”Hav mod att göra bruk av ditt eget förstånd” – Kritiskt tänkande i det sociala arbetets vardag"

Sammanfattning: Authors: Helena Lampic-Aaltonen and Björn Söderström
Title: “Have the courage to make use of your own mind” – critical thinking in everyday social work
Supervisor: Gunilla Lindén
Examiner: Katarina Jacobsson

The purpose of this essay was to investigate how social workers experience critical thinking and to analyze the boundaries that exist for critical thinking in everyday social work. This study was based upon interviews conducted with practicing social workers who are involved in child and youth issues. The interviews were then analyzed, primarily through the theories presented by Goffman in “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”. The essay shows that effective critical thinking requires a workplace that supports not only its use, but also the investment of time required to reflect upon the specifics of the case. If there is a misalignment between the role that the social worker performs and the role that the workplace encourages, there is a risk that a destructive environment is created for the social worker which, in certain cases, will cause the social worker to change workplace.

Keyword: critical thinking and social work, reflection-in-action and social work
higher-order thinking skills