中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: This study explores the barriers that novice social work supervisors face during the process of role transition from social worker to supervisor in the field of marital violence. Supervision has political, practical, and educational importance for the professional development of social workers. Methods: Phenomenology, which includes understanding and exploring, was applied for data analysis. A total of 12 novice social work supervisors from marital violence prevention organizations in Taiwan with at least two years' full-time employment experience were individually interviewed. Results: Most participants did not know how they had been selected to become a supervisor, but expressed that being senior in their field may be the reason. They felt a lack of readiness and worried about incompetence in supervising when they accept the job. During the process of role transition from social worker to supervisors, all of the participants faced barriers that could be classified into the 3 categories of roles, functions, and relationships, as well as 16 issues. The administrative function entailed the most obstacles. ”Being responsible as a manager vs. assisting social workers” was the most common role conflict. Conclusions: Novice supervisors faced barriers during the process of role transition from social worker to supervisor in marital violence treatment. Establishing supervision rules, monitoring novice supervisors, as well as professional social work training programs are urgently needed as becoming a good supervisor does not happen naturally.