On the Competence Development of Social Work Superviser in Public Sector

• Main Authors: Shu-Hui Huang, 黃淑惠
• Other Authors: Wan-I Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/tzc8dh

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 社會工作學研究所 === 107 === Social work supervision is one of the essential factors for the development of the social work profession. The professional competence of social work supervisor affects the quality of social work and the rights of the recipients of the service significantly. The change in the social environment and the prevalence of the new public management theory over the years dictated the needs of different types of competence for social works supervision under the organization network of the public sector in line with the development of public policies, administration, and services. This study aims at social work supervision of the public sector with an attempt to explore the network developed under the development of social work supervision competence of the public sector, find out the strength and limitation of the professional competence deriving from the special traits of the organizations in the public sector, and the expectation with recommendation on the development of supervision competence. In this study, the qualitative approach through in-depth interview is adopted and carried out by purposive sampling method for interviews with 9 social work supervisors of the public sector. The findings of the study indicated that, the public sector exercised public power under applicable legal rules governing organizations of the public sector at the organizational level. The primary function of the social work supervisors of the public sector is to provide assistance to the social workers to accomplish the missions and goals of the public sector as required by law with their professional knowledge and skills in social work. These social work supervisors have to play the role of multiple functions, including administrative, educational, and support supervision, and mediation among the exercise of public power under law, administrators of public administration, and service system, as well as the allocator of resources. These social work supervisors of the public sector also confronted the dilemma of the exhibition of professionalism and performance of organizational tasks under the administrative hierarchy and framework, and the limitation of human resources development. Although the organizational environment of the public sector allows for a multi-purpose role, most social work supervisors have received no formal training or skill development in supervision. In other words, the public sector has established programs for the training of supervision, where there is no systematic planning. Social work supervisors tend to base on their personal experience, experience of under supervision, interns in supervision, or experience in the practice of supervision to accumulate their supervisory skills. Regardless of how the professional capacity of supervision is developed, the mission of supervision in the public sector is the realization of the professional value and succession of professional skills under the organization of the public sector. The findings from this study led to the recommendation that: the development of professional competences in social work supervision of the public sector should be systematically planned with the introduction of reserve supervisor training mechanisms, professional planning, and administrative management supervisory program, supported by practical drills training. The understanding of public policies and the improvement of the capacity in administrative management and coordination of the supervisors should be enhanced. Finally, the placement and promotion system for the social work supervisors should be subject to review for encouraging social work supervisors to take this as a perpetual career.