© British Association of Social Workers
Supervision, Role Strain and Social Services Departments
Michael Clare qualified and practised as both a teacher and, later, as a child guidance clinic social worker before returning to lecture on the graduate social work course at Sussex University in 1974
Correspondence to Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6009
Summary
The paper analyses the potential for ambiguity and ambivalence towards the supervision of practice in social services departments. While supervision may be integral to much social work practice in clinical settings, the culture and tradition of supervision in social services departments looks to be permeated with confusion about ‘supervision’ or ‘consultation’, the nature of accountability and the functions of supervision of qualified and experienced practitioners. To move beyond an ideology prescribing supervision, the paper considers evidence of the effectiveness of supervision practice, analysing the transition from practitioner to line-manager/supervisor and the subsequent strain on the supervisor's authorities of position and of expertise in some current arrangements for supervision in field-work ‘teams’. Finally, there is an unequivocal assertion that effective supervision is an essential component in the monitoring of client service and the maintenance of practitioners engaged in stressful forms of practice. Such supervision needs to recognize the managerial and administrative tasks necessary to protect the agency and the client from poor quality practice, while also respecting the emotional and educational needs of newly qualified and experienced practitioners exposed to the demands of high-risk judgement and practice.