Disability: Overview

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romel W. Mackelprang
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Medical Problem ◽  
Persons With Disabilities

Characteristics that we contemporarily define as disabilities have existed in the human population from earliest recorded history. Societal explanations for disability have varied greatly by time and populations in which disabilities have occurred. At various times in history, disability has been viewed as a blessing from deity or the deities, a punishment for sin, or a medical problem. Social workers have worked with persons with disabilities from the inception of the profession, and in recent years, social work has begun to embrace the concept of disability as diversity and to treat disability as diversity and welcome disabled persons as fully participating members of society. Social work has begun welcoming persons with disabilities as fully participating members of society, including valuable members of the profession.

scholarly journals Social Inclusion of Disabled Persons: Role of a Professional Social Worker in Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 643-649
Author(s):  
Syeda Mahnaz Hassan ◽  
Aliya Khalid ◽  
Muhammad Arshad ◽  
Shajiah Qursam
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
The Social

This paper aims to explore the role of professional social workers in the social inclusion of disabled persons in Pakistan. This paper highlights the present scenario of social work practice with the disabled community and how professional social workers are bringing social inclusion of disabled persons by working effectively in the field. The data for this study was collected through qualitative approach. The semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data through in-depth interviews from thirteen professional social workers who are working for the social inclusion of persons with disabilities in Pakistani community. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The data revealed that social workers have enough abilities to create a bridge between disabled persons with their community. There are different sources present in the community which can be utilized by professional social workers to enable disabled persons to live a normal life. Unawareness of common people and government towards the roles of social workers has been observed in this study. Enhancement and encouragement of social work practice in the field of disability is particularly needed.

scholarly journals Disability Competency in Social Work Education: Tools for Practice Teaching

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-77
Author(s):  
Ami Goulden
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Field Education ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Work Education

Social work education has been slow to integrate the intersectionality of disability, even though the prevalence of social work practice with disabled persons is increasing. The profession has historically prescribed to a medical model of disability and struggles with how best to support service users in the disability community. Social workers’ attitudes toward disabled persons is an essential component to the rapport and working relationship with persons with disabilities. As most social work graduates will encounter persons with disabilities in their practice, training and field education must incorporate assessment tools to assist in student evaluations with this population. Evidence suggests that field instructors need additional assessment tools for evaluating students’ preparedness for the field (Vinton & Wilke, 2011). This paper has three objectives: 1) to review disability competence within the social work profession in the North American context, 2) to compare the validity, practicality, and theoretical frameworks of two disability attitudinal scales as potential assessment tools for student evaluations, and 3) to offer recommendations for the implication of social work education and practice.

E-therapy and social work practice: Benefits, barriers, and training

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 730-745
Author(s):  
Julie Cwikel ◽  
Enav Friedmann
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Chronically Ill ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
And Training

The use of information and communication technologies has greatly expanded and has far-reaching implications for social work practice. Following an international review of the literature, this study explored how social workers consider the issues associated with integration of e-therapy into their social work practice. A survey of Israeli social workers revealed that only 4 percent have actual experience with e-therapy. Respondents judged disabled persons and those with mobility restrictions, caregivers of the chronically ill, new parents, the chronically ill, and teenagers as the most appropriate target populations. Attitudes toward benefits, barriers, and training predicted the applicability of e-therapy in practice.

scholarly journals Developmental Social Work for Promoting the Socioeconomic Participation of Persons with Disabilities: An Application of the Capability Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-117
Author(s):  
Masateru Higashida
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Community Based Rehabilitation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Capability Approach

The promotion of the socioeconomic participation of persons with disabilities is an important concept of developmental social work in community-based rehabilitation (CBR). This approach can be used to tackle poverty and inequalities, and to foster inclusion and empowerment. However, since discussions in the literature on common frameworks for developmental social workers in CBR appear inadequate, this review article aims to develop a practical framework that promotes the socioeconomic participation of persons with disabilities by applying the capability approach. First, the concept of socioeconomic participation and some of its dimensions are discussed and analytically framed using the capability approach. Following this, the practical framework for developmental social work is laid out. It is suggested that developmental social workers consider the complex dynamics between capabilities, functionings, resources, conversion factors, and other factors, with an emphasis on the social dimensions of practice. Thereafter, some theoretical and practical challenges and recommendations are identified.

scholarly journals CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-17
Author(s):  
Emese Balázs-Földi
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Sociodemographic Characteristics ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Research Results ◽  
School Qualification ◽  
Hungarian State

Since the annexation to the European Union, exceptional attention has been directed to equal opportunities and equal treatment of disadvantaged social groups in Hungary too. The Hungarian state tries to ensure the first and foremost with legal tools. It is, however, not enough to result in lasting changes in the attitude of society. Personal experiences, as well as, positive messages transmitted by others can produce a positive effect on the development of inclusive approaches. With respect to sociodemographic characteristics (e.g. gender, age, school qualification) investigations into this field suggest different research results. The questionnaire data collection took place in three districts of Hungary. The research was aimed at questioning two test groups, on one hand, the employees of social institutions who mainly deal with disadvantaged persons, on the other hand, the residents of the given districts, who have the knowledge and approach of an average citizen.  The ingenuity of the research is put down to the fact that in Hungary there had never been researching to explore the attitudes of social employees. A total of 747 persons filled in the questionnaires, out of which 408 employees in social institutions and 339 district residents. This present study discloses the deeper connections of the research results which are observable between the two test groups’ attitudes to persons with disabilities and sociodemographic characteristics. Its significance is crucial in identifying the characteristics of the colleague playing an actual role in the integration who, as a reference person, with his own personal involvement can promote the integration of disabled persons into workplace communities. In the research of attitudes three well-distinguished clusters were outlined, which were named as follows: accepting, uncertain/indifferent, rejecting. The study investigates what kind of sociodemographic characteristics the residents, and social workers who belong to the three clusters have. Do people who belong to the same cluster posses similar attributes in both test samples?  What kind of attributes has the residents and social workers got who show a higher level of acceptance?  According to the findings of the research, the attitudes of the district residents differ in age, school qualification, and personal experience, whereas in the case of the social workers the difference in attitudes depends on age and school qualification.

scholarly journals Scope of Social Work Practice for Families of Children with Down Syndrome

2020 ◽  
pp. 751-759
Author(s):  
Bilal Ahmad Khan ◽  
Wakar Amin Zarga ◽  
Shabir Ahmad Najar
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Children With Down Syndrome

Social work practice takes place at micro, mezzo, and macro levels between persons with disabilities in families and other social institutions, such as schools, health systems, and welfare systems. Drawing from multidisciplinary theoretical sources, the article brings together social work and family therapy to develop a possible social work intervention for families of children with Down syndrome. The primary purpose of these interventions is to aid clients in alleviating problems and improving their well being. Social workers must think creatively about interventions that may help the individuals, couples, families, and groups or communities they serve. This research is using the literature study method. The results confirm that numerous concerns have to be addressed faced by children with Down syndrome. Toward various issues and challenges faced by people with Down syndrome and their families, social workers have the professional responsibility to provide services and intervention to increase the children with Down syndrome's social functioning and overall well-being of parents.

THEORETICAL BASIS OF PROBLEM OF SHAPING CREATIVE COMPETENCE IN FUTURE SOCIAL WORKERS FOR WORK WITH GIFTED CHILDREN

2019 ◽  
pp. 34-45
Author(s):  
Halyna Mykhailyshyn ◽  
Oksana Protas
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Gifted Children ◽  
Educational Establishment ◽  
Higher Educational

For effective forming of creative competence in future social work experts, we suggested using the creative approach to organization of educational process in a higher educational establishment, using the potential of different disciplines in the process of professional training. We clarified the main aspects of shaping of creative competence in future social workers in classroom and outside classroom, as well as main forms of the methodology of such training. The use of the mentioned approaches will give an opportunity to shape creative competence in future social workers for work with gifted children.

Facilitating Injustice

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoosun Park
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Mass Removal ◽  
Professional Obligations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Private Charity ◽  
Political Alliances ◽  
Major Shift

Social workers were involved in all aspects of the removal, incarceration, and resettlement of the Nikkei, a history that has been forgotten by social work. This study is an effort to address this lacuna. Social work equivocated. While it did not fully endorse mass removal and incarceration, neither did it protest, oppose, or explicitly critique government actions. The past should not be judged by today’s standards; the actions and motivations described here occurred in a period rife with fear and propaganda. Undergoing a major shift from its private charity roots into its public sector future, social work bounded with the rest of society into “a patriotic fervor.” While policies of a government at war, intractable bureaucratic structures, tangled political alliances, and complex professional obligations all may have mandated compliance, it is, nevertheless, difficult to deny that social work and social workers were also willing participants in the events, informed about and aware of the implications of that compliance. In social work’s unwillingness to take a resolute stand against removal and incarceration, the well-intentioned profession, doing its conscious best to do good, enforced the existing social order and did its level best to keep the Nikkei from disrupting it.

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.

Non-normative use of reflexivity in social work with families in the Czech Republic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kateřina Glumbíková
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Narrative Identity ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Personal Interest ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Normative Concept ◽  
Initial Interviews

Abstract Discourse on the normative use of reflexivity predominates in the professional literature. Expert articles on the topic of non-normative use of reflexivity, which is based on the presumption that social workers do not use reflexivity to improve their work quality, but rather its functions for themselves to fulfil specific purposes, is missing, with some exceptions in the literature. The presented article therefore aims to understand the use of reflexivity in the practice of social work with families in its non-normative concept and to determine the implications for social work. Using the abduction method (in which Schechtman’s narrative identity theory was applied to data analysis), the following four categories of the use of reflexivity in a non-normative way were saturated with data obtained from initial interviews, field observations and subsequent reflection of field observations with social workers: personal interest, survival, moral responsibility and compensation. The non-normative concept of reflexivity is further discussed in the context of specific implications for education and practice of social work.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document