Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T23:37:05.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Service Environment in Relationship-based Practice: “It's Like a Community”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2014

Elizabeth C. Reimer
Elizabeth C. Reimer*
Affiliation:
School of Arts and Social Sciences, Southern Cross University, Australia; Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University, Australia
*
addresses for correspondence: School of Arts and Social Sciences and Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University, Locked Mail Bag 4, Coolangatta, Queensland, 4225. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The family service work environment has been linked to the parent–worker relationship (relationship) for many years. However, there is still much to understand about how the working environment and these relationships are connected. This paper reports on a small-scale qualitative study exploring the story of eight relationships between parents and family workers in four rurally based family services in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Hermeneutics provided a way of examining the dynamics of the relationships, as it enabled an in-depth exploration and interpretation of the participants’ perspectives of how they experienced and understood the relationship. It became apparent that the work environment is an important influence on the relationship. New insights that emerged include the important role that staff not directly involved in the relationship (such as other family workers, supervisors, and administration and other professional staff) may play in assisting relationships. They also include the way in which flexible service delivery options support parent feelings of comfort, readiness to change, reciprocity, a sense of ownership to the service and need for support outside of planned appointments (both during and after intervention has ceased). These all support the development and maintenance of such relationships.

Keywords

relationship-based practicefamily supportwork environmentchild neglectworking relationshipqualitative
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 25 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2001). Family support services in Australia 2000. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Bazeley, P. (2007). Qualitative data analysis with NVivo. Los Angeles: Sage.Google Scholar
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.Google Scholar
Bryman, A. (2004). Social research methods (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Clemence, A., Hilsenroth, M., Ackerman, S., Strassle, C., & Handler, L. (2005). Facets of the therapeutic alliance and perceived progress in psychotherapy: Relationship between patient and therapist perspectives. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 12 (6), 443–454.Google Scholar
Davys, A., & Beddoe, L. (2010). Best practice in professional supervision: A handbook for helping professions. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
de Boer, C., & Coady, N. (2003). Good helping relationships in child welfare: Co-authored stories of success partnerships for children and families project. Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario.Google Scholar
de Boer, C., & Coady, N. (2007). Good helping relationships in child welfare: Learning from stories of success. Child and Family Social Work, 12, 32–42.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. (1978). The research act (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Friedlander, M., Escudero, V., & Heatherington, L. (2006). Engagement in the therapeutic process. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Heaman, M., Chalmers, K., Woodgate, R., & Brown, J. (2007). Relationship work in an early childhood home visiting program. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 22 (4), 319–330.Google Scholar
Kadushin, A. (1992). Supervision in social work (3rd ed.). New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Kögler, H. (1999). The power of dialogue: Critical hermeneutics after Gadamer and Foucault. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Maluccio, A. (1979). Learning from clients. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
McMahon, L. (2010). Long-term complex relationships. In Ruch, G., Turney, D. & Ward, A. (Eds.), Relationship-based social work: Getting to the heart of practice (pp. 148–163). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Minichiello, V., Aroni, R., Timewell, E., & Alexander, L. (1995). In-depth interviewing: Principles, techniques and analysis (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Longman.Google Scholar
NSW Department of Community Services. (2006). Child neglect policy. Sydney: NSW Department of Community Services.Google Scholar
NSW Family Services Inc. (2009). The role of family support services in keeping NSW children safe. Sydney: NSW Family Services Inc.Google Scholar
Reimer, E. (2010). Exploring the parent–family worker relationship in rural family support services: ‘You build a relationship . . . and before you know it you start working on the problems that you have got’. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of South Australia, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Ribner, D., & Knei-Paz, C. (2002). Client's view of a successful helping relationship. Social Work, 47 (4), 379–387.Google Scholar
Richmond, M. (1899/1969). Friendly visiting among the poor: A handbook for charity workers (Reprint 1969 ed.). Glen Ridge, NJ: Patterson Smith.Google Scholar
Stark, S., & Torrance, H. (2004). Case study. In Somekh, B. & Lewin, C. (Eds.), Research methods in the social sciences (pp. 33–40). Palo Alto, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Tanner, K., & Turney, D. (2003). What do we know about child neglect? A critical review of the literature and its application to social work practice. Child and Family Social Work, 8 (1), 25–34.Google Scholar
Tilbury, C. (2005). Counting family support. Child and Family Social Work, 10, 149–157.Google Scholar
Vinson, T. (1999). Unequal in life: The distribution of social disadvantage in Victoria and New South Wales. Melbourne: Jesuit Social Services.Google Scholar
Waddington, L. (2002). The therapy relationship in cognitive therapy: A review. Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 30, 179–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weeks, W. (2004). Creating attractive services which citizens want to attend. Australian Social Work, 57 (4), 319–330.Google Scholar
Wolcott, I. (1989). Family support services: A review of the literature and selected annotated bibliography. Melbourne: Australian Institute for Family Studies.Google Scholar
Yin, R., & Campbell, D. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed., Vol. 5). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Zigler, E., & Berman, W. (1983). Discerning the future of early childhood intervention. American Psychologist, 38, 894–906.Google Scholar
Zigler, E., & Black, K. (1989). America's family support movement: Strengths and limitations. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59 (1), 6–19.Google Scholar