In this article a study of male and female social workers’ assessments of a fictitious same-gender client’s problems and needs is presented. A vignette and questionnaire were mailed to a random sample of Swedish social welfare officers. A total of 222 cases of same-gender assessments were statistically analyzed. The findings suggest that the outcome of the assessments, at least to some extent, seems to depend on the gender of the client, the gender of the assessor, and how the problem area or situation of the client is ‘gendered’. Concerning some situations and problem areas, the same-gender dyads tend to strengthen stereotypical expectations on men and women as clients. Above all, the male same-gender dyad seems to have contributively consequences, in particular concerning proposed help-giving practices for the client. One way to carry out further research on this matter could be to incorporate a number of more refined ‘gendered’ problem areas and situations in a study with a comprehensive factorial design.
This paper addresses male social workers reasoning about and assessments of male or a female client in need of welfare assistance. The empirical material consists of four focus groups with Swedish social workers with experience of social welfare assessments. In two of the focus groups a vignette of a female client, with moderate social problems, are presented. In the other two focus groups, the vignette presented is the same with the exception of a shift of the client’s gender. The main question addressed what level of decision implementation is being put forward by the professionals? One way to conceptualize these levels are: 1) one overall legal level, 2) an administrative and organizational level, 3) a group level with local and culturally beliefs, and finally, 4) the individual worker's freedom of action. Social cognitive theory is used to analyze the material. The analysis are based on two main starting points: 1) how we perceive a specific social context effects our actions, 2) human cognitive capacity is limited, which means that we peel off some information and focus on other.
Boken belyser på ett systematiskt sätt hur genusdimensionen formar socialt arbete. Boken ger perspektiv på genusfrågan utifrån fyra delar av det sociala arbetet: det sociala arbetets problem- och verksamhetsområde, det sociala arbetets organisering, professionaliseringen av socialt arbete,samt det direkta arbetet med brukarna. Författarna diskuterar de utmaningar som det sociala arbetet står inför när det gäller att skapa utrymme för kritisk reflektion kring den egna praktiken och att praktiskt genomföra ett genusmedvetet socialt arbete.Boken kan läsas av både dem som är nybörjare på området och dem som är mer bevandrade i genusteori. Även om boken i första hand vänder sig till verksamma inom socialt arbete är innehållet relevant också för andra professioner som till exempel läkare, psykologer och sjuksköterskor.