scholarly journals Social Workers under the Spotlight: An Analysis of Fitness to Practise Referrals to the Regulatory Body in England, 2014–2016

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Banks ◽  
Magdalena Zasada ◽  
Robert Jago ◽  
Ann Gallagher ◽  
Zubin Austin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Research Project ◽  
The Public ◽  
Case Files ◽  
Detailed Picture ◽  
Initial Triage

Abstract This article examines the nature of, and reasons for, the disproportionately high rates of fitness to practise referrals of social workers in England to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), compared with other professions regulated by HCPC during 2014–2016. In 2014–2015, the rate of referrals for social workers was 1.42 per cent of registrants, compared with an average for the sixteen professions regulated by HCPC of 0.66 per cent. Drawing on published statistics and unique analysis of a sample of 232 case files undertaken as part of a research project in 2016–2017, the article highlights relatively high rates of inappropriate referrals from ‘members of the public’ (mainly service users) particularly in relation to child placements and contact. A detailed picture is offered of the variety of referrals dealt with at each stage of the fitness to practise process (from initial triage to final hearings), with recommendations for how to prevent inappropriate referrals, whilst focusing concern on the most serious cases of incompetence and misconduct. This research is of significance at a time of increasing pressure for social workers, social services and service users under conditions of austerity and managerialism; on-going concerns about standards in social work; and recent changes in social work regulation.

Social Work and Public Social Services Practice: A Status Report

1996 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Gibelman ◽  
Philip H. Schervish
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Status Report ◽  
The Public ◽  
Education Experience ◽  
The Social

The authors review the current status of the social work labor force within the public sector by means of an analysis of the National Association of Social Workers member data base for 1988 and 1991, with additional data drawn from a 1993 member survey. Changes in the proportion and composition of the public social services labor force are documented, including education, experience, gender, and ethnicity. The decreasing professional social work labor force within public social services is discussed within the context of the realities of public social services practice and social work's historic place within this sector. The authors encourage debate about the implications of these trends, focusing on whether social work should influence labor-force trends or be influenced by them.

Radical Hope

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Krumer-Nevo
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Critical Social Work ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Impact

This book describes the new Poverty-Aware Paradigm (PAP), which was developed in Israel through intense involvement with the field of social work in various initiatives. The paradigm was adopted in 2014 by the Israeli Ministry of Welfare and Social Services as a leading paradigm for social workers in social services departments. The book draws from the rich experience of the implementation of the PAP in practice and connects examples of practice to theoretical ideas from radical/critical social work, critical poverty knowledge, and psychoanalysis. The PAP addresses poverty as a violation of human rights and emphasizes people’s ongoing efforts to resist poverty. In order to recognize these sometimes minor acts of resistance and advance their impact, social workers should establish close relationship with service users and stand by them. The book proposes combining relationship-based practice and rights-based practice as a means of bridging the gap between the emotional and material needs of service users. In addition to introducing the main concepts of the PAP, the book also contributes to the debate between conservative and cultural theories of poverty and structural theories, emphasizing the impact of a critical framework on this debate. The book consists of four parts. The first, “Transformation”, addresses the transformational nature of the paradigm. The second, “Recognition”, is based on current psychoanalytic developments and “translates” them into social work practice in order to deepen our understanding of relationship-based practice. The third, “Rights”, describes rights-based practice. The fourth, “Solidarity”, presents various ways in which solidarity might shape social workers’ practice. The book seeks to reaffirm social work’s core commitment to combating poverty and furthering social justice and to offer a solid theoretical conceptualization that is also eminently practical.

scholarly journals Pandemics and Social Work

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
Online Exchange

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 confronted health and also social services globally with unprecedented challenges. These amounted to a combination of increased demands for support to individuals and families whose physical and mental health and economic security were threatened by the rapid spread of the virus and the imposed limitations to direct contacts with service users. This constituted a situation for which there was no immediate historical parallel but from which important lessons for better preparedness for future global disasters and pandemics can be drawn. There existed no specific introductions to or textbooks on social work responses to pandemics and the nearest usable references concerned social work involvement in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and in the aftermath of natural disasters. Frontline social workers were at first forced to improvise ways of establishing and maintaining contacts with service users partly through electronic means and partly by taking personal risks. This is reflected in an initial delay in the production of comprehensive theoretical reflections on the practice implications of the new situation. Practitioners resorted to pragmatism, which became manifest in numerous episodic practice accounts and brief statements in social work journals which nevertheless contain important messages for new practice developments. Notably, the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) opened an online exchange and advice platform for social workers globally and also hosted a series of webinars. Nevertheless, books with collections of contributions from various practice fields and geographical areas soon began to appear. In view of the interdisciplinary nature of social work responses required in the pandemic the use of publications from a wider range of academic disciplines and related professions was indicated for this review.

scholarly journals The purposes of cultural supervision

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 20-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anaru Eketone
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Services Sector ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types

If you are working in the social services sector, over 40 and Māori, chances are that you will have been asked to provide cultural supervision for a younger Māori worker. However, when you ask what do they mean by cultural supervision, after a slightly panicked look, you can get a variety of different answers. They all know that it is supposed to be done, that it is considered important, in fact some are required by their employers or contracts to have it, but until very recently few seem to know what they actually wanted. This article reports on a brief research project as part of a Masters in Social Welfare programme that interviewed Māori social workers and Māori and Pākehā social work managers about their expectations and experiences of cultural supervision. The participants were asked four questions about the purpose of cultural supervision, who should get cultural supervision, the qualities of a cultural supervisor and problems they had encountered in cultural supervision. Four different types of cultural supervision are identified

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.

scholarly journals Crossing borders: key features of migrant social workers in New Zealand

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bartley ◽  
L. Beddoe ◽  
J. Duke ◽  
C. Fouché ◽  
P. Harington ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Border Crossing ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Key Features

The emergence of a mobile, professional social work workforce, successfully managing the demands of service-users, policy makers and the public at large in different countries across the globe, provides unprecedented opportunities for professional border-crossing. It is timely to generate New Zealand-specific data on professionals employed in the social services workforce in New Zealand so as to inform educational and institutional responses to this complex phenomenon. A study that seeks to develop a profile of migrant social workers in New Zealand and key issues experienced by these professionals, is underway. This article reports on the first phase of the project, comprising an examination of the key features of registered social workers in New Zealand with an overseas social work qualification and a review of issues and challenges faced by migrant professionals more generally, and by migrant social workers in particular. 

scholarly journals Social work; neoliberalism; precarious workSosyal hizmet; neoliberalism; güvencesiz çalışma

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emre Özcan ◽  
Seda Attepe Özden ◽  
Arzu İçağasıoğlu Çoban
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Precarious Work ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

Precarious work is a form of work that is widespread today with the influence of neoliberal policies. This form of work includes the lack of job security and some social rights, as well as the fear of dismissal an ongoing job, even if the employee has a job. In recent years, precarious work has begun to be seen in the field of social work as well as being seen in every area with the contraction of the role of the public in working life. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the insecurity that has become widespread in the field of social work in recent years, in the eyes of the social workers, working in this field.For this purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 social workers who were working without precautions.Interviews were subject to content analysis by the authors and gathered under three subtopics. As a result of the research, it has been seen that precarious social workers feel themselves in an ambiguity on the individual level and on the social level they are away from working for the benefit of the client. The effects of precarious work are not only effect on an individual level, but Precarious work has also affected the social dimension, and it has preventing services for individuals. It is necessary to investigate more precisely the effects of precarious work on employees and clients, and to prevent the loss of rights in social services. ÖzetGüvencesiz çalışma, neoliberal politikaların etkisiyle günümüzde yaygın olarak görülen bir çalışma biçimidir. Bu çalışma biçimi, iş güvencesinden ve bazı sosyal haklardan yoksun çalışmayı içerdiği gibi aynı zamanda çalışanın bir işe sahip olsa bile sürekli bir işten çıkarılma korkusu yaşamasını da ifade etmektedir. Son yıllarda güvencesiz çalışma olgusu kamunun rolünün daralmasıyla her alanda görülmekle birlikte sosyal hizmet alanında da görülmeye başlanmıştır. Bu araştırmanın amacı da son yıllarda sosyal hizmet alanında yaygınlaşmaya başlayan güvencesizliği, bu alanda çalışan sosyal hizmet uzmanların gözünden değerlendirmektir. Bu amaçla güvencesiz çalışan 14 sosyal hizmet uzmanı ile derinlemesine görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Görüşme dökümleri, yazarlar tarafından içerik analizine tabi tutulmuştur ve üç başlık altında toplanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda güvencesiz çalışan sosyal hizmet uzmanlarının bireysel düzlemde kendilerini belirsizlik içinde hissettiği, toplumsal düzlemde ise müracaatçı yararına çalışmadan uzaklaştıkları görülmüştür. Güvencesiz çalışmanın etkileri sadece bireysel düzlemde hissedilmemekte, toplumsal boyuta taşınarak bireylerin hizmet alma ihtiyaçlarının önüne geçmektedir. Güvencesizliğin çalışanlar ve müracaatçılar üzerindeki etkilerinin daha kapsamlı bir şekilde araştırılması ve sosyal hizmet alanındaki hak kayıplarının önlenmesi gereklidir. 

Modes of Relational Agency among Welfare-reliant Mothers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hagit Sinai-Glazer ◽  
Boris H J M Brummans
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
Relational Agency ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Seeking Help ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract How do welfare-reliant mothers enact their agency in relationships with social workers and social services? The present article addresses this question by investigating how twenty Israeli welfare-reliant mothers expressed different modes of human agency in in-depth interviews. Results show how research participants enact agency through (i) expressing anger, (ii) seeking help, (iii) resisting and (iv) engaging in non-action. By highlighting the multidimensional and situational nature of agency, this article offers a new relational lens for conceptualising and empirically studying human agency in social work.

Purchasing Power and Self-Determination: Social Worker Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Bailey ◽  
Debbie Plath ◽  
Alankaar Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Management Approaches

Abstract The international policy trend towards personalised budgets, which is designed to offer people with disabilities purchasing power to choose services that suit them, is exemplified in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This article examines how the ‘purchasing power’ afforded to service users through individualised budgets impacts on social work practice and the choice and self-determination of NDIS service users. Social workers’ views were sought on the alignment between the NDIS principles of choice and control and social work principles of participation and self-determination and how their social work practice has changed in order to facilitate client access to supports through NDIS budgets and meaningful participation in decision-making. A survey was completed by forty-five social workers, and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with five of these participants. The findings identify how social workers have responded to the shortfalls of the NDIS by the following: interpreting information for clients; assisting service users to navigate complex service provision systems; supporting clients through goal setting, decision-making and implementation of action plans; and adopting case management approaches. The incorporation of social work services into the NDIS service model is proposed in order to facilitate meaningful choice and self-determination associated with purchasing power.

Zvereva, Iryna

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetyana Semigina ◽  
Tetiana Basiuk
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Social Pedagogy ◽  
National University

Dr. Iryna Zvereva (1952–2013) was one of the prominent founders of social work and social pedagogy in Ukraine. From 1992 through to 1998 she worked at the State Center of Social Services for Youth, the first professional public social work organization in Ukraine. She became a professor at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Borys Grinchenko University of Kyiv. She led the development and international recognition of the Ukrainian professional community: under her leadership the Ukrainian Association of Social Educators and Social Work Specialists had joined the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) in 1994. She initiated the elaboration of the National Code of Ethics for Social Workers in accordance with international standards. She worked for the Ukrainian and international organizations that had introduced innovative, pioneer social work practices in Ukraine, and she authored over 200 publications on social work and social pedagogy.

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