Sociale kompetencer, selvarbejde og det sociale arbejdes alligevel omsorgsfulde praksis

Abstract

Artiklen analyserer den stigende interesse for sociale kompetencer i lyset af et etnografisk feltarbejde pa en daghojskole i en storre dansk provinsby. Den overordnede forskningsstrategi er adaptiv, idet den soger at fremanalysere savel muligheder som problemer ved det teoretiske afsaet. Der tages udgangspunkt i teorier om governmentality, teorier om en ny form for kapitalisme samt et kritisk magtperspektiv pa socialt arbejde. I tillaeg hertil udfoldes begrebet om selvarbejde, som udgor et forsog pa at begribe det arbejde pa og med selvet, der foregik pa daghojskolen. Analysen viser, at det er muligt at skelne mellem intrasubjektivt og intersubjektivt selvarbejde. Derpa diskuteres det empiriske materiale i forhold til artiklens teoretiske afsaet. Det vises, at selvarbejdet til en vis grad har karakter af governmental styring, men at der samtidig indgar et omsorgsmoment, som vanskelig kan begribes ud fra magtkritiske perspektiver, ligesom relationerne mellem socialarbejdere og kursister i nogen grad var praeget af rummelighed og ligevaerdige relationer. Pa denne baggrund diskuteres om selvarbejdet ogsa kan forstas som et bidrag til kvalificering af socialt nodstedte mennesker hverdagsliv. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Sune Qvotrup Jensen: Social Competences, Self-Work, and Social Work’s Caring Practice This article analyses the growing interest in social skills and is based on eth-nographic field work at a daghojskole (day institution for people with social problems) in a small Danish town. The overall research strategy is adaptive, as it attempts to clarify both the potentials and the problems of the theoretical approaches. The theoretical points of departure are theories of governmentality, theories of new capitalism as well as a power critical perspective of social work. In addition a concept of ”self-work” is developed in an attempt to grasp the work on and with the self that the service users did at the daghojskole. The analysis shows that it is possible to distinguish between intra-subjective and intersubjective self-work. Then the empirical material is analyzed in relation to the theoretical points of departure. The analysis shows that self-work can in part be characterized as neoliberal conduct of conduct but there are also elements of care in the social work that are difficult to grasp within a power critical perspective. Furthermore the relation between social workers and social service users were characterized by inclusion and symmetry. The article then discusses whether self-work can also be understood as a contribution to qualifying the everyday life of socially vulnerable citizens. Keywords: social skills, power, care, self-work, social work, the self.