scholarly journals In safe hands: Empowering young people with disabilities who receive assistance with intimate personal care

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 94-107
Author(s):  
Patricia Muldoon ◽  
Gloria Kirwan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Support Service ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Personal Care ◽  
Physical Functions ◽  
Micro Level

This article explores the potential for social workers to engage in empowering relationships with young people whose disabilities necessitate that they receive help with certain physical functions, some of which would be termed both personal and intimate. We look firstly at different perspectives within social work on empowerment and what social workers can do to support service users gain more control over their lives. Drawing on the findings of a study by Muldoon (2012), we explore the application of these empowerment concepts into the working relationships that social workers develop with young people who require daily assistance with intimate personal care, and through this exploration we draw attention to the importance of understanding empowerment as a micro-level as well as the more often discussed macro-level action in social work.

Shame and Social Work

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Full Participation ◽  
Painful Experience

This book aims to approach the phenomenon of shame, especially in the context of social work. It explores the profoundly damaging experience of shame on the identities and potential of many service users, who, through, for example, the stigmatised experiences of poverty or abuse, are silenced within and disconnected from full participation in societies and communities. The book considers shame as a social, moral, and politically generated phenomenon, but equally focuses on the powerful, painful experience of each individual subjected to shaming. Having set out key contextual issues and theoretical approaches to understand shame, the book turns its attention to service users, more specifically young people and the poor. Finally, it offers examples of shame in relation to how social workers experience this in organisations and through, for example, human mistakes and limitations. In relation to shamed social workers and shamed service users, attention is given to how it might be possible to begin to address this painful state.

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.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Beddoe ◽  
Allen Bartley
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Service Users ◽  
The Social ◽  
Country Specific

This chapter summarises the recurring themes and lessons from the preceding substantive chapters and reflects upon their implications. It draws together the different issues, laws and culture in social work across the five countries examined, and compares the country-specific challenges raised in the chapters. The editors make recommendations for how the social work profession can take a more active role in the transition of Transnational Social Workers, and highlight good practice in preceding chapters. Finally, they comment on the need for more research in the area, including with service users.

Radical Hope

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Krumer-Nevo
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Critical Social Work ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Impact

This book describes the new Poverty-Aware Paradigm (PAP), which was developed in Israel through intense involvement with the field of social work in various initiatives. The paradigm was adopted in 2014 by the Israeli Ministry of Welfare and Social Services as a leading paradigm for social workers in social services departments. The book draws from the rich experience of the implementation of the PAP in practice and connects examples of practice to theoretical ideas from radical/critical social work, critical poverty knowledge, and psychoanalysis. The PAP addresses poverty as a violation of human rights and emphasizes people’s ongoing efforts to resist poverty. In order to recognize these sometimes minor acts of resistance and advance their impact, social workers should establish close relationship with service users and stand by them. The book proposes combining relationship-based practice and rights-based practice as a means of bridging the gap between the emotional and material needs of service users. In addition to introducing the main concepts of the PAP, the book also contributes to the debate between conservative and cultural theories of poverty and structural theories, emphasizing the impact of a critical framework on this debate. The book consists of four parts. The first, “Transformation”, addresses the transformational nature of the paradigm. The second, “Recognition”, is based on current psychoanalytic developments and “translates” them into social work practice in order to deepen our understanding of relationship-based practice. The third, “Rights”, describes rights-based practice. The fourth, “Solidarity”, presents various ways in which solidarity might shape social workers’ practice. The book seeks to reaffirm social work’s core commitment to combating poverty and furthering social justice and to offer a solid theoretical conceptualization that is also eminently practical.

Establishing working relationships in online social work

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido van de Luitgaarden ◽  
Michelle van der Tier
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service User ◽  
Psychosocial Problems ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Working Relationship ◽  
Online Chat ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
Work Education

Summary This article reports on an empirical case study into the process of establishing a working relationship between social workers and service users in an online social work service. Workers were using an online chat application to interact with young people, who sought professional help for various types of psychosocial problems. Two chat conversations and one interview of each of five research participants were analysed in terms of the way in which the working relationship between the service user and the online social worker was established. Thus, a total of 10 chat conversations and five interviews were included in this study. Findings Subjects were shown to be particularly focused on the process of addressing the issues with which the service users were trying to cope. As a consequence, limited effort was observed with regard to shaping the working relationship in such a way that the service user gained control over the course of the conversation. Applications As the medium influences the process of establishing a positive working relationship, it is argued that the worker should be able to understand the implications for the manner in which online conversations are conducted. Social work education is called upon to facilitate the acquiring of the knowledge and skills needed for such. It is suggested that more research into service users’ expectations regarding the working relationship within online social work could provide additional insights for the further improvement of these types of services.

scholarly journals Embodied Social Work Practice Within Risk Society

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 673-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Smeeton ◽  
Patrick O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Extreme Risk

This paper critically discusses the limitations of theorising social work from psychological and sociological perspectives and argues that phenomenology offers more opportunity to understand the embodied experiences of service users and social workers themselves. The paper argues that psychology and sociology have a limited analysis of being-in-the-world, which ought to be social work’s primary consideration. The paper offers an overview of the sociology of risk before embarking on an extensive description and discussion of Heidegger’s and Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology applied to the lived experience of child protection social workers working within risk society. The argument is put that phenomenology is a useful tool for understanding the lived experience of social work practitioners. Findings: The authors conclude that embodied social work practice containing fear and anxiety can be thought of as akin to taking part in extreme risk sports and that this is an unhealthy experience that is likely to skew decision-making and adversely affect the lives of social workers and service users. Applications: The authors argue that phenomenology can enhance understanding of practice and decision-making and offers insights into the lived experience of social workers. Phenomenology is useful for helping social workers negotiate risk-saturated environments, through a focus on meaning.

scholarly journals Mental health social work in multidisciplinary community teams: An analysis of a national service user survey

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Boland ◽  
Michele Abendstern ◽  
Mark Wilberforce ◽  
Rosa Pitts ◽  
Jane Hughes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
Mental Health Staff

Summary The article addresses the continued lack of clarity about the role of the mental health social worker within community mental health teams for working age adults and particularly the limited evidence regarding this from the perspective of service users. It compares findings from the literature, found to originate from a predominantly professional viewpoint, with secondary analysis of a national survey of service users to assess their views. Findings Three particular aspects of mental health social workers’ role identified in the literature were, to some extent, also located within the national survey and can be summarised as: approaches to practice, nature of involvement, and scope of support. The presence of these features was largely not substantiated by the survey results, with few differences evident between service users’ experiences of mental health social workers compared with other mental health staff. When nurses and social workers were compared, results were either the same for both professions or favoured nurses. The findings point both to the difficulty of articulating the social work contribution and to the limitations of the secondary data. Application The findings are a useful benchmark, highlighting the limited evidence base and the need for further research to improve both the understanding of the mental health social work role and how it is experienced by service users. The profession is keen to emphasise its specific contribution. Research evidence is required to underscore this and to ensure that the role is not subsumed within generic practice.

Oppression

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty Garcia ◽  
Dorothy Van Soest
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Economic Justice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Power Arrangements

A firm grasp of the nature of oppression, with its dynamics of power and its systemic character, is required so that social workers can avoid unintended collusion with pervasive oppressive systems if they are to be successful in promoting social and economic justice. Recognizing the relationship between macro-level and micro-level dynamics and their implications for practice is an substantive part of social work practice. This perspective includes attention to the ubiquitousness of privilege and oppression and the potential consequences of ignoring this reality as complicity in and normalizing exclusionary and marginalizing behaviors. This article discusses the concept of oppression, its dynamics and common elements, and anti-oppressive practices that can expose and dismantle oppressive relationships and systemic power arrangements.

scholarly journals Temporal and moral orders of social work intervention: The accomplishment of relationship work in a case of physical abuse

2020 ◽  
pp. 147332502094122
Author(s):  
Alex Dennis ◽  
Jadwiga Leigh
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Physical Abuse ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Work Intervention ◽  
Ethnographic Observation ◽  
Recommended Guidelines ◽  
Practice Skills

This paper explores the employment of communication, engagement and relationship-based practice skills by a Flemish social worker working with a parent who was alleged to have assaulted his child. We deploy insights gained from ethnomethodology to analyse extracts from an ethnographic observation. We show how a respectful approach can be developed between two parties who seek to find meaning from the chain of events they are presented with. In doing so, we establish how practice can be conducted differently depending on the context in which professionals and families find themselves. We argue that social workers’ identities revolve around being competent members of their professional community by working within the recommended guidelines and keeping children safe. However, this does not mean that organisational rules determine the activities that take place. Instead, we show how social workers can use their experience and skills to develop effective working relationships and still achieve their intended outcomes without blaming or shaming parents.

Residential staff responses to adolescent self-harm: The helpful and unhelpful

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan R Johnson ◽  
Kirstin Ferguson ◽  
Jennifer Copley
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Support Service ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Staff Support ◽  
Secure Care ◽  
Residential Staff ◽  
Self Harm

Adolescent self-harm is prevalent in residential and secure care and is the cause of distress to those harming themselves, to the staff caring for them and for other young people living with them. This article sought service user views on what staff supports were effective and what were counter-productive in order to improve the care offered to young people. Seven young people living in residential or secure care were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to elicit key themes. Global themes of safety and care were elicited. The young people understood and accepted that the role of staff was to provide these. Within these themes, they noted numerous responses that had both helpful and unhelpful effects, including increased observation, removal of means and extra collaborative support. Service users made numerous recommendations to increase the helpful effects of staff support. Young people provided informed and helpful guidance on how best to care for them. Their views can help mental health professionals and care staff increase their helpful responses making them more effective and less counter-productive. This study is a rare representation of the views of young people in residential and secure care and how to respond to their self-harm behaviour.

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