26 | P a g e
Systematic Narrative Review
Social Workers Perceptions of
Poverty and the Potential
Implications for Practice
Abstract
Context:
The Anti-Poverty Practice Framework was published as guidance for social
workers (DoH 2018). We know children living in poverty are disproportionately
the focus of child welfare interventions (Featherstone et al., 2017). Recently the
Joseph Rowntree Foundation published UK Poverty (2023) underlining concerns
about deep and persistent poverty. Anti-oppressive practice empowers social
work to challenge socio-economic discrimination. To support this endeavour, it
is essential to understand social workers' perceptions of poverty.
Methods employed in the review:
The review used a systematic narrative approach. A search strategy of three
databases produced the following results:
• PsychINFO 25;
• Social Services Abstracts 471;
• SCOPUS 41.
Using QAT-Q and QAT-S extraction tools the search results were collapsed
into 11 studies collated by author and year, country, design,
sample/participants, data collection methods and main findings. The
international sample included research from Israel, Finland, Hungary, US, UK
and Denmark. Narrative synthesis aims to create a coherent narrative about
overall meaning of the studies for the purposes of a review built on explicit and
robust studies. This produced a number of themes Framing Poverty: Poverty
Knowledge: Political Context: Perceptions of Poverty.