Pandemic and Social Work: Exploring Finnish Social Workers’ Experiences through a SWOT Analysis

• Published in: The British journal of social work Vol. 51; no. 5; pp. 1644 - 1662
• Main Authors: Harrikari, Timo, Romakkaniemi, Marjo, Tiitinen, Laura, Ovaskainen, Sanna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 01.07.2021
• Subjects: adaptive governance; COVID-19 pandemic; diaries; glocal social work; resilience; SWOT-analysis
• ISSN: 0045-3102; 1468-263X
• DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcab052

In this article, we address the experiences of Finnish frontline social workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. We are interested in what types of challenges social workers faced in their everyday setting and what types of solutions they developed to meet these challenges. To find out this we asked 33 social workers to draft a free form personal diary from mid-March to the end of May 2020. The diary data is rare as it can authentically describe social workers’ moods and societal atmosphere in spring 2020. The results of the study suggest that the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic challenged social work at all levels, from face-to-face interactions to its global relations. The pandemic revealed not only the number of existing problems of social work, but also created new types of challenges. It demanded ultimate resilience from social workers and a new type of adaptive capacity from social welfare and social care institutions. The study makes it clear how social workers, in many ways, acted as the invisible and ‘last resort tailboards’ for society, communities and especially people in vulnerable positions, in a rapid and unprecedented crisis.Abstract This article addresses the experiences of Finnish frontline social workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. Two questions are addressed. First, ‘what types of challenges social work professionals faced’ in their everyday, ‘glocal’ pandemic setting and, second, what types of solutions they developed to meet these challenges. The data consist of 33 personal diaries that social work professionals created from mid-March to the end of May 2020. The diaries are analysed by a thematic content analysis and placed within the framework of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. The results suggest that the pandemic challenged social work at all levels, from face-to-face interactions to its global relations. The pandemic revealed not only the number of existing problems of social work, but also created new types of challenges. It demanded ultimate resilience from social workers and a new type of adaptive governance from social welfare institutions.