Oppression

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty Garcia ◽  
Dorothy Van Soest
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Economic Justice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Power Arrangements

A firm grasp of the nature of oppression, with its dynamics of power and its systemic character, is required so that social workers can avoid unintended collusion with pervasive oppressive systems if they are to be successful in promoting social and economic justice. Recognizing the relationship between macro-level and micro-level dynamics and their implications for practice is an substantive part of social work practice. This perspective includes attention to the ubiquitousness of privilege and oppression and the potential consequences of ignoring this reality as complicity in and normalizing exclusionary and marginalizing behaviors. This article discusses the concept of oppression, its dynamics and common elements, and anti-oppressive practices that can expose and dismantle oppressive relationships and systemic power arrangements.

Main Street Revisited: Social Work Practice in Rural Areas

1986 ◽  
Vol 67 (8) ◽  
pp. 466-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen H. Waltman
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Rural Social Work ◽  
Main Street ◽  
Professional Development Needs ◽  
The Relationship

The unique aspects of rural social work practice are discussed, with emphasis on the relationship between rural values and primary social work methods and skills. Suggestions for meeting the professional development needs of rural social workers are presented.

Peace

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles D. Cowger
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This entry discusses the relationship of war and peace to social work practice. The historic and current mandate for social workers to work for peace is presented. The inevitable tie of war to everyday social work practice is described, and the relationship between social justice and peace is illustrated.

Older people, pensions and poverty: An issue for social workers?

2011 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Foster
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

Poverty is encountered by the majority of users of social services but is often overlooked in social work practice. This article explores the relationship between poverty in older age, pension receipt and the role of social policy formulation in the UK with particular reference to New Labour governance. It also briefly explores the EU context before considering the implications for social work.

scholarly journals Social work in the public services in Brazil - disclosing ruling relations in a local context

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-146
Author(s):  
Trond Heitmann
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Local Context ◽  
The Public ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

This article about social workers in the public social services in Brazil explores professional social work practice through the subjective standpoint of the social workers. Inspired by institutional ethnography, this approach explicates how understandings of social work are interpreted and implemented in various contexts. The findings show that the formalization of the relationship with the employer through contracts of employment implicate that the disciplinary normative definitions of social work succumb to institutional regulations, which are not necessarily discipline specific. In addition, the temporary character of the contracts of employment makes the social workers align their practice to institutional frameworks and demands, as they are personally interested in renewal of the contracts and the maintenance of their professional careers. With this approach, disciplinary, political, ideological, legal and moral definitions of social work are not viewed as the essences of social work, but rather as contextual processes that are locally activated in different contexts. At the same time, it underscores social work as a political profession which should naturally include interventions on political, juridical, economic and organizational levels. Consequently, professional social work is not one thing, nor only one profession, but rather professional practices adapted to a variation of contexts. This perspective is significant to help detect areas of intervention for social change.

The theoretical context for FGCs

2018 ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
Kate Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Social Work Theory ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter discusses the core theoretical concepts that relate to family group conferences (FGCs). Social work theory has long shaped the practice of the profession, but it is only in recent years that social workers are being asked to evidence the theoretical basis to their interventions, in assessment and court reports. As such, it is crucial that social workers understand the theoretical basis to their work and for them to be recognised as skilled and research-informed practitioners in their own right, given the evidence-based practice landscape of social care. For policy makers, having an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the FGC model and the relationship between FGCs and what is considered to be good social work practice is significant. The theoretical framework ensures that the model is given credibility and offers the potential for it to become a viable alternative to existing processes.

The Computer Social Worker: Regulatory practices, regulated bodies and science

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine R Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Clinical Judgment ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
The Body ◽  
Michel De Certeau ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Bodily Contact ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge

Social work assessments, and in turn clinical judgment and intervention practices, are increasingly framed by standardised tools and technologies that are digitised. These tools and technologies mediate social workers’ relationships with services users, while also privileging, and in turn reiterating, particular identities and particular forms of knowledge. In this article, I am interested in how standardised tools and technologies, like computers, operate to mediate the relationship between social workers and services users. I work with an autoethnographic narrative in order to examine standardised social work practice. Methodologically, autoethnography rests within a reflexive frame of qualitative research, allowing us to excavate our experiences in order to understand how our lives are ordered and knowledge is socially constitutive. In mining this narrative, I am interested in the body, and in particular, the corporeal dimension of standardised practices. I historically locate these practices, and use the work of Michel de Certeau and Michel Foucault to examine how tools and technologies function in relation to the body, even when there is no direct physical, bodily contact. Ultimately I argue that there is a scientific discourse underpinning current clinical practice and I use the framings of Donna Haraway to understand the implications of this for social workers.

scholarly journals Advocacy in Social Work or Advocacy versus Social Work?:An attitudinal survey of practicing social workers in Ireland.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Kevin Whelan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Work Role ◽  
Irish Society ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
Attitudinal Survey ◽  
The Relationship

*Abstract*This paper discusses and presents findings drawn from a quantitativeattitudinal survey of practising social workers conducted in the republicof Ireland. Sampling was conducted across Ireland within a population of3900 practising social workers approximately and resulted in 128 responses,111 of which were complete. The purpose of the study was to explore therole of advocacy approaches in social work practice and to examine therelationship of professional social work to independent advocacy groups.The study found that social workers frequently engage in advocacy tasks.However, despite this, it also found that a majority of social workers feelthat the tasks associated with advocacy are best placed with other groupsin Irish society. The study found that a majority of social workersacknowledge sharing a similar value-base to independent advocacy groups.However, it also suggests that the relationship between social workers andadvocacy groups is complex and conflictual. In this respect, it wassuggested that while social workers recognise the importance of advocacygroups, they also acknowledge that advocacy groups do not always complementthe social work role. Ultimately this study shows that manypractitioners acknowledgethat the necessity for advocacy groups in Ireland can be ascribed to thecausal effects of contemporary social work practice.*Keywords:* *Social Work; Advocacy; Independent advocacy groups.*

scholarly journals Reflections on a pandemic: Disruptions, distractions and discoveries

2020 ◽  
pp. 147332502097332
Author(s):  
Rosie Buckland
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Health It ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Personal Reflections ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Meaning Of Home ◽  
Staying At Home

This paper seeks to begin a consideration of the relationship between social work and home in the time of the Covid-19 global pandemic, where staying at home has become a matter of public health. It draws on my own experiences as a practising social worker as well as more personal reflections on the meaning of home, to suggest that social workers are uniquely placed to understand home. It suggests that despite this, we have perhaps lost sight of the emotional and spiritual necessity of home and that there are significant costs to doing so. As such, it calls for a re-centring of home within social work practice.

scholarly journals Practice in a Pandemic: School Social Workers’ Adaptations and Experiences During the 2020 COVID-19 School Disruptions

2021 ◽  
pp. 104438942110098
Author(s):  
Michael S. Kelly ◽  
Rami Benbenishty ◽  
Gordon Capp ◽  
Kate Watson ◽  
Ron Astor
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Traditional Practice

In March 2020, as American PreK-12 schools shut down and moved into online learning in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, there was little information about how school social workers (SSWs) were responding to the crisis. This study used a national online survey to understand how SSWs ( N = 1,275) adapted their school practice during the initial 2020 COVID-19 crisis. Findings from this study indicate that SSWs made swift and (relatively) smooth adaptations of their traditional practice role to the new context, though not without reporting considerable professional stress and personal challenges doing so. SSWs reported significant concerns about their ability to deliver effective virtual school social work services given their students’ low motivation and lack of engagement with online learning, as well as significant worries about how their students were faring during the first months of the pandemic. Implications for school social work practice, policy, and research are discussed.

scholarly journals Death, dying and bereavement care during COVID-19: Creativity in hospital social work practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 131-137
Author(s):  
Mim Fox ◽  
Joanna McIlveen ◽  
Elisabeth Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Bereavement Support ◽  
Hospital System ◽  
Hospital Social Work ◽  
Complicating Factors ◽  
Bereavement Care

Bereavement support and conducting viewings for grieving family members are commonplace activities for social workers in the acute hospital setting, however the risks that COVID-19 has brought to the social work role in bereavement care has necessitated the exploration of creative alternatives. Social workers are acutely aware of the complicating factors when bereavement support is inadequately provided, let alone absent, and with the aid of technology and both individual advocacy, social workers have been able to continue to focus on the needs of the most vulnerable in the hospital system. By drawing on reflective journaling and verbal reflective discussions amongst the authors, this article discusses bereavement support and the facilitation of viewings as clinical areas in which hospital social work has been observed adapting practice creatively throughout the pandemic.

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