welfare state restructuring in affluent democracies. In P. Pierson (Ed.), The new politics of the welfare state (pp. 410–456). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

POLLITT, C. (1990). Managerialism and the public services: the Anglo-American experience. Oxford: Blackwell.

PRANDSTRALLER, G. P. (2004). Professioni [Professions]. In Enciclopedia del Novecento, III Supplemento. Roma: Treccani.

REYNAUD, J.D. (1988). Les régulations dans les organisations: régulation de contrôle et régulation autonome [Regulations in organizations: control regulation and self-regulation]. Revue française de sociologie, 29(1), 5-18. https://doi.org/10.2307/3321884

ROGOWSKI S. (2011). Managers, Managerialism and Social Work with Children and Families: The Deformation of a Profession? Pratice Social Work in Action, 23(3), 157-167. https://doi.org/10.1080/09503153.2011.569970

ROOSE R., COUSSÉE F. & BRADT L. (2010). Going Beyond the Bounds of Possibility: Questioning the Delimitation of the Social in Social Work. Social Work and Society, 8(1), 1-5. Retrieved from https://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/18

TOUSIJN, W. (2012). Integrating health and social care: Interprofessional relations of multidisciplinary teams in Italy. Current Sociology, 60(4), 522-537. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392112438335

TAYLOR-GOOBY, P. (2002). The silver age of the welfare state. Perspectives on resilience. Journal of Social Policy, 31(4), 597–621. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279402006785

TRIVELLATO, P. & LORENZ, W. (2010). Una professione in movimento [A profession in motion]. In C. Facchini (a cura di), Tra impegno e professione. Gli assistenti sociali come soggetti del welfare [Between engagement and profession. Social workers in the welfare system] (pp. 249-278). Bologna: Il Mulino.