List of Papers from Intsoceval workshop 2000:
Outcome and Measurement of Outcome of Social Work Intervention

Verwey-Jonker Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Call for Papers

Outcome is to be defined as: the final condition of clients and/or their situation after the intervention as compared to this condition and/or situation at the start of the intervention.

Outcome is a very broad topic, that has many aspects that each of them deserve attention. For those reasons we would like to identify several subtopics and aspects of the main topic.

A. Short and long term outcome
The term "final" in the definition of outcome is may be a little misleading. Final outcome in itself can be divided in immediate outcome, the conditions right after the intervention and long term outcome, which includes further development of the conditions of a client after the intervention itself has been stopped.

B. Outcome and goals/objectives or what outcomes should social work have?
Probably as old as social work is the question what social work should basically accomplish for or with its clients . There is probably no simple answer to this question because social work is a multiple party enterprise with multiple legitimisation grounds, leading to questions as: Whose objectives/goals should be decisive for the outcome aimed at? Those of society, government, the financiers, the professionals or the clients, the later also when society, government and financiers frown about these outcomes?

Another related question is whose interests should be served by the social work intervention. Only those of the client or also those of people in his/her immediate environment, the neighbourhood he/she lives in or society more in general?

A further question is whether outcome should be some subjectively experienced state (such as satisfaction or experienced benefit) or changes on outside behavioural-/contextual criteria? The topics addressed in these questions are at least for two reasons important for researchers, first as research subjects in themselves and next as necessary ingredients for outcome measurement. Answers to these questions can be based on logical/ideological reasoning but also on empirical research into the preferences of involved parties, scientific theory and scientifically based insights

C. Realistic estimates of possible outcome
Apart from what outcomes social work should have according to the parties involved, it is also possible to formulate predictions and expectations about what realistically outcomes of social work could be. These predictions can be based on experience, scientific insights, research from elsewhere etc. The difference with B is that we do not ask: "What do we want from social work" but "what can we realistically expect from social work". The answer to the last question is important for outcome measurement because it helps the researcher to formulate criteria and construct measuring devices that will be able to detect end demonstrate outcome, that is present but only visible when specifically addressed. It also helps to identify possible unwanted or negative outcome.

D. Approaches (procedures and methodology) to measuring social work outcome
Under this topic first of all procedures and designs for measuring outcome could be described. A second subject is formed by the specific instruments, questionnaires, interview/observation schedules and other measuring tools.

It seems logical to expect that descriptions of procedures and methodology will also contain specification of the insights regarding the objectives of social work and the possible outcome of social work upon which procedures and methodology are based.

E. Results of the measurement of social work outcome
Under this topic descriptions are expected of actual outcomes found in research. Very interesting will of course be the methodology used and the choice of outcome criteria

F. The causality of outcome of social work intervention (effects of social work) and ways to measure this causality
Social work intervention is based on the assumption that the intervention by the social worker (independent variable) brings about a certain outcome = improvements for the client and his/her environment (dependent variable). One of the serious frustrations in much evaluation research in the past has been that this relation between intervention and outcome was very difficult to demonstrate. This seems to have been due to flaws in design and measurement procedures but also in the implicit and explicit theoretical models upon which the interventions were based, which led to the choice of unrealistic objectives for social work and the application of the wrong outcome criteria. It would be very interesting to learn about progress and obstacles in this field of establishing causal relationships.

G. Results of effect studies of social work intervention
Recent effect studies of social work intervention, information about the results, the methodology and theoretical background of these studies will be explored.

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