2. The politics of social work

2015 ◽  
pp. 18-33
Author(s):  
Sally Holland ◽  
Jonathan Scourfield
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Social Model ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Main Fault ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

Social work is inherently political because its parameters are set by the government of the day and many social workers are employed by the state and have important legal powers through that employment. ‘The politics of social work’ focuses on some of the main fault-lines of debate about social work’s purpose and methods, including assumptions, principles, and values. The four big debates considered are individual problems vs social conditions; understanding the past vs practical help with present functioning; intervention vs non-intervention; and the medical model vs the social model. It also looks at the relationship between social work and government.

Promoting Young People’s Participation: Exploring Social Work’s Contribution to the Literature

Social Work ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Pritzker ◽  
Katie Richards-Schuster
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Youth Civic Engagement ◽  
The Past ◽  
Current State ◽  
Meaningful Involvement ◽  
The Social

Abstract In the National Association of Social Workers’ Code of Ethics, social workers are called on to promote meaningful involvement in decision making among vulnerable populations. The ethical imperatives and social justice implications associated with unequal participation suggest that the field of social work is uniquely situated to lead research and practice in the area of youth civic engagement. This article examines the current state of the social work literature regarding how young people participate civically. Authors identified 113 articles on this topic published over the past decade in journals with a large presence in social work or by social work authors. They present the findings of their exploratory research, with a focus on describing where this research is being published, the range of research foci, and the terms used to describe this work. Increased attention to promoting youth civic engagement is needed in the profession’s core journals. Based on the analysis of this literature, they recommend moving toward a cohesive body of social work scholarship that includes increased collaboration among scholars, more unified terms and language, increased range of research foci and methodologies, and more rigorous and comparative testing of strategies by which youths participate civically.

scholarly journals Perceptions of the social worker role in adult community mental health teams in England

2020 ◽  
pp. 147332502092408
Author(s):  
Michele Abendstern ◽  
Jane Hughes ◽  
Mark Wilberforce ◽  
Karen Davies ◽  
Rosa Pitts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Community Mental Health Team ◽  
Mental Health Team ◽  
Health Team ◽  
The Social

There is a growing recognition of the importance of the social work contribution within community mental health services. However, although many texts describe what the mental health social work contribution should be, little empirical evidence exists about their role in practice and the difference it might make to service users. This qualitative study sought to articulate this contribution through the voices of social workers and their multidisciplinary colleagues via focus group discussions across four English Mental Health Trusts. These considered the impact of the social worker on the service user. Thematic analysis resulted in the identification of three over-arching themes: social workers own perceptions of their contribution situated within the social model; the high value their colleagues placed on social work support and leadership in a range of situations and the concerns for service users if social workers were withdrawn from teams. Key findings were that social workers are the only professional group to lead on the social model; that this model enhances the whole teams’ practice and is required if service users are to be offered support that promotes long-term recovery and that without social workers, the community mental health team offer would be more transactional, less timely, with the potential for the loss of the service users’ voice. If social work is to make a full contribution to community mental health team practice, it must be clearly understood and provided with the support to enable social workers to operate to their full potential.

Disability as Disjuncture: A Theory to Guide Social Work Practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1and2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth DePoy ◽  
Stephen Gilson
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Full Participation ◽  
Medical Model Of Disability ◽  
Negative Stereotyping

Over the past several decades, disability and social work have become increasingly strange bedfellows, in large part due to the espousal of the medical model of disability on the part of social workers. This approach locates disability with the body as a deficit in need of repair, revision, or ongoing professional scrutiny. In opposition to this approach, disability scholars proposed the social model, which holds negative stereotyping and oppression as disabling factors, thereby creating a binary debate on cause and appropriate response to disability. We suggest that this binary is not useful in guiding social work to consider disability as a complex phenomenon, which requires multifaceted action responses. We therefore propose disability as disjuncture. This interactive model synthesizes a wealth of interdisciplinary fields to inform social work analysis and response to disability that meets the goals of advancing individual function, locating disability within a broad diversity dialog, and thus promoting equivalence of rights, choice, and opportunity for full participation for those who fit within the disability category. We conclude with exemplars of the thinking and action processes, guided by disjuncture theory, that illustrate the potency of this framework and its guiding properties for progressive social work disability practice.

Legal Changes in Adolescent Psychiatry

1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-268
Author(s):  
K. S. Walshe-Brennan
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Adolescent Psychiatry ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Juvenile Crime ◽  
World War ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Near Future

Juvenile crime has increased considerably in the past decade. The Police Federation and the Justices' Clerks' Society blame the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 and want the law changed for several reasons. The British Association of Social Workers, however, disagrees. In view of possible changes in the near future, the development of the 1969 Act is traced from World War II with comments on the social conditions then existing. The results of the legislature are discussed with particular reference to Certificates of Unruliness, accommodation difficulties and the role of psychiatry at the present time.

scholarly journals Social work and social justice: The relationship between fitness to practise and criminal convictions for non-violent activism

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan J. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Policy Statement ◽  
Criminal Convictions ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Sense

INTRODUCTION: Social work as a profession is underpinned by ideas of social justice and human rights, and that social workers have an ethical obligation to uphold these ideas. Social workers have a history of engagement in non-violent social justice activism (NVSJA), and a proud record of achieving social change in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, having a criminal conviction for engaging in NVSJA can be a barrier to social work registration in Aotearoa New Zealand.APPROACH: An exploration of current research around NVSJA and social work registration was conducted. Along with an examination of the Social Workers Registration Board’s (SWRB’s) Fit and Proper Person Policy Statement, with a consideration on the reporting of acts of NVSJA and social workers by the media.CONCLUSION: Those who engage in NVSJA are often likely to gain criminal convictions. This creates a potential barrier for social workers who go beyond the rhetoric and fight for social justice, in a macro and practical sense, from gaining registration. This has become additionally important since the Social Workers Registration Legislation Act (2019) passed and with registration becoming mandatory two years after the Act gained royal assent. There is a need for a change to the Fit and Proper Person Policy Statement so that the SWRB is better able to support social workers who are standing for what social work is all about, or at least, what social work is stated to be all about.

Disability: Physical Disabilities

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Ann Clute
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Physical Disability ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Human Diversity ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
The Social ◽  
People With Physical Disabilities

Physical disability is traditionally defined by society's view of atypical function. The medical model offers information on factors contributing to physical disability, including genetics, injury, and disease. The social model of disability, however, defines the societal responses, not the physical differences, as disabling. People with physical disabilities have unique characteristics and experiences that fall into the broad range of human diversity. They belong as full participants in society. Social workers must focus on working in respectful partnerships with people with physical disabilities to change environments and attitudes. This will help build a just society that honors diversity. This entry addresses multiple factors that cause disability, from genetics to environment, as viewed through the medical model. The social model view of “the problem” is offered in comparison. It also introduces the wide diversity of people with physical disability. The entry discusses two major societal responses to physical disability. Environmental modification is one approach. A more recent approach, Universal Access, involves upfront design of environments to meet diverse needs. The final sections explain implications for social workers and lays groundwork for action. Creating access and respectful partnerships are foundations of the work ahead. It is difficult to define physical disability without situating the discussion in the model used to view and deal with human diversity. This discussion is based on the social model of disability, a view of disability that sees the environment as disabling, not the individual condition. Discussion of the medical model is offered as a contrast. (For a more complete discussion of disability models, see Mackelprang's Disability: An Overview in this publication.)

Value Profiles and Perceived Job Performance of Social Workers in Israel

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 348-368
Author(s):  
Lia Levin ◽  
Maya Benish-Weisman ◽  
Riki Savaya
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Diverse Populations ◽  
Employment Patterns ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Values play a crucial role in the credo of social work. Recent definitions of the profession delineate the values that should guide social work worldwide. At the same time, social workers’ employment patterns and changes in the traditional welfare state have resulted in fragmentations in the profession, highlighting the importance of shared professional values. This study is the first to examine value profiles endorsed by social workers, as well as the association between such profiles and social workers’ perceived job performance. Participants in the study were 519 social workers, working in various organizations and with diverse populations in Israel. Its findings delineate three value profiles identified among our sample—growth-focused, social-focused and growth-self-focused. Differences between social workers endorsing each profile were found in terms of workers’ perceived job performance and perceived job-related abilities. These findings are discussed with relation to their unique contribution to what is known about values supported by social workers, as well as concerning the relationship between these values and social workers’ job-related functioning in the context of the social work profession and social services in Israel.

scholarly journals THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE CHOICE OF GROUP WORK’S SOCIAL WORK METHODS OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY AND NARCOTIC ANONYMOUS MODEL IN THE SOCIAL REHABILITATION CENTER FOR DRUG ADDICTION

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (15) ◽  
pp. 121-132
Author(s):  
Fajar Utama Ritonga ◽  
Adil Arifin
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Drug Addiction ◽  
Therapeutic Community ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Rehabilitation Center ◽  
Social Rehabilitation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government ◽  
Social Affairs

This research aims to determine the factors that influence the choice of group work’s social work methods of therapeutic community (TC) and narcotics anonymous (NA) model in the social rehabilitation center for drug addiction i. The research method is a descriptive qualitative approach, the key informants are the owners of the orphanage or program managers as well as the policymakers in the social rehabilitation center for drug addiction. The main informants are social workers and counselors and staff in the social rehabilitation center. The data collection technique uses in-depth interviews and focuses on group discussions. The data analysis technique uses component analysis. Research locations is in Medan Community Partners Foundation (YAMIMAS Medan), Caritas Shelter House PSE in Medan City, Loka BNN (National Narcotic Agency) in Kabupaten Deliserdang, Permadi PutraSocial Institution ‘INSYAF’ in Kabupaten Deliserdang, Nazar Foundation in Medan. The research results are; the internal factors: for the private institution's influence by the self-desire or by joint decisions are based on careful consideration of the managers or administrators of social rehabilitation institution. For the government-owned orphanages, the choice of therapeutic community model decides by the ministry of social affairs and the national narcotics agency. The external factors: for the private institution's influence by the pieces of information from national and international seminars, or experiences in dealing with drug clients/resident, social workers, and counselors who are struggling to use therapeutic community and narcotic anonymous group work model and sharing of experiences from administrators or manager of other social rehabilitation institution. Meanwhile, institutions under the ownership of the government are not influenced by external factors because they only carry out an order from the ministry of social affairs or national narcotics agency.

scholarly journals Institutional Pension Service: The Role, Dilemma and Way out of Social Workers-Taking H Pension Welfare Institution as an Example

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Xinying Chen
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government ◽  
Welfare Institution

With the intensification of the Chinese population aging trend, the demand for institutional pension is rising. As a delivery system of social welfare services, social work can promote the development of institutional pension services in China. In this respect, social workers should play the roles of service providers, demand and service evaluators, emotional and action supporters, resource linkers, resource and information managers in institutional pension, and promote the orderly progress of various services. However, through the case analysis of an H pension welfare institution, it is found that social workers and the H pension institution do not have a clear understanding of the role of social workers, and social work agency adopts “stocking” pattern for social workers, both of which lead to two dilemmas of role specialization and administrative tendency. In this regard, the following methods are proposed to solve the problem of role dilemma. The social work agency establishes long-term professional training mechanisms and incentive mechanisms. The H pension welfare institution needs to enhance its awareness of the role of social workers and give them more freedom to provide services. The government promotes the establishment of a sound incentive mechanism for the social work industry.

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.

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