scholarly journals The Poetics of social work – how being artful in our craft takes us elsewhere into mindfulness

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-72
Author(s):  
Vaughan Milner
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Way

Poetry is an ageless craft that helps people find meaning and gives hope and courage. The poetics of social work describes an evolving framework in which poetry is located as a knowledge base that draws out mindfulness in the midst of uncertainty. Examples are provided of how the spiritual and artful aspects of the social work craft can be made more purposeful and explained through a poetic frame. Notions of light, time and space contex- tualise the way authentic relationships are at the heart of our work. Many people talk about the art of social work, often in the context of the more mysterious, intangible, and less ‘scientific ‘ aspects of our craft. Usually such references are around the relational intimacies that our work relies on to be effective. In essence this is the connection between people, and the possibilities and hope that emerge from that authentic helping relationship. An alternative view would be that describing social work as an ‘art’ places the work in a romanticised and nonsensical frame from an era before professionalisation, and the framing of practice in theory, defined skills and qualifications. The professionalisation of social work has certainly meant ‘more than common sense’ (Maidment and Egan, 2004) is expected in the application of theory and practice. This begs the question of the artfulness of practice. These notions of the art and craft of social work deserve exploration. 

Endless Patience: Explaining Soviet and Post-Soviet Social Stability

1998 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Ashwin
Keyword(s):  
Social Contract ◽  
Social Organisation ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Stalin Era ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Way

Various arguments have been put forward to explain the social stability of the post-Stalin era, in particular theories of a “social contract”, “incorporation” or “atomisation”. This article argues that all these theories have been cast into serious doubt by the response of workers to the reforms of the post-communist era and proposes an alternative view of the integration of workers which centres on the social organisation of the traditional Soviet enterprise. It goes on to show the way in which the form of workers' relation to the labour collective has structured their behaviour during the transition era.

Street-level bureaucracy revisited

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Monteiro
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Specific Task ◽  
Simple Task ◽  
Street Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Way

In social work practice, keeping records of encounters with clients is a routinized practice for documenting cases. This paper focuses on the specific task of obtaining the prospective clients’ correct address for filling in a standardized personal report form. My analysis focuses in the way both the client(s) and the social worker cooperatively orient to the practice of writing addresses, showing how this apparently simple task is multimodally implemented within interaction, and how it can generate some complications and expansions. A special focus will be devoted to difficulties encountered by clients to give their address in an adequate way, as well as to the transformation of this activity from an individual to a collective task.

Clients Toward Whom a Social Worker Feels Attraction

2021 ◽  
pp. 149-169
Author(s):  
Joseph Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Good Thing ◽  
Working Relationship ◽  
The Social ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
The Way

The broad nature of the social work profession offers opportunities for practitioners to work with diverse clients. While committed to the welfare of all clients, social workers tend to be drawn to some clients more than others, due in part to their abilities to connect with them. A social worker’s positive feelings about his or her clients is a good thing, but it is possible that at times he or she will experience a special fondness or attraction for a client that can create biases that get in the way of a constructive working relationship. The purposes of this chapter are to explore the circumstances in which positive feelings about clients develop and to suggest ways for social workers to manage those feelings in a way that keeps their focus on the client’s welfare.

The Missing System in Social Work's Application of Systems Theory

1982 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 547-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Marks Mishne
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
The Social ◽  
Definition Of

Amid ongoing struggles regarding definition of the knowledge base for the social work profession, a meaningful application of an ego psychological perspective offers a significant, although not exclusive link. The concept is capable of contributing to coherence in the educational and practice base of social work.

Faulty ‘tools’? Why social work scholarship needs to take a more critical approach to Michel Foucault

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Michael Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Michel Foucault ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Coercive Power ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Micro Level

Summary Having outlined Foucault’s articulation of power and governmentality, the article critically explores attempts to translate the philosopher’s theorisation into social work. Findings After briefly referring to Jacques Donzelot’s work and that of other writers, it is argued that Foucault’s conceptual ‘tools’ are problematic for those seeking to promote critical approaches within the field of social work. Those influenced by Foucault’s complex contributions may amplify a defective understanding of power which unduly emphasises ‘soft’ power and neglects the continuing significance of hierarchical and coercive power. This is reflected in Foucault’s analysis of the state and, at a micro level, his remarks on sexualised interactions involving adults and children. Efforts to ‘apply’ Foucauldian reasoning within social work may also risk promoting politically passive forms of theory and practice. Applications Contributing to the discipline’s literature on Foucault, the article maintains the social work scholarship has much to gain by engaging with work, but this engagement might aspire to become more critical.

Social Work and the English Language

1980 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 332-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan A. Bloom
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
English Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
The Social

Spoken language is the primary tool of the social worker, but widespread dehumanizing abuses of language in the field of social work persist. The concerned practitioner must avoid the pervasive tendency to use words as a barrier rather than as an aid to the establishment of a genuine helping relationship.

scholarly journals Os Jovens e o Imaginário da Aids: notas para uma construção social do risco

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Jeolás
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Gender Relations ◽  
Individual Behavior ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Symbolism ◽  
Everyday Experiences ◽  
Social Construction Of Risk ◽  
The Way

Este artigo, baseado em pesquisa sobre o imaginário da aids entre jovens, busca compreender a noção de risco como uma categoria sociocultural, cujos significados se acumulam nos conceitos de várias áreas do conhecimento e nos usos de senso comum. O perigo, o mal e o infortúnio sempre foram moralizados e politizados nas diversas culturas humanas e a história da aids não poderia ser diferente. Os simbolismos culturais sobre contágio, doenças transmitidas pelo sexo e pelo sangue e os valores atuais da sexualidade, incluindo as relações de gênero, estão presentes na forma como os jovens representam o risco do HIV. Além disso, não se pode desconsiderar a ambivalência que os riscos assumem atualmente para os jovens: alguns negados e afastados, outros aceitos e valorizados. No caso da aids, a busca pela vertigem e pelo êxtase, componentes do sexo e das drogas, distancia o discurso dos jovens sobre risco do discurso preventivo, baseado na racionalidade do comportamento individual, assumindo valores distintos ligados a experiências cotidianas. Youngsters and the imagery of AIDS: notes for the social construction of risk This article, based on research about the imagery of AIDS among youth, aims to understand the notion of risk as a social-cultural category, whose meanings are piled upon concepts of several areas of both knowledge and common sense usages. Danger, evil and misfortune have always been moralized and politicized in the different human cultures and it could not be different in the history of aids. Cultural symbolism about infection, sexually and blood transmitted diseases, as well as sexuality’s current values, including here gender relations, are present in the way the youth represents HIV´s risks. Besides, the ambivalence these risks assume for the youth nowadays cannot be disregarded: some are denied and put aside, others are accepted and valorized. In the case of AIDS, the search for vertigo and ecstasy, components of sex and drugs, distances the youth’s discourse about risk from the preventive discourse, based on the rationality of individual behavior, assuming distinct values linked to everyday experiences.

Contribution of the Social Work Study of the Institute of Sociology the University of Silesia in the process of professionalisation of the social worker profession – historical outline

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 7-25
Author(s):  
Kazimiera Wódz ◽  
Ewa Leśniak-Berek
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Work Study ◽  
Work Unit ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
25Th Anniversary ◽  
Historical Outline ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The University

The main goal of the article is to present the achievements of the Social Work Unit at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Silesia, accumulated during the 25 years of its functioning. Aside from the rich experience in terms of educating towards the position of a social employee, the unit is characterized by scientific research activity and is engaged in numerous cooperative endeavours locally, nationally and internationally. The entirety of the activity contributes to the pursuit of processes that strengthen the professionalism and prestige of the job of a social employee. The activity results from the belief in the significance of combining theory and practice, which is evidenced in the various forms of the realized tasks. The text was created for the 25th anniversary of the existence of the Social Work Unit and is a summary of the most important achievements.

scholarly journals Conscious Use of Self: Tuning the Instrument of Social Work Practice with Cultural Competence

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margo J. Heydt ◽  
Nancy E. Sherman
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Use Of Self ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
The Social ◽  
Self Tuning

The authors provide definitions and describe teaching methods and strategies related to a renewed understanding and development of the concept of “conscious use of self” a term defining the social worker as the “instrument” purposely used to promote change with client systems. The article clarifies how conscious use of self affects the development of an effective helping relationship, the medium through which change occurs in social work practice. Emphasis is placed on integrating cultural competence within students' understanding of conscious use of self as well as applying the concept at both micro- and macrolevels of intervention.

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