scholarly journals Resisting gentrification: The theoretical and practice contributions of social work

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amie Thurber ◽  
Amy Krings ◽  
Linda S Martinez ◽  
Mary Ohmer
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Community Organizing ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Home Values

Summary Gentrification is changing the landscape of many cities worldwide, exacerbating economic and racial inequality. Despite its relevance to social work, the field has been conspicuously absent from scholarship related to gentrification. This paper introduces the dominant view of gentrification (a political economic lens), highlighting its contributions and vulnerabilities, then introduces four case studies that illuminate the distinct contributions of social work to broaden the ways in which gentrification is theorized and responded to within communities. Findings When gentrification is analyzed exclusively through a political economy lens, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners are likely to focus on changes in land and home values, reducing the adverse effects of gentrification to a loss of affordable housing. A singular focus on affordable housing risks paying insufficient attention to racial struggle, perpetuating damage-based views of poor people and neighborhoods, and obfuscating political, social, and cultural displacements. Social work practice—including social action group work, community organizing, community development, and participatory research and planning—offers a holistic approach to understanding, resisting, and responding to gentrification and advance equitable development in the city. Applications By exploring social work practice that amplifies residents’ and change makers’ efforts, advances existing community organizing, produces new insights, builds inter-neighborhood and interdisciplinary collaborations, and facilitates social action and policy change, this paper helps community practitioners to reimagine the role of social work research and practice in gentrifying neighborhoods.

Slums and Affordable Housing

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie Young Laing
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Urban Slums ◽  
Slum Dwellers ◽  
Global Arena ◽  
General Community

By the year 2035, slums may become the primary living environment for the world’s urban dwellers. This entry explores key definitions, causes, and characteristics of slums in the global arena, along with the types of social-work practice and general community development approaches being used to catalyze action to decrease the prevalence of slums. Core strategies include using pro–poor planning efforts that empower slum dwellers, creating affordable housing, and otherwise transitioning urban slums into vibrant communities. Concluding thoughts and further considerations for practice are offered to close the entry.

scholarly journals Incorporating spirituality and religiosity In social work practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miryang Choi
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Religious Dimensions ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

This study aims to critically examine the current social work practice which is based on dominant western epistemology and positivism, and which often excludes spiritual and religious aspects of clients. Drawing on Critical Race Theory and a holistic approach from the Indigenous perspective for the theoretical framework, this study challenges the dominant research method of random sampling for research. This study adopts a phenomenological approach which seeks a deep understanding of how three social work practitioners with racially and culturally diverse backgrounds view spiritual and religious dimensions in social work practice, and how they integrate these aspects into their practice. With semi-structured interviews, the findings of the study indicate the essence of the experience of social work practitioners who incorporate spirituality and religiosity in their practice. The findings indicate the need for thoughtful discussions on how to incorporate spirituality and religiosity in social work practice without allowing exclusion and harm through religion.

Social Work Students Confront Poverty's Impact in the Community: A Service Learning Project

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-232
Author(s):  
Judith Gray ◽  
Marissa O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Explorative Study ◽  
Student Reflections

This article describes a unique community involvement project that was used to teach BSW students in a Social Work Practice With Groups course about poverty and a qualitative explorative study of student outcomes. The project included a poverty simulation in combination with 25 hours of service learning with people currently experiencing poverty. Very little research has been done on poverty simulations, and none has included a service learning component. Twenty-one college students participated. Student reflections were analyzed, and themes that emerged reflect achievement of course objectives. A content analysis was also completed identifying empathy and social action engagement. All 21 student reflections discussed an increase in empathy surrounding people in poverty. Sixty-seven percent of student reflections indicated social action engagement.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
pp. 205-208
Author(s):  
Deanna Edwards ◽  
Kate Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Risk Averse ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Uk

This concluding chapter argues for the potential of family group conferences (FGCs) to lead to positive outcomes for families in a diverse range of social work practice areas. The research and evidence base, while patchy, is clear on this. Policy makers, practitioners, and advocates of the FGC process have a responsibility to ensure that the practice does not become marginalised by austerity measures and increasingly risk-averse practice contexts. After all FGCs not only embody the key principles of key social work legislation and policy in the UK but also the values of social work practice. Indeed, the principles of FGCs are clearly aligned to the International Federation of Social Work definition of social work and the model provides the opportunity for local authorities to become increasingly reflective of the holistic approach to social work practice.

scholarly journals Incorporating spirituality and religiosity In social work practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miryang Choi
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Religious Dimensions ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

This study aims to critically examine the current social work practice which is based on dominant western epistemology and positivism, and which often excludes spiritual and religious aspects of clients. Drawing on Critical Race Theory and a holistic approach from the Indigenous perspective for the theoretical framework, this study challenges the dominant research method of random sampling for research. This study adopts a phenomenological approach which seeks a deep understanding of how three social work practitioners with racially and culturally diverse backgrounds view spiritual and religious dimensions in social work practice, and how they integrate these aspects into their practice. With semi-structured interviews, the findings of the study indicate the essence of the experience of social work practitioners who incorporate spirituality and religiosity in their practice. The findings indicate the need for thoughtful discussions on how to incorporate spirituality and religiosity in social work practice without allowing exclusion and harm through religion.

Social work with the local community in Ukraine and the possibility of using Polish experience

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-26
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Popow
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Community Organizing ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
Polish Experience

Although community organizing as a method of social work began to develop in Ukraine in the 1990s, but unlike individual and group social work, the attempts to introduce it into the activities of social welfare institutions and non-governmental organizations were unsystematic and not very successful. The aim of the article is to determine the possibilities of Polish experience of community social work implementation in Ukraine, taking into account the ongoing reform of local self-government. The study, the results of which are presented in the article, was designed as a so-called desk research and based on the results of the comparative analysis of Ukrainian and Polish scientific publications, documents, official websites, etc. The historical background of community social work development in Ukraine is outlined, the analysis of Ukrainian legal acts regarding norms and principles on community organizing is conducted. The article provides an overview of Ukrainian concepts and models of community social work. Particular attention is paid to the possibilities of Polish experience’ application, while implementing community organizing into practice of social welfare institutions as well as of NGOs. Possible structural and institutional changes related to the implementation of community organizing in social work practice and its benefits for the revitalization programs were analyzed. Polish experience of establishing a nationwide circle of community social work professionals was described. The author concludes that the challenges and barriers arising before community social work in both countries are quite similar and assumes that it is reasonable to take into account Polish experience, while implementing community organizing in Ukrainian realities.

‘I don’t think you will understand me because really, I believe’ – Unaccompanied female minors re-negotiating religion

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 719-735
Author(s):  
Elin Ekström ◽  
Pia H Bülow ◽  
Monika Wilinska
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Lived Religion ◽  
Unaccompanied Minors ◽  
Identity Negotiations ◽  
Role Of Religion

The role of religion in migration has been a contested subject in previous research and social work practice, with religion being considered both a bridge and a barrier to integration. When considering unaccompanied female minors, struggling to be recognised beyond the prevailing image of the victimised refugee girl, religion is sometimes seen as a force of oppression rather than a tool for integration. In this article, we focus on the embodied practices of young women’s lived religion in a context where such practices are constructed as otherness. Based on an interview study with 11 unaccompanied female minors, this article explores the identity negotiations that emerged when migrating from societies where religion plays an integral part in everyday life to a society with highly secular values. By using the concept of (oppositional) gaze, we explore how these young women negotiate their identities at a point where the normative, invisible gaze meets the embodied practices of lived religion. We demonstrate how these young women are themselves agents of their own faith, and we confirm previous research that points to religion as a support structure for unaccompanied minors; however, not without causing friction in their new society. The study shows how lived practices of religion and the development of an oppositional gaze can function as mutually reinforcing processes in identity negotiation. In social work, understanding the role of religion through lived practices might contribute to a more holistic approach when creating solutions for young people experiencing turbulent circumstances of arriving in a new country.

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