scholarly journals Stripping the Wallpaper of Practice: Empowering Social Workers to Tackle Poverty

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire McCartan ◽  
Aine Morrison ◽  
Lisa Bunting ◽  
Gavin Davidson ◽  
Jackie McIlroy
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Welfare Spending ◽  
Practical Support ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Practice Framework ◽  
The Impact

The relationship between deprivation and health and educational inequalities has been well evidenced in the literature. Recent UK research has now established a similar social gradient in child welfare interventions (Bywaters et al. 2018) with children living in the most deprived areas in the UK facing a much higher chance of being placed on the child protection register or in out-of-home care. There is an emerging narrative that poverty has become the wallpaper of practice, “too big to tackle and too familiar to notice” (Morris et al. 2018) and invisible amid lack of public support and political will to increase welfare spending. This paper will examine poverty-related inequalities and how these affect families. It will discuss the importance of recognising that poverty is a social justice issue and a core task for social work and outline the range of supports that may be available for families to help lift them out of poverty. Finally, it will describe the development of a new practice framework for social work in Northern Ireland that challenges social workers to embed anti-poverty approaches in their practice. The framework emphasises that poverty is a social justice issue, seeks to provide practical support and guidance to re-focus attention, debate, and action on poverty in times of global economic uncertainty and give social workers the tools to make it central to their practice once again. It reinforces the need for social workers to understand and acknowledge the impact of poverty, and to advocate for and support those most in need. It aims to challenge and empower professionals to tackle poverty and inequality as an aspect of ethical and effective practice.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Welfare Provision ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Social State ◽  
Marginalised Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

This book examines the impact of neoliberalism and austerity politics on the role of social work, and welfare provision more generally, in the UK. It considers the social, political and cultural contexts within which social work has developed as a profession and revisits debates about the nature of class and inequality in the country, arguing that the profession is committed to social justice but also the majority of social work takes place with marginalised groups. Drawing on the work of Imogen Tyler and other contemporary critical theorists, the book also analyses the nature of ‘advanced marginality’ and ‘stigma’ and how neoliberalism has created economic conditions which give rise to spatially concentrated areas of poverty and disadvantage. Finally, it discusses the welfare and penal systems during the period of neoliberalism and proposes a new or revised model of a social state based on notions of equality, mutuality and reciprocity.

scholarly journals Rethinking child protection and adoption: achieving social justice in practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-132
Author(s):  
Clarissa Stevens ◽  
Fran Proctor ◽  
Barbara Rishworth ◽  
Amanda Boorman ◽  
Abbie Unwin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Action Network ◽  
Vantage Points ◽  
Radical Transformation

This article presents contributions made at the ‘Rethinking Fostering and Adoption: Achieving Social Justice in Practice’ plenary at the 2019 Social Work Action Network conference. The contributors write from a variety of vantage points but share the view that the current child protection and adoption system in England requires radical transformation in order to become more humane, supportive and socially just. The article begins with an outline of the ‘investigative turn’ in children’s services and key findings from the adoption enquiry of the British Association of Social Workers. It goes on to argue, from lived experience perspectives, that we urgently need a new kind of children’s social care system that foregrounds support, rights, social inclusion and trauma prevention.

Seeing More, Better Sight: Using an Interprofessional Model of Supervision to Support Reflective Child Protection Practice Within the Health Setting

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 814-832
Author(s):  
Selina Kelly ◽  
Tracee Green
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Layered System ◽  
The Social ◽  
Specialist Knowledge ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Inherent Part

Abstract Despite an extensive history in developing, delivering and leading child protection (CP) services, social workers are not an explicit part of the health-based response to CP in the UK. In this setting, a biomedical discourse dominates, with doctors and nurses fulfilling the roles of named and designated safeguarding professionals. Supervision for these health professionals, while considered necessary, has a multi-layered system of governance with no clear policies to guide its content and purpose. This article will argue that the inclusion of social work expertise in health-based CP services, through an interprofessional approach to supervision, can offer clarity to the operationalisation of supervision and support integrated service development. A model for supervision, with experienced social workers engaged to supervise named safeguarding professionals, is outlined and informed by a psychodynamic perspective. With both CP and supervision an inherent part of the social work tradition, social workers are well placed to use specialist knowledge and insight within the health setting, through supervision, to strengthen reflective practice in this complex area of service delivery.

scholarly journals Social work registration and professionalism: Social justice and poverty – fellow travellers or discarded passengers?

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Collective Voice ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ethical Obligations

Poverty is a central focus for social work and social workers, but has received much less attention over recent times. While the ANZASW Code of Ethics and SWRB Code of Conduct differ in their expectations of social workers on social justice issues, it is the impact of managerialism and neo-liberalism and their incorporation of postmodern language of difference and diversity that is much more significant in this comparative neglect. Social workers need to reassert their collective voice on issues of poverty to meet their ethical obligations for competent practice.

scholarly journals “A murky business”: A phenomenological ontology of risk in child protection social work

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Smeeton
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Theoretical Examination ◽  
The World ◽  
Natural Home ◽  
Phenomenological Perspective ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

This paper is based upon ongoing theoretical work by the author. A growing number of academics are starting to problematise social work within a risk paradigm by highlighting the impact this has on how service user's experiences are atomised into units of risk, rather than having their needs understood as members of families and communities. This paper seeks to develop this discussion by offering a theoretical examination of risk from a phenomenological perspective by unpacking some of the underlying constructions of risk. Using Heidegger’s work this paper attempts to first of all undertake an ontology of risk and then to examine its usefulness in the UK child protection context. The author argues that working within a risk paradigm obscures rather than clarifies understanding. The approach is rooted in an argument that “phenomenology” is the natural home of social work which is interested in the lived experiences of people within their environments or “being-in-the-world”.

Transnational Social Work

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Nature ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Labour Market Mobility

This unique book provides an international comparison of labour markets, migrant professionals and immigration policies, and their interaction in relation to social work. Case studies based on the latest research from the UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia allow readers to make critical comparisons and gain understanding of the global nature of the social work profession. Detailed analysis covers the opportunities and challenges presented by labour market mobility, the implications for social justice and discussion of the experiences and perceptions of transnational social workers. Essential reading for social work educators, academics and professionals, this book will also inform the development of relevant policy, professional, and educational responses to the phenomenon of transnational social work mobility.

The Art of Becoming Indispensable

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Academic Preparation ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Master Of Social Work ◽  
New School ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Work Practitioner ◽  
Social Work Programs ◽  
The Impact

Despite their academic preparation and lived experiences, new school social workers face a learning curve when moving from entry-level practice to proficiency. The Art of Being Indispensable: What School Social Workers Need to Know in Their First Three Years of Practice is the first book focusing specifically on the needs of new school social workers as they transition to this complex role. Each of the book’s 20 chapters features an academic scholar and at least one school social work practitioner; overall, there are 18 academics and 42 practitioners from 28 different states. The diversity of the authors’ experiences, representing all variations of schools and districts, ensures that the content is applicable to a variety of practice contexts. Each chapter addresses the challenges of a public health pandemic and the impact of racial injustice. There is a timeless quality to this text since every year, new school social workers are being hired, whether from master of social work and bachelor of social work programs or from the ranks of professional social workers changing fields and becoming school social workers. This indispensable guide will help new school social workers to effectively execute their roles and responsibilities.

The impact of the institutional environment and experience on social entrepreneurship: a multi-group analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezlika M. Ghazali ◽  
Dilip S. Mutum ◽  
Haleh Hakim Javadi
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study presents a framework for integrating distinct perspectives on social entrepreneurship by combining institutional theory with the social entrepreneurship intention model. The framework assesses the relationships between social support and the perceived feasibility and desirability of social entrepreneurship, the relationships between social support and the institutional environments of social workers, and the moderating role of prior experience of social work and volunteering.Design/methodology/approachThe model was tested using 266 validated responses from an online and paper-based survey distributed among social workers. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data, and multi-group analysis was conducted to examine the moderation effects.FindingsThe findings indicate that experience moderates the relationships between the regulatory and cognitive environments, cognitive environments and social support, and social support and perceived feasibility. Experience negatively moderates the relationship between the normative environment and social support.Practical implicationsActive government involvement in the form of incentives and financial support would encourage the creation of social ventures.Social implicationsEducational programmes are also necessary to help raise awareness and increase the familiarity and knowledge of potential social entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThe study analyses the effects of institutional environmental components, recognised as highly influential on the development of social entrepreneurship, as well as the impact of perceived social support on the antecedents of the perceived desirability and feasibility of social entrepreneurship. It also addresses how social work experience modifies these relationships. Contrary to previous studies, the findings suggest that increasing social work experience isolates entrepreneurs from their environment.

Social workers, critical theory and the political sphere: addressing political misrecognition and marginalisation in the Republic of Ireland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Critical Commentary ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Electoral Representation ◽  
Irish Politics

Despite the traditional social justice mandate of social work, and critical and radical theoretical traditions that pursue egalitarian and just societies, the engagement of the social work academy with Irish politics has been underwhelming at best. While there are abstract analyses that address sociopolitical theory and ideological wrongdoings related to neoliberalist rationality, attention in social work academia to the nuts and bolts of everyday political life in Ireland, such as democratic party politics and electoral representation, leaves much to the imagination. This article therefore pursues a more grounded reading of social justice in Irish politics for social workers. The supporting proposition is that to effectively interject in political misrecognition and marginalisation, social workers must understand the present political state of play. Towards achieving this, Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition aids thematic critical commentary on the literature.

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