Institution-driven,Profession-constructed and Life-oriented:The Mechanisms of Promoting the Effectiveness of Professional Services by the Social Work Station
Professionalism has been a core issue in the evolution of the social work profes-sion for the past century.As social conditions evolve,the professionalism of social work in China has increasingly garnered attention from government entities,aca-demic institutions,and practitioners.This focus has become crucial for addressing various social issues and promoting innovation in grassroots governance.The achievement of social work professionalism is closely linked to the provision of ef-fective services.Social work stations,as a novel development platform distinct from traditional organizational structures,are better equipped to demonstrate the unique intrinsic mechanisms that enhance the effectiveness of social work services.This paper establishes an analytical framework that integrates institutions,pro-fessions,and life by drawing on new institutionalism theory and a life-oriented so-cial work perspective.It uses the Ma Qiao Street Social Work Station in Haining City as a research example,which is a professional social work organization that op-erates through government-purchased services.The paper employs a participatory observational research method over nearly two years to conduct an in-depth exami-nation of the operational practices of the Ma Qiao Street Social Work Station and the mechanisms that contribute to its service effectiveness.The research indicates that the Ma Qiao Street Social Work Station achieves professional effectiveness through three key strategies.Firstly,it empowers grass-roots party organizations to enhance the development of a grassroots social gover-nance ecology and resource network.Specifically,it focuses on creating an organiza-tional ecology that fosters the development of social organizations and a service ecol-ogy that addresses grassroots social governance through diversified social services.This dual approach aims to establish a robust grassroots social governance ecology while actively building a network of social service resources and carrying out situ-ational professional actions to promote the effective implementation of social work services in the villages and communities.In the implementation of specific services,social work stations use practical experience and local resources and advantages to combine professional characteristics with local characteristics so that professional ac-tions are integrated into the local context and services are implemented at the grass-roots better to meet the needs of the communities and residents.Thirdly,we should focus on life practices to strengthen the mutual construction between the service cli-ents and the environment in which they live.In responding to and solving the daily problems and needs of the service clients,the social work station promotes positive changes in their life situations,thus helping them to realize a positive transformation from service recipients to helping others and then to active actors.From a deeper per-spective,the first mechanism of institutional empowerment is driven by legitimacy,the second mechanism of professional services driven by situational construction,and the third mechanism of life practice driven by social work's social intrinsic con-notation,which are the generating mechanisms of the effectiveness of the services brought about by the operation of the social work station,and these three aspects are mutually reinforcing and influencing each other.In the future,discussions regarding the effectiveness of Chinese social work must be more closely aligned with national and grassroots governance objectives,emphasizing the connection between professional actions and governance effective-ness.As a novel organizational form distinct from traditional social work agencies,social work stations embody institutional and social characteristics.These stations ef-fectively bridge the gap between formal institutions and everyday life,promote the seamless integration of social work into local contexts,and enhance the effective de-livery of services by functioning as a comprehensive platform.Finally,this paper broadens the theoretical interpretation and empirical under-standing of the intrinsic relationship between social work professionalism and effec-tiveness from the perspective of social work stations.It is important to note that this paper examines effective practice strategies in social work and their promotion mechanisms.It uses a street social work station in a county in northern Zhejiang Province as a case study.Future explorations and research are essential for refining theories and expanding case studies.
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维普
