Social Identity and Knowledge Formation

Abstract

This article examines knowledge formation in social services management as an interpretive and socially embedded process, responding to the growing emphasis on data‑informed decision‑making aimed at improving service effectiveness. It argues that prevailing discussions tend to focus on data availability and shared information bases, while paying insufficient attention to how knowledge is formed, interpreted, and integrated into managerial decision‑making. In particular, managers’ cognitive frames, social identities, and organisational norms appear to shape how information needs are recognised and what is regarded as relevant knowledge. In social services, knowledge formation is especially complex due to the field’s epistemic diversity, in which experiential, contextual, and research‑based forms of knowledge coexist and intersect. Building on this premise, the article conceptualises knowledge formation as a managerial process that is inherently interpretive and socially situated. By applying social identity theory, the study extends existing social work research that has predominantly focused on client–practitioner interaction, shifting attention to managerial sense‑making and knowledge practices. The empirical analysis is based on qualitative document analysis of two types of material: (1) national and local documents guiding social work and (2) strategy documents produced by the focal organisations. The analysis identifies identity constructions, normative expectations, and knowledge‑related assumptions articulated in these documents, illuminating how managerial interpretations and sense‑making are structured in social services management.