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International Social Work
http://isw.sagepub.com/content/56/5/588
The online version of this article can be found at:
DOI: 10.1177/0020872811429953
2012
2013 56: 588 originally published online 19 January International Social Work
Brownlee and Nuelle Novik
John R. Graham, Eriko Fukuda, Micheal L. Shier, Theresa J.B. Kline, Keith
northern social workers' satisfaction with work and profession
Demographic, work-related, and life satisfaction predictors of
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600 International Social Work 56(5)
variables had on social worker satisfaction. The composite measure based
on the 22-item SWSS and three subscales (i.e. organizational satisfaction,
associational satisfaction, and workload satisfaction) were the criterion vari-
ables while gender, age, employer, location, social work attachment, occu-
pational commitment, turnover, organization citizenship, and life satisfaction
were predictors.
First, the composite measure based on the 22-item SWSS was used as the
criterion variable, with the socio-demographic and work-related variables entered
as predictors. Table 7 indicates that the predictors explained 38.1 percent of
variation in social workers satisfaction (SWS) measured by the SWSS. Social
workers employed by child welfare services reported significantly lower levels
on SWS. In addition, the SWSS showed a negative relationship with turnover,
thus social workers with higher rates of intention to turnover had lower overall
satisfaction as measured by the SWSS.
Table 7. Multiple regression predictors of subjective well-being and various
well-being satisfaction.
Predictors entered SWSS
(22 items)
Organizational
satisfaction
Associational
satisfaction
Workload
satisfaction
Demographic
Gender
a
.016 .066 .037 .035
Age .216 .202 .125 .076
Employer
Child welfare .295* .190 .179 .329*
Health .201 .219 .124 .081
NGO .123 .081 .160 .073
Location
Yellowknife .066 .148 .153 .014
Thunder Bay .110 .022 .260 .013
Remote Area .106 .070 .068 .142
Work-related
Social work attachment .015 .007 .100 .012
Career commitment .015 .258* .284* .246
Turnover .495*** .575*** .133 .180
Organization citizenship .025 .245* .144 .182
Life satisfaction .135 .207 .005 .051
R
2
.381 .397 .283 .229
= Standardized coefficients.
Reference group:
a
female; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
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Graham et al. 601
Second, organizational satisfaction was used as the criterion variable and
the same predictors were used in the next multiple regression analysis. As
shown in Table 7, the predictors explained 39.7 percent of variation of the
organizational satisfaction among the social workers. Organizational satisfac-
tion showed a negative relationship with career commitment and intention
to turnover, which suggests that social workers with higher rates of career
commitment and/or increased intentions to turnover had lower organizational
satisfaction. In addition, organizational satisfaction was positively predicted
by organization citizenship; social workers with higher rates of organizational
citizenship reported higher rates of organizational satisfaction.
Regarding associational satisfaction, the predictors explained 28.3 percent
of variation of the associational satisfaction (see Table 7). Associational
satisfaction showed a positive relationship with career commitment; social
workers with higher rates of career commitment had higher associational
satisfaction.
In terms of workload satisfaction, the predictors explained 22.9 percent
of the variation of workload satisfaction (see Table 7). Social workers who
were employed by child welfare services reported significantly lower levels
of workload satisfaction.
Four additional regression models were tested for differential levels of
social work satisfaction, organizational satisfaction, associational satisfaction,
and workload satisfaction between urban and remote locations in the northern
area. None of these models produced significant effects; thus we have no
evidence of differences in the social work satisfaction, organizational satis-
faction, associational satisfaction, and workload satisfaction for those social
workers employed in urban or remote settings.
Discussion and conclusion
This research is a beginning point, and given the sample size it remains largely
exploratory. It helps us to think about a multitude of factors that appear to
impact social work practitioner satisfaction with their work and their profes-
sion in northern and remote communities. There are a number of other con-
tributing factors to satisfaction and well-being that this study did not assess,
and these might explain some of the respondent satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
For instance, previous research suggests that there are varied personal reasons
weighing on the decisions of health professionals to move into rural and
remote communities to practice (Manahan et al., 2009). Current satisfaction
that people have of those factors related to these personal reasons were not
assessed in this current study, and could be a further contributing factor to
overall levels of respondent satisfaction. Indeed, Graham and Shier (2010a)
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602 International Social Work 56(5)
found several personal factors that contributed to the overall satisfaction in
their study of the subjective well-being of social workers practicing in Alberta,
Canada.
Furthermore, while social workers face a number of unique challenges
while practicing in northern, rural, and remote communities, most qualitative
research has found that these practitioners tend to be satisfied with their work
and their professional roles (Pugh, 2007). The present study found the same
result; social workers practicing in both urban northern and remote and rural
northern communities tended to be satisfied with their work and professional
roles. These are consistent with findings of social workers practicing in
Alberta, Canada (Kline and Graham, 2009).
The regression results did not identify many significant relationships
between the independent variables and the dependent variable of social worker
satisfaction. Working in child welfare was a predictor of social worker satis-
faction with work and profession, and more specifically satisfaction with
workload. Also, several of the work-related factors were found to be significant,
but mostly in relation to overall organizational satisfaction. Location either
urban or rural/remote did not seem to be a predictor of overall satisfaction
of work and profession. This is an important finding considering the emphasis
placed on the geographic aspects of practicing in northern rural and remote
communities. Instead, community size creates a context which might determine
or impact key socio-cultural and socio-political interactions within the social
environment, which then in turn impacts practitioner well-being. This finding
is consistent with previous research on the interpersonal aspects of social work
practice in northern rural and remote communities (Delaney and Brownlee,
1995, 1996; Green, 2003; Ingebrigtson, 1992; Lonne and Cheers, 2004).
The generalizability of these findings is limited because of the small sample
size. While the respondents represented more than a majority of the target
population under study, the small number of participants makes it difficult to
determine relationships when the effect sizes are small. Also, the results appear
to confirm that there is a problem of possible suppression for the variables
Organizational Satisfaction and Career Commitment, as the regression
shows the opposite direction of prediction compared to the zero-order correla-
tion. We checked for multicolinearity, and found that this was not a problem
r = .169 (p = .112), but with the sign change from the bivariate association
this might lead to policy and theory implications where we would be saying/
concluding the opposite of what we should. Future research should try to get
a larger sample, which may help with this issue.
Even with these limitations the study uncovered interesting findings about
what factors need to be considered when assessing social worker satisfaction
in northern communities: whether the community is urban or rural/remote.
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Graham et al. 603
There likely are many other indicators of satisfaction that need to be considered
and investigated how they are manifested in a northern social work context.
Current literature which focuses primarily on job satisfaction and satisfaction
with professional roles and abilities omits a number of facets that might attract
social workers to come work in Canadas northern regions. The present manu-
script offers some enticing possibilities regarding the extent and significance
of SWB as a factor in the lives of social work practitioners in northern, rural,
and remote regions of Canada. Similar issues should be considered in other
areas or contexts of social work practice with unique challenges.
This research was based on two theoretical frameworks. The first, the concept
of subjective well-being is comprehensive and includes multiple domains or
aspects of an individuals life. When attempting to understand overall perceived
happiness of social workers it is important to consider variables beyond work-
place satisfaction including things like professional satisfaction and personal
life satisfaction. The findings from this research support this point. An individual
social worker may have high levels of subjective well-being and still be dis-
satisfied with their workplace. They may have the ability to deal with adverse
work or personal life experiences that impacts their overall perceived well-being.
The second theoretical framework the research is developed from, and supports
further, is that of localization of social work education and professional devel-
opment. The localization of social work practice considers the local context
and environment in which social workers practice and live their day-to-day
life. While our research did not capture this construct effectively, future research
should investigate in greater detail the implications of the physical and socio-
cultural environment of practicing in distinct or unique contexts on overall
practitioner perceived well-being.
Funding
We acknowledge the generous support for this research from the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada, who provided full funding for the project.
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Author biographies
John R. Graham, PhD, RSW, is Murray Fraser Professor of Community Economic
Development, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary.
Eriko Fukuda, PhD, is a Research Assistant in the Division of Applied Psychology,
University of Calgary.
Micheal L. Shier, MSW, is a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvanias School
of Social Policy and Practice.
Theresa J.B. Kline, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the
University of Calgary.
Keith Brownlee, PhD, is a Professor in the School of Social Work at Lakehead
University.
Nuelle Novik, PhD, RSW, is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at
the University of Regina.