Motivating the Unemployed? Attitudes at the Front Line
Motivating the Unemployed? Attitudes at the Front Line Journal Article
Australian Social Work
- Author(s): McDonald, Catherine, Marston, Greg
- Published: 2008
- Volume: 61
Abstract: Underlying employment services policy in many countries is the assumption that the unemployed exhibit a range of deficits. The goal of employment activation programs is to develop self-efficacy. Noting the determinants of self-efficacy, we illustrate how case managers and social workers think about the unemployed and suggest that negative attitudes held by case managers are not conducive to the promotion of self-efficacy, unlike the orientation displayed by social workers. We suggest that employment services, wherever provided, would be significantly improved if social work frameworks informed policy and practices.