EXPLORATION OF EXPERIENCES AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT OF SOCIAL WORK AND COUNSELLING PRACTICES AT SCHOOLS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Social work at schools in Saudi Arabia has been considered as one of the professions that has emerged as a response to a range of pressing concerns such as rising behavioral problems and existence of other cultures brought in by foreign students especially in major cities. Social work at schools is put under the counselling department and expected to provide counselling services. However, not all of them have counselling certification. This create a potential profession conflict that needs to be unveiled. The study aims to explore the practice, challenges and experience of social work at schools. The study further identifies conflicts management adopted by social worker at schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study employed qualitative based on phenomenology approach. A total of 16 social workers are selected from the five regions of Riyadh. Data is collected through interview and focus group. Thematic data analysis base on the six stages was used to analyze and interpreted the data obtain. The findings reveal that the role and duties of social work practice in Saudi Arabia involve both negative and positive experiences. The positive experience includes collaboration with students and families especially in dealing with students’ problems concerning education and social interactions. While the negative experience entails the issues of some teachers with poor communication. There are more challenges faced by social workers in Saudi Arabia, these challenges are linked with lack of resources and difficulties in understanding the needs of some families due to cross cultural issues. However, there has been a source of conflicts such as conflict perceptions and incompatibilities between the social worker and other professionals. In managing the conflict Saudi social worker embraces accommodating, avoiding, and collaboration strategies. Therefore, this study can be used by policymakers and government officials to understand clearly the role of social worker at school. The social workers in Saudi schools experiences many obstacles. The Ministry of Education should work to solve these obstacles, especially on matters related to social worker. The Ministry should also seek expert assistance in addressing issues related to the practice.