The Professional reality of direct care social workers in municipal social services of Castilla y León

Abstract

Professional reality is built in relation to the experiences of the professionals themselves. The aim of this research is to find out how social workers describe their direct care activity in the context of municipal social services in Castilla y León. A qualitative methodology is used from the Theory Driven approach. Based on the search for Doctoral Theses on the subject in the Spanish area, a codebook is created with the key elements: professional identity, disciplinary projection and object. In the qualitative online survey, 25 social workers participated. In the speeches, they refer to professional deontology as an element of support for the interventions. About the context, complaints and suggestions for change are expressed, reference is made to deprofessionalization coming from the field of the organization of social services. Care, relational social work and emotional stress are repeatedly mentioned. In conclusion, the participants identify with a deontologically based Social Work and use theories of change and motivation. They describe their main role of support from an emotional perspective. They are concerned about the deterioration of the quality of interventions due to the high bureaucracy and the high workload.