The role of images in the practices of Social Workers

The aim of this work is to investigate the role of images and visual material in the everyday work of social workers. Sociology has been exploiting the power of images for decades. The use of visual material is not new in social research and in social service research. However, the adaptability of graphic-visual tools to the fieldwork of the social worker is still marginally discussed. The empirical research presented here therefore aims to investigate the role of images in the work of social workers in a specific context: the Health District of an Italian municipality of about 200,000 inhabitants, Prato, in the Tuscany Region. Through an online questionnaire, the first research phase involved 80% of the population of social workers operating in this Health District and investigated the way they use images and graphic-visual tools. Through semi-structured interviews with social workers in the Child Protection Area, the second research phase investigated the methodological and heuristic aspects related to the use of images and graphic-visual tools in the social workers' interview. It emerges that social workers recognize many positive aspects related to the use of visual material. Visual material is often associated with a better quality of the interview and consequently improving relationship between social worker and person, a higher level of empathy and an increased likelihood of accessing the person's emotional experiences. They expect that these techniques can be deepened and disseminated in order to improve the profession.