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BJSW Advance Access originally published online on April 26, 2008
British Journal of Social Work 2009 39(7):1326-1342; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcn027
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Accountable and Countable: Information Management Systems and the Bureaucratization of Social Work

Judith Burton and Diane van den Broek

Dr Burton is Senior Lecturer in the Social Work and Human Services Program at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane. Dr Diane van den Broek is Senior Lecturer and Honours Coordinator in Work and Organisational Studies, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney.

Correspondence to Dr Judith Burton, QUT, Beams Rd, Carseldine, Q4034 Australia. Email: j.burton{at}qut.edu.au


  Abstract

A key feature of new public management is the tendency to equate quality and accountability with documentation (Tsui and Cheung, 2004). Human service organizations increasingly rely on computer databases to compile and record client information and to demonstrate outcomes for quality assurance and accountability purposes. This has resulted in substantial changes in work practices, processes and relationships for social workers. This paper draws on interview data from social workers in several Australian agencies to examine professional interactions with, and response to, changes in their work after the introduction of new technologies. It particularly focuses on the shift of accountabilities from professional values and identities to organizational and bureaucratic accountabilities. The paper recognizes that while social workers have always been subject to organizational accountabilities, due to the changes in social service delivery and limited practitioner input into the implementation of new technologies, tensions between professional and bureaucratic accountabilities have intensified.

Keywords: Information technology, accountability, bureaucracy, call centres, social work


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