ABSTRACT
The chapter presents analyses derived from a cross-national qualitative study conducted in Poland, Romania, and Germany. Thirty frontline social workers were engaged in semi-structured interviews with each country representing an equal number of respondents as sub-samples.
Firstly, the study presents the character of a global and national performative context, as these are subjectively perceived by social workers attempting to fulfil professional duties under extremely volatile conditions. In critical life-and-death situations, social workers resorted to making their own decisions while coping with shifting realities. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic exposed weaknesses in Europe's welfare states, with the crises in people's health exacerbated by misdirected or absent social policy measures.
The summary comprises the following issues: strategies of resilience in a pandemic crisis; work dilemmas in the context of clients’ autonomy; and authoritative control as a dominant factor affecting social worker relationship with employers and clients.
Concluding considerations make references to historical differences and to cross-cutting similarities in welfare regimes. The paradox within a managerialist authoritarian welfare system is the incidence of transgression of social workers who have committed to protect client interests against dysfunctional leadership and organisational chaos at the early stages of the pandemic.
