Supervision and Management in Social Work: A Book Review

Overview of Supervision in Social Work

The team of Alfred Kadushin and Daniel Harkness has published a book titled Supervision in Social Work, which presents a number of key ideas and strategies about the leadership needed by supervisors and managers in social work. This paper reviews and critiques that book alongside an excellent companion text by Donna Hardina, An Empowering Approach to Managing Social Service Organizations.

Supervision in Social Work by Kadushin and Harkness embraces a wide variety of subjects germane to social work and to the leadership and supervision required to provide the best possible services to clients, as well as the best possible working conditions in the office. It begins with a historical overview of the field of social work and a review of how supervision plays an important role in the delivery of services to clients. The book offers sections on the recruitment and selection of employees, the importance of delegating authority and assignments, and the vitally important skill of effective communication. The authors take great pains to review the need for good communication between staff members — from management to social worker, from social worker to client — including lateral communication and informal and formal communication. Moreover, Kadushin and Harkness point to specific problems that can occur in organizational communication.

The supervisor is not simply in his or her position to keep everyone on task, generate reports, and maintain bureaucratic functions. According to Kadushin and Harkness, the supervisor in a social work environment is an "advocate" for his or her staff; the supervisor is also a buffer between staff and administration, and should be a "change agent" and a liaison to the community.

Other key points in this book include the whole issue of authority and power — including reward power, coercive power, positional (legitimate) power, referent power, and expert power — and the interrelations between various forms of supervisory power, along with how to make authority legitimate within the structure of an organization. Supervision comes in many forms, and after reading this book the alert student will sense that there are myriad phases involved in attaining the authority that comes with supervision, as well as pitfalls and traps that a supervisor can fall into. While burnout is a very real dynamic that can drain the enthusiasm and professional energy from a social worker, the stress that leads to burnout can — and should — be avoided, or at the very least managed on a professional level.

The transition from social worker to supervisor is not always a smooth process, but this book addresses that issue in great detail and offers helpful guidance. Race and ethnicity must also be taken into account within a social work organization. As in any organization, communication and other functional problems can arise when there is a mismatch in cultural sensitivity — for example, when a Caucasian supervisor works with an African American worker, or vice versa — and when insensitivity leads to conflict. In addition, the book goes into substantial detail regarding performance evaluations: how they should be conducted, what works and what does not, and which procedures are the most practical and effective.

Works Cited

Hardina, Donna. (2007). An Empowering Approach to Managing Social Service Organizations. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

Kadushin, Alfred, and Harkness, Daniel. (2002). Supervision in Social Work. New York: Columbia University Press.