Postmodernism, Spirituality, and the Creative Writing Process: Implications for Social Work Practice

2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thecla Damianakis
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Creative Writing ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Writing Process ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Multiple Selves ◽  
The Social

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.

Beta Testing in Social Work

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-168
Author(s):  
Dorian E. Traube ◽  
Stephanie Begun ◽  
Robin Petering ◽  
Marilyn L. Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Consumer Markets ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Beta Testing

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.

Social Work Ethnography

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy L. Haight
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Culturally Sensitive ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Common ◽  
Cultural Communities

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.

Chronic Stress: A Conceptual Perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Reding ◽  
Marion H. Wijnberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Single Mothers ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Comprehensive Model ◽  
Direct Practice ◽  
The Social

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.

Listening to the Voices of Individuals with Disabilities

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen French Gilson ◽  
John C. Bricout ◽  
Frank R. Baskind
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Individuals With Disabilities ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
The Social

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.

A Process Model of Social Development Supervision in Social Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mpumelelo Ncube
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Supervision Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practice Approach ◽  
Dialectical Relationship ◽  
Development Approach

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.

La comprensión de los conflictos de interpretación en la práctica del perito social forense

2014 ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Iván Cisternas Villacura
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Work Conflict ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
The Social ◽  
Forensic Expert ◽  
Trabajo Social

  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

scholarly journals Opportunities to “Make Macro Matter” through the Grand Challenges for Social Work

2021 ◽  
pp. 104438942097248
Author(s):  
Samantha Teixeira ◽  
Astraea Augsberger ◽  
Katie Richards-Schuster ◽  
Linda Sprague Martinez ◽  
Kerri Evans
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Grand Challenges ◽  
Macro Practice ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
The Social ◽  
Macro Social Work ◽  
Instrumental Role

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.

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.

More Than Place-Based: Viewing Geography on a Continuum and the Implications for Social Work Practice

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason T. Carbone ◽  
Stephen Edward McMillin
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
New Method ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
Community Membership ◽  
Community Rights ◽  
The Social

Communities play an important role within the field of social work as the context within which specific social work activities occur. To date, much of the social work literature divides communities into the mutually exclusive, dichotomous categories of geographic and functional communities. The authors propose a new method for defining community that views geography on a continuum and suggests that membership within a community is moderated by place. The concept of place-moderated communities is applied to specific examples, and the application to social work practice is discussed within the context of community membership, community engagement, community rights, and community development efforts.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document