Tracking Study on the Relapse and Aftercare Effect of Drug Patients Released From a Compulsory Isolated Detoxification Center

Background and AimsThere are no accurate statistical data on the relapse rate of drug abstainers after compulsory detoxification in China. This study aimed to collect relapse data for drug abstainers through follow-up visits, verify the effectiveness of professional social worker services and explore significant factors affecting relapse.Design and SettingThe drug abstainers released from Guangzhou T Compulsory Isolated Detoxification Center were randomly divided into two groups. The difference between the experimental group and the control group is that assistance services were provided by social workers to the former.ParticipantsThe study included 510 drug abstainers released from T Center, including 153 in the experimental group and 357 in the control group.MeasurementsDemographic information, history of drug abuse, and motivation for drug rehabilitation (SOCRATES) were collected 1 month prior to drug abstainer release from compulsory detoxification. Then, the relapse situation after their release was tracked according to fixed time points.FindingsThe overall relapse rate of 510 drug abstainers after their release from compulsory detoxification was 47.6%. The average survival time to relapse based on survival analysis was 220 days (N = 486), as calculated with Bayesian estimation by the MCMC method. The average survival times to relapse of the experimental group and control group were 393 and 175 days, respectively. By taking the specific survival time as the dependent variable and the group as the control variable (OR = 25.362), logistic regression analysis showed that marital status (OR = 2.666), previous compulsory detoxification experience (OR = 2.329) and location of household registration (OR = 1.557) had a significant impact on the survival time to relapse.ConclusionsThe occurrence of relapse among drug patients released from compulsory detoxification can be delayed effectively through the intervention of professional social worker services. Regardless of whether patients receive aftercare after compulsory detoxification, drug-using patients who are single, have multiple detoxification experiences and whose households are registered in other provinces deserve special attention. Relevant suggestions to avoid relapse are provided.

Reflections on six decades of professional social work fundamental principles for social workers

What principles have I found to exist over my six decades of social work that are central to the profession and are still applicable in today’s complex world? What has guided social work in its quest to address the myriad, ever changing and most difficult problems facing our societies irrespective of the continent or country? In my professional journey these practice guides can be synthesized into 13 basic principles that can serve as a strong foundation and are still highly useful today. In my over 55 years as a professional social worker, studying the individuals and writers who were seminal to the profession to those who emerged during the mid-20th century, certain principles emerged. These principles arose from both practice and academic areas and have provided grounding and guidance that has led to the successful delivery of social work irrespective of the decade or location.

Cultural Identity Formation: A Personal Narrative

This paper provides personal experiences and perceptions of being a minoritized individual. This is the story of a professional social worker learning to adapt to social norms and expectations of self. He discusses the struggles he experienced as an adolescent and as a young adult attending college. Through this narrative, the role of faith and social work intersect, especially as a professional social worker. It is at this intersection that this social worker learns to live a holistic life without feeling discriminated against or ashamed of his identity. He begins to actualize a reality with imperfect beings who also struggle to maintain their identity as well. Thus, in this paper, the author provides a snapshot of his development as a minority in the United States.

Social Work Profession and Disaster Risk Reduction in Pakistan

There is a long history of Social Work, helping the weaker sections of society and those who are affected by disasters - natural or man-made. Historical records reveal that social workers have been part of the disaster relief, recovery and rehabilitation efforts because they are equipped with the required knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to get acquaintance about the need and importance of social work profession in disaster risk reduction in Pakistan. In addition, it also identifies the responsibilities of professional social worker in disaster mitigation and management. This study concludes that Pakistan, due to its geographical and climatic conditions is faced with disasters like earthquake, floods, windstorms, avalanches, cyclones, storms, droughts, landslides, tsunamis and epidemics. Therefore, social workers have to play an effective role in pre and post disaster period. The study recommends that social workers should make their theoretical base strong by equipping themselves with up-dated knowledge, skills and use of the new techniques of social work for the rehabilitation of individuals, groups and communities affected by the disasters.

Epistemological Siblings: Seven Reasons to Teach Ethnography in Social Work Education

Ethnographic studies of people at the margins of society, struggling with complex and intertwined personal and social problems, have provided useful insights to social work students and practitioners. Similarly, ethnographic studies of social work practice have provided deeper understandings of how professionals work with individuals, groups and organizations. It has been argued that, given the similarities in the skills required to be an ethnographer and a professional social worker, ethnography should be included in social work curricula, both as an approach to research and as a way to enhance practice skills. The main contribution of this article is to extend this argument using the novel approach of exploring the similarities and divergences between the epistemological approaches of ethnography and social work, in terms of how knowledge is sought, constructed and critically questioned.

The Christian Social Worker in Recovery: A Personal Reflection on Professional Stigma, Bias and Discrimination

As a professional social worker in long-term substance use recovery, I have come face to face with stigma, bias and discrimination regarding those who struggle with the disease of addiction. I have made choices regarding when and where and if to disclose that I am a person in recovery. I have listened to colleagues engaging in “us” and “them” conversations, forgetting that I am both them and us them and us us and them, not realizing how offensive and judgmental their language was. Funders overlooked my identity as a person in recovery, as they requested agencies to hire more “peer mentors”, but did not count recovering clinicians, or senior management. The result of a qualitative self-interview on the experiences of being a Christian social worker who just happens to be that 1 in 7 who has faced a substance use disorder, this paper presents a person-centered perspective regarding working as, or with, a social worker in recovery.

Even When No One Is Looking: Students’ Perceptions of Social Work Professions. A Case Study in a Northern Ireland University

Public perceptions, increased scrutiny and successive governments’ reshaping and attempting to define what is and what is not social work has eroded the progressive and radical force of the profession. This article explores how students’ perceive the profession and presents evidence from a small-scale study conducted in a Northern Ireland University with 37 undergraduate social work students and 25 postgraduate student social workers (training-as-practice educators) on their perceptions of the characteristics of a professional social worker. A quantitative research design was used, consisting of a face-to-face survey distributed to respondents following an input on the Place Model, (Clarke, 2016). Respondents also shared their perceptions in relation to Freidson’s (2001) three logics: professionalism, bureaucracy and the free market, with Ternary graphs and word clouds used as a novel way to present this data. Several themes emerged as important characteristics of social work professionals including reliability, accountability, ethics and appearance. At the other end of the scale, respondents identified unprofessional, de-personalised and cynical as the least aspirational qualities of the profession.

From Social Worker to Social Worker: MSW Mentorship Outcomes

Students returning to graduate school after years in the workforce face multiple challenges, including reviving dormant academic skills, juggling multiple roles and role alterations, and navigating academic structures and procedures. Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Children’s Social Workers (CSW’s) returning to school to obtain a Masters in Social Work (MSW) degree face additional unique challenges, including graduate level writing expectations, learning to be a professional social worker as dictated by the standards of the discipline, and making a paradigm shift from social work employee to social work student. A mentoring project was developed to assist students employed as CSW’s in successfully transitioning from employee to MSW student, and aimed to strengthen the public child welfare employee students to ensure that they are better equipped to successfully achieve their MSW, develop strategies to effectively integrate their skills into the DCFS system following graduation and ultimately increase proficiency to effectively serve vulnerable children and families. The purpose of this research study is to explore how the implementation of a mentorship program for CSW’s obtaining an MSW contributed to professional success post-graduation, when social workers returned to their positions with DCFS. This qualitative study was developed using detailed oral interviews with five participants. This research reveals mentorship programs can be both personally and professionally successful, identifying needs germane to this population of students and suggesting a specialized approach to educating current CSW’s to cultivate the skills essential for effective social work practice.

Bodies and emotions in tense and threatening situations

Summary This study investigates the experiences of social workers with tense and threatening situations in homeless shelters of the Salvation Army in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Clients intimidated and threatened social workers verbally, damaged property and, in some cases, physically assaulted them. The study is based on qualitative analyses of 18 interviews. Findings Social workers reported that such situations have intense emotional, bodily and mental impact. Their main concern is to manage overwhelming bodily manifestations of fear and tension to maintain work-related comportment. We demonstrate that social workers use emotion/body work in their attempts to control their own and their clients’ emotions. We also found that social workers’ emotion/body work is informed and supported by feeling rules that revolve around their identity as professionals. Being a professional social worker means to be in control of the situation and to regard the aggression and violence of clients from a distanced, sociologized perspective. Finally, social workers note the longer term emotional consequences of their experiences, but also of their emotion/body work, in the sense that some of them become habituated to violence. Applications The study concludes that more systematic attention should be given to the ‘emotion/body' work of social workers who are exposed to tense and threatening situations, in both academic studies and current prevention policies and practices. While the former tend to offer a disembodied view of work place violence, the latter do not give sufficient attention to sharing and reflection on the emotional and bodily experiences among social workers.

Social Work Profession and Disaster Risk Reduction in Pakistan

There is a long history of Social Work, helping the weaker sections of society and those who are affected by disasters - natural or man-made. Historical records reveal that social workers have been part of the disaster relief, recovery and rehabilitation efforts because they are equipped with the required knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to get acquaintance about the need and importance of social work profession in disaster risk reduction in Pakistan. In addition, it also identifies the responsibilities of professional social worker in disaster mitigation and management. This study concludes that Pakistan, due to its geographical and climatic conditions is faced with disasters like earthquake, floods, windstorms, avalanches, cyclones, storms, droughts, landslides, tsunamis and epidemics. Therefore, social workers have to play an effective role in pre and post disaster period. The study recommends that social workers should make their theoretical base strong by equipping themselves with up-dated knowledge, skills and use of the new techniques of social work for the rehabilitation of individuals, groups and communities affected by the disasters.