Social Workers who Move into Private Practice: Ideological Considerations as a Factor in the Transition

Abstract

Various aspects of a recent and unprecedented upsurge in private-practice social work in New Zealand were examined in research conducted from 1993 to 1999. A qualitative methodology was employed to try to reveal new information about a field of practice that has been extensively canvassed using quantitative methods. The findings reported here concern the importance of ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas were a surprisingly common motivating factor in respondents' decision to leave salaried agency social work. Most of the 33 respondents had recently left government or quasi-government agencies and less commonly had left private, nonprofit agencies. As expected, ethical dilemmas also arose in the transition to private practice, and respondents related their mostly pragmatic management of these.