scholarly journals SOCIAL WORKERS’ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF POPULATION’ MENTAL HEALTH PRESERVATION IN THE XXI CENTURY

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (11) ◽  
pp. 2823-2828
Author(s):  
Liliia Y. Klos ◽  
Mariana V. Shkoliar ◽  
Sofiya G. Stavkova ◽  
Olena P. Kokhanova

The aim: Social work is focused on overcoming inequality and social isolation of individuals and communities due to health conditions. Therefore, substantiating the activities of social workers to preserve mental health of citizens is an important component of the new strategy for the development of the profession in the XXI century. Materials and methods: The methodological basis of the study is a holistic approach to the interpretation of individual health in the unity of physical, mental, social, and spiritual components; ecosystemic approach assumes the impact of the environment on the social functioning of the individual; interdisciplinary approach identifies ways of dealing withmental health challengein the global context; social inclusion approach provides a basis for the practice of experts of the social spherein the XXI century. Conclusions: The article substantiates the need for social workers to maintain the mental health of the population under the negative impact of global factors within their own countries and internationally. The evolution analysis of the international experience of transformations of social work practice in the area of mental health preservation is carried out. Preserving the mental health of citizens under the negative effects of globalization processes depends on the concerted actions of states, international organizations, civil society, communities, and individuals themselves. This encourages social workers to work at regional and international levels with institutions interested in fair policies and practices in social and health services.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 643-649
Author(s):  
Syeda Mahnaz Hassan ◽  
Aliya Khalid ◽  
Muhammad Arshad ◽  
Shajiah Qursam

This paper aims to explore the role of professional social workers in the social inclusion of disabled persons in Pakistan. This paper highlights the present scenario of social work practice with the disabled community and how professional social workers are bringing social inclusion of disabled persons by working effectively in the field. The data for this study was collected through qualitative approach. The semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data through in-depth interviews from thirteen professional social workers who are working for the social inclusion of persons with disabilities in Pakistani community. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The data revealed that social workers have enough abilities to create a bridge between disabled persons with their community. There are different sources present in the community which can be utilized by professional social workers to enable disabled persons to live a normal life. Unawareness of common people and government towards the roles of social workers has been observed in this study. Enhancement and encouragement of social work practice in the field of disability is particularly needed.


2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Macy

Substantial research demonstrates the existence of the sexual revictimization phenomenon; however, the problem of sexual revictimization is largely unattended and unexamined in the social work literature. Because of the pervasiveness of sexually violent victimization, social workers are frequently working with victim-survivors among their clients in child welfare, domestic violence, and sexual assault as well as physical health, mental health, and substance abuse settings. Social workers lacking a thorough knowledge about sexual revictimization and the strategies to prevent its occurrence may be missing important intervention opportunities. This paper helps to increase social workers’ awareness of the revictimization phenomenon and builds on the literature and research to provide recommendations for social work practice and research for revictimization prevention.


10.18060/1444 ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily L. McCave ◽  
Carrie W. Rishel

Historically, social workers have espoused a philosophy of prevention. However, this philosophy has not consistently translated into prevention-focused social work practice. This gap in social work practice is of concern given the growing federal attention placed on prevention efforts in key social work arenas, such as health, mental health, and substance abuse. In an effort to illustrate this practice gap, this article presents a systematic investigation of the status of prevention and social work through the examination of three seminal indicators including: the social work literature, the 2009-2012 National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Social Work Speaks, and the 2008 Educational Policy Accreditation Standards (EPAS). Results indicate that the social work profession lacks an emphasis on prevention, as well as cohesiveness regarding prevention across social work practice, education, and scholarship. Opportunities for integrating prevention into the profession are highlighted for key stakeholders, namely social work scholars, educators, and practitioners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-392
Author(s):  
Shirley Newton-Guest ◽  
Claudia Sofia Moreno ◽  
Marla Coyoy ◽  
Roxanna Najmi ◽  
Tonia Martin ◽  
...  

This has been a season of change worldwide. It has become virtually impossible to ignore distressing news about the state of our world. COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work, how we think, and even how we grieve. Every day, Americans are bombarded with reports of rising death tolls, massive unemployment, economic turmoil, and dismal foreseeable predictions. This health crisis has put an enormous amount of pressure on the global community, and this is especially true for our clients who are new immigrants. This pressure has manifested in mental health challenges. Social workers have reported that for many clients the uncertainty and pressure are becoming too much to handle. Typically, clients are experiencing anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, and in some cases interpersonal violence (Brodhead, 2020; Endale et al. 2020; Saltzman et al.,2020). Now imagine the impact on unaccompanied minors arriving at our borders. Prior to the pandemic, the unaccompanied children were dealing with three crises simultaneously: 1) parental and home country separation; 2) trauma from a harsh journey; and 3) language barrier and cultural shock. These issues alone are overwhelming and cause powerful emotions such as anxiety in these children. So how can these emotions be managed, coupled with the dangers of COVID-19? How can social workers provide comfort and support when they may be experiencing the same emotions? This article brings this hidden reality into the public view and enrich the existing social work body of knowledge by demonstrating the restorative power of faith, spirituality, and self-care.      


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Hillock

Using an anti-oppressive practice (AOP) theoretical framework and an exploratory qualitative research design, featuring semi-structured interviews and written assignments, a group of ten social workers were asked to describe their understandings of the concept of oppression. The study found that, in the case of these particular social workers, they used metaphor as a key conceptualization process to more vividly describe and understand the concept of oppression within their social work practice. This article analyzes eight categories of metaphor themes the participants used to explain their understanding of oppression: (a) pressure; (b) earth; (c) quest; (d) nature of society;  (e) seeing; (f) building; (g) dancing; and (h) water. The research findings are intended to open up dialogue and thinking about the concept of oppression, increase our knowledge base and understandings of oppression within social work practice, and assist the social work profession to build a stronger conceptual framework for understanding and naming oppression with the end goal of assisting social workers to better respond to and resist systems of domination.


Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 173-190
Author(s):  
Terry Bamford

It is often assumed that child care legislation is a response to scandals and inquiries from the 1948 Children Act to the Children Act 2004. This chapter looks in detail at the preparatory work preceding legislation and demonstrates that the impact of scandals has been greater on securing parliamentary time than it has in shaping legislation. The impact has been greatest on social work practice. Attention and activity have been skewed away from direct work to provide assistance and help towards risk assessment and risk management. There has been a consequent emphasis on the monitoring and surveillance of families and individuals. This shift is true in mental health as well as child care. It is timely to consider whether this shift in practice has made children and families safer.


2021 ◽  
pp. 104973152110494
Author(s):  
Eugene Tartakovsky

Purpose This study tests a new bicultural model of social work with ethnic minority clients. We examined how often social workers applied professional interventions rooted in the minority and majority cultures and how the choice of interventions affected the social workers' burnout. Methods: The study was conducted in Israel, and the research samples included Arab ( n = 300) and Jewish ( n = 210) social workers. Results: We found that Arab and Jewish social workers more often used interventions rooted in the minority than in the majority culture. More frequent application of both types of interventions was associated with a higher level of personal accomplishment in both groups of social workers. However, the connection between interventions rooted in the majority culture and burnout was positive among Jewish and negative among Arab social workers. Discussion: The implementation of the obtained results in social work practice with ethnic minorities is discussed.


Author(s):  
Michal Krumer-Nevo

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.


Author(s):  
Sally Holland ◽  
Jonathan Scourfield

Much professional social work practice is carried out with individuals and their families. Social workers aim to attend to the person’s social context rather than only the specific problem being presented, and they work in a manner that is relationship-based. It is also generally accepted that using a strengths-based model approach produces a more productive working relationship. ‘Social work with individuals and families’ considers the origins of social work; the different ways of directly providing practical help or therapeutic intervention to individuals and families; how the social worker as case manager will be responsible for overall planning, co-ordination, and reviewing service provision; and how social work has become more client-centred and citizen-directed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 16-36
Author(s):  
Shahul Hameed ◽  
Anthony Raman

The Social workers need to call on a broad range of sources of bodies of knowledge and respond to the complexity and its chaotic nature of situations arising in social work profession. There appears to be dire need to consider the use of (a) the theoretical knowledge into practice by being more caring and supportive with the aim of (b) disentangling the various elements of a complex system and enhancing the resilience both of the people involved and the social and organizational systems that they are inter-twined with people lives. The current acknowledgement of the bi-cultural framework by the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) is no doubt a positive move towards infusing indigenous practice frame work into dealing with the chaotic nature and complexity of the social work profession in New Zealand but still remains to be seen in actual social work practice .The purpose of this chapter is to attempt to explore the potential of infusing Indigenous bodies of knowledge into practice against the background of the complexity nature of the social work profession in a developed world like New Zealand.


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