THOSE WHO STAY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF
STAYING AS EXPERIENCED BY SOCIALWORKEI!~
, ......-·-.. ~ .... -.--IN NORTHERN COMMUNITIES
by
Dorothy L. Peterson
B.S.W., The University ofVictoria, 1993

.;-,.

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THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK

©Dorothy L. Peterson, 1996
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
May, 1996
All rights reserved. This work may not be
reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or
other means, without the permission of the author.

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Those Who Stay!

ii

ABSTRACT
Northern social services, both the public and private sectors,
continue to report difficulties in recruitment and retention of
professional social workers. As service demands increase, and in
the wake of the Gove Inquiry (1995) the need for an adequate and
competent work force becomes even more evident.
This descriptive phenomenological study explores professional
social workers' lived experiences of "staying" in northern British
Columbia's communities. Descriptive information was generated
through face-to-face audio taped conversations with seven social
workers who held masters or bachelors degrees in social work and
had worked in the North for five years or more. At the time of the
study, the seven professional social workers had been employed in
the North for an overall average of 9.14 years.
From the analysis of the descriptive data four general themes
were identified: professional life, personal life, community life and
integrated life. Upon further reflection integrated life emerged as a
core theme which wove together the three additional themes to
create the fundamental structure of the staying experience.
This fundamental description of staying provides possible
resolutions for retention of qualified social workers in northern
communities. At the same time this study offers insight for future

Those Who Stay!

iii

research and implications for northern social work policy, education
and practice.
It is not expected that this study is a conclusive or a final
commentary on social workers' northern experiences of staying.
However, it offers one possible interpretation of what contributes to
staying in northern communities, recognizing that there is no
conclusion for questions of this nature -- the search for deeper
understanding is an ongoing project.

Those Who Stay!

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
DEDICATION
CHAPTER ONE -- Research Question and Purpose
Introduction
Impetus For Study
Significance
Personal Reflections
Organization Of Chapters
CHAPTER TWO -- Literature Review
Introduction
The Northern Setting
Factors Related To Leaving
Factors Related To Staying
Summary Of Literature
CHAPTER THREE -- Methodology and Method
Methodology
Method
Setting
Participants
Conversations
Procedure
Data Analysis
Overview Of Process
Details Of Process
Soundness And Rigor
Ethical Reflections
CHAPTER FOUR -- Presentation of the Experience
Introduction
Northern Setting
Community Life
Personal Life
Professional Life
Integrated Life

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iv
vi
vii
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1
2
4

5

7

9
9
9
13
17

23

25
25

30
31

32

36
37
41
41
42
46
48

50
50
51

55

59

65
75

Those Who Stay!

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CHAPTER FIVE -- Summary and Conclusion
Overview Of Findings
Implications

89
90
95

REFERENCES

99

APPENDICES
A. Letter Of Introduction
B. Conversation Guideline
C. Agreement Of Participation Form
D. Detailed Conversation Guide
E. Meaning Unit Analysis Examples

104
106
108
110
112
115

Those Who Stay!

vi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The assistance and support of many people contributed to the
completion of this thesis. First of all, a sincere thank you to
Professor Barbara Herringer, chairperson of my committee, who
.,.

supported me every step of the way. I also want to acknowledge the
important contributions of the other members of my committee:
Professor Glen Schmidt for his practiced knowledge of northern
social
work; and Professor Annette Browne for her knowledge of
r
i qualitative research.

I thank both of you.

I owe a special thanks to my family who supported,

encouraged and were always there for me: To my children, Terry,
(

Kirby and Kurtis, thanks for your positive attitudes and uplifting
I

I

encouragement. Without your unbending faith I could not have
finisl;t.ed. To my husband, Gordon, who was always there to see me
I

thr? ugh and never stopped believing in me, I thank you from the
bot tom of my heart. To my extended northern family - friends,
colleagues, and community, I thank each one of you. It was in my
I

,

favor to have your valuable information, interest and support when
undertaking this study.
Finally I owe special thanks to the seven social workers who
participated in this study. Thanks for your time and insightful
information, without you this study would not be.

Those Who Stay!

vii

DEDICATION
Dedication of this research is to seven "who stay." They
shared their knowledge of northern practice to assist me in
understanding the "real-life" experience of staying in its truest

I
r

sense -- ' from voices in the field. These social workers gave freely

1

I

I

from t-heir busy schedule in the hopes that findings from this study
.

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in some small way benefit the future of northern practice and

t (e people who live in northern comniunities. Thanks to each o l e
I

I

f of you, you know who you are, in that vast region that we call the

land of opportunity!

•

)

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Those Who Stay! 1

CHAPTER ONE
Research Question and Purpose
Introduction
Retention of qualified social workers in northern regions may
be a problem; however, certain social workers "stay" in the North.
It is these "stayers" who are the focus of this study. These social
workers have somehow persevered and found ways to adapt to the
challenges inherent in the northern environment. One wonders,
what allows these social workers to survive the challenges
(Whittington, 1985) and enjoy northern practice, while others leave
as quickly as possible. How have these social workers endured?
Why do they stay when so many others have found it necessary to
leave? This thesis sought these answers through conversations with
seven professional social workers, who have extended histories of
northern social work practice. The phenomenological question that
serves as the underpinning for seeking this understanding of staying
is, "What do long-term northern social workers identify as
influencing factors that contribute to their staying in the North?"
The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry, then, is to
explore and understand social workers' lived experience of staying.
Fundamental to this understanding of staying is the description of

Those Who Stay! 2

the experience that emerges from conversations with the seven
long-term northern social workers.

Impetus For Study
The impetus of this study originates from my life-long
experiences of living and working in the North and observing the
effects of staff turnover on both clients and communities. It also
originates from working in northern communities and experiencing
first hand the need for trained social workers with long-term
commitments and adept methods of practice who can work
effectively within the context of northern communities. Finally,
this research study results from my educational experiences since I
have had occasion to often question the relationship of educational
information and its connection to the realities of northern practice
and the northern practice setting.
The North has a variety of opportunities, yet there is a
scarcity of qualified, professional social workers. It is a vast,
sparsely populated geographic region with extreme climatic
conditions. Although much of the descriptive literature infers that
the unique characteristics of the North have a direct impact on
social workers leaving, to be fair, we need to acknowledge that some
social workers have lived and worked in the North for lengthy

Those Who Stay! 3

periods of time. From this observation, one questions, how do these
workers manage to stay given all of the challenges? What do these
social workers identify as the unique components that serve, or
help, to constitute their staying experience? What are the
distinguishing qualities, traits, attributes, experiences, training,
skills, or characteristics that relate to the retention of these social
workers?
From a northerner's perspective, it appears as though there
are a number of explanations regarding why people stay or leave the
North. Some include: People come to work in the North for the
experience and career opportunities -- this is their "ticket" for an
advanced job elsewhere. They are the people, who are referred to in
the community as "opportunists," "parachuters," "leavers," or
"career steppers." Others come for the job because they are more
readily available in the North, and are described in the northern
communities as "fresh out of university and in need of experience
for their resume." These workers may stay depending on whether or
not they fit with the northern community and the northern
lifestyle. You will hear "local people" comment "that person's fittin'
with the community" or, "that person ain't gonna' make it." Still
others come to find a certain lifestyle, and are usually committed to
and involved in the community and the northern way of life. They

Those Who Stay! 4

not only work in the community, but also live and participate in it
as well. Finally, there are the people who are "native to the North."
Their claim to fame is they are "born and raised northerners" who
work and live within the region that is "home." They are dedicated
to the North-- to the northern people, the northern communities
and the northern way of life.
In conclusion, from a northern perspective, a picture emerges
that brings to light a number of diverse motivators for seeking
employment and continuing to stay in the North. It also appears,
from this observation, that certain circumstances contribute to the
staying experience of northern social workers. From this viewpoint
it seems reasonable to question what promotes staying? What is it
that creates a long-term northern social worker?

Significance
Staff turnover in the North has traditionally been observed and
researched from the perspective of the distant observer (etic
perspective) who views northern practice through a lens focused on
shortcomings within the practice setting that contributes to people
leaving. However, I question this focus. If the present problem of
turnover was reframed to consider staying from an inside (emic)
perspective, new ideas may be generated to deal with the present

Those Who Stay! 5

situation of staff retention in the North. This approach for viewing
staff retention and turnover is supported in studies conducted by
Flowers & Hughes (1973), Reagh (1994) and Rycraft (1994). These
researchers indicate that workers' reasons for staying are equal, if
not more important, than their reasons for leaving and should be
considered when examining staff turnover.
It seems likely that a study such as this with a focus on
staying could identify and reinforce the positive aspects of social
workers' staying experience. In addition, it may assist in changing
the current viewpoint that considers the negative aspects of
practicing in the northern environment. It is also possible that an
understanding of staying may provide a base for the development of
new and innovative strategies that lead to the retention of effective
qualified social workers in the North. At the same time, this study
may hold a key to the development of northern social work practice,
education, policy and research.

Personal Reflections
In considering this research study I was not aware of the
intensity, or the emotional experience that is part of
phenomenological research. For me, "the research drama (was)
experienced as a dialectic between the inner commitment (the

Those Who Stay! 6

interest, the passion) and outer activities (stating the question,
establishing the approach, writing and rewriting)" (Bergum, 1991, p.
55). This "research drama" is one of being on an emotional roller
coaster as you search to discover the true meaning, or essence, of
the lived experience.
van Manen (1984) notes that, "To write means to write myself,
not in a narcissistic but in a deep, collective sense. To write
phenomenologically is the untiring effort to author a sensitive grasp
of being itself'' (p. 28). On reflection, one of the difficulties of
writing phenomenologically is the questioning of self: how do I write
in a way that captures the true essence of social workers' northern
experiences? How do I understand that true experience? Am I
being faithful to their experience as well as my own?
I also became aware when taking pen in hand, how difficult it
was to find that exact word, or expression, to capture the deeper
meaning, or heart of the experience. How as a researcher, it is
possible to minimize, or deprive, the experience of its deepest core,
through written words that do not wholly express the true essence
of that lived experience. Alluding to that inner core, heart, or
essence that makes "some--thing" what it is -- it is possible, for me,
the researcher, to capture that "essence or inner core" of the

Those Who Stay! 7

experience through written words when a part of that essence is in
the living of that experience!
With these reflections, I wish to inform readers of my thesis,
that it is not a conclusive or final commentary on northern social
workers' experiences of staying. I am offering one possible
description of that experience, recognizing that there is no
conclusion for questions of this nature -- that the search for deeper
understanding is an ongoing venture.

Organization Of Chapters
This study is presented in five chapters: Chapter 1 provides
the rationale of the problem and its significance, and informs the
reader about the research question and the purpose of the study.
Chapter 2 presents the literature review, including a review of
factors that relate to staff retention in rural and remote
communities. Chapter 3 outlines the research methodology, the
research method, and ethical reflections. Chapter 4 presents a
general description of the staying experience that emerged from the
seven social workers' conversations. Chapter 5 concludes the thesis
and provides a summary of the study. The appendices include the
letter of introduction, conversation guideline, agreement of

Those Who Stay! 8

participation form, the detailed conversation guide, and examples of
the data analysis meaning units.

Those Who Stay! 9

CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
Introduction
The purpose of this literature review is to generate
information that contributes to the understanding of social workers'
lived experiences of staying in the North. It begins with a profile of
the northern setting and its implications for practice. The
circumstances of leaving will be explored next to identify areas of
challenge that northern practitioners face in their daily tasks. I will
also explore situations that contribute to effective practice,
suggesting that they may be related to northern social workers'
experiences of staying. Finally, the information will be summarized
in relation to the research study.

The Northern Setting
For the purpose of this study, the concept of North is defined
as the "Provincial Norths" (Coates & Morrison, 1992). Coates and
Morrison ( 1992) refer to the "Far North" as the Yukon and
Northwest

~

while the Provincial Norths are the northern

regions of the provinces of Canada below the sixtieth parallel. They
also identify communities in Northern British Columbia that are a
part of the Canadian Provincial Norths. It is within these northern

Those Who Stay! 10

communities that I explored the experience of staying from the
voices of professional social workers.
Coates and Morrison (1992) refer to northern British Columbia
sharing common characteristics with other Provincial Norths in
that: it has a small population scattered over a vast area; it is a
great distance from provincial political power in the South; it has a
resource-based economy that is subject to fluctuations; it has very
cold winters and extreme weather conditions; and has vast
distances between communities with high costs of transportation.
As in other Provincial Norths "the control exerted by outsiders, the
impoverishment of the indigenous population, the emphasis on
rapid profit-oriented development, and the inability of local
residents to control their destiny is readily evident" (p. 9).
Northern environments have captivating qualities for people
who are attracted to the northern lifestyle, northern communities
and northern people. Ingebrigtson (1992) supports this concept and
states that there is a greater sense of personal freedom and a
personal environment in remote northern areas. These northern
communities present a new vision (Miller, 1981): they offer a
simpler, laid back way of life with more freedom and greater selfsufficiency.

Those Who Stay! 11

Northern practice settings offer the social services worker an
informal environment that is "user friendly." Within this positive
milieu is a wealth of resources that include: volunteers, service
clubs, informal helping networks, professional helping networks,
community resources and self-help. However, the worker is
required to have the insight to identifY. and utilize these natural
resources within the community. Additionally, he or she may need
to have some specific personal attributes that include maturity, selfconfidence, resourcefulness, optimism, innovativeness, flexibility,
and creativity (Campbell & Findlay, 1979).
Beyond the physical factors of the practice setting there are
other situations to be considered when living and working within
northern communities. In northern practice one needs to consider
the multiple roles of being a community member (Miller, 1981). You
are an active member of the community on a professional and
personal level. Your professional credibility, acceptance, trust,
respect, and reputation are gained through all of your roles. Your
identity is one based on your professional, personal and community
life; hence, there is a need for role identification and clearly
maintained boundaries at all times.
Northern practice settings have an attitude of informality;
therefore, northern social workers need to be aware of the

Those Who Stay! 12

consequences when adhering to the rigid image of the formal,
professional expert (Murty, 1984). This formal behaviour may
overwhelm the community with a style of communication that is
full of jargon, educational theories and "educated" books, or
numerous forms and questionnaires. This behaviour turns people
away and a worker's damaged reputation precedes his or her
abilities to perform as a professional in the small community.
In the North dual relationships are a given and your
anonymity is non-existent. High visibility is a rural reality (Davis,
1977; Fenby, 1978) and this reality is increased ten fold because
you live, work, and socialize within the same small community.
Everyone knows where you live, who your family is, what your
hobbies and interests are, what you drive and what you do. You are
not just a social worker here; you are a member of the community,
with an identity made up of your personal, professional and
community life. You have a name as well as a job title! Here you
are Jane Doe, the community social worker, who apprehends
community members' kids, plays ball on the local team with that
same community member and your children are best friends at the
small local school. Some workers are not cut out for this role. "For
them, the open interest in them as a person is threatening or
repugnant. These professionals are not to be faulted, just helped to

Those Who Stay! 13

move out" (Davis, 1977, p. 1 7). However, if they present themselves
as competent, with solid practice principles and a rural practice
framework, high visibility can be an asset as it helps in generating
credibility for practitioners (Lonne, 1990).

Factors Related To Leaving
The Social Planning and Research Council of British Columbia
(Trevelyan, 1991) conducted research with the purpose of
identifying concerns in non-metropolitan communities in British
Columbia. The North West and Cariboo/Peace regions, which
encompass all of northern British Columbia, identified a shortage of
skilled professionals as a major obstacle in addressing social issues.
As a result of this shortage, people with limited education and/ or
experience are being hired in these northern regions, "with the
potential to do more harm than good in the community" (p. 22).
Findings from this study indicated that, "professionals hired from
outside often showed limited commitment to the community and
were likely to move, after a short residency, to the South West of
the province. As a respondent from the North pointed out, more
incentives were needed to attract skilled workers to remote
communities" (p. 22).

Those Who Stay! 14

This theme is also noted in the recent Report of the Gove
Inquiry into Child Protection (BC)l (British Columbia Ministry of
Social Services 1995) which has its "roots," or beginnings in
Northeastern British Columbia. This report states that, "Although,
many of the people mentioned in Matthew's Story are described as
'social workers,' not all of them had a Bachelor or Master of Social
Work degree, and not all of them were registered with the Board of
Registration for Social Workers" (Volume 1, p. 7). This report
concludes that, "Social workers were not qualified to respond to the
problems of Matthew and his mother ... Of the at least 25 fministry
social workers and supervisors who made decisions affecting
Matthew, two-thirds had no professional social work qualifications;
they did not have a university degree in social work. Eight had a
Bachelor of Social Work degree, and none had a Master's degree"
(Volume 1, p. 137). It also suggests that, "frequent staff turnover
has a destabilizing effect throughout the child welfare system ...
(and) it is difficult to develop productive working relationships and
to coordinate services when social workers seldom stay long in one
job" (Volume 1, p. 227).

1The Honourable Judge Thomas J. Gove- An inquiry into the services, policies
and practices of the Ministry of Social Services as related to the apparent
neglect, abuse and death of Matthew John Vaudreun.

Those Who Stay! 15

These studies reiterate the problem of high staff turnover in
northern settings that is consistently reported in the descriptive
literature (Abramson, 1980; Callahan & Cossom, 1983; Herrero,
1979; Ingebrigtson, 1992; Millar, 1977; Riffel, 1975; Wehner, 1981;
Wharf, 1985; Whittington, 1985; Zapf, 1985a, 1985b, 1993).
Researchers paint a bleak picture of northern practice and refer to
the high rate of staff turnover as a "reality" of the North. Reported
factors that contribute to this reality include: an uneasy fit between
urban-based practice models and the realities of northern
communities (Findlay, 1980; Zapf, 1993); unique social, political
and economic pressures (Carniol, 1991; Collier, 1993; McKay, 1987),
limited availability of social services resources (Ingebrigtson, 1992;
Millar, 1977), constant visibility, lack of privacy and anonymity
(Fenby, 1978; Ingebrigtson, 1992; Whittington, 1984, 1985; Zapf,
1985b), personal and professional isolation (Ingebrigtson, 1992;
Zapf, 1991, 1993), culture shock (Zapf 1985b, 1989, 1993), stress
and burnout (Zapf, 1985a, 1989, 1993), limited professional
development opportunities (lngebrigtson, 1992; Wharf, 1985;
Whittington, 1985), inter-meshed relationships between people,
their communiti_es and professionals (Abramson, 1980), multiple
roles and the difficulty in separating personal and professional
activities (Fenby, 1978; Whittington, 1984; Zapf, 1985b), and

Those Who Stay! 16

limited supervision (Ingebrigtson, 1992; Zapf, 1985b). For the most
part, these factors that contribute to leaving are the context of
northern communities. Social work education, research, or practice
cannot change the low density of population, high visibility, dual
relationships, unique social, political and economic features, or the
multiple roles of the northern practitioner.
It would be foolish to deny the problem of high staff turnover
in the North, or the special circumstances that are present within
the northern environment. However, if we were to reframe the
problem (Wharf, 1985) and reorder our thinking to conceptualize it
in new and different ways, we could question -- are not the
contributing factors presently blamed for causing staff turnover in
the North -- the "real" context of northern life that must be adapted
to when working or living in northern communities? Perhaps the
reality of northern practice demands certain requirements of
professionals, who live and work within this setting. Why is it that
despite the unappealing portrait of northern practice commonly
presented in the literature, some social workers not only enjoy but
prefer working in the North?

Those Who Stay! 17

Factors Related To Staying
In order to provide effective social services in rural and
remote communities, social workers need to be aware of the special
characteristics of northern communities and the personal and
professional requirements necessary for functioning within this
environment. Ingebrigtson (1992) points out, "While the
professional skills and knowledge are the most important factors in
effective rural and remote social work practice, personal qualities
can influence the practice outcome" (p. 12). Sherman & Rowely
( 1977) also suggest that the success or failure of a person is not
because of the particular skills or specific techniques that they
bring to the job, but how they fit into the life-style of the
community. Campbell & Findlay (1979) and Riggs & Kugel (1976)
support the generalist approach and suggest that the rural practice
setting demands certain personal attributes for the workers' survival
and effectiveness. Campbell & Findlay (1979) suspect that these
attributes are not limited to social work but represent qualities that
are essential for all professionals in these communities -- be they
teachers, nurses, or doctors. This idea is further supported by
Robert Lonne ( 1990) who states, "Rural practice entails different
stresses to urban practice and some workers seem better suited to
coping with these" (p. 34). Abramson (1980) in researching

Those Who Stay! 18

professional training requirements of social workers in nonmetropolitan regions in British Columbia comments that one
supervisor indicated, "It is easier to find people with required paper
qualifications than with the right personal characteristics" (p. 8).
In a paper presented at "The Rural Social Work Forum" (1979)
in Victoria, British Columbia, Phil Dickman states that he has
worked in northern communities for several years and suggests:
Some of what I consider competencies for working in rural
communities may be more closely related to personality
suitability and private choice than to the acquisition of
technical expertise. Just as there are some people more
suited for engineering than for social work, so, I believe,
there are some people with personal characteristics better
suited for rural rather than urban social work. (p. 133)
Dickman points out that it is necessary to identify the type of social
worker that is more appropriate for northern rural settings. In his
opinion some essential factors for northern rural practice include:
personal choice of northern lifestyle, personal and professional
commitment to northern communities, involvement in the local
politics, being an indigenous worker (meaning home grown), having
solid practice ethics, and having a community-based practice.
Dickman contends that these areas of knowledge and skill have been
neglected in social work training and need to be addressed for
effective practice in northern rural communities. These ideas are
further supported by Sharon McKay (1987) who suggests certain

Those Who Stay! 19

characteristics and aptitudes that effective northern social workers
require. She states that,
Professional social workers and others delivering social
services in the most northern areas are dependent upon
their own sensitivities and ingenuity as much as on their
knowledge and skill if they are to effectively meet the
needs of the children, families and communities they
serve. (p. 270)
In addition, McKay recommends that northern workers be
committed to the development of creative solutions for northern
social problems. She implies that social workers need to understand
the context of northern practice which consist of geographical,
social, cultural, religious, political, economic and historical factors.
McKay concludes that northern social workers need a generalist
framework and an energetic commitment for empowering clients,
facilitating groups and "conducting oneself with sensitivity to and
respect for cultural differences" (p. 275).
Joseph and Judith Davenport ( 1984) review rural social work
pioneer and author, Josephine Brown's classic book, The Rural
Community and Social Casework2 • They outline factors for effective
rural social work practice that were identified by Josephine Brown
more than fifty years ago. These included: a wide perspective, the
ability to work with volunteers, the ability to view clients in their
own environment, an outgoing personality, insight, resourcefulness,
2 Josephine C. Brown, The Rural Community and Social Casework (New York:

Famlly Welfare Association of America, 1933).

Those Who Stay! 20

maturity and a sense of humor. Brown also believed that workers
needed to be sensitive, adaptable, reasonable, understanding,
perceptive, patient, and intuitive. The Davenports' quote Brown as
saying,
The social worker should also be a friendly person,
willing to drop all formality; able to identify herself with
the people with whom she works, and to become a part
of the community in which she lives. (p. 418)
These authors also refer to Brown as stating rural life experiences
were necessary and "Love of country for its own sake is perhaps the
most important qualification" (p. 418). This work is noteworthy
because, as the authors indicate, the attributes and skills necessary
for rural social work practice identified by Josephine Brown more
than fifty years ago are still required of rural social workers today.
What I find interesting is that the necessity of these characteristics
is likely of highest importance when considering staff retention, or
staying in northern practice. However, the impact these factors
have on "staying" or "leaving" has not received consideration when
reviewing the present problem of staff turnover in the North.
Brian Wharf (1985) discusses the staffing reality of human
services in northern regions of British Columbia and then reframes
it. Wharf states that a study (Callahan & Cossom, 1983) of staffing
patterns in northern communities reveals that one-fifth of the
human service workers had worked in the North for more than five

Those Who Stay! 21

years. This study also found that twenty-seven percent of the
participants viewed their present rural community as being their
permanent residence. Wharf writes that descriptive statistics from
this study suggest,
That a large group of staff who are new to rural
communities, who come with an expectation that they
will do their obligator tour of service, do turn over
quickly. On the other hand, a smaller number stays for a
lengthy period of time. The first group is likely to be
young, fresh, full of new ideas, zest and enthusiasm, and
with a shiny new B.S.W. in hand. The second consists of
veterans who are weary of having to train a never
ceasing horde of recruits and who have made an
accommodation between the demands of the
bureaucracy and the needs of the community in which
they live. A third group stays for about three years and
this may not be dissimilar from the turnover rate
prevailing in urban centres. (p. 1 7)
Wharf proposes that social workers may not be aware of the local
traditions and customs of the practice setting and the importance of
this concept for northern rural practice. He states, "It may well be
that it is the 'revolving door' staff who do not consider knowledge of
local customs or helping networks important" (p. 18). He also
suggests further research to, "inquire into the differences in the
views of short versus long term staff in rural communities" (p. 18).
When reframing this staffing reality, Wharf suggests that we
look at "new accommodations and directives" (p. 18). The first
suggestion, in reframing the staffing reality is that social workers
need to "work on a partnership basis with community" (p. 19). He
states that the current generalist approach, which leans towards the

Those Who Stay! 22

individual and the clinical end of the framework needs to shift
towards a community-based approach. A second point to consider
in reframing the reality of staff turnover is, "unless the B.S.W.
graduates come from rural communities they are likely to pass quite
quickly through the revolving door" (p. 19). Wharf suggests
recruitment efforts should focus on rural communities and a
decentralized distance education model to educate students already
living within these rural regions. His third point is that workers
need to be sturdy, independent, and knowledgeable about how small
communities work. For example, workers need to have the ability
to recognize, "that making changes will earn the reputation of being
deviant. Hence it is essential that they build alliances and develop
support groups" (p. 19). Wharf's final suggestion, for reframing the
staffing reality is, "revitalizing those who do stay in rural
communities-- to turn their cynicism, which is often well founded,
into constructive behaviour" (p. 19). In conclusion, he suggests that
schools of social work, rural communities, governments and
professionals all "have a contribution to make in reframing and
reconceptualizing" (p. 19) the present reality of staff turnover. As
this author notes, "Schools of Social Work can contribute by
reframing the social services in ways which emphasize their
connections with communities ... Building on natural helping

Those Who Stay! 23

networks and empowering communities is surely where social work
started, and where rural social workers should focus their efforts"
(p. 20).

Summary Of Literature
The deficiency of information regarding northern social work
practice in Canada is evident when searching the literature (Zapf,
1985b). The scarcity of this knowledge from a northern perspective
(emic) is even more evident. In reference to staff turnover and
retention for example, I was unable to unearth any information that
considers this issue from the view of northern social workers.
Considering the absence of information that relates to the
phenomena of staying in northern environments, I wonder, "What
can be learned about this experience from 'inside' social workers
who are working within the context of the North?" Reagh (1994)
researched social workers' experiences of staying in the child
welfare system in the United States and states that, "More

~

to

be known about the daily experiences of child welfare social
workers, how they make sense of their experiences and how they
integrate their experiences into their personal functioning" (p. 77).
Siporin ( 1978) supports this idea and suggests the importance of,
"Specific, reliable information about what social workers actually do

Those Who Stay! 24

as a basis for developing paradigms of practice" (p. 165). He
concludes that, "Such a study would get us back to the real world of
practice, which is where we belong" (p. 165). On reflection, I agree
that it is important to "get back to the real world" and gather
knowledge and wisdom from social workers, who are living and
working in the North.
This research, will question and search for understanding of
what contributes to staying in the North. What does staying look
like to northern social workers? One participant in my study leads
us to question that "whatness" of staying: "There is only one answer
to better recognition as a social worker, as far as I'm concerned and
that is do a good professional job and you will be recognized for
what you have done, not for your title. You know, just because you
have the magic initials does not mean to say you are a good
practitioner." With this comment, I contemplate, "What is the
composition of that 'good practitioner' that leads to doing 'a good
professional job,' which in turn contributes to the staying
experience of northern social workers?"

Those Who Stay! 25

CHAPTER THREE
Research Methodology and Method
Methodology
As previously stated recruitment and retention of professional
social workers has traditionally been observed and researched from
the perspective of the distant observer (etic perspective) who views
the shortcomings within the northern practice setting that
contributes to staff turnover. What has not been researched is the
inside (emic) perspectives of northern social workers and their
experiences of staying in the North. The lack of such information
indicated a need for further study and the possible use of a
qualitative approach to explore the retention of professional social
workers in northern settings (Marshall & Rossman, 1995; Rubin &
Babbie, 1993).
I wanted to research the experience of staying from the
perspectives of northern social workers. Qualitative research
designs that I had at my disposal to get at this experience included:
grounded theory (interprets observations and develops theory),
ethnography (describes and explains a certain culture), and
phenomenology (attempts to uncover and describe the internal
meaning or essence of the lived experience). Because I had a strong
desire to understand (verstehen) the essence of staying from an

Those Who Stay! 26

insider's (emic) perspective I chose a descriptive phenomenological
inquiry (Giorgi, 1983, 1985; van Manen, 1984, 1990) as it permitted
the exploration of a new concept and at the same time, allowed
searching and describing the essence of the "lived experience" of
staying from the perspectives of northern social workers.
Rubin and Babbie (1993) state that," ... phenomenology, is
used to emphasize a focus on people's subjective experiences and
interpretations of the world" (p. 362). Phenomenological research is
described by Giorgi (1983, 1985) and van Manen (1984, 1990) as a
natural human science approach that studies everyday lived
experiences to gain, "a deeper understanding of the nature or
meaning of our everyday experiences" (van Manen 1984, p. 1). "The
guiding theme of phenomenology is to go back to the things
themselves," (Giorgi, 1985b, p. 8) to ask, "What is this, or that, kind
of experience like" (van Manen, 1990, p. 9). van Manen (1990)
states, "a good phenomenological description is collected by lived
experience and recollects lived experience -- is validated by lived
experience and it validates lived experience" (p. 27).
Giorgi (1983, 1985) and van Manen (1984, 1990) describe four
characteristics of descriptive phenomenological research. First of
all, phenomenology is descriptive and excludes categorizing,
classifying, or theorizing. This method of study attempts to

Those Who Stay! 27

explicate understanding of phenomena from "naive description" to
reach a deeper meaning of the way the world is experienced. Hence,
phenomenology does not offer theories that explain the world, but
offers insights that bring us into direct contact with the real world
of the experience.
The second characteristic of phenomenological research is
"reduction" (Giorgi 1985a) which refers to the consideration of the
researcher's experiences, biases and prejudices that need to be set
aside by "bracketing." The process of bracketing (Giorgi, 1985a) is
setting aside our own theories, prejudices and judgments in relation
to our own experiences in order that the collected data may reflect
an unbiased approach to the meaning of the experience.
The third characteristic is the search for essence which "asks
for the very nature of a phenomena, .for that which makes a some -'thing' what it is" (van Manen, 1990, p. 10). From a
phenomenological perspective the researcher is less interested in
the factual status of a particular instance and instead asks what is
the nature or essence of a lived experience. The search for essence
also means that once descriptions have been procured the
researcher needs to comprehend the essence of those descriptions,
to bring to light the actual lived experience. van Manen (1990)
agrees that,

Those Who Stay! 28

Lived experience is the starting point and end point of
phenomenological research. The aim of phenomenology
is to transform lived experience into textual expression
of its essence -- in such a way that the effect of the text
is at once a reflexive re-living and a reflective
appropriation of something meaningful: a notion by
which a reader is powerfully animated in his or her own
lived experience. (p. 36)
The final characteristic of phenomenological research is
"intentionality." van Manen (1990) states that from a
phenomenological perspective, "to do research is always to question
the way we experience the world, to want to know the world in
which we live as humans" (p. 5). This questioning of the world and
our connection to it is known as intentionality. In
phenomenological research this concept determines the
researcher's attitude towards the phenomena and the approach
utilized to describe the meaning of the phenomena under study.
My philosophical approach has been through a sociological and
cultural lens that is guided by the works of Max Weber (1864-1920).
As Spencer (1990) suggests, Weber's method of studying human
behaviour was based on putting self in the situation of others to
understand how they saw the world. "This subjective process is
referred to by the German word Weber used: verstehen, which means
empathic understanding" (p. 11). This phenomenological principle
of verstehen (Rubin & Babbie, 1993) commits the researcher to
understanding social phenomena (Taylor & Bogdan, 1984) and

Those Who Stay! 29

"places emphasis on the human capacity to know and understand
others through sympathetic introspection and reflection from
detailed description and observation" (Patton 1980, p. 45).
My philosophical framework is also influenced by a cultural
materialism lens described by Spencer (1990) as two opposing views
of understanding cultures one being the etic (outsider) perspective
and the other the emic (insider) perspective. Throughout this
study, I have taken the approach of understanding the experiences
of people from an emic approach that "claims that the only way to
understand what is going on in a group is to learn its members'
interpretations of their situation" (Spencer, 1990, p. 65).
These fundamental assumptions support the use of a
phenomenological study that permits the researcher to question
peoples' meanings of their social world and the reality of that
experience from the emic (insider's) perspective. Phenomenology
then supported my quest for knowledge -- to understand the
experience of staying and the reality of that experience from a
northern social worker's perspective. This position is supported by
Giorgi (1985b) who states, "The guiding theme of phenomenology is
to go back to the 'things themselves' ... and one interpretation of
that expression means go to the everyday world where people are
living through various phenomena in actual situations" (p. 8).

Those Who Stay! 30

Phenomenology also recognizes the importance of the
interrelationships between me as the researcher, and the social
workers, who were participants in the study. Hence, I was
motivated to use my northern experiences (van Manen, 1990) that
were similar to the social workers in the study, with one stipulation:
that I keep focused on the question and committed to the interview
while bracketing my personal experiences (van Manen, 1990).
van Manen ( 1984) indicates the importance of an appropriate
research question to guide the research method in the search for
knowledge. He maintains that phenomenological studies question
the "whatness" of something from the insider's perspective of the
lived experience. The question that precedes and supports this
thesis is such a question, in that, it questions the "whatness" of the
experience of staying in the North.

Method
The purpose of the phenomenological method, in this context
is to seek out and describe the lived experience of staying from a
northern social worker's perspective. The phenomenological
method is undertaken in three steps: first, a number of naive
descriptions are obtained from those who have had the lived
experience which is being studied; second, these descriptions are

Those Who Stay! 31

analyzed so the researcher gains insight into the essence of the
lived experience; and finally, a report is written that gives an
articulate description of the experience. (Giorgi, 1985a, 1985b; van
Manen, 1984, 1990).
van Manen ( 1990) states that phenomenological research uses
qualitative methods to get at descriptions that lead to
understanding human phenomena. A unique strength of qualitative
methods is that they permit exploration and "assume the value of
context and setting" in the search for, "a deeper understanding of
the participant's lived experiences of the phenomenon" (Marshall &
Rossman, 1995, p. 39).

Setting
This study originated in a rural region of northern British
Columbia, which covers a land mass of approximately 205,143
square kilometers and has a total population of approximately
57,555. Social workers employed within this region provide
services out of five urban centres which are scattered throughout
this expansive setting.
Northern British Columbia was selected as the setting for this
study for several reasons:

Those Who Stay! 32

1. This area is in the Provincial Norths as discussed by Coates

and Morrison.
2. I work and live within this region of the North, therefore,
was familiar with the area, and had the support of local
communities, agencies and social workers.
3. Since I live in this region the cost of the study was reduced
in terms of transportation and accommodations.
4. I had access to participants within this setting who were
willing, accessible and easy to contact for follow-up conversations
and consultation.

Participants
The term participant rather than sample was chosen to
capture the essence of each person's participation in the research
inquiry. As each social worker was considered the "expert" of his or
her own experience, I considered them to be an active member of
the study; thus, the term participant.
Since my intention was to explore the lived experience of
staying from the emic perspective of northern social workers I
recruited seven participants who were employed within the study's
setting, had degrees in social work and had worked in the North for

Those Who Stay! 33

at least five years. This criterion was based on the following
rationale:
1. To explore and gain insight into the essence of northern
social workers' lived experiences of staying I selected participants
who had histories of that experience. van Manen (1990) and Giorgi
(1985b) support this decision and suggest that phenomenological
researchers borrow other people's lived experiences to gain access
to the nature of the experience.
2. From my personal experience and other research literature
(Trevelyan, 1991; Wharf, 1985) it appears that people who seek
employment and move to the North often leave after two or three
years; however, a smaller group of professionals stay in the North.
Based on this rationale I made a decision to speak with professional
social workers who had lived and worked in the North for at least
five years to explore the lived experience of staying.
3. Recent research (British Columbia Ministry of Social
Services {1995} Gove Inquiry into Child Protection) clearly points
out the shortage of trained social workers in northern communities.
Meanwhile northern social services, both public and private sectors,
report the problem of attracting and retaining skilled workers
(Trevelyan, 1991). I chose to reframe and explore this problem by
talking to trained professional social workers who stay in the North.

Those Who Stay! 34

For this purpose trained professional social workers are defined
using the Social Workers Act of British Columbia (1979). This Act
considers people with a master's or bachelor's degrees in social work
as trained professional social workers.
4. Seven participants took part in this study. This number
was the result of my search, within the northern setting, which
unearthed nine social workers with degrees in social work and five
or more years experience in the North. Seven of these social
workers indicated a desire to participate in the study. van Manen
(1990) and Giorgi (1985b) support this number and relate that
phenomenological research can be conducted with one participant.
However, more participants will give greater insight into the general
structure of the experience. In searching phenomenological studies
I noted that researchers used from three to eleven participants. In
support of my study Beck (1992) used seven participants.
At the time of the study, the seven social workers had been
employed in the North for an overall average of 9.14 years. Three
had held social work positions in urban or rural communities prior
to working in the North, while four had their entire social work
experience in the North. The northern practice experience of the
participants was varied and included work in government and non-

Those Who Stay! 35

profit agencies in areas of health, welfare, education, justice and
community development.
Three of the social workers held M.S.W. degrees, and four held
B.S.W. degrees. Three had completed their education on campus
and four had obtained their education through distance education
programs. Four of the participants worked in social services related
jobs while obtaining their social work degree, three had no previous
social services experience prior to their education.
The four females and three males had an over-all average age
of 45.4 years. One of the participants was Aboriginal and six were
Caucasian. Six of the participants lived with a partner; one did not.
Three had grown children not living at home, two had children
living at home and two had no children. Three of the participants
described themselves as being native to the North, which was
explained by one participant as, "I'm a native to the North; as far as
I'm concerned, I'm a small 'n' native. My folks homesteaded in this
area, I was born in this area and I believe that I'm a native to this
. area." Three participants stated they came from rural roots; that is,
they were born and raised in small towns or rural environments. One
participant had come from an urban background.

Those Who Stay! 36

Conversations
The term "conversation" (Bergum, 1991) is used in this study
as opposed to the traditional qualitative term, "interview." Bergum
(1991) suggests that interview implies a one-way process of
extracting information, whereas conversation implies a discussion
between two people. This study had an atmosphere of discussion, as
a result of several factors: I was known on a personal and/ or
professional level by most of the participants previous to the study;
most of the social workers had a deep interest in the research topic
as it related directly to their practice; and a previously established
relationship between participants and myself was one of mutual
trust and respect.
To understand and describe the lived experience of staying
from a northern social workers' perspective, I asked northern social
workers to talk about their experiences of living, working, and
staying in the North. The specific purpose of the audio taped
conversations (van Manen, 1990) was "for exploring and gathering
experiential narrative material" (p. 66) to develop a richer and
deeper understanding of northern social workers' staying
experience.
Underpinning each of the conversations was the fundamental
research question, "What do long-term northern social workers

Those Who Stay! 37

identify as influencing factors that contribute to their staying in the
North?" A detailed guide (Rubin & Babbie, 1993) was used to
initiate and promote the conversations (Appendix D). The guide was
developed from topics related to staying that had been generated
from readings and discussions with colleagues. I converted the
topics into questions using ethnographic interviewing techniques
(Spradely, 1979) which permitted a wide range and depth of
responses in the participants' conversations. The conversation
guide gave me the freedom to explore the staying experience to its
fullest with each participant while staying close to the experience as
lived (van Manen, 1990).

Procedure
I began my research after receiving ethics approval, which was
granted in June 1995 from the Faculty of Research and Graduate
Studies, University Of Northern British Columbia. Upon this
approval to proceed, I made telephone contact with agencies and
known social workers within the selected northern setting. The
reason for this telephone calling was to discuss the research inquiry,
to identify if the individual was interested in participating in the
research study and to answer any questions they had regarding the
research undertaking. Immediately after this initial conversation

Those Who Stay! 38

those who did indicate their interest were mailed an information
package that consisted of: a letter of introduction (Appendix A), a
conversation guideline (Appendix B) and an agreement of
participation form (Appendix C). The information package (Rubin &
Babbie, 1993) was a way to ensure that prospective participants
understood the purpose of the research, were familiar with the
topics to be covered in the conversations, knew how confidentiality
would be maintained, and were familiar with their right to withdraw
from the study at any time should they wish to do so.
Once the agreement of participation form was signed and
returned, an identifying code number was given to each participant
which identified them for the remainder of the study. Seven social
workers agreed to participate and were once again contacted by
telephone to schedule appointments for the initial conversations.
In research of this nature the researcher may know too much
about the phenomena and biases, assumptions and existing
knowledge gets in the way of coming to grips with the descriptive
data presented by the participants (van Manen, 1984). Therefore,
prior to each conversation I spent some time consciously coming to
terms with my own beliefs (Beck, 1992; Bergum, 1991; Giorgi 1983,
1985; van Manen, 1984, 1990) in order to hear what was really being
said by the participants. For example, my beliefs that personal

Those Who Stay! 39

choice, lifestyle and personal attributes promoted staying had to be
set aside to fully hear and understand the essence of participants
lived experiences of staying in the North. As Beck (1992) suggests,
"This process, called bracketing, involves peeling away the layers of
interpretation so the phenomena can be seen as they are, not as
they are reflected through preconceptions. Bracketing does not
eliminate perspective. It brings the experience into clearer focus"
(p. 167).

The initial conversations took place in the individual's home
or place of employment during the months of September and
October 1995. These sessions lasted for approximately two hours
and with the participants' permission I audio taped all
conversations. In addition to the initial conversation I maintained
contact with participants on a regular basis throughout the study.
At the onset of the initial conversations, the participants and I
discussed the purpose of the research and our previously established
relationship. For example, it was important that I stressed the need
for having the participants "spell out" their experiences even
though "they thought I knew what they meant." This introductory
discussion contributed towards the goal of the phenomenological
method, which was to discover the meaning of staying from the
participants' lived experiences.

Those Who Stay! 40

Conversations were open with each participant speaking from
their own perspective. Hence, responses and probes differed, and as
a result the specific wording and order of the questions varied
throughout each conversation. I used clarification questions,
probes and summaries to fully understand the concreteness of the
experience from the participants' perspectives.
After each conversation was complete I transcribed the audio
taped session and removed any information identifying the
participant. The seven conversations were transcribed into twohundred and eleven pages of descriptive data.
Upon completion of each transcription, I wrote a four to six
page summary of the conversational interview. Which I then mailed
to the participant. Within four to six days I contacted each social
worker by telephone for a follow-up discussion regarding
information in the summary, as well as to inquire about further
information that may have been omitted in the initial conversation.
This process assisted in validating and clarifying the information
that was gathered in the face -to-face conversations and also allowed
me to ask questions that had developed during the transcription and
summary stages.

Those Who Stay! 41

Data Analysis
Overview Of Process
The descriptive phenomenological method of analysis
proposed by Giorgi (1983b, 1985b) was used as a guide in the data
analysis of this study. As the purpose of descriptive analysis is to
extract meanings of the explored experience, it was at this time that
transcripts were analyzed to capture the essence of the "lived
experience of staying." Simply put the transcripts were read and reread so that I could familiarize myself with the information and
were then broken down into meaning units as defined below. Once
the meaning units were recognized, each was reviewed and
transformed into statements that expressed their insight, and
finally they were synthesized to create a general description of the
staying experience (Giorgi, 1985b).
Initially, I used various methods to reflect on the descriptive
data for the purpose of gaining insight into the essence of the
staying experience. van Manen ( 1990) notes that, "Insight into the
essence of a phenomena involves a process of reflectively
appropriating, of clarifying, and of making explicit the structure of
meaning of the lived experience" (p. 77). To achieve this insight, I
listened intensely to the audio taped conversations, transcribed
them word-for-word, then summarized each transcription. Next, I

Those Who Stay! 42

completed a "highlighting approach" described by van Manen ( 1984)
as reading the text, highlighting statements or phrases that reveal
something about the experience, and recording thoughts on this
review (p. 21). Finally, I completed a "line-by-line" (van Manen,
1984) critique which meant reviewing each sentence, or phrase, or
group of phrases to identify themes that emerged. This was
accomplished by importing the transcripts into Q.S.R. NUD.IST, a
computerized program designed to organize and sort descriptive
information. This reflective process assisted me in grasping insight
which led to synthesis of the staying experience which is presented
below.

Details of Process
The first step in synthesis as suggested by Giorgi (1985b) is to
read the whole transcript in order to gain a global sense of the
experience. Step two involved a further reading to divide the
transcripts into "chunks" or "meaning units." A change of meaning,
or in other words, a change in the subject matter, was my clue for a
new meaning unit. "The meaning units that are constituted by this
procedure are understood to be constituents and not elements ... a
constituent is a part determined in such a way that it is contextladen. An element is a part determined in such a way that its

Those Who Stay! 43

meaning is as much as possible independent of the context" (Giorgi,
1985b, p. 14).
To simplify identifying and working with these natural
meaning units, I entered the data from each of the transcribed
conversations into the computer under one document. In this
combined document meaning units were numbered in sequence. At
the same time each meaning unit was cross-referenced to its
original transcribed document by page number and participant code.
The synthesis yielded ninety-two meaning units that were repeated
many times as reoccurring themes in each of the conversations.
Refer to Appendix E for sample of meaning units.)
After identifying the natural meaning units, or constituents, I
proceeded to step three of the synthesis process which basically
strives to move from the specifics of the particular experience to
the more general description. The intent of this step is to "arrive at
the general category by going through the concrete expressions"
(Giorgi, 1985b, p. 17). In simple terms, this step required that I use
"reflection and imaginative variation" to capture the underlying
essence or insight of each meaning unit. Following what I
understood to be the essence of a particular meaning unit, I wrote in
simple terms, the meaning that dominated the natural unit. This
stage, known as the "first transformation" (Giorgi, 1985b) moves

Those Who Stay! 44

from the specific everyday language of the participant to a general
description by the researcher. The transformed description does
not analyze what was said by the participant, but gleans insight
from the specific description and attempts to communicate the
general meaning of the unit. Giorgi (1985b) argues that, "The
specific description of the situated structure remains more faithful
to the concrete subject and the specific situation whereas the
general description of the situated structure tries as much as
possible to depart from the specifics to communicate the most
general meaning of the phenomena" (p. 20).
The preceding steps were the basis for understanding the
meaning of staying and provided a general description of that
experience. Finally, it was necessary to "synthesize and integrate
the insights contained in the transformed meaning units" (Giorgi,
1985b, p. 19) into a consistent statement of the structure of the
staying experience "usually referred to as the structure of the
experience" (Giorgi, 1985b, p. 10).
To arrive at the "structure of the staying experience" I
synthesized the transformed meaning units and how they related to
each other as well as how they related to the fundamental research
question. This synthesis led to the identification of four main
themes: professional life, personal life, community life, and

Those Who Stay! 45

integrated life. Reflecting once more on the transformed meaning
units, the research question, and the four identified themes led me
to pin down a core, or central theme of "integrated life" into which
each of the other were interwoven. van Manen (1984) states that
phenomenological themes are "only fasteners, or foci, or threads
around which the phenomenological description is facilitated" (p.
20). A phenomenological theme is not a "singular statement" but
more of an "actual description of the structure of a lived
experience" (p. 21). Thus, the themes I identified comprise the
overall "fundamental structure" of the lived-experience of staying.
After synthesizing the transformed meaning units and
identifying the general themes of the experience, I subsumed the
ninety-two natural (original) meaning units under the identified
themes. All meaning units fit within the themes and continued to
reflect and maintain the staying experience.
To conclude, the general description of the lived-experience of
staying has been extracted and synthesized from the descriptive
data obtained in the interviews with seven northern social workers.
The process synthesized the natural meaning units and their
themes and transformed them into a common lived experience of
staying which will be discussed in Chapter Four.

Those Who Stay! 46

Soundness and Rigor
The aim of descriptive qualitative research is to accurately
describe the phenomena being studied; therefore, this method of
research emphasize a closeness between the actual words of the
participants and the researcher's written description of the
experience (internal validity). This type of study does not suggest
that conclusions apply to the population at large (external validity)
but they could apply to those who have similar experiences.
To ensure soundness of the data I engaged several methods
throughout the study. First of all, I transcribed the audio taped
conversations word-for-word, then summarized and returned this to
the participants for their feectback and validation. Throughout the
research process I had on-going contact with each of the
participants, in person or by telephone, for the purpose of further
conversations, consultations and validations of the descriptive data.
In conducting the analysis and in the phenomenological writing of
the experience I used verbatim quotes from the participants' audiotaped conversations. Also upon completion of writing the
descriptive experience of staying I consulted with participants to
validate the information contained in the analysis. Each of these
methods contributed to the soundness, validity and saturation of
the data. Taylor and Bogdan ( 1984) indicate that qualitative

Those Who Stay! 47

researchers emphasize validity in their research by ensuring a close
fit between the data and what people actually say (p. 7).
To grasp the essence of the participants' lived experience,
throughout the study, it was necessary for me, to use reflection,
bracketing, intuiting, sensitivity and description. For example,
reviewing the data using several methods permitted deep reflection
that assisted me in understanding (verstehen) the essence of the
experience. As Aanstoos (1985) states, "essential meanings are not
self-evident and can only be brought to light through rigorous effort
... In such an analysis the task of the researcher is to let the world
of the describer ... reveal itself through the description in order to
disclose the structure of the phenomenal field as it was lived" (p.
90).

Fittingness of the study was increased by seeking out social
workers with lengthy histories of northern social work practice. As
mentioned earlier, my own personal suitability in the undertaking of
this study included: knowledge of living and working in northern
settings; familiarity with the group being studied; and similar
professional and personal experiences to the participants in the
study. Research literature (Taylor & Bogdan, 1984) suggests that
qualitative researchers have a firm understanding of their subjects
and the context in which the subjects are located.

Those Who Stay! 48

Sapsford and Abbott (1992) refer to the problems that may
arise when a person is known within the community as an expert;
for example, as a social worker interviewing another social worker,
it may be difficult to get informants to "spell things out" because
they assume you must know all about it already. This was evident
in the conversations of this study; for example, participants would
say, "you know" several times during the conversations. Therefore,
it was imperative that I explore and validate what they meant
throughout our discussions. Another mode of dealing with this
particular issue was during the initial discussions at the onset of
each conversation when I explained the method and purpose of the
study. At this time I informed participants that their perspective
was being sought, so, even though they knew that I knew, they
needed to describe their experiences by "spelling it out" for me.

Ethical Reflections
Each participant signed a consent form (Appendix C) before
becoming a part of the study, and none dropped out after initial
involvement. Participants were informed that I would transcribe
the audio tapes and that this data would have identifying
information removed, and that audio tapes and coding key
information would be secured in a locked container in my home

Those Who Stay! 49

when not in use. I also informed them that once the thesis was
completed and defended, the tapes and the coding material would be
destroyed.
In acknowledgment of visibility in small communities, I
handled confidentiality with considerable discretion. There was a
risk of identifying individuals when writing up the findings. For
example, participants could be identified through the study setting,
type of work, age, gender, ethnic group, or educational background.
Hence, I consulted participants when presenting the descriptive
data. I also decided not to name the communities or to describe the
specific settings to protect their identity.
The data that was extracted and entered into this thesis
respected anonymity by assigning codes to each participant. While
their statements were printed verbatim, they were not identified. I
have indicated to the participants that a copy of the final thesis is
available upon their request.
The following chapter presents the descriptive meaning of
staying that emerged from the phenomenological analysis of the
research inquiry.

Those Who Stay! 50

CHAPTER FOUR

Presentation of the Experience
Introduction
This chapter presents the final step in the analysis of the data
using a phenomenological approach which requires the researcher to
provide a general structural description in order to express and
present the lived experience. van Manen ( 1990) suggests presenting
the general structural description of the experience in alternative
ways that include: thematically. analytically, exemplificatively,
exegetically, existentially, or by inventing an approach. In keeping
with my aim of presenting an insider's (emic) perspective, I chose to
illustrate the experience exemplificatively, and thus began the
description "by rendering visible the essential nature of the
phenomenon and then f"llling out the initial description by
systematically varying examples" (van Manen, 1990, p. 171). In
other words the description of the staying experience will be
presented, "as an example composed of examples" (p. 25).
The general description of staying is provided by the
participants in such a way that it illustrates a finely woven tapestry
"integrated" with many colourful threads that are separate, yet
intricately interwoven into an extraordinary pattern. It is through
these descriptive threads that I attempt to capture the essence, or

Those Who Stay! 51

inner core of northern social workers' staying experience. The
fundamental structure of the experience has a central theme of
"integrated life" that is composed of professional life, personal life,
and community life. It is from this central theme that I attempt to
weave the lived experience of staying by presenting narrative
examples from my conversations with seven long-term northern
social workers.
As a backdrop, I will present an overview of the northern
setting in which the staying experience evolves. This will be
followed by the description of the fundamental experience of
integrated life as it manifests itself through a social worker's
community life, personal life and professional life.

The Northern Setting
The northern setting furnishes me with the loom on which to
weave the colourful threads that capture the essence of the lived
experience of staying as described through the voices of northern
social workers. An introduction to the northern setting is also
necessitated by the manner in which the participants intertwine
their lived experience of staying with the northern communities in
which they live and work.
In social work we take courses on how communities
work and how they operate and all that, but the course
work is kind of like the gelatin and actually being part of

Those Who Stay! 52

it is like the flavour and communities all have different
flavours so it's very much community-directed practice
in the North.
This social worker refers to the character of the northern setting as
its "flavour" and suggests that each community has its own unique
character that social workers adapt to through community-directed
practice. Expressions used by the participants to describe their
involvement with northern communities include: community-based,
community development, community participation, community
recognition, community acceptance, community reputation,
community identity, community support, community driven and
community member. They portray the flavour, or character of
particular northern settings in terms of: inclusive, immediate, laidback, flexible, builders, informal, caring, personal, friendly and
home. They also refer to communities following traditional values
of: honesty, family, community, neighbors, openness, genuineness,
straight-forward, self-sufficient and hard-working.
It is not so much the physical setting but an environment of

action that is described. For example northern social workers
described the character of their setting in terms of volunteerism,
networking and community action in the development of
community-based resources. They portrayed the setting as having a
"frontier spirit" with "a wealth of willpower and person power"

Those Who Stay! 53

within a "user friendly environment." The following conversation
captures the spirit, or character of the northern settings' action
environment:
My term for it is builders. People in the North seem to
me to be builders and, to me, when you can capture that
kind of energy and direct it towards something, then you
are doing good social work practice.
They continue by describing the type of people who are those
builders:
They are people who are independent. They say if it's
going to get done I need to play a part in it. If things are
going to be better for my children, then I have to work at
making them better. It's a kind of perspective that
doesn't so much depend on outside resources, but that's
been out of necessity.
The character of the North is described as a self-sufficient builder
that promotes independence when building resources from a
community-development perspective. Another participant captures
the character of the northern setting through the analogy of family:
I was born and raised here! And I guess that means I'm
just able to understand some of the ways of the
communities and the people. The sense of being as a
family, being a part of the community, you know, the
family. (laughs) I get back to family all the time because
that's very important in my own life. But I think in a lot
of ways it is like a big family because of the things you
do. You have to depend on networking with other people
that is a big part of it, of being a part of the community.
This descriptive statement "brings to light" the lived experience of
living, working and staying in the northern setting. Being a part of
the community is like family, you are one of them, or you are an
integrated member of the community.

Those Who Stay! 54

Participants talked about the northern settings' positive
attitude and friendly atmosphere. They said that "philanthropic
volunteerism" was still alive in the North which promoted "an
environment that was supportive, caring and accepting."
And I find that there is an attitude in the North and I say
this having been associated with half a dozen
organizations here. I don't think that I have ever had a
sincere need and asked for help in the North and been
refused.

****

And you are a part of the community, you know! You
are not one of a million people knocking on the door for
something, you're Joe, or you're George, or you're Harry,
or whoever and if you want a favour, "Well gosh there
must be something to that!"
These descriptive conversations express community participation,
acceptance, recognition and membership. Integrated community
membership "opens doors in all walks of a person's life within the
local environment." It is also suggested that northern settings have
a wealth of natural resources that promote community involvement
and assist social workers in their professional practice.
The preceding "northern reflection" has provided a glimpse of
the northern situation. With the character of these northern
settings being community driven by self-sufficient builders, is it any
wonder that long-term northern social workers intertwine their lived
experience of staying with the northern communities in which they
live and work?

Those Who Stay! 55

Through their descriptions, the northern setting is seen as
both a physical and social environment in which an integrated
community, personal and professional life emerges as the lived
experience of staying. Integrated life is the main thread around
which community, personal and professional life threads are woven
and each of these threads contains secondary f"llaments that assist
in interweaving the fabric ,of the integrated life.

The Community Life
Community life is a vital thread in the fundamental structure
of the lived experience of staying. It appears not as a single strand
but as many f"lne f"llaments twisted and intertwined in the creation
of the completed tapestry of the staying experience. One of the
f"lrst f"llaments of community life suggests a commitment to the
community and the people -- "you want to belong to the
community." One participant explains another step in community
life integration:
I think probably a key component to being successful in
the North, is become involved in the community! Now,
that doesn't mean you have to be a community leader,
but you've got to be involved in the activities. It's just
one of those things, you participate.
We are informed in this conversation as in others I had, that the
second f"llament to community life is to become involved, or in

Those Who Stay! 56

other words to participate visibly in the community. It is also
suggested that this participation may be a "key" to a worker's
success in the North.
The next fllament assists in enhancing the pattern of
integration:
As a rural worker, community involvement is important.
In the city who cares? I could practice as I did in urban
areas, and go to work, come home, and nobody knew in
the neighborhood what the hell I did. I was just a worker
like everybody else, and it wasn't that important. But
here you are a part of the community! All the things you
were talking about and how do you handle them (staying
and overcoming the challenges) maybe that's one of the
ways, when you participate in the community, you
become established -- Mary sells apples, George sells
insurance, and you do social work. Maybe that's part of
being effective in rural social work.
It appears that participation within the community promotes

recognition and establishment of the personal and the professional.
As this participant professes, integration into community life may
be a major thread in weaving the general description of staying in
the North. Community life integration results from being known by
others, accepted and considered a part of the community. It also
means that a person has developed an identity that is woven from
personal, professional, and community lives. This identity, it
appears, opens doors and assists in social work practice within the
community environment. As participants suggest "being a part of

Those Who Stay! 57

the community" may be one of the ways of working with the unique
character of the northern setting.
There appeared to be a particular process in adapting, or
integrating with the unique character of the northern setting.
Social workers related that rural communities had a variety of
"activities and events" and to "become a part of the community" a
person needed to participate on "both a professional and personal
level." They suggested that communities "did not take well to
pushy people." Therefore, a person "couldn't come in and start
changing things like a bull in a china shop." The approach to
acceptance in the rural community was "to be low key, get to know
the community and mix with the people."
Well, you've got to work at it, don't you! You are not
going to become part of the community if you stay in
the house eight hours a day. You need to have some
contacts, clubs, recreation, meetings and those kinds of
things around town. But you do try to balance your
interests so that all those things come together.

****

The participation doesn't necessarily mean you run
around joining everything, but it means that you are
visible. For example, at the Farmers' Market on
Saturday mornings, we usually run into all kinds of
people who we know.
In becoming integrated with the northern setting these social
workers adapted, adjusted and fit into the ways of the community
on both professional and personal levels. Once a community life
was achieved there were benefits. These social workers related that

Those Who Stay! 58

integrated community life gained personal and professional
satisfaction. They, in turn, earned recognition, acceptance and
acknowledgment from the community for their valuable
contributions to the environment in which they lived and worked.
The essence of northern practice for me is belonging to
the community. I was born and raised here. I belong to
this community, as a person and as a professional. My
family is in this community, my roots are in this
community and that shows in the work that I can do in
my professional life. For example, lots of times my
colleagues come to me and say, "Do you know this
person, or whatever?" because that may make a
difference in how we can approach them.
Participants also talked about the benefits of belonging to an
environment that was personal, friendly and caring, where everyone
knew everyone else. Within this community environment there was
a philosophy.which instilled comradeship and caring for its
members. Participants spoke of the northern setting offering an
easy-going, slower pace of living close to nature. These social
workers suggested that northern environments provided people witha feeling of home, and a relaxing surroundings in which to live and
work.
I'm a small town person. So for me the size of the
community was attractive .... There is far less hustle and
bustle of the city and while I go back and visit once in a
while I do not enjoy that mass of people .... And although
I drive an hour to work, from one community to another,
which is about the same as people in the city, I have
much nicer scenery ... There is not the bumper to
bumper traffic. I find the drive quite relaxing. In the
morning, I can prepare mentally for my work day, and
going back home I unwind. So that one hour drive is not
bothersome to me at all. In fact I don't see how people
in the city go through that bumper to bumper stuff in

Those Who Stay! 59

the smog when they could have sunshine and snow up
here.
According to the northern social workers I spoke with,
filaments that integrate the community life thread appear to be: a
commitment to belong to the community in which they live and
work, visibly participating within the community as a person and a
professional, and becoming established as a member of the
community. These filaments are not singular or isolated, and form
a part of personal and professional life stories as I continue to
describe and weave the integrated staying experience of northern
social workers.

The Personal Life
Personal life is a second major thread with many filaments
that assist in creating the colourful tapestry of staying in the North.
One social worker begins the story of integrated personal life in this
fashion:
It's almost like, does the character of the community fit
the character of the individual? If it does, they stay; if
it doesn't, they go back South or somewhere else. And
we have a lot of people that come for a little while and
then leave. To me, it's because their character doesn't
fit with the character of the North.
The character of the social worker who stays in the North seems to
fit with the character of the northern setting. When participants
discussed the character of the professional or the northern setting

Those Who Stay! 60

they alluded to essential features, nature, total qualities, spirit, or
flavour. It appeared that "character" was the "inner essence" or the
"what" that made "some--thing what it was!"
All of the participants talked about features of the personal
character that fit with the character of the North to promote
staying. This personal character appeared to be multidimensional
and included values similar to the community, choice of northern
lifestyle, an attitude of optimism, an outgoing personality, rural
experiences and practical skills. The following conversation tells
about features of this personal character that fit with the North.
People who have independence, people who don't wait
for somebody else before they do something about a
problem, people who value their communities and value
their clients .... People who aren't afraid to walk down
the street and address that client who's going to stop
you when you're with your family. You know, people
who know that's part of their identity as a community
person and can live with it. People who can adjust to
the northern lifestyle, the cold winters and the outdoor
activity and all that kind of thing. . .. and when I see
people stay, I think "Oh, yeah, that person if fitting with
the community and the community is fitting with
them." It's more of a lifestyle thing.... To me it's like if
your lifestyle lends itself to that, then you will be
content and if not you won't. And that doesn't depend
on social work practice, it's just human choice.
This conversation illustrates as did all my conversations that
professional and personal life requires a type of character that
integrates with the character of the northern setting. Parts of this
character include: valuing northern people and their communities,
an attitude of optimism, love of the northern lifestyle and knowing

Those Who Stay! 61

how to live and work within a small community. Participants also
described this character as being: genuine, personable,
compassionate, trustworthy, open, honest, flexible, adaptable,
mature, innovative, self-sufficient, community minded, optimistic,
caring, self-aware, straight-forward, up-front, adapted to the
northern lifestyle and familiar with living an integrated life within a
small community.
Social workers have to have a certain style of living that
is congruent with their practice. And they have to have
the optimism that if they need it somehow they can play
a part in building it. If there's a problem that prevents
them from getting what they need, then they can find a
way around that. And the bottom line of it all is valuing
people, not just their clients, but all the people in their
communities. If they don't have that as a basis, all of
the rest doesn't really make much difference.
Another participant describes features of the personal character
that promotes staying in the North in terms of values that fit with
the northern setting:
It's a question of values -- what's important. I mean a
value is accomplishment, for example in work. I know
that I could be in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and
probably go through more of an escalation in terms of
conditions and movement in my work. But along with
that is the speed. The lifestyle has to be very fast and
furious and all of that kind of stuff -- you know getting
through traffic as quickly as you can and that kind of
thing. And to me it's like, well, I compromise by not
going through that escalation career wise but I don't
have to worry about the speed of life. I get to enjoy my
family .... so it's more a question of what side of the
fence do you fall on in terms of your values.
Social workers conversations describe an attitude of valuing
northern people and their community. Participants have named

Those Who Stay! 62

this attitude optimism, which assists in turning challenges into
opportunities to build and overcome obstacles. The social work
participants also refer to choice of lifestyle, and suggest that every
resident within a particular setting experiences the realities of that
lifestyle -- the experiences are not exclusive to social workers. The
participants impart that people do things out of necessity in the
northern lifestyle, as any other person had to do in theirs. In other
words, there is good and bad in any place a person chooses to live.
Finally, these conversations speak of integration of values, skills,
practice and ethics into who we are as a person. Simply put, the
personal life emerges with the community and professional life to fit
with the northern setting.
There is research out there that says attitude is what's
most important, you know, and I tend to believe that. I
know that social workers have to have a level of skill
that fits with the positions that they are applying for,
but to me you can find lots of people with those levels of
skills. . .. Given that, it is all about attitude ... And the
whole thing, the whole attitude thing is about
integration I think the very best social workers are
people who integrate their skills and their practice and
their ethics and their values into who they are.
Other participants related specific features of social worker's
personal character that contributed to staying in the North. These
social workers suggested that people skills, natural abilities, rural
life experiences and a certain type of personality were attributes
that assisted the personal character of the professional social

Those Who Stay! 63

worker to weave or integrate within the northern setting. These
attributes, so it seems, "create the way that we help" and assist in
applying knowledge to social work practice. As one participant
states, "you have to have the knowledge but if you don't have the
personality forget it!" Parts of this character are described as
inherent and "come from within" or "people will see through." In
other words, you need to be genuine, with personal and professional
integrity at all times within the inclusive environment. Because of
the northern fishbowl, "you can't be a phony in the North!"
I think, when you talk about the type of person it takes
in order to be satisfied in rural social work practice it's
based a lot around the person's personality - of who the
person is, how they function. You know, maybe some of
(what) we mentioned - maturity and confidence, but the
other part is you have to buy into what rural lifestyles
are all about. You have to buy into those things that
make your practice easier - like the honesty, the
integrity, the genuineness, the respect. And all those
kinds of things I think are built into a person's
personality.

****

And that personality, is just what I have been talking
about. You know, being personable; honest;
understanding what it is to live in a community, be a
member of it, yet be a professional in it and serving
clients and all that kind of stuff.
Once personal life has been integrated into the northern
setting there are benefits as these conversations illustrate:
I enjoy working and living in a smaller community,
'cause you become used to the quietness ... I guess
(laughs) the country ... a place to get away ... perhaps
horse back riding, or to do some activity where you
actually are alone and not in the community .... Some
other activities I do outside work are in the community,
but some might just be going out in the country and

Those Who Stay! 64

spending a quiet afternoon with family, by yourself, or
whatever.

****

I can honestly say that we've never considered leaving
the North since we moved here, and we've stayed
because we wanted to come in the first place. The
lifestyle has been all that we expected it to be, and this
is a very personal thing but, our standard of living here
is far higher than it would be in Vancouver. And I don't
like commuting traffic and subsequently health wise it is
ideal for me now -- the lack of pollution and all that sort
of thing.

****

A rural lifestyle is simple! I mean, not for them (urban
social worker), it's simple for us .... You don't become
caught up thinking about all those things you don't
have. (laughs) You know, all the activities, all the
important things that they say-- like the shopping
malls, the theaters, the operas, the symphonies, the
professional sports teams, the life, the this, the that,
your job. People in cities, I think, are very much caught
up in all of that as opposed to here, here it is simple, you
don't get caught up in all that stuff, you just go on and
you enjoy life and it's more stress free.
These conversations suggest that integration of personal life within
the community brings many benefits which include a high standard
of living, security, relief from stress, solitude, a healthy
environment, closeness to nature, slower pace of life and an
appealing place to raise a family. In addition the personal life
thread contains many filaments which include: a character that fits
with the northern community, a personal choice of the northern
lifestyle, an optimistic attitude, personal and professional values
similar to those of the community and experience of working and
living within a small community.

Those Who Stay! 65

The Professional Life
The thread of professional life has many filaments that are
also woven on the loom of the northern setting to create the general
description of staying in the North.
Rural social work is an art! (pause) It is something, I
suppose, that can be learned but you are better off doing
rural social work if you have rural values and have had
some kind of exposure and experience to rural practice
before you actually take your education. 'Cause what
you find in your education is you learn a lot of things
that you'll never be able to apply in rural practice. You
can but they have to be formatted to fit the rural
practice and you don't understand that unless you have
tried to practice rural social work and then become
educated. Then you are better equipped to format that
education to fit rural practice. So it's quite an art .... it's
about being real, honest, direct one-to-one client service,
client based. You know, urban practice has all those
same values but I don't believe they are able to put those
into practice because the larger systems end up
overtaking the base principles of social work.

****

I like the small town kind of approach to the work that I
do .... My experience has been that we lack the referral
resources for many of our clients needs and so that in
itself kind of motivates us towards generalist practice.
Towards having to build resources, with specific client
needs in mind and to me that results in having resources
that better fit client's needs. I was able to spend some
time in large organization in (urban centre) where
referral was the major portion of what social workers did
and to me that wasn't a very fulf"llling kind of work.
Northern professional life is described as a generalist, communitydirected approach that builds mobile resources from a community
development perspective. Because northern communities lack
referral services social workers are motivated to build resources for
specinc client needs. These resources are "client based" and "direct
one-to-one client services" that are often provided within the

·

Those Who Stay! 66

community. This method of building and providing services
requires community integration because resources are designed
around client needs and delivered using available resources within
the community. All of the participants told me this method
required professional social workers to be flexible, self-sufficient,
innovative and confident in order to integrate and build services
versus the traditional method of referral. Professional life was
described by the participants as: personable, genuine, self-sufficient,
resourceful, flexible, innovative, energetic, involved, informal, and
integrated. In the following conversations social workers relate
their approach to this method of practice which is similar to all of
the participants:
That whole notion that consistently rules -- what we can
do instead of what we can't do. To me, when you get
right down to it, that's what it is about.... I mean people
can make changes, all kinds, but I think in rural practice
there's a series of obstacles that come at us when we're
trying to build, or trying to create resources, or help our
clients to change and we need to be able to have
consistently that view of- "This doesn't have to stop
us." You know, that's that kind of frontier mentality.
So, to me, that's about optimism that we can deal with
the obstacles, we can get around them and get change
happening, in spite of.

****

Even when we're talking about intervention services, I
don't know of very many people in practice who just
practice within the confines of their office up here. We
have to be mobile, and we have to be able to move into
other areas; with other communities and be able to do
what we do in a helpful way.
It's something that's
necessitated by the small population and the geography,
just those two in itself.
000

****

Up here as a social worker you need to have the ability
to do things for yourself so you can also do that for the

Those Who Stay! 67

people who are your clients. . .. I guess being selfsufficient, resourceful and versatile. You need to not be
stuck in a pattern! You need to be, (pause) well my
supervisor often describes the social workers in our
office as "rugged individualists," in that they are
resourceful in their own way, that they don't depend on
other people to get a job done. They know where to look
and find the resources that they need for their clients.
Participants referred to "qualities of northern practice" that
provided "opportunities" for professional social workers "that they
wouldn't get in an urban setting." Qualities of northern practice
included professional and personal recognition, personal and
professional contacts, a variety of clients, acceptance and support
from the community, and having freedom of practice. Participants
narrate further qualities of professional life in northern settings that
include:
Northern practice gives you variety. It gives you freedom
of practice and it gives you the opportunity to do things
you may not be able to do elsewhere.

****

I have access to virtually anybody in this community.
that's from the M.P. to whoever. Where if I was in an
urban centre the layers of bureaucracy to go through to
get access to the head of a social work agency, for
example, or the head of the hospital, or the chairman of
a board, would be horrendous, here its just a phone call
because people know each other.
These descriptions refer to qualities of northern social work practice
such as: providing community-directed, client-based resources;
personal and professional recognition within the community; and
opportunities to be flexible within their practice. They also speak of
community support, a variety of contacts within the community

Those Who Stay! 68

and the easy access of other service providers within the northern
setting. In descriptions below, social workers speak about having
freedom, flexibility and mobility within their agencies and
community to develop resources to meet client and community
needs. They have named this "opportunities for growth."
I find in the North that opportunities come up far more!
You have much more opportunities for advancement, for
experience, for a much more rounded social work
practice because you're more of a generalist social
worker and you just learn more skills. Here you do
everything, in the big centres you just do one thing so
your skill area lies there. So you get much more
opportunity for skill development, experience and
different jobs.
****
For people, who are at a more mature level in their
practice, not necessarily your age, but in your practice,
you find that the North has many opportunities. But
you have to have that maturity in order to be able to use
all those skills, like working independently with
autonomy having enough confidence to be flexible and to
challenge the system and all those kinds of things.
****
I think there are opportunities to work in fields where
one normally wouldn't be given those opportunities. A
good example is somebody who's doing alcohol and drug
counselling can also have opportunities to do work in
family violence counselling, or in working with suicidal
teens. The target groups can change because we don't
have so many specialist folks around us. And there are
many more opportunities I think, for collaboration with
other service providers.
****
I think, at this particular point in my life and in my
career it's the opportunities that are here in the North
tha-t I don't think I would have elsewhere. I think I'd be
more like a cog in the wheel, whereas right now I kind of
feel like what I'm doing is a little bit more of the actual
driving or steering of things.
Social work participants describe numerous opportunities they have
experienced within the northern setting. For example, the

~

Those Who Stay! 69

reality of limited resources is reframed to become an opportunity to
build community-based, client-centred resources versus the
traditional practice of referral. The small town atmosphere permits
easy access to other service providers which presents opportunities
for collaboration and support. The visible atmosphere of the
inclusive community develops reputation, credibility, professional
integrity, respect and trust.
To use the opportunities available in their communities, social
workers adapt or integrate approaches to practice to fit with the
northern setting. All of the participants related unique methods of
adapting their practice to the character of the northern setting as
the following conversations exemplify.
We can be more flexible in that there's some agencies in
the interior, who don't see clients who have experienced
sexual abuse, for example, because all the big centres
have their own sexual abuse centres. We don't have that
here, so those of us who are interested, carry small case
loads of people who have been abused for example.

****

We can't stick to our mandate up here because we don't
have enough people to fit it. So we need to look at what
can we do? How can we be creative to make it work
better for the population we have out in the
communities, the people that we see? What's going to
work best for them? You know, that may be groups, that
may be individuals, that may be doing something totally
different from what they would ever be allowed to do
down on the mainland- because that's not in the job
description, or it's not in the posting!

****

We have to depend on a list of services from down South
and then send people away to those kinds of things, like
assessment centres. Because of this we have to utilize
what we have here to a better degree. You need to be
flexible enough to draw on what resources are in the
community before you start looking at what's down

Those Who Stay! 70

South. I've talked in training sessions with people who
work in the South and when they start looking at what
they want to get someone involved in so they are not
into criminal activities, for example, they start paying
for passes at the arena, and they start paying for this
and that. Everything that they do down there costs
money! Here we can say there's a skating rink at the
school, the library doesn't cost any money, there's a hill
over there. So up here we need to find resources that
are available, accessible and affordable and because we
don't have a lot of resources that we pay for, I look at
what else is here. We can utilize these resources by
being creative with what we have!

****

Improvising is important because we often have to make
do with something because we haven't got access to
things. For example, a small remote community may
not have a women's shelter but they have people who are
willing, in the community, to take these people into
their homes when a crisis arises. So these kinds of
things that are going to help, we can improvise. And you
need to be able to use these types of resources, to make
plans, to talk with people and see if those kinds of things
can be arranged.
It is clear that flexibility is a major key to managing workload and
being able to adapt to the challenging opportunities that are
available within the northern setting. Flexibility permits these
social workers to work in fields that would not be attainable in a
larger setting, and provides for the development of professional
expertise within the community. Participants speak of being
flexible in the development and building of community resources,
and in adapting policies and methods of practice to integrate with
the northern setting and its people.
Participants talk of integrating natural abilities and skill from
life experiences into their northern practice. They also suggest that

Those Who Stay! 71

demands of practice and isolation are not major obstacles in their
work. As one participant states, "you have demands and privileges
in any job, in any setting. It's all in the choice of where you want to
work." All of these social workers integrate and utilize skills and
methods from personal and professional experiences to adapt to the
unique circumstances as the following conversations relate.
For myself (pause) I mean, you learn to be resourceful in
your personal and in your community life (and) when it
comes to professional practice it is like you don't know
any different. And so I think a part of it might be your
values when growing up that lead you to become
resourceful in your professional practice because you
want to help people and there is always a way to help
people if you have enough resources.
****
Well working by the text book is something that you
can't do because real life situations are very different. I
guess what a lot of it is, is that living in the North, it
just kind of comes as a natural because you've had to
adopt these kinds of skills to overcome the
inconveniences to survive in the North. It is just kind of
an everyday thing for a person who is working in the
North. And so really as far as the practice these are
incorporated kind of naturally when I'm practicing. For
example, the networking and how important the
networking is. Living in the community you network
with neighbors for instance ... So from living this type of
lifestyle these kinds of skills carry into your practice.
****
It's not isolated for me, well it is isolated, but you learn
how to work in the isolation. You learn how to be very
resourceful. If everything is in Victoria, you learn how
to get in touch with Victoria. You learn how the bigger
system of professional practice works in your smaller
community and you put that to work.
****
We know how to deal with the isolation. It's stressful
dealing with isolation but if you focused on that all the
time you wouldn't be working in the North. Because of
the people you are serving, you forget that stress and
you're focusing on them. And that's where the rewarding
part comes in-- you've got a group of clients, or you've
got a person that you're trying to help, and when you see
them being helped you forget about the stress of working

Those Who Stay! 72

in the isolation and having to get at certain problems
different ways, all that kind of stuff and having a big
hassle just to help a person.
Social workers also spoke of adapting to the northern setting in
terms of "being down to earth," or informal in their personal and
professional approaches. They referred to the use of jargon, strict
rules and methods of practice that were not suitable to the informal
atmosphere within this laid-back environment:
It's not formal at all, formal just does not fit in rural
communities, because people can see right through you.
You can not be a formal, high-fluting social worker here,
it doesn't fit .... Know-it-aU, they've got all the answers,
educated, stuck-up!
****
In rural communities, people do not react easily to you if
you come off as stuck-up!
****
I think, in my general practice I am much more informal
and much more relaxed with contacts. I know one of the
things that I had some difficulty adjusting to when I
came here was that life to me had always been a white
shirt and always a pressed suit in the closet for next
week. That's the way it always was! If I had gone into
my job in the city the way I ultimately was dressing here
the president would have called me in and said "Now I
think you might want to go home and change unless
you're looking for a job?" Now that might be stretching
it a bit, but I think (pause) what I'm saying is that, the
emperor ain't got no clothes. You know, your image is
going to be you! It isn't going to be the white shirt and
the tie and the shiny shoes. I guess what I'm saying is
that I think in the North you are more visible in a sense,
warts and all!!
****
I don't like to be a rule type of practice person, because I
don't think that works in a rural community -- to set out
a bunch of rules for you and your client. The rigid stuff,
it just doesn't fit for people coming in for a rural service.
It's kind of like, I just need help! (laughs) I don't need all
of these conditions I have to meet in order for you to
help me.
****
When I got my training there were a lot of strange things
they said; for example, you would never have a cup of

Those Who Stay! 73

coffee with a client but I found that after being out in
actual practice and practicing with the actual case load
that I had, that a cup of coffee was a door opener, and I
used it! The difference, and where I would make the
qualification is, that you never wing anything. The point
is, that you have a plan and having decided that, then
you should select the proper setting.
These social workers spoke of an informal approach in both their
personal and professional lives within the community. They
referred to the formal person as: educated, rigid, stuck-up, highfluting, using jargon and having rigid rules. The informal person
appeared to blend with the community and was explained as real,
honest, genuine, flexible, personable and involved in the
community.
Participants suggest other methods of adapting social work
practice to fit with the norther.n setting:
I think it is important to gain a general knowledge of the
area and community. I have spent more time learning
about the area in the North than I have anywhere else,
because it is interesting and because I do think it's
different. I think that it helps give me some knowledge
of the background of the people .... I think that
knowledge helps get a handle on things. I think you
know where people are coming from and what the
general attitudes are.

****

That's part of that northern thing too, if it doesn't work
looking through one window, don't demand that the
client adjust to your model, look through another model .
... much of our work depends on matching models that
we have at our disposal to the needs and beliefs of the
client. So we need to have a number of models at our
disposal so that they better fit, than just using one
model of practice.

****

I think given the North, you have to have more than just
good counselling skills. You have to be able to organize
and do some planning and some networking and some
resource finding and that kind of thing. It may not be

Those Who Stay! 74

there and you have to look for it! ... Like its not being so
stuck that you've gotta -- "Oh well, this is all I can do
because this is all my job description says." Expand it
and get around the nitty gritty, the bureaucracy, and
look at how can I do this a little bit different.
In these conversations participants mention the importance of
being innovative, flexible and creative in utilizing skills and models
of practice. They also spoke of being familiar with the "rules" of the
northern setting, as well as, knowing the history and background of
the community.
All of these social workers talked about "adapting" their urban
based training to "fit" the realities of northern practice. They said
integration of knowledge to practice was difficult, and related that
more practical rural focused educational experiences could be used
to sensitize students to realities of northern social work practice.
My education gave me the formal knowledge that I
needed to integrate into my rural practice. And when I
say that it didn't give me skills to be a rural social
worker it only gave me knowledge that I could turn
around and fit into rural social work practice.

****

Having instructors who can put learning into the actual
context that people are actually dealing with is critical.
If they don't do that students walk away having to
transfer what they learned into what they do and
sometimes the distance is huge .... I had to transfer that
information and apply it so it's more than an applied
thing and it's tough.

****

In the curriculum they should have more that is
pertinent to the rural community. Northern social
workers need to be knowledgeable of how things work in
these smaller communities as opposed to how they are
in bigger centres. We need training in more practical
types of skills that a person can use.

Those Who Stay! 75

These social workers also stressed the need for accessible and
available formal training for people presently residing in northern
settings. They suggested that accessible education in northern
communities could assist in the retention of qualified professionals
within the North.
You need to make education available in the North. It
needs to be more accessible so people who live in the
North can be educated and become qualified to work in
the North. These people will likely stay and work here.
My observation with the people that I work with is that
people who don't leave are the people who have roots
here.

****

One of them is by educating people that live here.
Educating people that are from this community to do
social work in this community, very much as UNBC is
trying to do. To me the long-term benefits of that will be
tremendous.
All of these social workers related that northern communities were
in need of qualified professional with long term commitment and
methods of practice that fit with the North. They suggested that
accessible education for people already living and working in the
North and having long term commitments to staying would
contribute to the retention of qualified professionals within
northern settings.

Integrated Life
The primary thread on the loom of the northern setting is, in
my opinion, integrated life. This is the crucial thread around which

Those Who Stay! 76

all others are woven to create the tapestry of "staying." The term,
integrated life, came from several of the participants and best
describes the central theme weaving together professional life,
personal life and community life.
Participants set the stage for integrated life "in a nut shell" as
they describe the situations encountered within the northern
practice setting:
The community that you're working in is also the
community that you live in, it is also the community
that your client gets service in. Everything is much
more immediate and around you and you can't escape
from your practice whereas, in an urban centre your
professionalism is totally separated from your personal
life.

****

I think you can hide from a lot in an urban practice, but
you can't hide from your clients, you can't hide from
your job, you can't hide from your position in the
community-- who your family is, you can't hide from
any of that in a rural community. So you have to be
honest, because if you're not that's when you get into
situations and into trouble with the boundaries, or ethics
or whatever it is!

****

When people come here from other communities the
whole rural community concept is one of inclusion.
Basically, in the North one functions in a "fishbowl" where personal
life, community life and professional life are inclusive:
Everything stems on the fact that you work and live in
the same community (pause) I mean all kinds of things
come into play. How you practice ethics in your job.
How you set boundaries for yourself and your clients.
How you manage to live and work in the same
community. And having those two separate but very
integrated roles, you can't keep them separate so you
have to learn a way to set the boundaries, learn what
your own ethics are and how you can use them in your
professional and personal life and how you, I guess,
correlate those two roles in one community.

Those Who Stay! 77

Working and living within a close environment necessitates multiple
roles, one identity and a set of practice ethics that are used in
professional and personal life. A worker's life needs to be
integrated:
Only in the sense that you have to (integrate) because
you live in the same community that you work in. So if
I live in this community -- and I happen to have grown
up here -- so I may very likely, many, many times, in my
practice, be serving-- doing social work practice and
serving people in my job that I grew up with. So that's
the sense that I mean integrated. I don't mean mixing
your personal life and your professional life! But I mean
they have to correlate somehow because they are both in
the same community. So that's where your code of
ethics comes in and your setting boundaries. You have
to be so much more clear with boundaries in a rural
practice than you do in an urban practice because they
are more blurred and harder to keep.
Participants refer to integrated life consisting of "solid practice
ethics" and "clear boundaries" that are used in their professional,
personal and community lives. The following example brings to
light the realities of working and living in the northern fishbowl:
For example, Joe Blow who I went to grade five
elementary school with comes in to receive service, or
somehow we happen to be neighbors, or we played as
kids, or whatever. The blurred boundaries are: how do
you treat that person and where do you separate your
life together, or your childhood together, from the
service that you are providing as a professional? So
when they come in you have to be very clear and when I
say clear I'm not a person that sits down before an
interview and says to a client that I grew up with, "Now
this is our professional life and our personal life is out
there," because I think it sets you above. It's done more
in actions and if it ever needs to be talked about, then I
can set those boundaries. But I think they are set in my
own mind and how I treat people.

Those Who Stay! 78

This example illustrated the realities of northern practice: the
multiple roles, the dual relationships, the blurred boundaries and
the ethical dilemma's that northern social workers face on a daily
basis. This participant continues:
So, for, example, I wouldn't talk about work with that
person that I grew up with if I saw them downtown, and
if it ever came up, that's when it needs to be addressed.
And there's a fine line between being friendly and talking
about good old days and rapport building. So a certain
amount of that rapport building is there because you did
know each other when you were younger, or knew each
other in some club that you went to, or whatever. But
it's just always a very fine balancing act between being
too friendly in a professional setting and being too
professional in a personal setting!
The realities of northern life -- the personal, the professional and
the community are described as a fine balancing act:
I balance by knowing what my role is as a professional
and knowing what my role is in the community. When
I'm here as a professional social worker, I am here as a
service provider, an advocate, or whatever it is I am
doing. For example, when I am at (work) I become an
advocate for somebody who is needing service in the
(agency). It might be somebody I know or knew outside
in the community. My role in the (agency) is to advocate
for them and to provide a service, so I'm very clear when
I go and talk to them that's my rote·. I tell them what
I'm there for because they may have asked someone for
assistance and end up being referred to me, so I tell
them that's what I'm there for. The personal part is just
there as an aside -- it's almost as if the rapport was built
before, it's more like a foundation.
They proceed with the importance of this approach:
If I ignored that person or didn't acknowledge whatever
we shared outside in the world, then I would be stuck-up
and the whole principle of the social worker -- the caring
and advocacy and all that kind of stuff would kind of be
blown to the wind-- like the rapport is not there .... They
would have no use for me, you know, whether it be, "Oh,
she's just an educated so and so now, all of a sudden this
big professional, who works for (agency)," or whatever it

Those Who Stay! 79

is. Like in rural communities you have to be very real
and honest with people! You can't pull off the, "I'm a
professional here and it's okay if I see you outside in the
world but I'm not going to acknowledge you here in this
professional setting."
The participant explains how they manage situations within the
visible community:
What I do, if I see someone in the community unless
we're friends, if it's a client I have been seeing, I
generally don't acknowledge them but give them the
opportunity to acknowledge me. And usually it's just a
friendly "Hi," or just a smile, or whatever it is and that
doesn't take away from my enjoyment outside of work.
Like there's little tips like, don't always feel like you're
in work! I think people that come from outside really
need to be involved in activities other than their job.
And even if you run into your clients it's on a different
level. So, I think, within my own profession I have been
able to separate when I'm serving clients and when I'm
being a member of the community. So I can actually go
out and have a good time on a rec. volleyball team, for
example, and run into somebody that used to be my
client, or is my client and it does not bother me.
This social worker as all of the other participants suggests the
importance of separating roles within the community. These
participants said multiple roles were separated and yet co-related.
Roles were balanced with clearly defined boundaries and practice
ethics that were integrated and used as a guide in every role within
the community. A participant talks about this approach:
I see clients on a community level, 'cause not everybody
is on that personal level. People that I meet in the
community are on a community level, we're just
members in the community passing by and I happen to
have seen them in my practice at one time or another
and I don't let it bother me.
They comment concerning clients' acceptance of this:

Those Who Stay! 80

Some clients feel comfortable and some don't but I like
to think that, because of the way I treat people, they feel
comfortable. I'm sure the thought crosses their mind
just as it does mine, "Oh, I've seen that person for such
and such, or whatever it was." But because I just treat
them as another community member, I like to think that
they feel comfortable with that and because I treated
them with respect when they came into my office, or
whatever it was, for service.

****

In a rural community if you treat a client a certain way
it'll come back on you. You know, I would certainly feel
uncomfortable if I treated a client like crap and then
seen them in the community somewhere playing against
them in a volleyball game, or whatever it was. And that
wouldn't feel good and would be stressful in terms of
rural social work practice, but if you are honest with
people and treat them with respect all around ... so
that's where being integrated comes in again.
Northern life requires consistency between roles, ethics, and
behaviours. The social workers I spoke with said that multiple roles
required an ease of role transition:
I don't think role conflict is a problem (pause) (laughs)
and some would say, "BS!" But I think I learned how to
deal with this as I grew up in the small community -from my mother! (laughs) And (pause) I don't know what
else to say besides, who you are as a person and how you
deal with all these things. I think the difference between
the personality of the social worker who has a rural type
personality and one who has, say, a more urban
personality, the difference is how they cope and how
they deal with role conflicts. Now there might be role
conflicts, but it doesn't become an issue because of the
way I deal with it. Like, sure, there's a role conflict; I
don't know maybe there is- you're a professional one
place, (pause) but you know it doesn't become an issue
because of the way I deal with it. There are little issues
along the way, like meeting that client that maybe you
denied service to; someone might think that's a conflict.
But I believe again, because of who I am and all the roles
in my life, there does not have to be a conflict because of
the way I practice.

Those Who Stay! 81

These participants related that social workers within this setting
needed to "wear several hats" and had to know "how to interact
with people in different situations." When participants elaborated
on the ideas about how they lived in a fishbowl they gave examples
of other social workers who came to northern communities and were
unable to integrate their lives. For these professionals this inability
manifested itself through isolation -- they felt it impossible to live
in a small community in which work, community and personal
aspects of their lives were so visible. These participants related
that in order to work in northern communities, professionals
required a keen sense of themselves, several called it an "honesty of
themselves"-- an ability to understand and act on the delicate
boundaries between professional and personal roles.
In puzzling through this aspect of their lives in their
conversations with me, all of the social workers saw the professional
code of ethics as a tool for northern practice. For example:
I think in order for people to happily practice social
work, that's probably the major thing - the code of ethics
and how to set boundaries for yourself in a rural
community! ... For example, the principles of practice
are the same up here; it's how you apply the principle
that may be a little different in the North. Like we still
have to maintain confidentiality, still have to maintain
respect and all those things, but respect in the North
may be having to acknowledge the client in the
community because this is a way of respect for
community members. I mean in an urban centre you're
totally separate from your job and your personal life.
But it's not so here. So when you acknowledge a client,
you carry out that respect. As an experienced worker in

Those Who Stay! 82

the community, you know how to maintain that
distancing in a respectful way.
These participants exemplified their methods of working within the
northern reality and stressed that rural communities were no
excuse for practicing unethically. They stated that, in the North
the same principles of practice were followed -- it was how they were
applied to practice that differed.
All of the social workers in this study exemplified their
methods of working within the northern reality. These social
workers stated that clients were community members first and
foremost, and within their practice setting clients were community
members seeking assistance. These participants said that clients
were treated with the same respect and common courtesy as every
member of the community.
My role with clients, when I'm working with them, is
different from when I meet them in the community.
When I meet them in the community they're a member
of the community .... You treat a client in the community
the same as every other community member.... They're
a member of the community when you're out there with
them and they're a client when they are in your office.
So you need to wear two hats!

****

People in rural communities are friendlier than in bigger
centres. For example, in a big centre you don't know
your neighbor if you live next door for ten years. Here,
in the rural community, we've had people move in and
we get together and have a barbecue and invite anybody
and it doesn't matter if they are clients, or what they
are, they are invited to the community barbecue. They
are a community member and you don't discount them
because they've had some kind of association with the
agency that I work with. They are a community member
first; they are a client second! They're a community
member who is in need of help when they come into the

Those Who Stay! 83

agency, but when they are in the community they belong
to that community!
The participants talked about having an integrated identity within
their community. They described this identity as a quality of
recognition because they were recognized in the community as a
professional as well as an individual. This unified recognition
. integrated personal, professional and community life into one
identity.
In smaller communities social workers are seen as being
a part of the community and so interventions aren't just
part of what we do in an hour session with an individual.
They form part of the identity that you walk around the
community with. I mean, I am recognized here in (name
of community) as the person who does Uob title) work.
So when I'm out with my family and we're having dinner
together, somebody will come up and ask me about how
my work is going and what is happening in the
community with Uob title). I don't think that you would
get that in an urban setting. It's a mixed blessing
because there are down sides to it too. I mean, we go to
a rodeo and clients, who have been drinking, come up
and apologize all over the place for their behaviour, kind
of thing, as if they're letting me down. It's a quality of
recognition -- it's a quality that says being a social
worker is not all that I am, and people who I work with
know that. Because of the small town kind of
atmosphere, many, many clients know my family, who
my partner is, my children, and our lifestyle. To me it's
just a more rounded out kind of approach, more
complete, I guess, is the term.
An integrated identity within the community gave these social
workers a name as well as a title! They were a person within the
community as well as a social worker. Participants related that this
identity was made up of their multiple roles that were separate yet
interrelated, and a set of practice ethics with clear boundaries that

Those Who Stay! 84

were used congruently throughout their life. These social workers
said they balanced this identity by integrating their practice into
their life so that it was a part of them. They also said that
integration permitted them to set, implement and maintain
boundaries throughout their life in a congruent and consistent way.
To me, and I don't know about other people, but for me
it's pretty clear, it's about integration. It's about
integration of my practice in my life, so I'm not a social
worker for just my seven and a half hour day, I'm a
social worker. I am a social worker and that is part of
who I am and so that goes with me. And because I've
integrated that, it's okay with me to be seen as that in
the community. I think it's when people don't integrate
it, then it's stressful, you know. When we try to be a
social worker within the parameters of the hours of work
and then people outside of those hours of work have
those kinds of questions, or whatever, outside of work,
that's stressful!
The subsequent conversation tells how integrated practice works in
the unique setting:
Well, for me its not a problem because I've integrated it.
So I just set my boundaries and respond to people, I do
what needs to be done, and I don't find it a stressful
thing.... Well, I have a set of practice ethics and from
that set of ethics come decisions that I make about my
involvement with people. And I guess the setting of my
boundaries is acting on those decisions. So, for example,
somebody comes up and wants me to start helping them
to deal with their problems on a ball field, it's just, sorry,
we can talk about this and you know what my number is
and give them an invitation to call. To me that sets a
boundary. My partner has many, many relatives in this
community and I've set a boundary that says I don't deal
in practice with these people because (my partner) and I
are both very close to most of these relatives and so I
explain that and be as clear as I can about it and it's
done. And I tell you, I've never had repercussions from
that, ever!

Those Who Stay! 85

The professional social workers I spoke with described having a
clear set of ethical guidelines with well-defined boundaries, or rules
of conduct, that were the same in their personal, professional and
community lives. In setting and maintaining boundaries they used
immediacy, honesty, genuineness, and openness to deal with issues
-- boundaries were set, implemented, and maintained with no
exceptions. They commented that they used visibility in the
community to build reputation, identity, recognition, acceptance,
credibility and trust. They also explained that an integrated life was
inclusive -- it was who you were in every role be it personal,
professional or community life -- they were consistent and
congruent!
And I'll tell you that's something that people in the
community see over and over and trust after a while, if I
only did that during my seven and a-half hour day I
wouldn't be able to last. That integration to me is a
critical thing! And I mean it's not just integration of
practice, it's integration of values, of ethics, it's kind of
like walking your talk so to speak. People see that and
will respond if they see consistency. And to me that's
what this integration stuff is all about.

****

There are people who say that's too stressful an
expectation for us to have on ourselves, but I mean all
I'm talking about is being honest, being direct, not
avoiding issues, of dealing with the banker in as a
respectful way as I would anybody else, like all of those
kinds of things. They are just those human values that
say I have congruency; whether it be my practice, in my
home life or my community life I'm congruent!
Participants talked about integrated life promoting quality
recognition within the community from professionals, clients and

Those Who Stay! 86

community members. When congruency was modeled within the
community, respect recognition and reputation developed.
Reputation is important to professional, personal and community
lives and each of the professionals I spoke with noted it as an
important part of their integrated life.
A big issue with practice in the North surrounds
reputation. You can be as qualified, you know, with as
many degrees as you would like but if you don't have a
reputation for having ethics, and for being consistent,
and for caring about the people that you serve, -- they're
not going to be standing at your door because there are
people in the North who have the skills and the
integration who will be able to help .... Up here it's like
reputation is everything!" And sometimes people who
are new to the North don't understand the role of
reputation and the word of mouth kind of
communication that happens.

****

People know you in the community. For example, lots of
people in this community know me and I don't know
their name. When I come in and say, "I'm so and so,"
they say, "Oh, so you're so and so," because they've
heard about me and even though they never met me
before I'm known. And if you're the kind of person that
hangs out at the bars it doesn't take very long till your
clients have spread the word" that they have no faith in
your abilities because "I saw so and so in the bar." So
you need to look after your personal reputation as well
as your professional reputation.
Participants described how being known in the community on
all levels of their life influenced their professional practice.
Consequently, they stressed the importance of looking after
personal, professional and community reputation.
A reoccurring theme in our conversations was named by
participants as "phony." These social workers stated that they

Those Who Stay! 87

worked and lived within an inclusive setting which meant they were
known in all aspects of their life -- personal, professional and
community. Hence, they need to be genuine and congruent
throughout their many roles or be identified in the community as a
phony. As one of the participants relates, "alluding to the
genuineness of the person, either as a person or a professional, if
they are not the same, people will see through them very quickly."
These social workers stressed that first and foremost within the
visible northern setting there was a need to be genuine, or labelled a
phony. The bottom line of integrated life is being genuine to the
core, or it will show through the fish bowl.
Well, they know when you're not being honest with
them, that's why you want to be the same person
throughout your practice and through the community
and through your personal life because if you're
different, it is very apparent in a rural community. If
you treat a client differently in your office than you
would out in a community group then, you're a phony!
By making use of the exemplificatively approach to display the
essence of the staying experience of northern social work
professionals it has been possible to make visible what each of them
called the "integrated life." A life that contributes to adapting and
working "with" the realities inherent in the northern setting.
According to them, integrated life means that the personal,
professional, and community person are one and the same. There is
one congruent and consistent identity in all "walks of life."

Those Who Stay! 88

Integrated life precedes congruent ethics which convey clear
boundaries, reputation, credibility, acceptance, quality recognition
and respect. As these conversations illustrate, the thread of
integration interweaves with community life, personal life and
professional life to create the descriptive tapestry of staying as a
social work professional in the North. To complete the tapestry of
staying participants weave the final threads:
We're in the profession because we have a commitment
to the calling of social work -- being accessible to people,
trying to do some social betterment, but we're also in
the North because we want this kind of lifestyle. So
we're actually combining the professional with the
personal and creating our own type of social work up
here.

****

For me, if I'm uncertain and/ or not as dedicated or
committed to the area in which I live it's going to show
in my work. So I guess the concept is -- people who work
in social work won't stay in the North. People who live
social work -- who live the·principles within their
community and who model social betterment will stay!

Those Who Stay! 89

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary and Conclusion
This chapter summarizes and concludes the research inquiry.
Phenomenology, as previously stated, is descriptive in nature.
Therefore, my task was to search for the underlying meaning of
staying from the emic, or inside, perspective of northern social
workers. This research approach permitted the exploration and
understanding of the lived experience, while and at the same time,
allowing northern social workers themselves to inform others of
their staying experience in the North.
Through my research and reflection on the conversations I
had with these workers a lived experience of staying emerged that
they named "integrated life." This central theme interweaves their
personal, professional and community life to illustrate crucial
elements that contribute to "staying" within the northern
environment. Community life assists a professional in becoming an
integrated member of the northern setting. Personal life has a
character that fits with the character of the North and finally,
professional life, is comprised of an approach to practice that fits
the nature of the northern setting. As one longtime professional
told me, "I think the very best social workers are people who

Those Who Stay! 90

integrate their skills and their practice and their ethics and their
values into who they are as a person."

Overview of Findings
Firstly, a northern social worker works and lives within the
same inclusive community. This situation is a fact of life and offers
no escape. People live in a fishbowl where high visibility is a reality!
The northern social workers with whom I spoke seem to have
reframed this reported problem of high visibility. Being known in
the community is an asset in all areas of their life and they are
comfortable with that situation. These professionals also relate that
living in the fishbowl is not unique to social workers but is
something that every resident of the small community experiences.
Participants described other advantages of high visibility; for
example, trust and empathy with clients often developed more
quickly and sped up the helping process. High visibility also built
reputation, recognition, acceptance, credibility and trust. One
social worker observed "It's what you make of it -- it can either be a
springboard or it can be a dead end!"
The second situation often seen as a problem by those outside
the northern setting is having multiple roles which supposedly
(Zapf, 1985a) lead to role conflict. Multiple roles within the fishbowl

Those Who Stay! 91

are another northern reality! The problem of role conflict is: how
does one choose, at any given moment, the appropriate response or
set of behaviours? These northern social workers, once more,
appear to have reframed the problem. They speak of balancing their
private and public life with consistent integrated rules and
behaviours for each and every role. These social workers felt that
the reality of multiple roles called for being honest, genuine,
consistent, congruent and up-front in all walks of life. As one
participant stated, "It's kind of like walking your talk so to speak."
Participants also related that an integrated life based on
ethical conduct led to the establishment of a reputable integrated
identity within their communities. This identity built quality
recognition, a sense of trust, an upright reputation, personal and
professional integrity and community acceptance. They used the
same rules of conduct in their personal, professional and
community lives.
The men and women I talked with spoke of working and living
in harmony with northern settings and felt that the advantages of
living and working in these communities included a laid back
lifestyle, more traditional values, informal helping networks and
personalized relationships. They described their experiences in the
North as more informal in comparison to larger centres and

Those Who Stay! 92

suggested that informal approaches included: less recognition of
credentials -- more emphasis was placed on "who" they were as a
person rather than their title; elimination of rigid rules and
professional jargon; a personable, genuine approach to people;
reliance upon informal support systems; and an emphasis on
community acceptance over individuality.
Methods of adapting, or integrating, with the informal nature
of the northern setting included a versatile and flexible approach to
practice that fit the community's needs rather than the need to
rigidly adhere to any specific social work approach. These
professional social workers described using practice methods that
adapted, or integrated, with the character, or flavour, of the
northern setting. Their examples suggest that the northern
character promoted a community-based generalist social work
approach achieved by being flexible, informal, adaptable, selfsufficient, self-motivated, self-directed, innovative, mature,
creative, resourceful, optimistic, genuine, honest, and straightforward.
Because of the high visibility being authentic and personable
in both their personal and professional lives earned them integrity
within the community, this in turn, led to a healthy reputation.
They suggested the bottom line for a healthy reputation was being

Those Who Stay! 93

genuine to the "core" or risk being seen through the "fishbowl" as a
phony. In addition they told me that it was important to work in a
partnership with community groups, volunteers, natural helping
networks and other service providers. All of these professionals
related that they maintained the intimacy of the rural community
and its helping networks, and yet managed to build resources that
were locally based, comprehensive, personalized and client-centred.
They spoke of being creative and comfortable with less traditional
approaches to practice. A community-based approach to practice
that they described is supported by Brian Wharf (1985) who suggests
social workers need to work on a partnership with rural
communities.
The professionals with whom I spoke described northern
practice as a rewarding challenge that leads to opportunities such as
the development of professional expertise, ability to work with a
variety of client groups, to collaborate with other service providers,
to be flexible in practice, to work in fields that normally would not
be offered, to work directly with communities and to be builders of
community-based resources that fit client needs.
Participants told me that the personal life of an individual
needed a character that fit with the character of the northern
setting. They described this personal character as having: rural

Those Who Stay! 94

experiences, rural values, rural personality, love of the northern
lifestyle, natural abilities, practical skills and an attitude of
optimism. They also spoke of knowledge and skills as important
factors in northern practice; however, they maintained that practice
outcomes were based on this personal character.
They described the importance of integrating this personal
character into the northern lifestyle and related with enthusiasm
their positive experiences of non-metropolitan life and the benefits
of living and working in the northern setting. Through their
conversations the participants related experiences of rejuvenating
themselves within the community through nature, solitude, sports,
family and community activities. It is interesting to note that six of
the seven participants had rural roots, or in other words, rural
experiences prior to their education, and appears to support Wharf's
(1985) analysis of the importance of this experience in reframing
the staffing reality in rural communities.
These conversations suggested that an integrated life
minimized role conflict, isolation, and stress. Contrary to what
their southern counterparts expect, participants related that they
did not experience extreme isolation in the North and said they
would not feel comfortable working in a large urban centre.

Those Who Stay! 95

Implications
This descriptive work offers a beginning for further research
into northern social work practice and points out the necessity for
ongoing exchanges of information between rural practitioners and
educational institutions. One method of sharing this information is
in the development of research partnerships between rural
practitioners and social work educators. It is evident from this
study that more needs to be known about the daily experiences of
northern social workers, how they make sense out of their
experiences and how they integrate these experiences into their
personal, professional and community lives within the northern
setting. This study offers the springboard for such research to
occur.
Insight from this research may contribute to reframing the
reported problem of staff turnover in the North. Social workers in
this research study stressed the need for qualified social workers
with long term commitments and effective methods of practice that
fit with the context of northern settings. They suggested that
accessible education for people already living and working in the
North would lead to the retention of qualified professionals and
diminish the present situation of workers migrating out of northern
communities.

Those Who Stay! 96

This study suggests that social work education needs to
address the context of the northern setting and teach practical
courses that directly relate to the realities of northern practice.
Social workers in this study stated that because there were
differences between urban and rural regions a particular model or
approach that worked well in one area may not work in the other.
Therefore, they stressed it was imperative that educational
institutions consider these differences when preparing programs for
rural practitioners. Northern social work programs need to provide
a generic base that considers the context of the rural environment
and methods of practice that are suitable for northern settings. The
participants stressed that practical rural focused educational
experiences would sensitize students to the realities of northern
practice and assist them in integrating theory to practice. For
example, teaching the practical application of the code of ethics
within the context of the practice setting, or working with visibility
within an inclusive setting, or building resources from a community
development perspective, or networking and accessing resources
within the rural community, or the integration of professional and
personal life within the rural community, or how to deal with
multiple roles within an inclusive setting could be educational
experiences that would assist in the integration of theory to rural

Those Who Stay! 97

social work practice. Another suggestion for preparing social
workers for northern practice is for the social work program at the
University of Northern British Columbia to focus on community
social work practice.
This study supports accessible education for northern people.
The participants stated that educational program delivery did not
have to follow conventional models and suggested an approach that
was adaptable creative and flexible and similar to the model of
service delivery they had adopted in their work. They suggested a
decentralized field education program that was delivered through a
network of learning centres that were scattered throughout the
North. This type of program could be delivered through co-teaching
with northern people and using the northern community as a
learning tool.
The recent Gove Inquiry states that a majority of child
protection workers do not have social work degrees. This finding
was also evident in my study. I was unable to locate child
protection workers, or their supervisors who had degrees in social
work and had been employed in the North for five years or more.
Therefore, in further studies it may be useful to examine the staying
experiences of child protection workers asking: "What promotes

Those Who Stay! 98

child protection workers to stay in the North?" or "What are the
experiences of child protection workers in rural settings?"
It would also be interesting to compare the lived experiences
of short-term and long-term practitioners in the North. This type of
study may get to the roots of staff turnover and retention. For
example, an interesting aspect of my conversations was that these
long-term social workers had spent five or more years practicing in
the North and had not experienced time off work from job related
burnout or stress. This finding leads to questioning: "What do
northern practitoners use to deal with burnout, or stress?"
This research supports the importance of focusing on the
retention of northern practitioners. All of the social workers in this
study are choosing to work and live in the North. They have also
mastered integration within the northern setting to become not
only social workers but active members of the northern
communities in which they live and work.

Those Who Stay! 99

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APPENDICES

Those Who Stay! 105

Appendix A
Letter Of Introduction

Those Who Stay! 106

Letter Of Introduction
To:
As you probably know I am currently studying at U.N.B.C. in the
Master's of Social Work Program. Beginning with my experience of
living and working in the North, I have developed an interest in staff
retention in northern communities. Therefore the research that I
have chosen to undertake, as a part of my course requirement, is to
explore the influencing factors that contribute to social workers
staying in the North.
For me to fully understand this research question I have chosen to
talk to people who are directly involved in northern practice. I
would like to have conversations with five to seven social workers
with B.S.W.'s or M.S.W.'s, who have worked in the North for at least
five years.
The study consists of one and possibly two conversations; each will
last approximately two hours. I have enclosed a conversation
guideline so that you are aware of the areas of questioning I have in
mind.
This research is completelv voluntarv. If you agree to participate I
will ask that you fill out the attached "Agreement of Participation
Form" and return it to me in the enclosed self-addressed envelope. I
will contact you at a later date to set up an interview time and place
that is convenient for you.
If you would like to see a copy of the full thesis proposal, or if you

have any questions please contact either myself at 403-353-3942, or
my academic advisors -- Barbara Herringer at 604-960-6643 or Glen
Schmidt at 604-960-6519. I look forward to your support in this
research study.

Yours sincerely,

Dorothy Peterson, B.S.W., R.S.W.
Enc.: Conversation Guideline
Agreement of Participation Form
Self-addressed Envelope

Those Who Stay! 107

Appendix B
Conversation Guideline

Those Who Stay! 108

Conversation Guideline
In order to prepare for our discussion the following is an overview of
the topics that will be covered. If you would like to take some time
prior to our conversation to prepare your thoughts on some of the
areas, it may focus our discussion.
Areas that will be covered include:
Your thoughts on how social work practice in northern communities
compares or differs from urban or smaller communities in the
South.
Your opinion of the differences, both advantages and constraints, of
working in northern rural communities.
Your ideas and methods of dealing with challenges in small northern
communities, for example visibility, isolation, limited resources,
boundary issues.
What you believe to be the essence of northern practice for you. For
example, what do you enjoy?
During your northern experience have you seen changes in your
practice delivery. If so, what has changed? Do you draw on special
skills, methods, training, experiences, or personal attributes to
assist you in your practice?
What do you believe to be essential factors for northern social
workers? How and why do these factors differ in small northern
communities compared to urban centres? What is 'it' that northern
social workers need to stay in the North?
What factors contribute to you staying in the North? Why do you
stay? What makes you different from those who leave?
Your impressions of incentive programs that could be implemented
to attract people to the North for long-term commitments.
Thank you for your participation in this research.
Dorothy Peterson

Those Who Stay! 109

Appendix C
Agreement Of Participation Form

Those Who Stay! 110

Agreement Of Participation Form
THOSE WHO STAY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF
STAYING AS EXPERIENCED BY SOCIAL WORKERS IN NORTHERN
COMMUNITIES
The purpose of this research is to explore and understand the
essential factors that attribute to the attraction and retention of
long-term social workers in rural and remote northern communities.
This study will be conducted by talking to individuals, who have
bachelors or masters' degrees in social work, and have worked for a
period of five years or more in northern communities of British
Columbia.
This research forms a component of my Master's of Social Work
degree at the University of Northern British Columbia. If you agree
to participate in this study I will arrange interview times and places
for your convenience. These discussions will take approximately
two hours and will be audio taped. The tapes will be summarized and
coded to ensure there is no identifying information on the
summary. The summary will then be sent to you for any comments
or clarification. All conversations will be kept strictly confidential,
and will not be available to anyone but me. Your name will never be
used and you will not be identified by any means in any publications
which result from the research.
If you agree to participate in this study, you may still withdraw at
any time. If you have any questions, please contact me at 403-3533942. Please feel free to call collect.

******************************************************************************
Your signature below indicates that you understand and agree to the
terms of participation in the study. Please sign two copies and keep
one for your records. Thank you for your assistance.
Name _______________________Signature________________________
Date________________________Witness__________________________
This research is being conducted by:
Dorothy Peterson, B.S.W., R.S.W.

Those Who Stay! 111

Appendix D
Detailed Conversation Guide

Those Who Stay! 112

Detailed Conversation Guide
1. Could you begin by telling me a little bit about where you have
worked both in the North and elsewhere.
·
~ Probe: How long have you worked in the North?
2. What prompted you to take a job in the North?
~ Probe:
What prompted you to come?
What promoted you to stay?
Is this still relative to your staying?
3. Have there been times when you considered leaving?
~ Probe: What influenced you to stay?
4. What captures the essence of northern practice for you?
5. Consider that I am not familiar with working in the North. What
would you tell me about northern practice?
6. Considering your experiences, what is different about northern
practice compared to urban centres or smaller communities in the
South?
7. During your northern experience have you seen changes in your
practice delivery? If so what has changed? What has worked and not
worked in your practice in the North?
8. Suppose I was a new social worker what would you tell me about
the advantages of working in northern communities?
9. We have been talking about the advantages of northern practice,
now could you describe some disadvantages of working in the
North?
~ Probe: Could you tell me how you overcome ...
10. I am a new social worker in your community. How would you
suggest that I deal with some of the issues of northern practice?
~ Probe: a) separating personal and professional boundaries?
b) high visibility and the fishbowl lifestyle?
c) professional isolation?
11. What in your formal education prepared you for northern
practice?
~ Probe: Could you elaborate on how this prepared you?

Those Who Stay! 113

12. Could you describe what was missing in your formal training
that would have been helpful in northern practice?
13. In your opinion what should schools of social work offer in their
curriculum to prepare students for northern practice settings?
14. It has been suggested that some social workers are better suited
for northern practice than others. What are your thoughts on that?
15. This question is purposefully vague, you can respond in any way
that makes sense to you. What is 'it' that social workers need to
survive in the North?
16. If you were hiring someone for northern practice what skills
would you look for in a potential worker?
~ Probe: Could you elaborate on why these are necessary?
17. Suppose I was a potential social worker in your community.
What do you think would be some of the personal characteristics
that I would need to survive in northern practice?
~ Probe: Could you give an example of ...
18. What personal experiences have assisted you in your northern
practice?
~ Probe: What experiences do you think new workers to the North
should have?
19. How do you meet the demands of working in the North?
20. What advice would you give new workers on how to meet the
demands of northern practice?
21. In your opinion, why do workers leave?
22. What is different about you from the workers who leave?
23. What do you believe to be the influencing factors that contribute
to social workers staying in the North?
24. What do you think needs to be done to attract and retain social
workers to the North for long term commitments?
~ Probe: For ideas
25. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Those Who Stay! 114

Appendix E
Examples of Meaning Units

Those Who Stay! 115

Data Analysis Meaning Units
PERSONAL INTEGRATION- LIFESTYLE

1-Wbat prompted you to come to the North?
Lifestyle is one of the basic reasons ... we were
looking at a place, as we had started a family,
concerned with a place that was sort of
appealing ... and it was a tremendous place to raise our
children. Just great. Here your kids can skate, and play
hockey, and ski, and do all of those things and you
don't have to make fifty thousand or eighty thousand a
year to afford it, you know, those are within limits. But
if you were in a larger market it's a whole different
kettle of fish. (OOlpl)
PROFESSIONAL & PERSONAL INTEGRATION

-Life style is the basic reason for
coming, and staying. Economical,
great place to raise a family
-Recognition as a person and
professional
-Recognized for what you do not
your title or professional degree.
-Reputation as a professional is
integrated with your personal and
mmunity identity. From this
identity gain -- recognition, respect
credibllity, trust within community

We are always concerne
, how can we get better
recognition as social workers ... And there's only one answer to that as far as I'm concerned and
that's do a professional job and you will be recognized for what you have done not for you title .... You
know, just because you have the magic initials does not mean that you are a good practitioner.
(00lp4) (p7,9,20)
Northern practice gives you
variety and freedom of practice
PROFESSIONAL -- OPPORTUNITIES
and opportunities to develop
3a-So could you tell me what captures the essence of
career. Re-frames limitations as
! ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ! ~ ~~ !' '
~
-to have impact,
It gives you
~
•
~~of practice, it
develop career and do
gives you the opportunity to do things you may not be something that counts
able to do elsewhere. (00lp4) (pl,2,3)
COMMUNITY-- RESOURCES
3b-I think that very often, you know, we sit around and say
that we haven't got this in the North and we haven't got
that in the North but we forget volunteers
~
~ there is a wealth of manpower, willp
, person power,
just all kinds of things that are available. (00lp4)
COMMUNITY-- ATTITUDE

-Northern practice offers
natural resources in many
forms- volunteers, natural
helping networks and
community support
services.

3d-And you are part of the mmunityl You
, you are not one of
a million people knoc
g on the door
omething, you're Joe or
you're George, or you're Harry, or
oever, and if you want a favour
well gosh there must be something to that. (00lp6)

ESTABLISHED
-- good descriptive
example of the
experience of
belonging

Those Who Stay! 116
PROFESSIONAL-PRACTICE

19-I like the small town, kind of approach to the work that I do as well.
So could you give me some examples of the small town approach.
My experience has been that we lack the referral
resources for many of our clients needs and so
that in itself kind of motivates us towards
generalist practice, towards having to build
resources, with specific client needs in m
and
to me that results in having resource
at better
fit client's needs. I was able to s
some time in
(large city) in a large organiz
n where referral
was the major portion of
at social workers did
and to me that wasn't a very fulfilling kind of
work.

-Practices a generalist approach that
allows to build client-based resources that
are suitable to their needs and the
community needs.
-the challenge of limited resources
becomes an opportunity to build resources
versus just referral service
-more personalized practice here-resources
to suit client, informal method, more
fulfilling work

PROFESSIONAL-INTEGRATION

20-So that probably could be one wayofcomparingrural to urban practice
Oh, I think so, and certainly you know the colleagues
that I speak to regularly don't seem to understand
that there are qualities in rural practice that are
really desirable. The other thing that they have
difficulty sometimes with is the opportunities that
come to people who do rural practice that you just
wouldn't get in an urban setting.
Okay, you gave me two important pieces, qualities of
rural practice and the opportunities in rural practice.
I am really interested in these two topics so could you
expand a bit on these two areas? First of all what are
the qualities of rural practice?

-Quality of practice is that one identity
within the community that is based on
multiple roles.
-Identity is integrated based on personal,
professional, community life
-- accepted, recognized a member of
community as a professional and a person
- professional practice forms part of
personal, and community identity.
-anonymity is not possible- personal,
professional and community life are interconnected and not separate
--Recognition comes through how & what a
person does within the community. this
quality of recognition is on more personal
level in community the 'we' part of
community-acceptance, trust and fit
-Personal and professional approach
incorporates lifestyle, and community
lives into a more complete holistic
approach (integrated)

I think there is a number of them. One
that, in smaller communities soc
orkers are see
as being a part of the communi and so interve ons
aren't just part of what we do in an hour sess
with
an individual they form part of the identit
at you
walk around the community with. I me
get
recognized here in (name of commu
) as the person
who does Uob title) work, so when m out with my
family and we're having dinner gether somebody will come up and ask me about how my work is
going, and what is happenin n the community with Uob title). I don't think that you would get that
in an urban setting .... But it's a quality of recognition, it's a quality that say's being a social worker
is not all that I am and clients who I work with know that.
Because of the small town kind of atmosphere many, many
-quality of practice is same in
clients know my family, know who my (partner) is, my
Nort h but the identity of the
children, that kind of thing, know our lifestyle. To me it's
person and the professional is
just a more rounded out kind of approach. More complete I
integrated because the person
guess is the term. There's a whole bunch of things.
works and lives within a small
tting that is visible
Qualities of northern practice?
Yeah, you know I have done research o ural versus urban
practice and as far as the practice quality there is no difference at all, but in terms of identity identity of the individual in the practice, there is huge variations. (002p2)

Those Who Stay! 117
PROFESSIONAL-OPPORTUNITIES

21a-So opportunities in rural practice, Jet's get to that next step thenWell I think there are
--Challenges are turned into opportunities to develop
opportunities to work in fields
resources, to gain experience with a variety of case
that normally, one wouldn't be
loads, to do a variety of services. Work with a variety
given those opportunities. A good
of clients and professionals --allowed to be flexible,
example is somebody who's doing
self-directed and independent
(specialized) counselling can also
-Practice is community based and that allows a wide
have opportunities to do work
selection of interventions, and to build resources from
family violence counselling, o n
a community development perspective, this meets
working with suicidal teen
he
clients needs and also allows professionals to work
target groups can chang ecause
with the community in building.
we don't have so many specialists
folks around us. There is much more opportunities, I think for collaboration with other service
providers. There is flexibility in our practice in terms of our being able to have some self directed
practice in lots and lots of ways. We can choose to identify rural populations as being priority or we
can identifY our community populations as priority. For the most part, with most people that seems
to be an option and I appreciate it. I think it is much more community based than what is possible in
an urban setting and that allows the
~
~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___,
-To be able to develop and create resources
INTEGRATION OF PRACTICE
that are relevant to community and client
needs are a unique opportunity
2lb- When you talk about community
-Builders capture the energy of the
based practice, could you give me some
community and put it towards the
examples ofinterventions that you
development of resources
would use in this type of practice?
- orkers show personal as well as
professional commitment to the community
and are involved on both levels.
-PRACTICE IN THE NORTH IS VERY MUCH
COMMUNITY-DIRECTED-- in that the flavour
of the community controls the approach
professionals take in their work.

We could do all ki ds. An example is the youth centre
that's going on right now, is one that's driven by the
community. So when you're saying what kind of
interventions, it's not so much I think, interven
something that going wrong in the comm
, it's more
harnessing energy towards somethin
at's benefiting the
community. And so intervention really isn't the term I
would use, it's more what kind of development can happen.
Community development?

The term is not interventions
it is what kind of
development
-an example of being straight
forward, direct and informed
of terms used in community
-Participants referred to
jargon throughout the
conversations and yet used
their own form of jargon
- ote in previous
conversations when referring
to self-help and networking
the participant came back
with 'to use another jargon
word, user friendly'
These professionals
demonstrated their character
throughout the conversations
in their manner of colourful
speaking, their honesty and
straight forwardness

Yes. So if we're talking about renovating a community hall
so that there can be more activities there, that's social
work from a social work point of view. We can get involved
in that, it's not something that's outside of our generalist
mandate. If there are youth needs that are unmet and
there's a committee being formed to deal with this we can get involved in those things. If we have the
time and the energy and as well the personal investment in our own community. (002p3-4)