Mapping power from social workers’ perspective in spanish children’s homes when conflict arises: A qualitative study using tew’s matrix

Abstract

The aim of this study was to look at how workers in small Spanish children's homes use and manage power during everyday conflicts with the children they care for, a topic that had rarely been studied from the workers' own point of view. The study answers three questions: how workers understood their power during conflict; whether they saw conflict as something positive, and in what ways; and what tools and strategies they used to exercise it. A qualitative approach was used and Jerry Tew's (2006) matrix of power was used to organise the findings. The study found that workers did not see power as something their job title simply gave them, but as something they had to earn through trust and consistency, and that they felt it as a positive, helpful thing rather than a way to control. All of them saw conflict as a normal and useful part of the work, and as a chance for children to express feelings, grow and repair relationships. The ways they used power were sorted into Tew's four modes. Protective power appeared when workers gave children space to calm down before a situation grew worse and when they validated their feelings. Co-operative power was used through mediation between children, flexible handling of rules that could be negotiated, and group assemblies where children could share their views and reach agreements. Oppressive power showed in fixed, non-negotiable limits, in moments of authoritarianism that senior workers saw as counterproductive, and in warnings and reminders about privileges. Collusive power appeared in the so-called "change of face." The study also found that these modes often overlapped and shifted, so that protecting a child could slide into controlling them. It concluded that power in conflict is flexible and depends on the situation, offering a practical map to help with training, supervision and policy in Spanish residential childcare.