Work-related stressors accompanying school social workers while assessing children’s well-being: A comparative study between Germany and Finland

Abstract

This article presents the results of a comparative study investigating work-related stressors (WRSs) that accompany German and Finnish school social workers (SSWs) while assessing children’s well-being. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in combination with the case vignette technique. The interview data were subjected to a coding process and visualized with the MAXQDA software program. The findings are embedded in the respective country-specific socio-political and legislative context and suggest that the SSWs are confronted with several, but different WRSs, depending on whether they have a child protection mandate (Germany) or not (Finland). Recommendations are generated based on the findings.