The impact of strengths-based working on long-term housing outcomes: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Gellen, Sandor ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9137-8209 and Fox, Chris ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1931-2058 (2024) The impact of strengths-based working on long-term housing outcomes: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Social Work Research, 48 (3). pp. 189-200. ISSN 1070-5309

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Abstract

Strengths-based working (SBW) is being adopted across multiple sectors, but the evidence base for its effectiveness is limited. In our assessment of a social outcomes contract, we evaluated the impact of SBW on the delivery of homelessness-related outcomes for a high-risk client group. Our novel impact evaluation design first identified characteristics in front-line staff associated with SBW and then decoded conjectural causal links between these characteristics and their clients’ social outcomes using Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Data were collected from 65 front-line workers, measuring reflective practice, self-efficacy and innovativeness. We found that clients of staff who most strongly exhibited characteristics associated with SBW achieved better long-term outcomes. This article makes four important contributions to our understanding of strengths-based working. First, we show how it is possible to undertake rigorous impact evaluation of SBW in a complex setting and identify moderately complex causal relations with limited sample size. Secondly, we propose and test the presence of key characteristics associated with SBW and, in doing so, contribute to the theoretical understanding of SBW. Thirdly, we present new evidence on the effectiveness of SBW. Finally, the article demonstrates how social outcomes contracts can provide a framework for testing innovative social interventions.