In her research, Schmidt defines vulnerability by social, mental, and physical challenges besides unemployment. Denmark is one of the leading countries when it comes to digitalizing public services according to the UN. Especially, the employment area has undergone considerable digitalizing changes and creates an interesting empirical case. In her article, Schmidt explores how social workers use the “digital CV” tool in welfare meetings with vulnerable clients. This investigation reveals three ways in which social workers use digital CVs in their work with vulnerable clients which makes social work more strategic:
- First, social workers use the CV to collect information about the occupational history of their clients which in effect tests and confirms their vulnerable positions.
- Second, social workers use the CV to reveal skills, competencies, and opportunities that their clients do not otherwise credit or value as important. Social workers use this information to rework their clients’ attitudes towards the labor market. These clients are often less vulnerable.
- Third, social workers also use the CV to support and help the most vulnerable clients by avoiding and adapting digital CV usage. Thus, social workers resist the established rules and procedures to benefit their clients.
Most importantly, the study shows that use of the digital CV in social work in large parts depends on the vulnerability of clients. All in all, the digital CV use shows that social workers perform a balancing act of strategically collecting and employing information to help their clients. However, in this work they risk overlooking social issues or have to compromise the transparency of social work to help the most vulnerable clients. A key finding of the study is showing how digitalization can make social work strategic.
The article published in The British Journal of Social Work is available here: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcad094.