Seite 94 [94]
ZSUZSANNA MIRNICS
for practitioners to express and explore the wide range of emotional responses
they experience in relation to their work.?
MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS
Several recent studies point to the effectiveness of supervision. It has a positive
impact on staff retention.’ In social workers supervision increases staff use of
basic communication, problem-solving and relationship skills and improves
client outcomes, with behavioural changes that appear relatively early and
cognitive changes that are slower.’ The amount of supervision social workers
receive is significantly correlated with their satisfaction. The supervisory
relationship is a better predictor of client outcomes than supervisory skills
or helpfulness. Low supervisory support has been significantly related to the
intention to leave."
The difficulty of evaluating the effectiveness of supervision is compounded
by the variety of definitions, the complexity of the activity, the multiple
relationships and the variability of the context. A continuing problem in
evaluating the effectiveness of supervision is the determination of appropriate
evaluative criteria." (Hausinger has worked on that).
Most research assessing the effectiveness of supervision has examined very
specific issues. Whereas the global guestion of supervisions efficacy may be
obvious (i. e., "is supervision effective?"), the guestions of research need to
be more circumscribed. A basic element of good research design is to frame
the guestions to be tested in a very specific way. In what circumstances is
supervision necessary? What sort of supervision should this be? What should
2 §. Dwyer, The emotional impact of social work practice, Journal of Social Work Practice 2007/21,
1, 49-60.; C. Lombardo — D. Milne — R. Proctor, Getting to the heart of clinical supervision:
A theoretical review of the role of emotions in professional development. Behavioural and
Cognitive Psychotherapy 37 (02) (2009) 207—219.; J. Toasland, Containing the container: An
exploration of the containing role of management in a social work context, Journal of Social
Work Practice 21 (2) (2007) 197-202.
D. DePanfilis — J. L. Zlotnik, Retention of front-line staff in child welfare: A systematic review
of research, Children and Youth Services Review 30 (9) (2008) 995-1008.; P. A. Yankeelov - A.
P. Barbee - D. Sullivan — B. F. Antle, Individual and organizational factors in job retention in
Kentucky’s child welfare agency, Children and Youth Services Review 31 (5) (2009) 547-554.
A. M. Davys — L. Beddoe, Best Practice in Professional Supervision: A guide for the Helping
professions, London, Jessica Kingsley, 2010.
A. Nissly - M. Mor Barak — A. Levin, Stress, social support, and workers’ intentions to leave
their jobs in public child welfare, Administration in Social Work, 29 (2005) 79-100.
NASW, Best Practice Standards in Social Work Supervision, www.socialworkers.org/practice/
naswstandards/supervisionstandards2013.pdf, accessed 1 September 2015.
+ 92 +