scholarly journals Importance of play therapy in social work practice with children

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1137-1148
Author(s):  
Esra Kılıç Ceyhan

If we can find ways to hear and understand children, they have a lot to say, tell and teach us, adults. Children who do not have extensive verbal abilities like adults can express themselves through playing. It has been proven by research that the best method by which they can convey their feelings, thoughts and problems is play therapy. At this point, it is important that professionals working with children are equipped with the knowledge of play therapy. Social workers who frequently come into contact with children in their professional lives should be involved in the field as play therapy practitioners. However, when the literature is examined, it is seen that there are very few practices and studies on the subject in Turkey. This study presents the place and importance of play therapy in social work practice with children in the light of the researches and applications in the literature, and highlights the importance of the use of play therapy as a method by social workers working with children. It has been observed that play therapy needs a wider coverage in social work practice and research. Suggestions have been made for popularizing play therapy in the relevant social work education, research and practices. ​Extended English summary is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file.   Özet   Çocukları duymaya, anlamaya ilişkin yollar bulanabilirse, onların yetişkinlere söyleyecekleri, anlatacakları, öğretecekleri çok şey vardır. Yetişkinler gibi geniş sözel yeteneklere sahip olmayan çocuklar kendilerini oyun yoluyla ifade edebilmektedirler. Onların duygularını, düşüncelerini, sorunlarını aktarabilecekleri en iyi yöntemin oyun terapisi olduğu araştırmalarla kanıtlanmıştır. Bu noktada çocuklarla çalışan profesyonellerin oyun terapisiyle ilgili bir donanıma sahip olması önem arz etmektedir. Mesleki yaşamlarında sıkça çocuklara temas eden sosyal hizmet uzmanları, oyun terapisi uygulayıcısı olarak alanda yer almalıdır. Ancak alan yazın incelendiğinde konuyla ilgili ülkemizdeki uygulama ve çalışmaların çok az sayıda olduğu görülmüştür. Çocuklarla sosyal hizmet uygulamasında oyun terapisinin yeri ve öneminin literatürdeki araştırmalar ve uygulamalar ışığında sunulduğu bu çalışmada, çocuklarla çalışan sosyal hizmet uzmanlarının oyun terapisini bir yöntem olarak kullanmalarının önemine dikkat çekilmiştir. Oyun terapisinin sosyal hizmet uygulama ve araştırmalarında daha geniş yer almaya ihtiyacı olduğu görülmüştür. Konuyla ilgili sosyal hizmet eğitim, araştırma ve uygulamalarında oyun terapisinin yaygınlaştırılması için önerilerde bulunulmuştur.   

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary A. Barbera

The process of globalization is contested terrain across the globe. Social work practice is affected by this process, since globalization has led to a widening of the gap between rich and poor and has increased the number of people living in poverty. Social workers must understand economic globalization in order to be able to contest its effects on our personal and professional lives. This article examines the process of economic globalization. It offers a case example of a short-term international field program, the Sin Fronteras Chile Project, which shows how social work education in the United States can help prepare social workers to be actors in a world affected by economic globalization. It also offers recommendations for strengthening undergraduate social work education, based on students' experiences with Sin Fronteras.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Aimers ◽  
Peter Walker

Community development is a core subject in social work education, yet social work discourse often places community development at its margins (Mendes, 2009). This article considers the location of community development and community work within the current neoliberal environment in New Zealand and how such practice can be sustained by social workers in the community and voluntary sector. Community development is a way of working with communities that has a ‘bottom up’ approach as an alternative to State (top down) development. Over recent years, however, successive New Zealand governments have embraced neoliberal social policies that have marginalised community development. In addition the term ‘community work’ has been used to describe activities that have little to do with a bottom up approach thereby making it difficult to define both community development and community work. By applying a ‘knowledge intersections’ schema to two New Zealand community and voluntary organi- sations we identify where community development and social work intersect. From this basis we challenge social workers to consider ways in which community development can be embedded within their practice. 


Author(s):  
Linda Bell

This chapter gives a brief contextual background history to ‘social work’. It emphasises the years after 1990. This period encompasses many policy and political changes and theoretical developments in the UK and internationally, which affect social work practice and education. This is the time period encapsulating the author's involvement with social workers and social work education. The chapter presents some comparative geographical locations partly to reflect aspects of this involvement with social work and contacts with social work and social workers in those places, as well as to reflect different kinds of welfare regimes and to indicate some different kinds of welfare professionals.


2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Roberts ◽  
Rosemary Blieszner

The infusion of aging content into the social work curriculum has been the subject of recent discussion by social work researchers. Aging content is needed for ethical social work practice because demographic trends demonstrate that social workers will treat older people regardless of work area preference. Age bias precludes ethical social work practice. However, the infusion of gerontological subject matter may decrease age bias and may thereby promote ethical practice. The authors' research demonstrates that age bias exists among social workers despite attention to the phenomenon, lending support to recommendations for infusion of aging content into baccalaureate social work education. Baccalaureate social work education is an opportune venue in which to introduce work with elders.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sur Ah Hahn ◽  
Jennifer Hinton ◽  
Ann Hallyburton

Abstract Limited literature exists to guide social workers in the effective and ethical use of emotional support animals (ESAs) in practice. This article deals with practical issues these professionals face in dealing with requests for ESA authorization. The article provides an overview of relevant U.S. regulations (as of mid-2019) governing housing, travel, workplaces, and higher education; examines the uses, efficacy, and special concerns regarding ESAs; and presents recommendations for the use of ESAs in social work practice. Ethical implications for social workers dealing with client assessment and ESA authorization are discussed. The authors also address the intrinsic nature of human and ESA well-being and its relevance to client-centered social work practice. In addition, the authors discuss opportunities for incorporating ESAs into social work education.


2019 ◽  
pp. 002087281985874
Author(s):  
Charles Kiiza Wamara ◽  
Maria Irene Carvalho

This article highlights how older people in Uganda experience discrimination and injustice. It discusses the legal framework for their protection, while acknowledging that not all professionals are aware of or have access to the legal mechanisms meant to safeguard older people’s interests. It also discusses the role social work can play in protecting older people’s rights. It further recommends that social workers work to increase solidarity between generations and bring about social justice and respect for diversity. It concludes by highlighting the need to bring anti-discriminatory social work into mainstream social work education and the professional regulation of social work.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ameena Ashley Ali

This major research paper (MRP) examines how Schools of Social Work (SSW) in Canada reproduce social workers who participate in and perpetuate existing systems of oppression. Social workers either end up continuing to contribute to existing oppressive structures in society or working towards breaking down those structures; and an integral part in making that distinction is the education that they receive. This MRP focuses on critically analyzing the Canadian Association of Social Work Education (CASWE) standards for Masters of Social Work (MSW) curriculum accreditation through an anti-colonial and post colonialism framework with an understanding of the effects of neoliberalism. This critical analysis was conducted through critical discourse analysis to reveal how colonialism and neoliberalism permeate curriculum standards which ultimately shape social work practice today. Main findings indicate that the curriculum accreditation standards have underlying discourses related to professionalism, social justice, surveillance, institutionalization and the absence of race.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 961-978
Author(s):  
Beth R Crisp

Abstract This article provides a critical commentary on the place of spirituality in social work scholarship in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Compared with previous decades, the applications of spirituality within social work have expanded, and understandings of what spirituality entails have become more nuanced. In part, this reflects an intention and methodology which enabled scholarship from beyond the Anglosphere to be included in this commentary, including the perspectives of indigenous peoples. Three key issues were identified in the literature: a lack of consensus as to how spirituality is understood, including whether it can be measured; the broadening scope for spirituality in social work practice, including growing recognition that spirituality has a role beyond direct practice in social policy and advocacy work; and the impact on social workers or holistic practice models which acknowledge the spirituality of service users and consequences of this for social work education. Although there are many positives to have emerged from this growing acceptance of a legitimate place for spirituality in social work, social workers need to take care to ensure that the ways they incorporate spirituality into their practice is not harmful to service users.


Author(s):  
Suzanne Pritzker ◽  
Shannon Lane

Political social work is social work practice, research, and theory involving explicit attention to power dynamics in policymaking and political mechanisms for eliciting social change. It is an ethical responsibility for social workers. Political social work takes place in a variety of fields and settings and includes influencing candidates and their agendas, working on campaigns, expanding political participation, working in full-time political positions, and holding elected office. Political participation among social workers is higher than in the general public, although much variety exists within groups of social workers, and the activities that social workers engage in tend to be more passive than active. This article discusses the role of social work education in preparing generalist and specialist political social workers, and the presence of both challenges and opportunities for political social work in the context of current practice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-78
Author(s):  
Holly K. Oxhandler ◽  
Rick R Chamiec-Case ◽  
Terry A. Wolfer

Recent studies have demonstrated that social workers’ intrinsic religiosity is the largest predictor of whether they integrate clients’ religion/spirituality in practice. However, to date, no instrument has been developed to begin to understand the complex relationship between how a social worker’s faith impacts their social work practice and vice versa, especially among social workers who self-identify as Christian. Thus, this paper describes the development of the Social Worker’s Integration of their Faith – Christian (SWIF-C) scale to explore the following: 1) Does the SWIF-C have content and criterion validity?  2) Can the SWIF-C be condensed into fewer subscales to explain factors related to practitioners’ integration of their own religion, spirituality, and faith (RSF) into practice? The results indicated the SWIF-C is reliable and an exploratory factor analysis resulted in four subscales, including the: 1) impact of social work on one’s faith, 2) impact of faith on one’s social work practice, 3) impact of faith on one’s social work identity, and 4) conflict between one’s faith and social work. Based on these findings, implications and recommendations for social work education and practice are discussed.


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