Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the frequency of technology use and the tendency of child welfare workers to exhibit engagement behaviors with their clients. This study was based on the premise that increased technology use is negatively associated with the quality of direct human interactions. The design of this study is descriptive and quantitative in nature. To identify and describe the potential relationships between demographic, technology use, and engagement variables, numerical data were collected through an anonymous 46-item survey. A multiple regression analysis approach was used to analyze the data gathered in this study. The researcher found that the frequency of technology use has no significant relationship with how participants perceive themselves as engaging their clients. An unexpected finding yielded by this study is that the child welfare workers under study utilize technology so frequently that it becomes apparent they have little time left to have direct client contact and consequently limited opportunities to engage clients. Taken together, these findings suggest that while technology use has no significant relationship with workers' tendency to exhibit engagement behaviors during client interactions, it may be negatively associated with the frequency of opportunities workers have to exhibit those behaviors