Degree Date
2022
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Social Work and Social Research
Abstract
Multidisciplinary teams (MDT) of professionals are mandated to respond to and investigate cases of child abuse in Delaware. Utilizing research and theory about interorganizational collaboration, my exploratory study considered how this mandate operated in practice. Five themes from interorganizational literature (IOC) on facilitators and barriers to collaborative practice--trust, commitment, communication, capacity, and change--were examined using the theories of Goffman and Weber. The concept of power underlies these themes.
The MDT was considered a motivating example to explore whether Lave and Wenger’s socio-cultural learning theory of Community of Practice (CoP) explained learning and practice among multidisciplinary professionals considering barriers and facilitators identified in IOC research. My research, the first study of Delaware’s MDTs, sought to give voice to professionals who served as MDT members and to answer the question: How do divergent groups of professionals interact in the interorganizational collaboration framework of the MDT that investigates child abuse in Delaware?
Through 29 interviews with team members, conducted on Zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic, I explored participants’ perceptions of team operations. Five overarching themes emerged from my coding of interview data: the importance of relationships; communication; learning; team identity; and systemic or process issues.
I concluded that the MDT is a reasonably well functioning interorganizational collaboration with several hallmarks of a CoP. The MDT is not a perfect fit with the idealized model of a voluntary CoP because the MDT process is statutorily mandated and the team is comprised of members from diverse, albeit related professions, where their primary allegiance lies. However, their commitment to the best practice of a multidisciplinary response and mutual engagement created around the joint enterprise of investigating child abuse reflected key elements of a CoP. Learning that members experienced through team participation helped develop and sustain the MDT through changes in membership.
Study results are not generalizable to MDTs in other locations because the study was based on a nonprobability sample in one small state. Benefits of my study include the production of useful knowledge about the lived experiences of MDT members in Delaware and the applicability of the CoP theory in understanding mandated collaborations.
Citation
Sitler, L. 2022. "Delaware’s Multidisciplinary Teams for the Investigation of Child Abuse: Communities of Practice?." PhD Diss., Bryn Mawr College.