The Role of Supervision in Preventing Burnout among Professionals Working with People in Difficulty

The value of people in their various dimensions is a priority in the postmodern era. In this respect, programs are being implemented for disadvantaged social categories to compensate for differences, reduce discrepancies, and integrate marginalized people into society. This, however, is not easy, and the work of professionals with people in difficulty is frequently difficult, consuming multiple resources and, sometimes, leading to burnout. The professions involved in the recovery work of people in difficulty provide social, medical, psychological, and spiritual assistance services in order to restore or increase the well-being of disadvantaged people or social groups. This study presents an analysis of burnout among social workers and clerics and the effect of supervision on burnout. In support of this, a sociological survey (n = 502) was conducted on a convenience sample of Romanian social workers and clerics in June 2018. The main conclusion of the study is that supervising professionals working with people in difficulty significantly reduces the risk of burnout.

A COVID–19 járvány hatása a leghátrányosabb helyzetű településeken élők mindennapjaira: ahogy a hátrányos helyzetűek és a szociális szolgáltatásokat nyújtók látják

Összefoglaló. Jelen tanulmányunk a biztonság társadalmi aspektusait egy speciális csoport, a mélyszegénységben élő családok és az őket segítő szakemberek körében vizsgálja a COVID–19 idején. Kvalitatív módszerrel (csoportos és egyéni interjúk) a makro- (szociális támogatórendszer) és a mikrotársadalmi biztonság dimenziók összefüggését, valamint a mikroszintű biztonság dimenziók közti viszonyokat elemezzük. Ez utóbbi dimenziók leírásánál a kisgyermekes családok munkaerőpiaci és ezzel együtt anyagi helyzetére, mentális egészségi állapotukra, valamint az oktatási helyzet bemutatására koncentrálunk. Az egyes témák leírásánál az érintett családok és az őket segítő szakemberek helyzetértékelése is megjelenik a velük készített interjúk elemzése alapján. Summary. This study examines the social aspects of security among a specific group of families living in extreme poverty and the professionals helping them during Covid-19. Using a qualitative method (group and individual interviews), we analyse the relationship between macro (social support system) and micro social dimensions of security, as well as the linkages between micro-level dimensions of security. In describing the latter dimensions, we will focus on the labour market situation of families with young children, and hence on their financial situation, their mental health situation and their educational situation. The description of each theme also includes an assessment of the situation of the families concerned and the professionals who help them, based on an analysis of the interviews conducted with them. In the first phase of the study, social problems were identified on the basis of interviews with experts. In the second phase, individual interviews were conducted with the people concerned, the disadvantaged. 11 interviews were conducted with experts: 5 individual and 6 group interviews. In the second phase, 50 disadvantaged people were interviewed individually. In general, it can be concluded that the daily life of people living in disadvantaged areas has been further affected by the pandemic. The labour market situation has changed and, in this context, the financial situation of the interviewees has further deteriorated. Single-parent families were particularly affected by these problems. The transition to online education has created difficulties for families, children, and teachers and additional tasks for social workers. In many places, the lack of accessible services, the low availability of equipment and low level of digital literacy have prevented distance learning from taking place, and the negative consequences for the population under study can only be predicted. The epidemic has affected the population not only financially but also mentally. The reduction in social life has led to an increase in domestic violence. In some areas, the number of births in disadvantaged families has increased, especially among minors. In fact, the epidemic has brought to the surface the problems that disadvantaged people face on a daily basis: unemployment and deprivation, compounded by educational underachievement. The workload of those working in the social field has also become more visible: a shortage of staff and a lack of resources. At the same time, the enormous potential and flexibility of the current human resources have been revealed.

The Fit between Policy, Theory and Practice of Participatory Development in Aid Assisted Education Projects in Kenya

<p>This research critically examines the efficacy of mainstream aid development projects that embrace people-centred, participatory approaches and government partnerships with multilateral and bilateral agencies (donors), civil society and local communities to enhance benefits of empowerment and social change to disadvantaged people. The thesis used an example of an aid project, the Basic Education Improvement Project (BEIP) which the GOK implemented in partnership with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and disadvantaged communities in urban slums and marginalised rural areas particularly Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs). The thesis further drew upon structural and poststructural perspectives to respond to the developmental challenges posed by the theories of modernisation, dependency, ADev and postdevelopment and to assess the 'fit' between policy, theory and practice of participatory development (PDev) and its relationships to participatory democracy (PDem). Core ideas came from Robert Chambers Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Rowlands' classification of power, Arnstein's ladder for citizen participation and Ife's approach to community development (CDev). To understand the meanings and impacts of the BEIP structure, partnerships, participation, empowerment, sustainability and social change, and the relational dynamics it generated, the thesis used multiple research methods based on qualitative, case study and grounded theory methodologies. These were chosen because of their compatibility with the critical theory used to analyse government-to-donor led and people-led development as enacted in the BEIP and their sensitivity to researcher flexibility and contextual and unique features of the research. The research shows that mainstream PDev management through bureaucratically organised structures of management and governance creates new forms of centralism where representative democracy (RDem) rather than participatory democracy (PDem) are used. Despite having a strong focus on holistic and balanced development, the enactment and implementation of partnerships and participation within an aid delivery system, and through representatives and technical experts, limited benefits of empowerment and social change to the disadvantaged people. Indeed, participation and collaboration in the BEIP enhanced the teaching and learning environments of the targeted schools and increased awareness of rights to the disadvantage people. However, not only did accountability remain top-down but partnerships emerged through competitive, not cooperative relationships. Such top-down approaches and elite-to-elite social networks contributed to social exclusion, further marginalisation of the disadvantaged people, and risked accentuating dependency on external aid. For these reasons, the thesis argues that emancipation of disadvantaged people and realisation of sustainable development are more likely to emerge through interventions that increase participatory practice, where government partnerships with civil society and local communities draw upon cooperative principles, that promote structures and discourses of citizenship and rights and that focus on the grassroots, not the nation-state as the locale for social change.</p>

The Fit between Policy, Theory and Practice of Participatory Development in Aid Assisted Education Projects in Kenya

<p>This research critically examines the efficacy of mainstream aid development projects that embrace people-centred, participatory approaches and government partnerships with multilateral and bilateral agencies (donors), civil society and local communities to enhance benefits of empowerment and social change to disadvantaged people. The thesis used an example of an aid project, the Basic Education Improvement Project (BEIP) which the GOK implemented in partnership with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and disadvantaged communities in urban slums and marginalised rural areas particularly Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs). The thesis further drew upon structural and poststructural perspectives to respond to the developmental challenges posed by the theories of modernisation, dependency, ADev and postdevelopment and to assess the 'fit' between policy, theory and practice of participatory development (PDev) and its relationships to participatory democracy (PDem). Core ideas came from Robert Chambers Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Rowlands' classification of power, Arnstein's ladder for citizen participation and Ife's approach to community development (CDev). To understand the meanings and impacts of the BEIP structure, partnerships, participation, empowerment, sustainability and social change, and the relational dynamics it generated, the thesis used multiple research methods based on qualitative, case study and grounded theory methodologies. These were chosen because of their compatibility with the critical theory used to analyse government-to-donor led and people-led development as enacted in the BEIP and their sensitivity to researcher flexibility and contextual and unique features of the research. The research shows that mainstream PDev management through bureaucratically organised structures of management and governance creates new forms of centralism where representative democracy (RDem) rather than participatory democracy (PDem) are used. Despite having a strong focus on holistic and balanced development, the enactment and implementation of partnerships and participation within an aid delivery system, and through representatives and technical experts, limited benefits of empowerment and social change to the disadvantaged people. Indeed, participation and collaboration in the BEIP enhanced the teaching and learning environments of the targeted schools and increased awareness of rights to the disadvantage people. However, not only did accountability remain top-down but partnerships emerged through competitive, not cooperative relationships. Such top-down approaches and elite-to-elite social networks contributed to social exclusion, further marginalisation of the disadvantaged people, and risked accentuating dependency on external aid. For these reasons, the thesis argues that emancipation of disadvantaged people and realisation of sustainable development are more likely to emerge through interventions that increase participatory practice, where government partnerships with civil society and local communities draw upon cooperative principles, that promote structures and discourses of citizenship and rights and that focus on the grassroots, not the nation-state as the locale for social change.</p>

Waqf concept health clinic – “Uniqueness in disguise” USIM experience

Waqf or religious endowment is of a benevolence instrument emerged to help reduce the burden of the disadvantaged people. As the cost for medical expenses are exorbitant, the availability of waqf should contribute to the improvement of the community health. The establishment of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Specialist healthcare clinic was founded by the idea of waqf through healthcare for the less fortunate. With collaboration from many agencies the establishment of the clinic has served community in need to access better health care. The primary aim of waqf clinic establishment is to continually uphold the Islamic aspects in its establishment and management for betterment of health among disadvantaged people.

(Un)Becoming the Offender: Marginality in Punishment Processes, “Offender” as Permanent Identity

This article chronicles the invisible crisis of the Canadian criminal justice system’s reliance upon critically marginalized populations upon critically marginalized populations in the composition of who is punished, and who is deemed punishable. Drawing on auto-ethnography, intersectionality, discourse analysis, and case studies, this article makes visible the filters, from suspicion to parole, which, from suspicion to parole, which move people with more privilege away from an increasingly permanent offender identity and move people with more marginality toward it. These filters are termed “intersectional filtering points”: their disparate impact emphasized to illustrate how disadvantaged people become offenders. Fundamental neoliberal logics contribute to the crisis persisting invisibly: marginalized people who become offenders are, therefore, seen as archetypal risk groups whose characters require regulating, undermining the widely held notion of a criminal justice system which impartially responds to illegal acts.

Diversions: How the Underrepresentation of Research on Advantaged Groups Leaves Explanations for Health Inequalities Incomplete

We identify a gap in health inequalities research that sociologists are particularly well situated to fill—an underrepresentation of research on the role advantaged groups play in creating inequalities. We name the process that creates the imbalance health-inequality diversions. We gathered evidence from awarded grants (349), major health-related data sets (7), research articles (324), and Healthy People policy recommendations. We assess whether the inequality-generating actions of advantaged groups are considered either directly by capturing their behaviors or indirectly by asking disadvantaged people about discrimination or exploitation from advantaged groups. We further assess whether there is a tendency to locate the problem in the person or group experiencing health inequalities. We find that diversions are prevalent across all steps of the research process. The diversion concept suggests new lines of sociological research to understand why diversions occur and how gaps in evidence concerning the role of the advantaged might be filled.

Sheltered Employment Centres: Sustainability and Social Value

Sheltered employment centres are social enterprises where at least 70% of their workers have disabilities. They are a way of helping people with disabilities to work in good working conditions and of allowing disadvantaged people to live a full life. However, some people criticise these businesses for being ghettos where public subsidies are used inefficiently. Our paper aims to test if this criticism is valid by analysing whether these companies provide social and economic value to society in return for public funding and are also economically sustainable over time. Using a sample of 997 Spanish sheltered employment centres, a descriptive analysis of the main variables has been carried out. Additionally, the results of a PART algorithm show the relationship between these companies and economic sustainability. Our findings corroborate that these firms are economically sustainable and, at the same time, socially sustainable. These results highlight the great work that such companies perform for society and the country’s economy.

Policy in Practice: Social Procurement Policies in the Swedish Construction Sector

Procurement has long been used to fulfil policy goals, and social procurement policies can mitigate issues connected to social exclusion, unemployment and segregation. The target groups for such policies are disadvantaged people such as immigrants, young people and people with disabilities. Due to its close connection to exclusion and segregation issues, the construction and real estate sector has often been seen by policymakers as an appropriate sector for social procurement. However, practices to implement such policies are underdeveloped, which creates uncertainty and hinders the transition towards sustainability in the construction sector. This paper investigates how construction clients and contractors perceive the implementation of social procurement policies in practice. Drawing on policy-in-practice literature and interviewing 28 actors in the Swedish construction sector, the findings show a misalignment between: (1) social procurement policies, (2) the sector and its existing practices, and (3) the target group and their skills and needs. Although this misalignment adversely impacts policy implementation and practice formation, it can likely be mitigated if actors co-create policy goals and practices that mesh with existing practices, and provide more resources to enable policy implementation. This paper shows how procurement can help fulfil social policies and the difficulties of achieving that in practice.