Searching for meaning within the real life experiences of frontline social workers working with clients involved in the illegal drug trade.

• Main Author: Tilbury, Jeff
• Other Authors: Bracken, Denis (Social Work)
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: social work; social worker trauma; drug trade; burnout; compassion fatigue; criminal offenders
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/4200

Searching for meaning within the real life experiences of frontline social workers working with clients involved in the illegal drug trade. There is a strong likelihood that during the course of a career a front line social worker will have the opportunity to work with a client who is or has been involved in the illegal drug trade. As there is essentially no existing research literature about social workers who work with clients involved in the illegal drug trade, one of the purposes of this research was to explore this experience from the perspective of front line social workers and bridge the gap in this research area. This qualitative interpretative analysis provided the opportunity to gain insight into and put meaning to the experiences and perceptions of the 11 frontline social workers as they work with clients involved in the illegal drug trade. This research also provides valuable information and implications for practice and for further research.