States of Clients’ Trust and Social Workers’ Agency with Long-Term Unemployed Clients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33802/nw.35817Keywords:
social workers, agency, trust, long-term unemployment, emplotmentAbstract
This study explores social workers’ agency regarding the states of client trust with long-term unemployed clients in Finland, and particularly the agency through which trust is conveyed. The study employs a narrative approach which guided the entire research process. The research question was as follows: How do social workers consider trust in relation to their agency with long-term unemployed clients? The data draws from 18 interviews with social workers conducted in six wellbeing services counties in Finland, and was analysed using a narrative analysis approach that combined thematic analysis with an analysis of emplotment. Five emplotted states of client trust emerged in the interactions of client-worker relationship: a lack of trust, forced trust, mistrust, tentative trust, and resilient trust. This study reveals how trust emerges as a key factor for both clients and social workers and argues that trust is constructed within active and dynamic interactions into states through which social worker agency can be examined and advanced.
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