Using vignettes to compare the views of social workers and service-users: Some findings and reflections regarding assessments in child welfare

Abstract

While vignette studies have become more prevalent in social work research, it is, however, uncommon to include both practitioners and service-users in the research design to provide their views on an identical case. In this article, the aim is both to reflect on the usefulness of the vignette method in exploring assessments of the needs for services from the points of view of practitioners and service-users and to explore empirically those views on an identical case. The article is built on 28 group interviews with 120 practitioners and 14 group interviews with 41 care-experienced young people and parents of children in care. There are considerable similarities across the groups in their emphasis on ‘more information’ but the groups of practitioners and service-users also differ in their views on the nature of required information (what vs. why) and the purpose of the assessment (intake vs. solving problems). The analysis highlights some mundane manifestations of the implications of recent reforms in family and child welfare services in Finland, and most importantly, the ethical potential which the inclusion of both service-users and practitioners in the vignette design entails.