Global standards: promise and pitfalls for re‐inscribing social work into civil society1

This article critiques the modernist logical‐positivist ideology that has underscored social work, and interrogates the promise of the development of global standards to re‐inscribe social work into civil society at the global level. The potential pitfalls and dangers of such an initiative are also examined. The development of global standards was born out of an assumption that there is a common core to social work on a global level and on an essential affirmation of humanity and human dignity of all peoples across the world. Global standards might be construed to constitute a hegemonic Western discourse and a denial of context‐specific realities. However, a judicious, sensitive, post‐modernist and critical approach may enhance sensitivity towards difference and a greater appreciation of locally specific realities, within the global sphere.     

A comparison of social work education across South Africa and Japan in relation to the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training

Sakaguchi H, Sewpaul V. A comparison of social work education across South Africa and Japan in relation to the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 192–202 © 2009 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article draws on a one‐year study visit to the University of KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa, interviews with field supervisors and students in Japan and reviews of the national frameworks of education in Japan and in South Africa. In doing so, the authors identify the similarities and differences in social work education across the two countries and they explore some of the historical and socio‐cultural factors that might account for the differences. There are some identifiable peculiarities in social work education in Japan, especially with the coalescing of care work and social work education. The lack of differentiation between care work and social work makes it difficult to narrow the scope of social work education and practice. National social work standards have been approved in South Africa and regulatory frameworks for social work education and practice have been long accepted, thus rendering ‘social work’ a protected title and a profession that is more entrenched compared with social work in Japan. The codes of ethics in Japan and South Africa are discussed with specific reference to their control functions in South Africa. The article concludes by discussing these comparisons in relation to the Global Standards for Social Work Education.     

The Global-Local Dialectic: Challenges for African Scholarship and Social Work in a Post-Colonial World

This paper addresses the global–local dialectic in respectof the convergence and divergence of culture and democracy,and the consequences of neo-liberal capitalism. The argumentis that while the globalization of people has produced somegains, the globalization of capital has created a world of unbridledconsumerism, individualism and greed with the maintenance ofa capitalist ideological hegemony that precludes our searchfor alternatives and, indeed, limits our very ability to thinkoutside the system. The paper concludes with a call for thedevelopment of a counter-hegemonic consciousness to neo-liberalcapitalism and a commitment to redistributive justice as weenvision another world order.     

Models of intervention for children in difficult circumstances in South Africa.

Advances in policy have helped to create interventions for children in difficult circumstances in South Africa. This article examines models addressing children suffering abuse and neglect and children affected by HIV/AIDS. The focus is on innovative local attempts to deal with these problems, rather than theoretical reflection. Larger programs are usually conducted by government agencies because they have more resources but valuable solutions have also been created by NGOs.     

Challenging East–West value dichotomies and essentialising discourse on culture and social work

All discourse, whether universalistic and/or particularistic, must be subject to contestation, so that we are held accountable for the thinking that we articulate in our writings, and so that we do not reinforce much of the taken for granted assumptions about the world. Critiques such as those of Hutchings and Taylor in this issue of IJSW remind us of social work's commitment to reflexivity and the need to contest discourse that might not be in the interests of particular groups of people. It is not the debate itself contained in the article that is an issue, but the framing of the debate and the assumptions upon which they are predicated. The discourse on human rights within the liberal democratic framework, in a rapidly globalising world characterised by neoliberal capitalism, needs to be critiqued on a global level. Hutchings and Taylor's article assumes the applicability and suitability of liberal democracy for the West and not for the East, with an assumption that the West is characterised by liberalism and the East by tradition and a bureaucratic authoritarianism. It is these assumptions, and the tendency to essentialise Chinese and Western culture and to reinforce the dichotomy between the West and the East, that I contest in this article.     

Social work education,training and standards in Africa

This paper describes the historical development of social work education in South Africa, paying particular attention to the transformation of social work education and training post‐1994, and provides some detail about the efforts being made toward the development of a regional qualifications framework. It also describes the constitution of the Social Work Standards Generation Body (SGB), its functions, the processes followed by the SGB, and details the outcomes generated by the SGB. The potential costs and benefits of the development of minimum standards are discussed, with specific reference to the debates around the ‘whole qualifications’ and ‘unit standards’ approaches to generating standards. Although the registration of social work qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is a statutory requirement of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), and was imposed, it holds promise and signifies an achievement by the social work profession. Since the inception of social work education and training in South Africa in the 1920s these are the first nationally formulated standards that have been accepted.     

Modernism,postmodernism and global standards setting

This paper discusses the key features of modernism and postmodernism, and critiques global standards setting from a postmodern theoretical perspective. The main areas of critique consist of the possibility of the creation of yet another totalizing discourse or grand narrative; debates around the particular and the universal; issues around representation; and power, knowledge and discursive formations. We argue that to treat modernism and postmodernism as a linear progression and as a bi‐polar categorization is to fall within the traps of modernism itself. We have thus avoided making a choice between modernism and postmodernism—between justification, objectivity, reason, universalism, proof and unity of science on the one hand and the postmodern emphases on language, power, and the particular, contingent and relational on the other hand.     

Global standards for the education and training of the social work profession*

This is the final document adopted at the IASSW and IFSW General Assemblies in Adelaide, Australia, 2004. However, as the use, implementation and review of the Global Standards is to remain a dynamic process, please send your comments or recommendations to Vishanthie Sewpaul.     

Empowerment and globalisation in a Nordic social work education context

The Nordic countries have been experiencing paradigm shifts from a focus on problems, pathology and deficits to more strengths-based, capacity-building and inclusive approaches, especially in the field of child welfare. This article describes joint Nordic (Nordplus) Master level courses that have been introduced to promote a more inclusive and empowering way of working with children and families. The overall theme of the Nordplus project is democratisation of child welfare work. The project includes three separate courses: (i) Empowerment and family decision making in child welfare; (ii) Strengths and solution oriented child welfare work; (iii) Children, youth and participation. The project brought together masters students from the Nordic countries and professional academics from the Nordic countries, South Africa and Australia. This article describes and problematises the learning process and the outcomes of the project. An important aim of the project was to interrogate the relationship between the global and the local.