scholarly journals A Social Work Perspective on the Biographical Research Interview with Natalia

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-115
Author(s):  
Johanna Björkenheim
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Clinical Work ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Biographical Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Interview ◽  
Present Life

Biographical interviewing is used not only in research but also in clinical work such as social work practice. However, as social work settings differ from research settings, the ways of doing, analyzing, and using biographical interviews will differ. The differences arise from the reasons for and the purposes of the interview, the institutional context, the relationship between interviewer and interviewee, interviewees’ capacity for storytelling and reflective work, time limits, the structure of the biographical interview, and follow-up interviewing. In social work, interviewees are in a more vulnerable position than in research, and there is a stronger power imbalance. The service users’ expectations are essential for the work, and it is important that the users articulate their expectations because the purpose of social work is to change and improve the life situation of service users. This asks for ethical considerations that are partly different from those necessary in research. The biographical interview with Natalia is here analyzed using the strengths perspective as the social work theoretical framework. The analysis shows that in her present life Natalia has many strengths and resources, which, in a social work situation, could be mobilized to support her in getting more control over her life. Her perceived strengths are: her capacity for storytelling and reflection; her emotional and cognitive capacities; her willpower; and her capacity for enjoying her present life and planning for her future. Resources identified are: her significant others; her economic situation; her satisfying job situation; her capacity to have dreams for the future; and her religion. Implications for social work, both in the past and in the present, are discussed.

When Douby looked for a home: ‘standing by’ within the establishment

Radical Hope ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 203-210
Author(s):  
Michal Krumer-Nevo
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Ethical Principle ◽  
Service Users ◽  
The Social ◽  
Local Social Services

This is the first chapter of Part Four of the book, which is titled “Solidarity”. Solidarity is an ethical principle that dictates the positioning of the social worker vis-à-vis service users. The chapter tells the story of a woman who was evicted from the apartment that she had occupied for 12 years and the struggle of her social worker to change the eviction order. The chapter addresses the tension between practice based on solidarity and mainstream social work practice in local social services.

scholarly journals Making person-centred assessments

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-447
Author(s):  
Jon Symonds ◽  
Caroline Miles ◽  
Mike Steel ◽  
Sue Porter ◽  
Val Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Critical Importance ◽  
Care And Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
Care Assessment

Summary The social care assessment is a ‘key interaction’ between a person and the local authority with ‘critical’ importance for determining a person’s needs for care and support. In order to achieve this, the guidance requires that assessments must be ‘person-centred throughout’. The concept of person-centred practice is now routinely invoked, but there remains little empirical evidence on how it gets put into practice. Findings This paper draws on interview data from 30 practitioners about their experiences of conducting social care assessments in England. While there was widespread support for the principles of a person-centred approach, tensions emerged for practitioners in three ways: the way in which ‘chat’ was used to build a relationship or conduct the assessment, whether to conduct the assessment via a conversation or by following the sections on the agency form and the extent to which the assessor should involve and negotiate the contributions of family members. Applications We argue that each of these dilemmas represents an occasion when a commitment to person-centred practice is negotiated between professionals and service users and sometimes compromised as a result. We consider the possibilities for and constraints on achieving person-centred assessments in a post-Care Act environment and discuss the implications for social work practice and research.

scholarly journals Sociometric Assessment and Written Psychodramatic Interventions in Individual Social Work Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 311-322
Author(s):  
Scott Giacomucci
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Social Atom ◽  
Warm Up ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
Good Starting Point ◽  
Action Methods

AbstractThe application of sociometry assessments and written psychodrama interventions within one-to-one social work settings is the focus of this chapter. Interventions covered include the social atom, the role atom, modified role atoms, clinical timelines, psychodramatic journaling, and psychodramatic letter writing. Step-by-step instructions are provided for clinicians new to these techniques. Practice examples and clinical processing are offered with depictions of the social atom and role atoms. These tools are presented individually with supporting theory but are often employed together or as a warm-up for a psychodrama enactment. Novice psychodramatists or those less experienced in action methods will find these approaches as a good starting point for beginning to integration sociometry and psychodramatic interventions into their clinical practice with individuals. Though these tools will be presented for individual work, they are also applicable tools for group work and community settings.

Shame and social work: an introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Liz Frost ◽  
Veronika Magyar-Haas ◽  
Holger Schoneville ◽  
Alessandro Sicora
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
General Structure ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Work System ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

Shame is a powerful emotion in the context of social work. It affects individuals and attacks their subjectivity from within, and yet is also experienced in the here and now as a thoroughly social emotion that enmeshes the individual in society. It is therefore highly potent within the field of social work, for its service users, and in social work practice itself. People who become service users often live in social situations in which they are confronted with shame. This emotion can occur to service users by virtue of being in the social work system, and it can also be experienced by those recruited to alleviate social problems the social workers. This introduction will try to give some preliminary definitions, introduce the main concepts highlighted in the book, present the general structure of the latter, and briefly describe the content of each of its chapters.

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

Purchasing Power and Self-Determination: Social Worker Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Bailey ◽  
Debbie Plath ◽  
Alankaar Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Management Approaches

Abstract The international policy trend towards personalised budgets, which is designed to offer people with disabilities purchasing power to choose services that suit them, is exemplified in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This article examines how the ‘purchasing power’ afforded to service users through individualised budgets impacts on social work practice and the choice and self-determination of NDIS service users. Social workers’ views were sought on the alignment between the NDIS principles of choice and control and social work principles of participation and self-determination and how their social work practice has changed in order to facilitate client access to supports through NDIS budgets and meaningful participation in decision-making. A survey was completed by forty-five social workers, and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with five of these participants. The findings identify how social workers have responded to the shortfalls of the NDIS by the following: interpreting information for clients; assisting service users to navigate complex service provision systems; supporting clients through goal setting, decision-making and implementation of action plans; and adopting case management approaches. The incorporation of social work services into the NDIS service model is proposed in order to facilitate meaningful choice and self-determination associated with purchasing power.

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.

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