Making “Suitable Referrals”: Social Workers' Construction and Use of Informal Referral Networks

Abstract

The extant literature on the referral process in human service delivery has been examined as either a “micro,” intra-organizational activity or a “macro,” interorganizational phenomenon. The negotiated-order perspective is used to bridge this gap by examining how interorganizational and other contextual-level factors shape the routine accomplishment of the referral process. The data come from a case study of the referral-related activities of social workers in a human service agency serving homeless clients. Social workers' ***referral-related activities largely comprised the construction, maintenance, and use of informal referral networks. These activities, which centered around a concern for making “suitable referrals,” comprised constructing referral sets, conducting advocacy work, and negotiating referral agreements. Aspects of how the client population and the interorganizational context facilitated or constrained each of these networking activities are delineated. Results of the analysis are used to offer observations on the micro-foundations of interorganizational referral networks.