scholarly journals The world we’re in: Social work now and then

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 6-16
Author(s):  
Mike O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Economic Interest ◽  
End Points ◽  
Half Century ◽  
Services Delivery ◽  
The World

The last half century has witnessed significant changes in the highly influential social and economic world in which the practice of social work happens. This paper explores the beginning, middle and end points over that time – 1965-6, 1988, 2013 – identifying the major areas of social, cultural and economic focus in each of these years and examines implications for the delivery of social services and the practice of social work. Drawing on a sample of media focus and presentations for each of the three years (as reflected in a newspaper at the time), the article identifies principal areas of social, cultural and economic interest and attention in each area. It then uses that data to inform a discussion of the ways in which those areas shaped (or failed to shape) social work practice and social services delivery at the time. Drawing on those reflections, the article concludes with a discussion of the ways in which the worlds of clients and practitioners shape social services delivery and organisation and the practice of social work. It concludes with brief reflections on what this might mean for the directions of social work practice.

scholarly journals Professionals unprepared: A critical appraisal of social work practice at the Drugs Abuse Rehabilitation Centres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-120
Author(s):  
Shakeel Ahmad ◽  
Abida Bano
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Services Delivery ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Social Work Theory

Social work is a practice-based profession that facilitates, enables, and rehabilitates the neglected segments of society facing various issues, including substance abuse. However, social workers' efficiency in substance use rehabilitation is constrained by several factors. Pakistan follows the imported theoretical models of social work, which face enormous challenges during implementation for lacking contextual understanding. This study examines professional social workers' role to examine the challenges in providing institutional service delivery in substance (drugs) abuse treatment centres in Pakistan. The study found that the social work theory and practice gap hurts services delivery in Drug Abuse Rehabilitation Centres through qualitative approaches. Training in social work theory does not adequately equip the students to provide the required social services at the drugs rehabilitation centres. Donor-driven social work drives and demotivated social workers testify to the mismatch between social work theory and practice. Indigenous philanthropy models and broadening institutional support could remedy the situation.

scholarly journals The triplets: Investment in outcomes for the vulnerable – reshaping social services for (some) New Zealand children

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
The Political ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Services Delivery ◽  
Key Terms

Social work and social services are in a period of significant change built around three key terms; investment, vulnerable, and outcomes. Those terms are not simple neutral descriptors. Rather, they are shaped in critical ways by the neoliberal framework which informs them. The framework is critically examined here by exploring how it is reflected in the specific meanings and implications of each of the three terms. Social work practice and social services delivery will be heavily influenced by the political and ideological framing of investment, vulnerable and outcomes. The paper takes up some of these implications and raises a series of questions for children and families, for practitioners and for agencies. The responses to those questions will be critical for social work and for those with whom and for whom social workers work.

scholarly journals Negotiating Quality for Social Work: A Participatory Research Project in South Tyrol

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 505-514
Author(s):  
Walter A. Lorenz ◽  
Silvia Fargion ◽  
Urban Nothdurfter ◽  
Andrea Nagy ◽  
Elisabeth Berger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
South Tyrol ◽  
Starting Point

Purpose: The measurement of quality in social work practice has become an area of growing interest and relevance in the social services field. Our starting point is that quality in interventions with human beings has to be defined in ways that incorporate the multiple perspectives of all the subjects involved. Methods: The study, adopting qualitative and quantitative methods, explored issues of quality in social services provision in South Tyrol in Italy from the point of view of the main stakeholders. Results: It was possible to identify four dimensions of quality that stakeholders considered important: the political role of practitioners, the ability to take an active role in the organization, the capacity to connect with other professionals, and the quality of direct relationships with users. Conclusions: Results provide an understanding of the common and differing expectations evident in stakeholders’ perspectives and ideas for better quality systems

Digital social work practice through social networking sites. Case study with users of Social Services Community Centre from Malaga (Spain) on Facebook

Groupwork ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquin Castillo de Mesa ◽  
Antonio López Peláez ◽  
Paula Méndez Domínguez
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
Mutual Help ◽  
Digital Skills ◽  
The Impact

Isolation is a clear indicator of social exclusion. To tackle it, we wondered if it would be possible to improve digital skills and strengthen bonds through online groups on a social networking site. This paper presents the results of an experimental study carried out in Malaga (Spain) with unemployed users of social care services. From the perspective of social work practice with groups, this study aims at strengthening bonds and mutual help through improving digital skills. This was carried out using a Facebook group as a shared space for community empowerment. To know the impact of these interactions, netnography and social network analysis were conveyed, as well as algorithms to identify communities and assess cohesion. Results showed that Facebook groups may be effective tools to promote active learning and mutual support and which can be used effectively by social workers.

scholarly journals Pakiwaitara - social work sense for supervision

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
Jacquelyn Elkington
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
Social Service Delivery ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Definition Of

Pakiwaitara (Elkington, 2001) came about as a gap identified in social service delivery between western, middle class, dominant culture and the healing of Māori whānau in crisis. While education has responded to this gap by offering bicultural training, ensuring more Māori components within degree programmes, etc, social services statistics are still high for Māori and indigenous peoples. It has helped to shift the definition of cultural supervision to inside the definition of specialised professional supervision (Elkington, 2014), but now continued invisibility of values and beliefs, particularly that of Tauiwi, exacerbate the problem. The challenge must still be asserted so that same-culture practitioners are strengthened in same-culture social work practice (eg, by Māori, for Māori), and to avoid when possible, or otherwise by choice, white dominant-culture practice, for all-and-every-culture social work practice (eg, by Pākehā, for everyone).

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.

The Better Future International’s family care model in Tanzania: Creating social capital as a means to empowerment in social work practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 002087281988498
Author(s):  
Barbara Kail ◽  
Manoj Pardasani ◽  
Robert Chazin
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Future Orientation ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Future Path

This article describes the impact on social services of an innovative model of family care in Moshi, Tanzania, aimed at orphaned children and youth who are affected by HIV/AIDS and their caregivers. We explore three questions: Is social capital created during the provision of social work services? If so, what aspects of the model are responsible for it? How does this social capital influence the participants’ educational/occupational aspirations and vision of the future? This qualitative study is based on a case analysis of eight adolescents and their caregivers. Data were collected from in-depth interviews. The unique aspects of a family-oriented, holistic, social service model focused on empowerment and future orientation-generated bridging, bonding, and linking social capital. Youth with more social capital appeared to have clearer visions of their future path. Implications for community-based social work practice serving marginalized and impoverished groups are presented.

scholarly journals Degrowth for transformational alternatives as radical social work practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-433
Author(s):  
Meredith C.F. Powers ◽  
Komalsingh Rambaree ◽  
Jef Peeters
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Ecological Justice ◽  
The World

Historically, and in modern times, social workers have been culpable in perpetuating the very systems of oppression that we seek to eliminate. This happens as we are part of cultures and economies that operate out of the growth ideology. Acting in accordance with the growth ideology does not lead to the outcomes that we strive for as professional social workers. Rather, the growth ideology results in growing social inequalities and increasing ecological injustices around the world. Social work can, instead, embrace an ecosocial lens and promote degrowth approaches for transformational alternatives. Rather than reinforcing the existing systems of injustice and oppression, radical social work can take an activist role and bring about urgent and radical changes to promote ecological justice through social and ecological well-being. Examples from radical social work in local and international communities demonstrate the possibility of degrowth for transformational alternatives as radical social work practice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document