Mediating the Complexities of Practice: Practitioner Understandings of Technology in Contemporary Social Work

Mediating the Complexities of Practice: Practitioner Understandings of Technology in Contemporary Social Work

Social workers are asked to reconcile many contradictions concerning technology. Technology is contested in social work literature, with face to face models of practice dominating understandings. Agencies where social workers are employed in often foster problematic access and expectations regarding technology. And while technology is deeply embedded in our everyday personal lives, for social workers, professional contexts of practice present complex and challenging experiences with technology.

The research aims to explore contemporary social work understandings and practices under the influence of new and changing technologies. Through survey and ‘technology walk through’ interviews’, this thesis documents social work practices, offering intricate and detailed accounts of 100 social workers from a range of Australian practice settings. Social workers explain the extent to which they use technology and how they understand the role of technology in, and from, their everyday practice. This research asks social workers for their definitions of technology, the impacts of technology on their personal and professional boundaries and their vision of the possibilities for technology in their practice.

This research finds that social workers relationships with technology are deeply driven by the expectations and practises of those with whom social workers engage. Technology is ubiquitous in contemporary practice, and their practice contexts actively drive social workers definitions of technology. However, social workers operationalise complex understandings of technology in their practice, with technology understood to be a tool for agency administration, record keeping, and outcomes and performance measurement, as well as a space for client engagement, advocacy, and interaction. Social workers often find themselves utilising technology without having clear boundaries, policies, professional access, knowledge or adequate training. This research finds that to address this gap, social workers apply their professional values and general client-centred practice theories to the area of technology, to mediate the complexities that practice presents.

This thesis makes several recommendations. It recommends that agencies take responsibility for the embedding of technology in practice, rather than relying on individual social workers. It argues that while clients of social workers advance professional practice with technology, their relationship in driving change within social work needs to be fully acknowledged, to advocate for further developments. It also recommends clarity from agencies, institutions and professional bodies regarding practice strategies with technology. This thesis presents a new definition of social work which integrates technology into the social world in which social workers navigate. In doing so, it offers an opportunity for social work to embed technology within theories of, and for contemporary social work practice.

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