scholarly journals Community strategies for intercultural participation

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
pp. 157-179
Author(s):  
Inês Casquilho-Martins ◽  
Helena Belchior-Rocha ◽  
Jorge M. L. Ferreira

Faced with the demands of globalization Social Work has a key role in promoting community development. The relationship between Social Work and Human Rights focuses on values and principles essential to the integration of any person regardless of their social, economic, and cultural context. Through a study of social work praxis in an intercultural community context with immigrants, secondary statistical data were analysed, a semi-structured interview was applied to social workers and a categorical content analysis was chosen to treat the data. The results allowed us to realize that social workers appeal to an ethical and ontological matrix in relation to individuals, families, groups and communities and that community development intervention in the field of social policies implies participation strategies in favour of citizenship and Human Rights.  

Author(s):  
Obie Clayton ◽  
June Gary Hopps

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) affirms a social worker’s responsibility to social change and social justice on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed peoples (NASW, 2008). Because of this directive around social justice, it is the profession’s responsibility to make connections between individual human rights issues within the broader social, economic, and cultural context that creates conditions where injustice can take place. This article attempts to illustrate how social workers in the twenty-first century must be able to recognize and emphasize human rights in their practice on a local, national, and international level. The article also shows the need for social workers to be the catalyst bringing attention to the need to craft solutions to human rights violations that take into account global human rights standards.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 295-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsin-Yi Chen ◽  
I-Chen Tang

The human rights concept is that everyone is entitled to enjoy those rights inherent to being human, without distinction. However, should human rights be considered a self-evident value for the social work profession? This study was to explore how social workers in Taiwan perceive the human rights concept. Responses from 276 social worker participants were analyzed by using a self-administered questionnaire. This study showed that social workers had a general knowledge of human rights. Receiving human rights educational training and engaging in social protests were important variables in increasing human rights awareness for social work practitioners.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Aimers ◽  
Peter Walker

Community development is a core subject in social work education, yet social work discourse often places community development at its margins (Mendes, 2009). This article considers the location of community development and community work within the current neoliberal environment in New Zealand and how such practice can be sustained by social workers in the community and voluntary sector. Community development is a way of working with communities that has a ‘bottom up’ approach as an alternative to State (top down) development. Over recent years, however, successive New Zealand governments have embraced neoliberal social policies that have marginalised community development. In addition the term ‘community work’ has been used to describe activities that have little to do with a bottom up approach thereby making it difficult to define both community development and community work. By applying a ‘knowledge intersections’ schema to two New Zealand community and voluntary organi- sations we identify where community development and social work intersect. From this basis we challenge social workers to consider ways in which community development can be embedded within their practice. 


2020 ◽  
pp. 31-35
Author(s):  
Maria Kudryavtseva

The article examines the relationship between the social policy of the state and the Institute of social work. Some foreign and domestic approaches to defi ning the essence of social work as a specifi c type of activity are presented. It is noted that at a specifi c historical stage, the prevailing directions of social work, models of social assistance and support are determined by the socio-economic situation in the country, the level of social development, and the socio-cultural context. It is emphasized that in the conditions of modern reality, there is a need to develop the Institute of social work and realize its potential.


Author(s):  
Yolanda Ealdama

Petra de Joya (1913–1987) was an eminent educator and social administrator. She spearheaded the professionalization of social work in the Philippines by advocating for the passage of laws that were instrumental for the development of social work in the country. The following laws were enacted as a result of her advocacy: (a) Republic Act regulating the social work profession in the Philippines and requiring social welfare agencies to hire professional social workers; (b) a Republic Act elevating the Department of Social Work to the Institute of Social Work and Community Development at the University of the Philippines; and (c) a Republic Act transforming the Social Welfare Administration (SWA) into the Department of Social Welfare (DSW). She was appointed as one of the first board of examiners for social work.


2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
María de las Olas Palma-García ◽  
Isabel Hombrados-Mendieta

The goal of the study was to explore the relationship between personality characteristics and the development of resilience in the context of social work. To do this, combining the transverse and longitudinal approaches, we investigated 479 students and professional social workers. For students, the within-subject analysis shows that this group, while pursuing a university degree, are reaching greater openness, accountability, extraversion and kindness and, by contrast, are reducing their levels of neuroticism, which is the personality trait that acquires smaller presence on the professional stage. The regression results also confirmed the influence and predictive ability of personality traits on the resilience of students and social workers.


Author(s):  
Betty Garcia ◽  
Dorothy Van Soest

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.


1986 ◽  
Vol 67 (8) ◽  
pp. 466-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen H. Waltman

The unique aspects of rural social work practice are discussed, with emphasis on the relationship between rural values and primary social work methods and skills. Suggestions for meeting the professional development needs of rural social workers are presented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 222-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane McPherson ◽  
Neil Abell

Abstract This article introduces a measurable framework for rights-based social work practice and an accompanying set of instruments, the Human Rights Methods in Social Work (HRMSW) scales: (i) ‘participation’, (ii) ‘non-discrimination’, (iii) ‘strengths perspective’, (iv) ‘micro/macro integration’, (v) ‘capacity-building’, (vi) ‘community and interdisciplinary collaboration’, (vii) ‘activism’ and (viii) ‘accountability’. These scales, designed for use by researchers, educators and practitioners, are the first to measure social workers’ use of rights-based methods. An electronic survey was used to collect data from a convenience sample of 1,014 licensed US social workers, and a confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the scales’ psychometric properties. A respecified model using eight error covariances fit the data (χ2/df ratio = 2.9; comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.91; tucker lewis index (TLI) = 0.90; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.04; standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.07). Thus, factor analysis yielded a set of eight related scales—collectively called the HRMSW—each measuring a different human rights practice method that social workers can use to promote human dignity and the rights-based principles of participation, accountability and non-discrimination. Scholars argue that ‘human rights’ are a more appropriate yardstick for measuring the impact of social work intervention rather than our traditional aim of social justice; the HRMSW scales can help us begin to test this proposition.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-188
Author(s):  
Karen M. Staller

In this article I explore the intersections of children's human rights, social policy, and qualitative inquiry from a social work perspective. First, I consider the relationship between human rights work and social work. Second, I argue that children add complexity to the human rights debate. In doing so, I briefly examine the conflict between children's rights as developed in the United States and that of the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child. Third, I turn to a specific qualitative research project in which a team of researchers conducted an in-depth study of the prosecution of child sexual abuse in one U.S. jurisdiction. I argue that the findings from this study illustrate how qualitative inquiry can reveal conflicting and often hidden value trade-offs that must be addressed when enacting and enforcing children's human rights. This study demonstrates what qualitative inquiry has to offer policy advocates who seek to promote children's human rights.


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