Knowledge, professional expertise and social work identities in challenging times: Making Research Count in 2017

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  
James Blewett
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Research Dissemination ◽  
Care Services ◽  
National University ◽  
Difficult Times ◽  
The Welfare State

These are uncertain and difficult times for those both delivering and those receiving social work and social care services. After nearly a decade of ‘austerity’ there has been a significant reduction in the size and scope of the welfare state (Johnstone, 2016). Furthermore there is no sign that this process abating with the sector facing a period of further uncertainty and contraction (Crewe, 2016). Against this backdrop there has been a period of Government driven ‘reform’ which has seen significant changes to the sector in both adults and children’s services. This reform process has affected many professional roles but there has been particular scrutiny, and, at times intensive, debate about the role and nature of social work in contemporary care services (Featherstone et al, 2014). This short paper considers these changes from the perspective of Making Research Count, a national university based research dissemination project that has attempted to support the development of knowledge informed practice throughout this period.

Social work academia and policy in Sweden

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarina H. Thorén ◽  
Pia Tham
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Policy Engagement ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter examines the engagement of social work academics in the policy process in Sweden. It begins by presenting an overview of social policy and the welfare state in Sweden and by discussing the emergence of the social work profession in that country. The development of social work education in Sweden and its contemporary features are then depicted. Following these, the methodology and the findings of a study of the policy engagement of Swedish social work academics are presented. The findings relate to the levels of engagement in policy and the forms that this takes. The study also offers insights into various factors that are associated with these, such as perceptions, capabilities, institutional support and the accessibility of the policy process. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the findings and their implications.

Social work academia and policy in Germany

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Herz ◽  
Stefan Köngeter
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Policy Engagement ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter examines the engagement of social work academics in the policy process in Germany. It begins by presenting an overview of social policy and the welfare state in Germany and by discussing the emergence of the social work profession in that country. The unique features of social work education in Germany and the place of policy engagement in the social work discourse are depicted. Following these, the methodology and the findings of a study of the policy engagement of German social work academics are then presented. The findings relate to the levels of engagement in policy and the forms that this takes. The study also offers insights into various factors that are associated with these, such as perceptions, capabilities, institutional support and the accessibility of the policy process. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the findings and their implications.

Gender inequality, the welfare state, disability, and distorted commodification of care in Turkey

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Reyhan Atasü-Topcuoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Shadow Economy ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Turkish Case ◽  
Care Regimes ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract Reforming care regimes to cover the care deficit and enhancing the marketization of care to promote individualism and gender equality have been on the European agenda since the 1990s. However, both implementation and results have been path-dependent. This study first underlines some specificities in the Turkish case—namely, the limited welfare state, a large shadow economy, gender roles, patriarchal backlash, Islamization, and neoliberalism, all of which receive little treatment in the welfare state literature. It then analyzes how these specificities interact in the construction of the care regime in Turkey, conceptualizing the outcome as distorted commodification of care—namely, the continuing ambiguity of care services despite these activities producing precarity and positional suffering for caregivers and recipients. Finally, the study provides concrete examples from the less studied topic of long-term disability care. It presents a perspective on Turkey that foregrounds the connections between gendered care imagery and case-specific qualities of the commodification of care shaped by the long-standing shadow economy, the outsourcing of disability services to for-profit private companies, and the introduction of the cash-for-care policy. The study analyzes the outcomes of distorted commodification of care under these conditions in Turkey vis-à-vis visibility, valuation of work, working conditions, and gender inequality.

Privatisation and New Modes of State Intervention: The Long-Term Care Programme in Israel

2000 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIMI AJZENSTADT ◽  
ZEEV ROSENHEK
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
The State ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Care Programme ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Programme Of Care ◽  
The Welfare State

This article analyses the formulation and implementation of a relatively new statutory programme of care services for dependent elderly people in Israel, which has as a basic characteristic the supply of services by non-state agencies. The analysis serves as a basis for an exploration of the effects of privatisation and the emergence of quasi-markets upon the functioning of the welfare state both as a benefits provider and as a major employer. In contrast to the perspectives that consider privatisation as leading to the weakening of the state in the welfare domain, we argue that through the transfer of services supplied by non-state agencies the state protects itself from demands and pressures from clients, while maintaining its control and regulation capabilities. This process decreases the state's accountability towards its citizens, enhancing in turn its autonomy. Privatisation policies do not imply, therefore, the dissolution of the welfare state, but rather the emergence of a new mode of state intervention.

Social work academics and policy in Israel1

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idit Weiss-Gal ◽  
John Gal
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Policy Engagement ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter examines the engagement of social work academics in the policy process in Israel. It begins by presenting an overview of social policy and the welfare state in Israel and by discussing the emergence of the social work profession and the place of policy engagement in social work in that country. The development of social work education in Israel and its contemporary features are then depicted. Following these, the methodology and the findings of a study of the policy engagement of Israeli social work academics are presented. The findings relate to the levels of engagement in policy and the forms that this takes. The study also offers insights into various factors that are associated with these, such as perceptions, capabilities, institutional support and the accessibility of the policy process. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the findings and their implications.

Organized social work and the welfare state

1983 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
John J. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
The Welfare State
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