ABSTRACT
The conflict between care and control is endemic to organizational life, and particularly the organizational life of agencies that exist to serve people in trouble. Managers need to balance the two, particularly in supervising the work staff do with their clients. Supervision can and should be a major source of support and learning. It is also an essential mechanism for monitoring the quality of a service, for which managers are responsible. Furthermore, since the relationship between staff and clients in helping organizations itself often includes elements of both care and control, the supervisory relationship is likely to mirror fundamental tensions in the organization’s task. As such, it can be a key to understanding institutional processes.
