Revisiting the causes of stress in social work: sources of job demands, control and support in personalised adult social care

TY - JOUR

T1 - Revisiting the causes of stress in social work

T2 - sources of job demands, control and support in personalised adult social care

AU - Wilberforce, Mark Robson

AU - Jacobs, Sally

AU - Challis, David

AU - Manthorpe, Jill

AU - Stevens, Martin

AU - Jasper, Rowan

AU - Fernandez, Jose-Luis

AU - Glendinning, Caroline

AU - Jones, Karen

AU - Knapp, Martin

AU - Moran, Nicola Elizabeth

AU - Netten, Ann

AU - Jasper, Rowan Elaine

PY - 2014/6

Y1 - 2014/6

N2 - Social workers in adult social care are at particular risk of job-related stress, although the contribution of different organisational and policy changes to this phenomenon is subject to debate. This paper explores a theoretical framework from the occupational psychology literature (the Job Demand/Control Model) to identify the characteristics of those most at risk of stress, in a sample of 249 social workers and other care managers working in English adult social services from the Individual Budget (IB) pilots. It finds that it is the particular combination of high work pressures, with a lack of control over decision making and resources needed to do the work, that are detrimental to job satisfaction. The study also finds that staff involved in delivering IBs were over twice as likely to be at risk of stress compared to those without any IB holders on their caseload. In-depth interviews with forty-eight care managers identified widespread complaints of additional pressures relating to IBs, but also the possibility that these may lessen as the policy evolves. The paper concludes that the Job Demand/Control Model is a helpful framework for evaluating the job-related impact of social work changes, particularly when part of a multi-methods approach.

AB - Social workers in adult social care are at particular risk of job-related stress, although the contribution of different organisational and policy changes to this phenomenon is subject to debate. This paper explores a theoretical framework from the occupational psychology literature (the Job Demand/Control Model) to identify the characteristics of those most at risk of stress, in a sample of 249 social workers and other care managers working in English adult social services from the Individual Budget (IB) pilots. It finds that it is the particular combination of high work pressures, with a lack of control over decision making and resources needed to do the work, that are detrimental to job satisfaction. The study also finds that staff involved in delivering IBs were over twice as likely to be at risk of stress compared to those without any IB holders on their caseload. In-depth interviews with forty-eight care managers identified widespread complaints of additional pressures relating to IBs, but also the possibility that these may lessen as the policy evolves. The paper concludes that the Job Demand/Control Model is a helpful framework for evaluating the job-related impact of social work changes, particularly when part of a multi-methods approach.

KW - social work

KW - social workers

KW - adult social care

KW - job satisfaction

KW - work-related stress

U2 - 10.1093/bjsw/bcs166

DO - 10.1093/bjsw/bcs166

M3 - Article

SN - 1468-263X

VL - 44

SP - 812

EP - 830

JO - British Journal of Social Work

JF - British Journal of Social Work

IS - 4

ER -