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Lost in comparison: a program theory analysis of performance measurement in social work

Denvall, Verner LU ; Agevall-Gross, Lotta ; Kjellgren, Cecilia and Skillmark, Mikael (2021) In Nordic Social Work Research 11(3). p.249-263
Abstract
Since the 1990s, social work has been subject to requirements for monitoring and quality assurance. Here we examine one of the monitoring systems: Open Comparisons (OC). Gradually expanded and published online by a national agency, the OC now has around 350 indicators that cover major areas within social work in Sweden. We use program theory to clarify the operational idea in which OC is based. To do this, we analyse domestic violence data gathered from two social service organizations, from the regional level and from governmental agencies. The results show a strong normative support for OC within national level. However, OC is time consuming, its data are questionable, and its reliance on name-and-shame seems dubious. OC represents a... (More)
Since the 1990s, social work has been subject to requirements for monitoring and quality assurance. Here we examine one of the monitoring systems: Open Comparisons (OC). Gradually expanded and published online by a national agency, the OC now has around 350 indicators that cover major areas within social work in Sweden. We use program theory to clarify the operational idea in which OC is based. To do this, we analyse domestic violence data gathered from two social service organizations, from the regional level and from governmental agencies. The results show a strong normative support for OC within national level. However, OC is time consuming, its data are questionable, and its reliance on name-and-shame seems dubious. OC represents a trend in social work that may influence changes in routines and provide new kinds of performance measurements that affect how social work is organized. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
performance measurement, comparison, domestic violence, social work, audit society, audit, domestic violence, performance measurement, comparison, social work
in
Nordic Social Work Research
volume
11
issue
3
pages
249 - 263
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85124764578
ISSN
2156-857X
DOI
10.1080/2156857X.2019.1690559
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
baa12223-d2ee-44c2-8c9f-7c192792ef76
date added to LUP
2019-11-18 10:17:41
date last changed
2022-04-28 00:27:53
@article{baa12223-d2ee-44c2-8c9f-7c192792ef76,
  abstract     = {{Since the 1990s, social work has been subject to requirements for monitoring and quality assurance. Here we examine one of the monitoring systems: Open Comparisons (OC). Gradually expanded and published online by a national agency, the OC now has around 350 indicators that cover major areas within social work in Sweden. We use program theory to clarify the operational idea in which OC is based. To do this, we analyse domestic violence data gathered from two social service organizations, from the regional level and from governmental agencies. The results show a strong normative support for OC within national level. However, OC is time consuming, its data are questionable, and its reliance on name-and-shame seems dubious. OC represents a trend in social work that may influence changes in routines and provide new kinds of performance measurements that affect how social work is organized.}},
  author       = {{Denvall, Verner and Agevall-Gross, Lotta and Kjellgren, Cecilia and Skillmark, Mikael}},
  issn         = {{2156-857X}},
  keywords     = {{performance measurement, comparison, domestic violence, social work, audit society; audit; domestic violence; performance measurement; comparison; social work}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{249--263}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Nordic Social Work Research}},
  title        = {{Lost in comparison: a program theory analysis of performance measurement in social work}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2156857X.2019.1690559}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/2156857X.2019.1690559}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}