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Looking into the box: Swedish social care managers make meaning of their work and role.

Österlind, M.-L.

Keywords:
Social care, managerial roles, personal construct psychology, repertory grid interview, phenomenological analysis, participative research

Abstract:
This paper reports on a participative project where Swedish social care managers explored their work and their managerial role by means of repertory grid interviews and collegial reflection. The qualitative, phenomenological data analysis provides a multifaceted picture of what it means to be a social care manager, seen from the managers’ perspective. The results indicate that managers in this and other welfare organisations need to construe and re-construe their managerial role in order to balance the contrasting demands on their role, thereby accomplishing a personal equilibrium. The managers’ meaning-making process can be supported by constructivist techniques such as those used in this project.