De-structuralizing Professionalism: Why Young Social Workers Quit Their Jobs?

[[abstract]]社會工作師法於1997年立法通過後，對台灣社會工作專業建制化發展具有象徵意義，然而社會工作師法的施行，是否就意謂社工人員有更多、更好的專業保障或職場就業條件與環境？還是反而造成更多社工人員感到絕望而紛紛出走？根據鐘美智1996年的研究發現，社工系大學畢業生在投入社會工作就業職場後，會有將近2成8（27.75%）的流失率，許多社工系大學畢業生在投入社會工作就業職場一段時間後，會因種種影響因素而產生工作瓶頸，甚或進而對社會工作專業感到不認同而轉業，使得社工專業人力一再流失。本研究也回顧了1980年代以前、1980年代、1990年代過去幾個不同世代社工員在社會工作就業職場中的處境，發現身處2000年代社會工作就業職場的社工員，處境上比起過去幾個世代要來得更加不確定，並擁有更多引發漂流的可能性，因而將當前的世代命名為「漂世代」。在回顧過去幾個世代與社會工作就業職場相關文獻與調查報告的同時，發現過去的研究多偏重在量化調查與離職因素的歸納，對社工員在決定離職或不作社工前的經歷、想法與感受並未有相關研究深入探討。因此本研究除了期許能承接過去幾個世代對社會工作就業職場的關心，對「漂世代」青年社會工作新兵當前所面臨的就業職場環境，以及造成其離職或不作社工的影響因素作一番探討整理外，並嘗試與台灣過去幾個世代社會工作就業職場進行對話，並對這些「漂世代」青年社工員在決定棄守社會工作前所遭遇的經驗歷程，及在歷程中所抱持的想法與感受作更進一步的探究，進而從中重新反思社會工作「專業」的意義。 為符合研究期待，本研究在研究對象的選取上採量輔質主的研究策略，可分兩個部份來說明。首先以立意選樣選出十個目前國內重要的社會工作網站留言版進行內容分析，針對這十個網站留言版上過去六年內(2001年至2006年)所有的留言文本進行一次完整的瀏覽與檢視，對於有透露比較明顯離職或不作社工意圖，以及對台灣社會工作專業有加以反思的留言文本進行篩選。據此，本研究共計截取了131則留言文本內容，其中引用於本研究的留言文本則數計109則。透過對這些匿名性高的留言文本所進行的內容分析，可以幫助我們瞭解社工人員對社會工作就業職場與台灣社會工作專業所關心的議題，並試圖描繪出「漂世代」社會工作就業職場的樣貌。至於青年社工人員離開社會工作的動態歷程部份，則採用質性典範的半結構式深度訪談，在選樣策略上採立意與滾雪球抽樣來進行收案。研究對象的條件係以去年2006為基準，原則上以畢業五年以內(2002至2006年)，且畢業後曾任職於社會工作就業職場一段時間後又離職的社工系大學畢業生為準，然若研究對象在具備前述就業狀態條件下，畢業超過五年，且年齡在30歲(含)以下者，亦符合本研究收案對象。透過深度訪談可以幫助我們進一步瞭解社工人員在離職動態歷程中的經歷、想法與感受。 在經過文獻分析、留言版內容分析，以及深度訪談分析後，影響「漂世代」青年社工員決定離開社會工作的因素可歸納為三大類，分別為「個人因素」、「工作特性因素」，與「外在環境因素」。根據留言版內容分析的次數計量，影響「漂世代」青年社工員離職或不作社工的影響因素中，以「工作特性因素」的305次，高於「外在環境因素」的140次與「個人因素」的28次，研究發現「漂世代」青年基層社工人員對於自已本身工作種種條件的關懷，要多過於對社會工作專業的發展。而「漂世代」青年社工員離開社會工作的動態歷程，本研究歸納整理出五個階段，分別是「整裝待發、揮軍沙場」、「新兵報到、重裝上陣」、「烽煙四起、危機四伏」、「致命引爆、敵前陣亡」與「揮別沙場、英雄再起」。最後從這些研究發現與三角檢測中，提出兩點社會工作專業核心問題的反思，分別為對學術與實務期待與配置的錯誤，以及本土社會工作實務知識的缺乏，進而期許台灣社會工作專業能重新調整對學術與實務的期待與配置，並著力發展累積台灣本土社會工作的實務知識，持續與學術領域保持對話。[[abstract]]The Law for Qualified Social Workers enacted in 1997 has been an important impact on the development of Taiwanese social work education and professionalism. However, whether social workers now have been recognized as a profession with better employment conditions, or, instead of that results, more social workers feel hopeless and want to quit? This remains as a question unanswered. According to the study conducted by Zhong Mei-Chi in 1996, the university social work graduates may have nearly 28% leaving rate. They might experience career bottleneck due to all sorts of influential factors, even or further feel dissatisfied with social work professionalism, causing social work manpower to drain repeatedly. This study reviews years prior to 1980, the 1980s, and the 1990s, to see several different generations of social workers in their employment field situation, discovering that the social workers in the 2000s are facing more uncertainty in comparison to those prior decades, and have more chances of floating around. For this reason, we name the current generation as ‘floating generation’. At the same time in reviewing the related employment literatures as well as those investigation reports, we also find the past researchers focusing more on quantitative investigation and the factors contributed to job leave; they did not pay much attention or lack of in-dept analysis to the feelings, experiences and opinions of the social workers who decide to leave the job and no longer willing to be social workers. Therefore, this study would not just like to pay attention to the past generations of social work employment, but also to understand more of the current employment situation of those ‘floating generation’ youth social workers, as well as to analysis those factors that contribute to job-leave and the decision of no longer to be social workers. Through dialogue with the people who engage in social work employment, we will rethink the meaning of social work professionalism. To match the research purposes, this study adopts the qualitative research strategy as the first priority and quantitative research strategy as next. There are two main parts in this thesis. First, we select ten popular domestic social work websites and carry out the content analysis of their message boards, conducting a thoroughly browsing and inspection for the previous six years contents (Year 2001 to 2006). Those messages are especially screened out if more clearly relating to job-leave intention or decision to quit being social workers, as well as those messages that have deeper comments on Taiwan’s social work professionalism. According to the above, this study totally intercepted 131 pieces of message texts contents, and in between this research has quoted 109 pieces of these messages. Through this content analysis, it may help us to understand better how social workers perceive their working conditions and career development, as well as the popular topics under Taiwan’s social work professionalism, in order to describe the general picture of social work employment in floating generation. Second, we adopt quantitative and semi-structural in-depth interview to know the vivid working experiences of those young social workers. This study is taking 2006 as a basis, in principle the young social workers interviewed must graduate within five years (2002 to 2006), working in the social work for a period of time but left the job; however, if the cases fulfill those requirements, but graduated over five years and ages are under 30 years old, they could also be in our interviewing cases. After the process of literature review, the message text content analysis and in-depth interview, we conclude that there are three main reasons affecting young social workers’ decision to quit their jobs, including ‘individual factor’, ‘job characteristic factor’, and ‘external environmental factor’. According to the calculation of the response numbers in the message board text content analysis, the factors affecting ‘floating generation’ young social workers to leave the job or unwilling to be social workers, ‘job characteristic factor’ has 305 times, higher than ‘external environmental factor’ 140 times and ‘individual factor’ 28 times. Our research discovers that the ‘floating generation’ young social workers pay more attention to their own working characteristics in comparison to the attention they pay toward developing working profession. Regarding the decision process of young social workers’ quitting, five stages are found: ‘ready to go, wield the armed force sandy field’, ‘newly recruit soldiers, goes forth to the battlefield’, ‘beacon rises from all directions, crisis-ridden’, ‘fatally fires, dies in front of the enemy’, and ‘wields sandy field, heroic recurrence’. Finally from these research findings and triangle examination, we propose two core questions for reconsideration of social work professionalism in Taiwan, the first is the gap between academic and practical training, and the second is the lacking of effective social work model in our country. These two questions require a more intensive collaboration between the academic and the practice.[[note]]碩