Publications from ODSW Social Work Supervsion | 页面 17

Day 1 Keynote 2: Research and Knowledge Building on Social Work Supervision

Day 1 Keynote 2: Research and Knowledge
Building on Social Work Supervision
Associate Professor Kieran O’Donoghue
Massey University
Head of School – School of Social Work

Introduction
A/P Kieran began by stating that the aim of his address was to review the development of
social work supervision knowledge, discuss the implications of this knowledge for
supervisory practice and the development of supervision nationally and internationally.
Development of Social Work Supervision
Social work supervision knowledge was developed over time through practice wisdom, the
application of practice theory and models from casework, empirical research and the
development of supervision models and approaches.
Practice Wisdom
Early supervisors developed knowledge about supervision through reflecting on their
experiences, and deriving understanding and new practices from it. Accumulated practice
wisdom was shared through the early writing and oral transmission at conferences. At the
beginning of the 20th Century Brackett (1903, p 4) notes that the individualised form of
social casework supervision started to emerge as the result of, “Observation, comparison
and study” and the formulation of casework methods. The primary focus of this early
supervision practice was to conceptualise the elements within supervision and to
understand the developing pattern of supervision (Burns, 1958; Munson, 1979). This in turn
contributed to the development of knowledge about the purpose and methods of
supervision, which were focused on teaching the social casework method (Burns, 1958).
Practice Theory And Models
The adoption of psychoanalytic theory within casework coupled with the advent of formal
social work education set the foundation for practice theory and models to form the base
knowledge for supervision (Burns, 1958). The advent of formal social work education,
particularly, the supervision of students’ field experience provided a means for the
transmission of casework practice theory into supervision. The application of
psychoanalytic theory to supervision influenced the structure, format and processes of
supervision, as well as reinforced the individualised session based approach. The
therapeutic emphasis of psychoanalytic theory also resulted in supervision being
conceptualised as therapy for the caseworker and the supervision relationship being
conceived for a time as a therapeutic one (Rabinowitz, 1987). This therapeutic element did
not endure within the social work supervision, and between 1937 and 1950 it disappeared
from the social work supervision literature. Burns, (1958) attributes the reasons for its
demise and disappearance from the literature to firstly the depression of the 1930s,
wherein the focus of practice shifted from clients’ psychological needs to their basic
welfare, and secondly to an emphasis on the role of supervision in the training and
development of social caseworkers within the social work supervision literature.
The role of supervision in the training and development of social caseworkers was the
focus of the first book on social work supervision, Supervision in social casework, by
Virginia Robinson, which was published in 1936. Robinson (1936) defined supervision from
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