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Evaluating effectiveness in social work: sharing dilemmas in practice

Cree, Viviene; Jain, Sumeet; Hillen, David Peter

Authors

Viviene Cree

Sumeet Jain



Abstract

Evaluating effectiveness is of primary concern to social work practice; resources will always be limited, and those using services deserve the best. But what is effectiveness, and how should it be measured? This paper explores the challenge of measuring effectiveness in social work by examining two small-scale evaluations of services (statutory and voluntary) in Scotland. Both evaluations used a mixed method approach and both were conducted in a climate of funding cuts. It will be argued that evaluating effectiveness sits uncomfortably between new public management (NPM)’s imperative for measurement and efficiency within a market economy and agencies’ own need to reflect on their practice and respond to the views of their service users. Such processes force agencies into a continual cycle of monitoring and review that may, paradoxically, impede organic change and development. It is suggested that an alternative, critical paradigm in evaluation offers a positive way forward.

Citation

Cree, V., Jain, S., & Hillen, D. P. (2018). Evaluating effectiveness in social work: sharing dilemmas in practice. European Journal of Social Work, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2018.1441136

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 4, 2018
Online Publication Date Feb 23, 2018
Publication Date Feb 23, 2018
Deposit Date Mar 21, 2018
Publicly Available Date Feb 24, 2019
Journal European Journal of Social Work
Print ISSN 1369-1457
Electronic ISSN 1468-2664
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Pages 1-12
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2018.1441136
Keywords Evaluation, new public management, social work, critical paradigm, research methods, realistic evaluation
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1129103

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