Chronic Stress: A Conceptual Perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Reding ◽  
Marion H. Wijnberg

The case is made for understanding and applying in social work practice current conceptions of chronic stress. Citing literature from the social sciences, the authors develop and describe a comprehensive model of chronic stress, focusing on single mothers that are experiencing economic poverty. The utility of the model lies in its synthesis of concepts that can be used in direct practice, policy development, and program design.

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-282
Author(s):  
Michele Sogren ◽  
Karene-Anne Nathaniel

This article presents the responses from frontline social work practitioners, administrators and educators in Trinidad to the recently published Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development. In acknowledging the significance of the Global Agenda, it became apparent that there was a need to solicit and channel the views of the local practitioners on this declaration. This article is based on a study carried out by the social work unit of the University of the West Indies. The study was intended to facilitate the articulation of the perceptions of key constituents about the Global Agenda and to critically analyse and respond to the Global Agenda within the context of a developing region. This article draws on the data that were collected from a focus group discussion among key constituents in the profession of social work in Trinidad. The findings support the Global Agenda as culturally relevant to the social realities facing Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region at this time. The prevailing view was that notwithstanding the responsibility to institutionalise the currency of the profession to influence social policy development on critical human rights and social justice issues, country-specific mandates and jurisdictions must be maintained as the primary determinants of social work practice, education and policy development. The potential value, applicability and advancement of the four commitments put forward in the Global Agenda are also highlighted.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-168
Author(s):  
Dorian E. Traube ◽  
Stephanie Begun ◽  
Robin Petering ◽  
Marilyn L. Flynn

The field of social work does not currently have a widely adopted method for expediting innovations into micro- or macropractice. Although it is common in fields such as engineering and business to have formal processes for accelerating scientific advances into consumer markets, few comparable mechanisms exist in the social sciences or social services. Given that beta testing is successfully used to scale innovation in business and engineering, why is there no method for beta testing in social work? Could this be the reason that innovations in social work practice remain decades behind scientific research findings? This article explores reasons for the scarcity of options for scaling innovation in the field of social work and proposes a method for shortening development cycles for social work innovations to ensure that advances reach consumers—and ultimately improve their lives—more quickly.


Author(s):  
Wendy L. Haight

Ethnography is an approach to the study of culture with an extensive history in the social sciences and professions. Within social work, there has been a long-standing interest in ethnography. It affords social workers a powerful and unique vehicle for obtaining an in-depth, contextualized understanding of clients’ perspectives and experiences necessary for effective, culturally sensitive social work practice and advocacy. It provides an opportunity to understand how very different cultural communities perceive and respond to the common human challenges confronted by social workers and their clients every day.


2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thecla Damianakis

Social work, as a profession, is struggling to determine the value of postmodernism and spirituality, and how these approaches to life provide alternative ways of interpreting the universe and the nature of social work practice. Although social work is founded on both a liberal arts and a social science education, some authors are challenging social work's historical emphasis on the social sciences; they advocate that social work instead reconsider the role of the humanities as a force affecting practice. While social work continues to root its practice in modernity, determinism, and the social sciences, the possibility should be considered that postmodernism, spirituality, and the creative writing process have the potential to expand social work to a more creative and meaningful kind of practice. By exploring the relationships between power and knowledge, pathology and creativity, core identity and multiple selves, it becomes clear that our subjectivity, our human potential, and our voices can facilitate very deep intuitive, creative, and transpersonal levels of communication between the social worker and the client.


1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen French Gilson ◽  
John C. Bricout ◽  
Frank R. Baskind

Social work literature, research, and practice on disabilities has lagged behind other topical areas dealing with oppressed groups. The social work literature remains “expert focused” and generally fragmented into discussions of specific disabilities or subpopulations. A viable general model that deals with the personal experience of disability is not available. This exploratory study presents a social work literature search and analysis as well as interviews with six individuals with disabilities about their experiences with social workers. Individuals with disabilities assert that they were treated as though they had categorically fewer aspirations, abilities, and perhaps even fundamental rights than did nondisabled people. This study provides a base for follow-up research on models of consumer-focused social work practice in the area of disability.


Author(s):  
Mpumelelo Ncube

Supervision practice in social work is understood as the mainstay of the profession. However, various studies have pointed to the inadequacies of supervision to facilitate quality service provision. Previous studies have reflected a general misalignment between the approach to supervision practice and the approach to social work practice as one inadequacy leading to the failure of supervision practice. Although there are numerous supervision models in the profession, some of which are aligned with certain practice approaches, none is directly identifiable with the social development approach, which should be at the core of social work orientation in South Africa. Thus, this article provides a process model of supervision in social work that aims to establish a dialectical relationship between supervision and the social development practice approach. The study was underpinned by Thomas’ research and design process, which was used to design and develop a social work supervision model mirroring a social development approach. The paper concludes with recommendations related to the use of the developed model.


Author(s):  
Iván Cisternas Villacura

  RESUMEN El presente artículo es una reflexión sobre la práctica del trabajo social en el rol de perito social forense dentro del sistema de administración de justicia, donde su labor se funda en mediar entre la realidad del periciado –sujeto del que se debe dar cuenta en una investigación judicial– y quien requiere de los antecedentes necesarios para que el “Juez” dicte sentencia, lo que habitualmente genera un “conflicto de interpretaciones”. En tal sentido, es relevante discutir las dificultades que deben enfrentar las y los trabajadores sociales, en cuanto a la comprensión de una realidad cada vez más compleja, y al conflicto que se genera entre las interpretaciones de los mundos de vida de las personas y los requerimientos del sistema judicial chileno. Palabras clave: Pericia judicial social forense - Trabajo Social Pericial - Conflicto de interpretaciones. A compreensão dos conflitos de interpretação na prática do perito social forense RESUMO O presente artigo é uma reflexão sobe a prática do trabalho social no rol de perito social forense dentro do sistema de administração de justiça; onde seu labor funda-se em mediar entre a realidade do periciado – pessoa de quem se deve dar conta numa investigação judicial – e quem precisa dos antecedentes necessários para que o “Juiz” determine sentencia o que habitualmente, gera um “conflito de interpretações”. Neste sentido, é relevante discutir as dificuldades que devem enfrentar as e os trabalhadores sociais, em quanto á compreensão de uma realidade cada vez mais complexa, e ao conflito que se gera entre as interpretações dos mundos de vida das pessoas e aos requerimentos do sistema judicial chileno. Palavras chave: Pericia judicial social forense - Trabalho Socia Pericial - Conflito das interpretações. Understanding the conflicts of interpretation in the social forensic expert practice ABSTRACT This article is a reflection on social work practice in the social role forensic expert plays in the legal system, where their job is based on mediating between ‘periciado’ – individual who is being charged during a trial at the court and requires the necessary case background for the ‘Judge’ to deliver judgment, which usually generates a “conflict of interpretations”. In this view, it is relevant to discuss the difficulties faced by social workers, in terms of understanding an increasingly complex reality, and the conflict that emerges among the interpretations of the life of people and Chilean legal system requirements. Keywords: Forensic Social Legal Expertise - Forensic Social Work – Conflict of interpretations


Author(s):  
Samantha Teixeira ◽  
Astraea Augsberger ◽  
Katie Richards-Schuster ◽  
Linda Sprague Martinez ◽  
Kerri Evans

The Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative, led by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW), aims to organize the social work profession around 12 entrenched societal challenges. Addressing the root causes of the Grand Challenges will take a coordinated effort across all of social work practice, but given their scale, macro social work will be essential. We use Santiago and colleagues’ Frameworks for Advancing Macro Practice to showcase how macro practices have contributed to local progress on two Grand Challenges. We offer recommendations and a call for the profession to invest in and heed the instrumental role of macro social work practice to address the Grand Challenges.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Monteiro

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.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document