Diversity and equality in social work: a qualitative study in Italy [Uguaglianza e differenza nel servizio sociale: una ricerca qualitativa in Italia]

This study was designed to explore the professionals' process of reasoning about values in social work practice, when challenges arise in the intervention with clients from different cultural backgrounds. The research was carried out using a purposeful sample of Italian social workers, employed in different municipalities. The interviewees were presented a story in which an Italian social worker interacts with a married couple from Morocco, asking for financial help. After a situation of cultural clashing, a subsequent meeting is organised with two other social workers, who express contrasting opinions about what to do in this case and their rationale for decision making. The interview was made to explore (a) how the meanings of equality and diversity are constructed in the social workers' discourses and (b) how the professionals take into account cultural differences. The results reveal important variations within individual accounts and rationales provided to make sense of values and different ways of interpreting the social workers' role in approaching cultural differences.