Defending Social Justice: Political Change and Social Work in Australia and New Zealand

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Janet George ◽  
Lindsey Napier
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Political Change

scholarly journals What do social work students think social work research is?

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
Anita Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Social Work Values

In New Zealand, social work students often undertake social work research training as part of their first qualification in social work. The focus of this article is to consider what social work students think social work research is and whether they think social work research should be part of normal, everyday practice or not. Forty-three social work students from Otago University participated in a small research project during 2009 aimed at exploring their constructions of social work research. They emphasised that social work research should be compatible with social work values like empowerment and social justice, and bring about positive change of benefit of service users. 

scholarly journals Caught between a rock and a hard place: Social work in non-government organisations

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashleigh Price
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Principles And Standards ◽  
Constructivist Epistemology

INTRODUCTION: Non-government organisations (NGOs) make a significant contribution to social service delivery in Aotearoa New Zealand. The purpose of this research is to understand how government policy impacts social work practice in non-government organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand. How NGO social workers apply and maintain ethical principles and standards in the current socio-economic climate was explored. The study aimed to increase understanding of how NGO social workers remain dedicated to the pursuit of social justiceand social change in their day-to-day practice, within conflicting policy environments and the government’s social investment approach.METHODOLOGY: A qualitative research methodology informed by a constructivist epistemology was adopted as the research strategy for this study. The interest was in exploring personal perspectives so qualitative in-depth interviews were carried out with five experienced NGO social work practitioners.FINDINGS: Thematic analysis of the research data found that contemporary NGO social work is a practice characterised by a sense of powerlessness. From this sense of powerlessness, five sub-themes were identified: freedom and powerlessness; the application of the principle of social justice at a macro level; professional dissonance; issues of funding and resourcing constraints as a result of neoliberal economic policy; and finally, different realities and a notion of othering.CONCLUSION: This research found that the social justice element of social work practice may be at risk should the dominant neoliberal social policy environment remain in existence.

scholarly journals Disrupting the grassroots narrative of social work in Aotearoa New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonya Hunt ◽  
Barbara Staniforth ◽  
Liz Beddoe
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Forces

INTRODUCTION: The Aotearoa New Zealand social work professionalisation project disrupted underpinning grassroots narratives of the profession and led to decades of debate and conflict. Social work emphasises egalitarian approaches and, during the 1980s and 1990s, social workers responded to internal and external challenges of elitism, racism, and sexism. However, the ongoing professionalisation project has been at times, at odds with social justice imperatives and undermined by neoliberal drivers.METHODS: This research investigated how political, sociocultural and economic dimensions impacted on the development and initial implementation of the Social Workers Registration Act (2003) and how key actors at the time were affected. A qualitative realist research methodology has been utilised, analysing qualitative interviews with 22 participants, policy documents and archival data to clarify discourses of power and capture the voices and rich stories of those involved in the debates at the time.FINDINGS: A sociological lens was utilised to focus and frame the coalescing political, socio-cultural and economic forces that contributed to the problematising of social work professionalisation and the determining of the need for registration. Insight from some key actors at the time, including educators, the profession, tangata whenua, employers, practitioners, the State, and the public were considered.CONCLUSIONS: Examining these forces behind the professionalisation project provides a platform to consider if social work in Aotearoa New Zealand has been strengthened with registration. There are ongoing challenges and threats to the independence and social justice focus of the profession that grew alongside the grassroots of social work.

scholarly journals Working with gender in transformative education and supervision: Unpacking the invisible handbag

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-53
Author(s):  
Jude Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Transformative Education ◽  
Professional Roles ◽  
Global Community ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Invisible

As an educator and professional supervisor, I am physically located in Aotearoa New Zealand and I am also part of a global community of practice. My increased access to online global discourses on both feminism and social work has led me to critically examine my work, in particular in relation to the social justice imperative implicit in my professional roles.

scholarly journals Advancing social work professionalism: Standards for management and leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-56
Author(s):  
Mike Webster ◽  
David McNabb ◽  
John Darroch
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Leadership And Management ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Work Management ◽  
Management And Leadership

In 2004, management was recognised by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) as one of 13 ‘core purposes’ of the global profession. Taking that recognition as a starting point, this article advances the notion that the pre-eminent function of management in social work organisations is to serve, advocate for and integrate the remaining 12 pur- poses. We further propose that these 12 purposes express the profession’s commitment to human rights and social justice as social work’s distinctive values – that social justice has an organisational dimension. Proceeding from that philosophical base, this paper introduces a research project to develop standards for social work management and leadership uniquely designed for Aotearoa New Zealand. The authors suggest that the IFSW core purpose statement informs and underpins the project. Standards developed by the profession in the United States and England are reviewed and elements drawn from those sources assessed for potential application to New Zealand. The concepts of leadership and management are examined to determine whether they are interchangeable terms, while noting that in the two overseas jurisdictions leadership is privileged. The article concludes by way of an introduction to the preliminary findings of the research project for future treatment.

Transnational Social Work

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Nature ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Labour Market Mobility

This unique book provides an international comparison of labour markets, migrant professionals and immigration policies, and their interaction in relation to social work. Case studies based on the latest research from the UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia allow readers to make critical comparisons and gain understanding of the global nature of the social work profession. Detailed analysis covers the opportunities and challenges presented by labour market mobility, the implications for social justice and discussion of the experiences and perceptions of transnational social workers. Essential reading for social work educators, academics and professionals, this book will also inform the development of relevant policy, professional, and educational responses to the phenomenon of transnational social work mobility.

scholarly journals COVID-19 and the calls of humanistic social work: Exploring the developmental-clinical social work concerns of the pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 002087282110079
Author(s):  
Robert K Chigangaidze
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Clinical Social Work ◽  
Health Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face

Any health outbreak is beyond the biomedical approach. The COVID-19 pandemic exposes a calamitous need to address social inequalities prevalent in the global health community. Au fait with this, the impetus of this article is to explore the calls of humanistic social work in the face of the pandemic. It calls for the pursuit of social justice during the pandemic and after. It also calls for a holistic service provision, technological innovation and stewardship. Wrapping up, it challenges the global community to rethink their priorities – egotism or altruism. It emphasizes the ultimate way forward of addressing the social inequalities.

scholarly journals Centering Social Justice in Mental Health Practice: Epistemic Justice and Social Work Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 104973152110109
Author(s):  
Marjorie Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Policy Advocacy ◽  
Health Practice ◽  
Epistemic Justice

This article examines how mental health social work practice can move outside the hegemony of the medical model using approaches that honor the centering of social justice. By using the philosophical analysis of epistemic injustice and the ethics of knowing, I move out of the traditional psychiatric and psychological conceptual frameworks and discuss new guiding principles for practice. In the context of the radical tradition in social work and the impetus to blend theory with practice, I consider the use of narrative and anti-oppressive approaches to center social justice principles in individual dyadic work as well as in wider systems family and community work and policy advocacy. I evaluate these approaches through the principles of epistemic justice and discuss the importance of a relational collaborative approach where honoring the client and exploring lived experience are central to both the concepts of testimonial justice, hermeneutic justice and anti-oppressive practice.

scholarly journals Exhaustion and possibility. The wor(l)dlyness of social work in (G)local environment worlds during a pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 54-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona B Livholts
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Writing Genres

Exhaustion is not about being tired. It is an intense feeling of restlessness, of insomnia, and awakening when I ask myself: have I exhausted all that is possible? Such a state of restlessness and wakefulness represents a turning point for having enough, and opens for new possibilities to act for social change. This reflexive essay departs from the notion that the language of exhaustion offers a wor(l)dly possibility for social work(ers) to engage in critical analytical reflexivity about our locations of power from the outset of our (g)local environment worlds. The aim is to trace the transformative possibilities of social change in social work practice through the literature of exhaustion (eg. Frichot, 2019 ; Spooner, 2011 ). The methodology is based on uses of narrative life writing genres such as poetry, written and photographic diary entrances between the 4th of April and 4th of June. The essay shows how tracing exhaustion during the pandemic, visualises a multiplicity of forms of oppression and privilege, an increasing attention and relationship to things, and border movements and languages. I suggest that social work replace the often-used terminology of social problems with exhaustive lists to address structural forms of racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, which has been further visualized through death, illness, violence, and poverty during the pandemic. I argue that the language of exhaustion is useful for reflexivity and action in social work practice through the way it contributes to intensified awareness, attention, engagement, listening, and agency to create social justice.

‘From our ownselves’: Acompañamiento with Indigenous Women in Perú

2021 ◽  
pp. 002087282097026
Author(s):  
Mirna E Carranza
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Indigenous Women ◽  
International Social Work ◽  
International Social ◽  
Innovative Approaches

This article contributes to the ethical and practical conceptualizations of centring marginalized voices in research across borders. This project worked within the parameters of international social work (ISW) in Perú, which is a space where the advancement of globalization and colonization has deepened the historical exclusion and marginality of Indigenous women. To work towards social justice, this project developed creative innovative approaches to engagement and resisted western notions of progress. As research is not neutral, deconstruction of contextual forces that shape research makes visible how knowledge(s) are understood and subjugated in ISW, in particular that of Indigenous women.

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