Social and Caring Professions in European Welfare States

"The book offers a timely and thought-provoking analysis of social welfare professions in transition across Europe. Highly recommended." Professor Hannele Forsberg, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere, Finland

Björn Blom is Professor of Social Work at the Department of Social Work, Umeå University, Sweden. His research interests are organisations, professions, knowledge-use, evaluation and addiction treatment.

Lars Evertsson has a PhD in Sociology and is Associate Professor in Social Work at the Department of Social Work, Umeå University, Sweden. His main research area concerns the interface between the development of welfare professions and the welfare state.

Marek Perlinski, PhD, is a senior lecturer in Social Work at the Department of Social Work, Umeå University, Sweden. His research interests include the professional and organisational aspects of public service social services.

Preface ~ Björn Blom, Lars Evertsson & Marek Perlinski;

European social and caring professions in transition ~ Björn Blom, Lars Evertsson & Marek Perlinski;

Part 1. Knowledge, reflection and identity in the social and caring welfare professions;

The impact of education on professional identity ~ Kåre Heggen & Lars Inge Terum;

The Construction of Professional Identity in Social Work; Experience, Analytical Reflection and Time ~ Linda Bell, Maria Appel Nissen & Jorunn Vindegg;

Professional supervision and professional autonomy ~ Synnöve Karvinen-Niinikoski, Liz Beddoe, Gillian Ruch & Ming-sum Tsui

Part 2. Control, regulation and management;

Reconfiguring Professional Autonomy? The case of social work in the UK ~ John Chandler, Elisabeth Berg, Marion Ellison & Jim Barry;

Auditing and Accountability ~ Anders Hanberger, Lena Lindgren & Lennart Nygren;

State regulation of the social work profession: an example from Poland ~ Kazimiera Wódz & Krystyna Faliszek;

Part 3. Collaboration, conflict and competition;

Professional boundary crossing and inter-professional knowledge development ~ Ilse Julkunen & Elisabeth Willumsen;

The formation of a profession: The case of physiotherapy in Norway ~ Eline Thornquist & Hildur Kalman;

The professional development of social work in Poland after 1989 ~ Sabina Pawlas-Czyz, Lars Evertsson & Marek Perlinski;

Professional dilemmas of defining a problem: The case of addiction treatment ~ Joakim Isaksson & Daniel Törnqvist;

Challenges of municipal community work ~ Witold Mandrysz, Marek Perlinski & Lars Evertsson;

Part 4. Assessment, negotiation and decision-making;

On the unnoticed aspects of professional practice ~ Rasmus Antoft, Kjeld Høgsbro, Maria Appel Nissen & Søren Peter Olesen;

Can complexity in welfare professionals’ work be handled with standardised professional knowledge? ~ Lars Evertsson, Björn Blom, Marek Perlinski & Devin Rexvid;

Who is viewed as a client by social workers and general practitioners? ~ Devin Rexvid;

Activation work as professional practice: complexities and professional boundaries at the street level of employment policy implementation ~ Urban Nothdurfter & Søren Peter Olesen;

Social and caring professions in European welfare states: trends and challenges ~ Marek Perlinski, Björn Blom & Lars Evertsson;