Standardiserad interaktion - en utmaning i socialt arbete

Standardized assessment instruments have been introduced in social work with the aim of measuring outcome effects and raising quality. One example, the ASI (Addiction Severity Index), is a standardi- zed questionnaire which can be regarded as a success story in Sweden and around the globe. The questionnaire, originally created by quantitative researchers and focusing on Vietnam Veterans in volun- tary care in the USA, is now widely used in Swedish social work. A different target group is identified (clients in need of social services) and different users (social workers). The results show that the pre- fabricated questions in the questionnaire restrict the institutional interaction. In social work the narrative is important. Standardized instruments change the status of the narrative and the interac- tion becomes digitized. Inspired by eth-
nomethodology and discourse analysis, the study shows that clients applying for welfare benefits or subject to pre-trial investigation at the probation office are expected to participate. The standardized interaction has special characteristics: The conversation is highly reduced to yes-no answers, leaving little or almost no space for narratives. The questionnaire changes the professional conversation and leaves the professional and the client in a new interactional situation.
In a profession where discretion has been highly valued and the professional conversation to a large extent has been shaped situationally, standardized inte- raction challenges the professional-client relationship. In the article certain techni- ques for handling the questionnaire are discerned.