Is Social Management a Profession? Managerial Styles Within Italian Welfare Organizations

In Italy, the rescaling of local welfare systems is leading to profound changes in the management of welfare organizations. Local public administrations play a key-role in planning social services, favoring the strengthening of a managerial jurisdiction. Adopting the perspective of organizational professionalism, we interviewed 20 social managers, to understand how their jurisdiction is developing in the balance between ‘bureaucratic’ constraints and ‘professional’ aims. The findings were compared with the competencies defined by the Network for Social Works Managers (NSWM). We argue that the way in which social managers take their responsibilities affects the effective protection of the social rights, locally