Power in relationships between social workers and their managers

Abstract

The aim of the article is to make a contribution to the discourse and research on the power in social work in Lithuania. Power is unfolding in relationships, this is why the relationships between social workers and their managers have been chosen as an object for the study. Based on the results of the survey of Lithuanian social workers, social workers’ reactions to the leadership of their managers are discussed. It was analysed how the strategies of social workers’ action are connected with the subjectively perceived or experienced types of leadership or with the manifestations of managers’ power. It is based on the research “Social Work – Between Dependency and Autonomy” funded by the Lithuanian Council of Science.