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SOWO 804: Introduction to Organizational TheoriesNature of Human Service Organizations (HSOs)Human Services as Moral WorkGendered WorkThe Primacy of Institutional EnvironmentMoral Entrepreneurs and Cyclical LegitimacyHuman Service Technologies as Enactment of Practice IdeologiesClient Reactivity and Service TrajectoryClient ComplianceCentrality of Client-Worker RelationsHSO Forms as Moral Practices: The Case of Welfare DepartmentsTheoretical ApproachesHuman Relations Approaches (HRAs)Negotiated Order and Political EconomyMarxist and Institutional TheoryPopulation EcologyOrganizational Theory and BehaviorOrganizational Theory (cont’d)Neoclassical Organizational TheoryNeoclassical Organizational Theory (cont’d)Contingency TheorySystems Theory Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1928)Organizational StructureOrganizational Birth and Growth (cont’d)Slide 25Organizational DeclineOrganizational TurnaroundFinal Theory ComponentsSOWO 804: Introduction to Organizational TheoriesTamara H. Norris, InstructorManagement and Community PracticeSchool of Social WorkUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3550Nature of Human Service Organizations (HSOs)HSOs can be contradictory to clients and workersWorkers have a goal to help people HSOs offer intrinsic and extrinsic benefitsHSOs can also cause frustration Clients are the “raw material?”HSOs process, sustain, or attempt to change peopleHuman Services as Moral Work Moral judgments and statements of social work Diagnostic labels----statements of social worthAllocation of resources:RationingThe DeservingGendered Work Women have been historically assigned caretaker rolesPatriarchal ideology---women as nurturersWomen are the majority of frontline workersConflict between women’s contributions to social work and HSO norms and valuesDevaluation of women’s work in human services: in earnings, positions, and social status----LONGITUDINAL SEXISM?Legitimacy issues: lack of resources, poor services often provided to clients who are mostly poor womenThe Primacy of Institutional EnvironmentHSOs conform to dominant cultural, social symbols, and belief systems of “interest groups” in their environmentsHSOs’ access to resources is dependent on their adherence to environmental normsHSOs’ technical proficiency matters less than the ability to accommodate the escalating, often competing “diversity” in their service areas HSO rules and legitimacy are in fluxMoral Entrepreneurs and Cyclical Legitimacy HSOs influence public perceptions of their clients:parents as partners consumers as potential welfare cheatsCycles occur within the communities of HSOs:Support for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)1996 Welfare Reform: Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act (PRWRA)PRWRA changed the perception of welfare from allowing “dependency” to mandating “work”Human Service Technologies as Enactment of Practice IdeologiesTechnologies are socially approved and sanctionedState Plans are best judgments of “best practices” that are frequently resource-basedMeasures of effectiveness involve moral choices that are part of practice ideologiesEffectiveness is also politically determined How so?Client Reactivity and Service TrajectoryClients can react and participateThe reactions of neither clients nor staff can be completely controlledMany HSO services are compartmentalized and delivered in discrete waysThe diagnosis of a client’s needs may not take into account his/her total ecology. Why is this so often so?Client ComplianceSelection of clients who are amenable to services enhances control and responsibilityLimiting and constraining client options improves trackingSocial control is the resultIs such control the best approach?Centrality of Client-Worker Relations Client-Worker relations are the core of HSOsThe quality of these relations are critical to service delivery and successful outcomesBest cooperation is based on “trust!”But trust is impersonal and difficult to maintain due to the often irregular contact between HSOs and clientsHSO Forms as Moral Practices: The Case of Welfare DepartmentsNeed to understand how HSOs select and implement moral rules that guide their workHSOs and their workers participate in this process (“micro interaction”)HSO rules are also driven by political interests (“macro interactions”)Moral assumptions are a constant in the welfare systemTheoretical ApproachesRational-Legal Model (RLM)HSOs have a clear and specific set of goals and their internal structure and processes represent a rational design to attain themInternal divisions of labor, clear definitions of roles, and levels of authority are formalizedThe RLM cannot handle multiple and changing “environmental influences”Human Relations Approaches (HRAs) HSO effectiveness is a function of its goals and the personal needs of workersThe quality of “leadership” is an important determinant of workers’ job satisfactionBurn-out is an increasing problem in today’s HSOsHRAs, alone, cannot overcome political and economic constraintsNegotiated Order and Political Economy Work structures are a product of “negotiated order” among the participating actors (clients & workers)Services must have legitimacy, power, and resources (money, clients, and personnel) “Political economy” understates values and ideologies that transcend power and money in shaping HSO behaviorMarxist and Institutional Theory Labor in HSOs is controlled through hierarchy, standard operating procedures, and the deskilling of jobsThe market economy impacts HSOs Rules from the institutional environment determine the HSO structureSocietal and HSO values are the driving forcesHSOs uphold rules by coercion and/or imitationPopulation Ecology Groups and organizations that have similar characteristics and structureFocuses on the evolution of HSOs: founding, disbanding, and change in population Population ecology is sometimes inappropriately applied to HSOs and generates inaccurate interpretations of HSO environmentsOrganizational Theory and BehaviorClassical Organization TheoryScientific Management Theory (Taylor 1917)Four Basic Principles Find one “best way” to perform taskMatch each worker to the appropriate


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UNC-Chapel Hill SOWO 804 - SOWO 804 Lecture II

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