Reflecting on Mistakes in Practice among Social Workers in China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Lu ◽  
Juan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Reflective Awareness ◽  
Risk Management Strategies ◽  
Reflective Capacity

Abstract Reflection is widely practiced in human service professions, but little research has examined whether reflection actually translates into action and, if so, how. This article explores the possibilities and limits of reflective practice by drawing on data collected through reflective interviews with fifteen Chinese social workers on mistakes in practice. The findings demonstrate that social workers in China are aware of being reflective, even critically reflective, by pondering mistakes and failures they have encountered. Their reflections, however, do not extend to future action plans. Rather, they prefer to rely on manual-based knowledge providing explicit guidance, reflecting their developing reflective capacity and low professional identity. The article argues that social workers’ reflective awareness needs to be built up, while fully recognising the limits of reflection. To address mistakes, not only do we need to create opportunities for practitioners to reflect, but also to address the risk-management strategies of social work organisations and the independent roles that should be performed by professional social work associations in Mainland China.

Exploring the Development of Reflective Capacity in Young People

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Hickson ◽  
Jennifer Lehmann ◽  
Fiona Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Story Reading ◽  
Reflective Capacity

People use reflection and reflective practice for many different reasons, including for self-care and to make sense of their experiences. In this study, social workers spoke about how they learned to be reflective, with many participants describing activities in their childhood that developed their reflective capacity. The aim of this article is to apply these ideas and examine the factors that enhance reflective capacity in children and young people. This research was part of a PhD study that involved interviews with 35 social workers in USA, Canada, UK and Australia. This exploratory study found that activities like story reading and asking children to reflect on their behaviour are early steps in the process of becoming reflective, but this needs to be followed up with conversations that deconstruct assumptions to make sense of experiences and explore multiple perspectives. This research is important for health and human service workers and others who want to develop reflective capacity in children and young people, particularly for children subject to disadvantage who need to overcome trauma and adversities.

SOCIAL WORKER TURNOVER ISSUE IN MAINLAND CHINA: ORGANIZATIONS CAN DO SOMETHING

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
KITTY YUEN-HAN MO ◽  
HUNG-SING LAI
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
The Past ◽  
Worker Turnover

The turnover issue among social workers in Mainland China has been a challenge for the past ten years. Research studies on organizational effort in handling turnover problems of social worker have been lacking in the country. A recent qualitative study has been conducted in the summer of 2017. The study examines turnover issues and how to tackle them by management practices. It helps to answer a question, that is, “what organization can do to retain social workers?” Cultural issues are discussed as well. The role and responsibilities of social work managers in implementing management strategies are mentioned in this study.

scholarly journals Professional identity of Wuhan and Hong Kong social workers: COVID-19 challenges and implications

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 297-304
Author(s):  
Yan-zhi Du ◽  
TM Simon Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Four Levels

This reflexive essay focus on how COVID-19 has impacted the professional identity of social workers in Wuhan and Hong Kong. Exploratory and reflexive in nature, eight Wuhan social workers who comprised three males and five females, and seven Hong Kong social workers who comprised one male and six females were recruited for semi-structured interviews. Their experience in Wuhan and Hong Kong during COVID-19 were highlighted. The challenges to professional identity were analyzed and the reflection is categorized into four levels, namely, individual, community, educational and conceptual level. In sum, Wuhan interviewees were more struggled with educating the public on the difference between community work, volunteering and social work, especially at the hospitals, to protect the integrity of the social work profession which shows their commitment to their professional identity. Moreover, they found it difficult to position themselves in proactive online services, where hundreds of workers from different parts of the Mainland China would be involved. On the other hand, Hong Kong interviewees were more inclined to prioritize professional principles at levels that are even higher than those in standardized guidelines. Their goal is to take the best interests of their clients into consideration, and their self-reflections tend to focus more on professional judgement and development of the social work field, to pave the way for future enhancements. Finally yet importantly, the deficiencies of their education as evidenced by the pandemic have been made alarmingly explicit.

scholarly journals Trends in work disability with mental diagnoses among social workers in Finland and Sweden in 2005–2012

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 644-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Rantonen ◽  
K. Alexanderson ◽  
J. Pentti ◽  
L. Kjeldgård ◽  
J. Hämäläinen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Work Disability ◽  
Preschool Teachers ◽  
Related Disorder ◽  
Final Model ◽  
Human Service Professionals

AimsSocial workers report high levels of stress and have an increased risk for hospitalisation with mental diagnoses. However, it is not known whether the risk of work disability with mental diagnoses is higher among social workers compared with other human service professionals. We analysed trends in work disability (sickness absence and disability pension) with mental diagnoses and return to work (RTW) in 2005–2012 among social workers in Finland and Sweden, comparing with such trends in preschool teachers, special education teachers and psychologists.MethodsRecords of work disability (>14 days) with mental diagnoses (ICD-10 codes F00–F99) from nationwide health registers were linked to two prospective cohort projects: the Finnish Public Sector study, years 2005–2011 and the Insurance Medicine All Sweden database, years 2005–2012. The Finnish sample comprised 4849 employees and the Swedish 119 219 employees covering four occupations: social workers (Finland 1155/Sweden 23 704), preschool teachers (2419/74 785), special education teachers (832/14 004) and psychologists (443/6726). The reference occupations were comparable regarding educational level. Risk of work disability was analysed with negative binomial regression and RTW with Cox proportional hazards.ResultsSocial workers in Finland and Sweden had a higher risk of work disability with mental diagnoses compared with preschool teachers and special education teachers (rate ratios (RR) 1.43–1.91), after adjustment for age and sex. In Sweden, but not in Finland, social workers also had higher work disability risk than psychologists (RR 1.52; 95% confidence interval 1.28–1.81). In Sweden, in the final model special education teachers had a 9% higher probability RTW than social workers. In Sweden, in the final model the risks for work disability with depression diagnoses and stress-related disorder diagnoses were similar to the risk with all mental diagnoses (RR 1.40–1.77), and the probability of RTW was 6% higher in preschool teachers after work disability with depression diagnoses and 9% higher in special education teachers after work disability with stress-related disorder diagnoses compared with social workers.ConclusionSocial workers appear to be at a greater risk of work disability with mental diagnoses compared with other human service professionals in Finland and Sweden. It remains to be studied whether the higher risk is due to selection of vulnerable employees to social work or the effect of work-related stress in social work. Further studies should focus on these mechanisms and the risk of work disability with mental diagnoses among human service professionals.

Professional Identity: An Exploratory Study of Undergraduate Social Work Majors Versus Minors

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-63
Author(s):  
Dawn Apgar
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Work Identity ◽  
Job Opportunities

Social work is a profession that has struggled with its identity as it distinguishes itself from allied disciplines in an effort to define its own unique purpose. The literature is void of studies that examine the degree to which undergraduate minors differ from majors in their social work identity. Analyses revealed that the identity of minors did not differ with regard to their knowledge, philosophy, and views about social workers’ roles and expertise. However, their attitude toward the profession was more pessimistic, with minors more negatively viewing the job opportunities available to social workers and the earning potential of social workers. Minors were also less likely than majors to recommend social work as a profession. Finally, minors were less prone to self-identify as social workers after graduation when compared with those majoring in the field.

scholarly journals Leadership Support of Supervision in Social Work Practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 151-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary Vito
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Human Service Organizations ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Leadership Support

This article discusses research findings that highlight the importance of leadership support of supervision for social workers in human service organizations. While supervision is considered a cornerstone of social work practice, whether and how such supervision is supported by human service leaders is not adequately analyzed. Using qualitative research data from interviews with supervisors and managers in southern Ontario, this article presents the vital role social work leaders play in supporting supervision by modelling values, and creating a safe organizational culture. The challenges of providing this support are also discussed in the current context of new public management. The article concludes with a series of recommendations, including: prioritizing supervision to promote organizational learning, organizational restructuring to reduce power differentials, modelling social work values to create a safe learning culture, and supporting supervisory and leadership training for social workers. Findings may be of interest to social workers who are leading, supervising, teaching or practicing in human service organizations.

scholarly journals Māori social work views and practices of rapport building with rangatahi Māori

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 49-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Mooney
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Community Mental Health Services ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Rapport Building

This article presents the results of a qualitative study that explored Māori social workers’ perspectives of working to establish rapport with rangatahi Māori in community mental health services. The research was conducted using a social constructionist perspective, informed and guided by Māori-centred research principles. Six Māori social workers from different parts of the country volunteered to participate in semi-structured interviews. These face-to-face interviews were designed after reviewing current literature and were guided by a practice framework that enabled the voices of the Māori social workers to be heard, eliciting in detail where their views have come from. The findings from the research showed that Māori social workers view rapport as essential in their practice and therefore they practise in a way that facilitates this. They utilise values and beliefs in their practice, integrated with a Māori worldview, that contribute towards rapport building with youth and also with their whänau. Reflective practice is used constantly in order to maintain ethical practice. The practice implications are also discussed; that an understanding of how Māori social workers view and practise rapport can be beneficial, that there is a need for whānau involvement and that this can enhance rapport with rangatahi, that an inherent valuing of rangatahi is key and finally that reflective practice is essential for Māori social work professional and personal development.

Against the Odds: Developing a Core Competence Framework of Social Work Practice for the Field of Disaster Management in China

Impact ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (7) ◽  
pp. 9-11
Author(s):  
Timothy Sim ◽  
Ke Cui ◽  
Zuxue Tan ◽  
Elsie Yan ◽  
Minying He
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Delphi Study ◽  
Core Competence ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Associate Professor ◽  
The Core Competence ◽  
Competence Framework

Disaster plans are complex and the role of social workers can become lost amidst plans and processes. Although social workers' skill sets are desperately needed during disasters and recovery, in many disaster management strategies their roles are not acknowledged. In order to maximise their value, specific training for social workers in disaster management needs to be reinvigorated. Associate Professor Timothy Sim, Singapore University of Social Sciences, believes that current social work research in disaster management is underdeveloped, and other professionals are unclear about social workers' roles in it. His project to examine the core competence of social work in various stages of disaster management was funded by the General Research Fund of the Hong Kong SAR Government. He and colleagues from China and around the world devised a new competence framework that is unique from previous attempts. The framework comprises five dimensions: knowledge, values, skills, roles and tasks, in four specific disaster management phases: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The thinking behind this novel structure is that it will help social work professionals clarify related concepts and comprehend competencies, roles and tasks for each phase of the disaster management cycle. The approach is also more comprehensive and precise than has been seen previously and will improve collaboration between social workers, governments and non-government organisations. Furthermore, the team used rigorous research methods when designing the framework, including an integrative review, in-depth interviews and a Delphi study. In addition, the team is confident the framework will have a long-term impact and could be applied to other countries and contexts.

From resilience to resistance: A reconstruction of the strengths perspective in social work practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-he Guo ◽  
Ming-sum Tsui
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Strengths Perspective ◽  
Practice Models

Many practice models in social work focus primarily on the concepts associated with resilience. By contrast, resistance and rebellion, important strategies of the disadvantaged, are often neglected by social workers in developed countries. The authors seek to reconstruct and revitalize the strengths perspective by constructing a framework that includes theories of reflective practice.

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