Socialinių darbuotojų elgsenos modelių identifikavimas sprendžiant profesinius konfliktus
Identification of behaviour patterns of social workers when resolving professional conflicts

Summary/Abstract: According to the social conflict paradigm, a conflict means the incurrence of interests, which is more or less perceived. This paper, on the basis of the representative research results, analyses the behaviour of social workers when resolving professional conflicts. A questionnaire has been constructed according to the model of five conflict management strategies proposed by Thomas and Kilmann (1974). The patterns of the behaviour of social workers when resolving professional conflicts were identified by the cluster analysis method. Different patterns of behaviour depend on the intensity of the manifestation of the conflict-resolving strategy and with whom social workers are in conflict. According to the findings of the research, social workers use the behavioural patterns of equivalence, rationality and retreat in conflicts with authorities. The behavioural patterns of participation and openness, participation seeking to avoid tension, and poor constructiveness and opposition are used in conflicts with colleagues. The behavioural patterns of professional involvement, professional distance and the lack of professional identity are used in conflicts with clients. There is no relation between the behavioural patterns when resolving professional conflicts and such characteristics of social workers as their professional position at workplace and education. As a conclusion, authors assume that the external professional, methodologically grounded, support is needed in organisations for resolving conflicts. Supervision is one of the support methods, which stimulates the reflection of conflicts in complex professional situations of social work.

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