scholarly journals Exploring the Spiritual Dimension of Social Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael McKernan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
Spiritual Dimension ◽  
Professional Interest ◽  
Spiritual Perspective

Social work’s response to the rising levels of public and professional interest in spirituality poses some important questions: i.Why is this important to social work practice? ii.What do we mean by spirituality? iii.What are the obstacles posed by religious and spiritual traditions that must be overcome to honor social work values and wisdom? iv.What research is available to help us understand the value of spirituality to clients? v.How can spirituality help us to serve our clients? Based on research conducted as a Muttart Fellow, the writer uses these questions as a framework for exploring the role and significance of spirituality in social work. The article ends with specific, applied benefits that a credible spiritual perspective brings to social work practice.

Direct Social Work Practice

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Psychosocial Problems ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Risk And Resilience ◽  
Direct Practice ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
Social Work Theory ◽  
Client Strengths

Direct social work practice is the application of social work theory and/or methods to the resolution and prevention of psychosocial problems experienced by individuals, families, and groups. In this article, direct practice is discussed in the context of social work values, empowerment, diversity, and multiculturalism, as well as with attention to client strengths, spirituality, and risk and resilience influences. The challenges of practice evaluation are also considered.

Guidelines for Responding to Clients Spontaneously Presenting Their Poetry in Therapy

2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rich Furman ◽  
Kathryn Collins
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Practice Guidelines ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
Poetry Therapy ◽  
Social Work Values

Poetry therapy has become a valuable adjunctive tool in social work practice, as well as an important discipline in its own right. What has not been previously presented in the literature are intervention strategies designed for when clients spontaneously present their poems in treatment without prompting from the clinician. This article provides just such practice guidelines for clinicians, especially clinicians who do not normally use poetry in therapy. First, the article explores the uses of poetry in social work practice. Second, it presents general guidelines for how to handle the introduction of poetry by clients through the lens of essential social work values and principles. Third, a case study is presented to amplify these guidelines.

scholarly journals Pressure drop: Securitising and de-securitising safeguarding

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David McKendrick ◽  
Jo Finch
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Pressure Drop ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
Critical Consideration

INTRODUCTION: This article explores how securitisation theory is mobilised in contemporary social work discourse, policy and practice. We draw on recent child protection research to support our claim that a new practice issue, described previously as securitised safeguarding, has emerged.APPROACH: We demonstrate its emergence using securitisation theory as a conceptual mode of analysis to describe how a securitised safeguarding response depicts particular families as an existential threat which, in turn, prompts a response characterised by forms of muscular liberalism.CONCLUSIONS: We argue that this emerging practice issue requires critical consideration and suggest it will have a significant impact on social work – one that is unlikely to be beneficial for the profession and, more importantly, families being worked with. By describing a process of de-securitisation, we offer an alternative and more nuanced approach that perceives families holistically, and mobilises a welfare safeguarding model. This more closely resembles traditional social work values of emancipation, liberation and empowerment within social work practice.

A Question of Values in Social Work Practice: Working with the Strengths of Black Adolescent Females

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce West Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Adolescent Females ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
Black Adolescent ◽  
Practice Models

The author examines the foundational values of social work in current social work practices with inner-city black adolescent females. Case illustrations are presented to demonstrate how social work values are actualized in direct practice and research. Issues regarding the congruence of social work practices and basic ethical values and principles are discussed. Strength and empowerment perspectives in clear accordance with social work values are presented as practice models.

scholarly journals Hitting the Ground Running

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea M. Newberry-Koroluk
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
First Year ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
The Social

This paper explores how the popular use of the expression “hitting the ground running” in reference to beginning social work practice draws upon military imagery and reflects neo-conservative expectations of first-year social workers.  Discussion of the international and Canadian definitions of social work, key social work values, the neo-conservative paradigm, and the role of language in understanding human experiences provides context to this analysis.  Ultimately, it is argued that it is in the best interests of the social work profession for the phrase hitting the ground running to be abandoned (or used critically) when making reference to first-year social workers, and a new metaphor is suggested that could take its place in the social work lexicon.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mo Yee Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Brief Therapy ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Practice Model ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Solution Focused Brief Therapy ◽  
Solution Focused ◽  
Work Treatment

Building on a strengths perspective and using a time-limited approach, solution-focused brief therapy is a treatment model in social work practice that holds a person accountable for solutions rather than responsible for problems. Solution-focused brief therapy deliberately utilizes the language and symbols of “solution and strengths” in treatment and postulates that positive and long-lasting change can occur in a relatively brief period of time by focusing on the solution-building process instead of focusing on the problems. Currently, this practice model has been adopted in diverse social work practice settings with different client populations, which could be partly accounted by the fact that the assumptions and practice orientation of solution-focused brief therapy are consistent with social work values as well as the strengths-based and empowerment-based practice in social work treatment.

Looking back to look forward: a collaborative autoethnographic study of the effects of neoliberalism on social work practice, education and research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine S. Kramer ◽  
Darren Cosgrove ◽  
Jonah DeChants
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Academic Experiences ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Use Of Self ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
Research And Education ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Practice Education

Neoliberalism emerged as a powerful force across the globe, adding market-based pressures to social work practice, education and research. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, we reflected on neoliberalism’s impact on our professional and academic experiences in US-based social work. Disconnection characterised our collective experiences of neoliberal social work across practice, research and education. The effects of this collective disconnecting emerged in three themes: (1) commodification; (2) compliance; and (3) disillusionment. We offer recommendations on how the field of social work can resist neoliberalism’s effects and encourage: (1) recentring social work practice, education and research around social work values; (2) a strategic use of self to form connections between the personal and the professional; and (3) the adoption of collective impact as the model for social work education and research.

Restorative Justice: A Model for Social Work Practice with Families

2003 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine van Wormer
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Family Group Conferencing ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
The Social ◽  
Special Relevance ◽  
Innovative Concept

Restorative justice is an innovative concept that has received some attention in the field of criminal justice but that has been largely overlooked in the social work literature. Restorative initiatives (e.g., victim–offender mediation, family group conferencing) have special relevance for family practice. That these initiatives are effective in meeting participants' needs and consistent with social work values are major arguments of this article.

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