Spirituality and Social Care

In this paper I discuss the main theoretical ideas in the book and the way in which the author applies them to social casework. I consider the relevance of these ideas to contemporary social work in terms of their contribution to the knowledge base of social work and social work methods. I argue that Kleinian ideas can make an important contribution to understanding the interpsychic and intrapsychic aspects of human experience with which social workers come into contact. I suggest that the author writes about the casework relationship with little regard to the social and political contexts in which social work is undertaken and that in contemporary social work, there needs to be a relationship between three different elements, namely: the client--as an individual within their social context; the emotional dynamics of the client-worker relationship; and the integration of theory, social policy and the legal framework.     

The Social Work and Politics Initiative

Abstract

Social work is becoming a more politically oriented profession. In addition, social work education is including politics as a greater part of the curriculum. Still, much more can be done to increase the amount of political content in social work education. This paper describes a model for involving students in political social work without drastically altering current arrangements. The model consists of two parts: a class on politics and social work and field practica in state legislators' district offices. Following a discussion of the literature on education for political social work, we look closely at the Social Work and Politics Initiative. We also examine problems encountered with the program.     

Social work and the penal state

ABSTRACT

The Criminal Justice System (CJS) has historically been a key site of social work intervention. Wacquant argues that the growth of social insecurity and the expansion of the penal state are endogenous features of the neo-liberal political project. The key premises of neo-liberalism have been accepted by parties of both the left and the right. This shift alongside an increase in inequality had led to increasing social anxiety and mistrust. One manifestation of these trends is a decline in the belief that the rehabilitation of offenders is a realisable goal of social and penal policy. The expansion of the penal state: the increasing numbers, poor conditions and the over-representation of minority groups mean that it should be a core social work concern. The paper outlines the ways, in which, risk and managerialism have side lined core social work values in the CJS. It concludes penal policy and conditions can only be reformed if the inherent dignity of offenders is rediscovered and placed at its centre.     

Evaluating the Political Participation of Licensed Social Workers in the New Millennium

Abstract

The social work literature is replete with studies evaluating direct practice or clinical interventions, but strikingly few have assessed how well social workers are faring in the political arena. The sample in this study consists of 396 randomly selected social workers licensed in 11 states who completed a 25-30 minute telephone survey. Social workers were surveyed to determine: (1) to what degree social workers participate politically; (2) whether they have the psychological engagement, or motivation, necessary to participate; and (3) whether social workers feel adequately prepared by their program to do policy work. Implications for social work education are discussed.     

AIDS and Social Work: Curricula Development in an Epidemic

Abstract

The need for skilled social workers in the AIDS epidemic cannot be ignored. New graduates and current social work students need to understand complex biopsychosocial, ethical and political issues in order to provide effective, timely and appropriate services to persons with AIDS and their significant others. This article describes a framework for developing comprehensive, versatile curricula which adequately prepare students to confront the unprecedented challenges created by this epidemic.     

Backing Australia's Future: Teaching and Learning in Social Work

Abstract

It is universally expected that universities will strive for quality in teaching and learning. Over the past 25 years, massive changes to higher education have impacted on these institutions. We now have a mass higher education system, a knowledge-based economy, increased technology, and the internationalization of education accompanied by increased student enrolments and political expectations of enhanced graduate outcome measures. These changes pose challenges to developing, updating, and improving the quality of teaching and learning. This new policy environment confronts social work educators as they determine how best to deliver quality professional education. The present paper discusses the concepts underpinning the Australian government's paper Our Universities: Backing Australia's Future as a background to exploring the tensions arising in current professional expectations and criteria for social work programs as they make the transition from old to new paradigms in classroom teaching and field education.     

Responses to Homelessness in Australian Cities: Social Worker Perspectives

Abstract

Responses to homelessness in Australia are provided by a range of government and nongovernment services. The present study examined the experiences of social workers within these diverse services. The article discusses how social workers make meaning of their professional identity and responses to homelessness in contemporary practice and policy settings. The findings of a qualitative study of 39 social workers employed in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney are analysed from a social constructionist perspective. The practice dilemmas for social workers interviewed related to the dominating influence of the contemporary political and economic climate, the managerial requirement of organisations, and the personal and professional tensions these political and organisational contexts created.     

Social work for critical peace: a comparative approach to understanding social work and political conflict

ABSTRACT

This paper uses a case study approach to explore issues of social work policy and practice in three sites of political conflict in Europe: Northern Ireland; Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Cyprus. It begins with a review of the international literature on social work and political conflict and then discusses the strengths and limitations in engaging with comparative case study approaches. The authors explain how they view the writing of the paper as an intellectual encounter that helped establish the beginning stages of their comparative analysis. This starts with an analysis of the existing knowledge base about the three case studies that each share similar patterns of colonial histories, political and community conflict and the social work response. The second part of the paper extends this analysis to a critique of the impact of neo-liberal social and economic policies that often adversely impact upon the role of social workers in resolving conflict and building peace. The paper concludes with an appeal for social work to rediscover its rights-based role in working with victims and survivors of political conflict, what the authors describe as: ‘social work for critical peace’.     

Social Work Research and Writing—the Tactics of Getting Published

Abstract

Social work academics face increasing institutional pressure to raise their publication output. International patterns suggest that good publication rates are the prerogative of only a few highly achieving authors. The reasons for this are complex and contradictory. This article considers the implications of changes in the publishing industry and in academic writing through conversations with highly published academics. Deliberate publication strategies, writing groups, and other collaborative practices are described as ways academics have come together to both survive this current regime and contribute meaningfully to social policy and professional practice.     

Mature-aged Social Work Students: Challenges,Study Realities,and Experiences of Poverty

There has been a substantial increase in mature-aged students enrolled in higher education in recent decades. Equally, mature-aged women, often with family responsibilities, are well represented in social work degree programs. In this article, the findings from the National Study of Social Work Students (NSSWS) are examined in relation to mature-age students to better understand their study experiences, and factors that may be impeding their ability to take advantage of a university education. What is clear from the data is that many mature-age social work students were experiencing poverty at higher rates than their younger counterparts who were themselves financially struggling at higher than average rates for domestic Australian tertiary students. Here, mature-age social work students’ experiences and perspectives are presented using quantitative data and students’ own qualitative responses. The results have important implications for social work educators and administrators, and wider policy ramifications regarding student equity.

IMPLICATIONS

• These findings provide a spotlight for national bodies, universities, educators, policy makers, sector partners, and researchers into the under-researched, lived realities for mature-aged Australian social work students.

• Better understanding the grinding effect of poverty on many mature-aged social work students can spur political action to enact systemic change.

     

The Role of Social Workers in Welfare to Work Programs

Summary

Welfare to work is an important arena for understanding the changing nature of social policy and practice in Australia, the UK, Hong Kong, and the United States. This article discusses some key policy and practice issues in respect to social work professional training and practice. Welfare to work programs focus on “active” measures and stress the importance of “responsibilities” for all people of working age to support themselves through employment. The programs are being implemented in different ways across these different countries but in all cases the focus is increasingly on groups of people who may require substantial levels of assistance to meet their needs and to help them find and sustain employment.     

Social Justice,Social Policy,and Social Work

ABSTRACT

This paper argues that the models underlying the conceptualization of social work functions affect the costs of integrating policy issues into practice, and, therefore, the probability that social justice goals will be pursued. An inclusive approach to policy design is seen as lowering those costs. The nature of the costs and how they vary between the models is discussed.     

Social media and political discussion: when online presence silences offline conversation

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the relationship between the use of social media, attitudinal strength, perceived opinion agreement with social ties, and willingness to discuss a political issue in different online and offline contexts. Unlike the anonymous environment of some Internet forums, social media are closely tied to the relationships and activities of everyday life. Social media increasingly make ties from offline contexts persistent online, and, because of the ambient nature of these technologies, awareness of the opinions, interests, and activities of social ties has become pervasive. As such, the use of social media is likely to affect everyday conversation about political issues in on- and offline contexts, including the home, workplace, social gatherings with friends, community meetings, and on social network sites (SNSs). Based on a national probability survey, we find that the use of SNSs (i.e., Facebook and Twitter) has a direct, negative relationship to deliberation in many offline settings. Some uses of these platforms are associated with having a lower, perceived opinion agreement with social ties. As part of a spiral of silence, this further reduces the willingness of social media users to join political conversations in some offline settings. Only those with the strongest attitudes on an issue are immune.     

Pedagogical and Policy Challenges in Implementing E-Learning in Social Work Education

SUMMARY

This paper provides a summary of the findings from in-depth interviews with thirty social work educators and administrators involved in developing and offering e-learning in their programs in Canada. Using qualitative data analysis, four interrelated categories were developed: Professional Challenges, Pedagogical Challenges, Faculty Challenges and Administrative Challenges. A large number of issues were identified in each of these categories. Six themes emerged from the study. These themes form a two-part framework for examining policy issues and implementation tasks. The findings have pedagogical and policy implications for social work educators who are implementing e-learning in their programs.     

Towards a Comprehensive Framework for Understanding the Social Environment

SUMMARY

This paper presents a conceptual framework for selecting and organizing concepts of the social environment. It expands upon the traditional Human Behavior and the Social Environment perspectives used in social work curricula in the United States by identifying how a macro-systemconsisting of the intersection of four societal forces (social justice, social problems, social policy, and the political economy) works to influence a micro-systemof community, organizational, and group dynamics. In this framework, the impact of the macrosystem is mediated by collective responses of partnerships, alliances, and networks convened to address these forces. The framework is useful for understanding the complexity and uncertainty of the social environment in modern society with specific reference to: (1) how macro-system forces work to shape a constellation of community and organizational concerns, (2) how collective responses that seek solutions can be understood as instruments for achieving meaningful social change, and (3) how micro-systems concepts of structure (stages of development, systems of exchange, and diversity) and process (power and leadership, conflict and change, and integrating mechanisms) can inform practice.     

Teaching Literature to Highlight Social Policy Issues

Abstract

Graduate social work education can be enhanced through extensive and appropriate use of relevant literary works. This paper describes an elective course for second-year graduate social work students in which twentieth-century novels were used to highlight social policy issues. The paper deals with the relationships between art and social realities and the usefulness of literature for social policy analysis. A detailed account of this course and its evaluation is presented as well as its potential for replication.     

Attitudes Toward Advanced Licensing for Macro Social Work Practice

ABSTRACT

Trends in clinical licensing and a renewed energy to strengthen macro practice are raising questions about the appropriateness of licensure for macro social work practice. This article presents findings from an online survey of macro social work educators and macro social work practitioners exploring their attitudes toward an advanced-level macro social work license. Faculty and practitioner responders agreed that there is a role for advanced-licensing of macro social work practice; however, the lack of a collectively strong response reflects a current state of ambivalence toward advanced-level licensing for macro practice. Implications from these findings on contemporary social work are discussed.     

Voting is Social Work: Voices From the National Social Work Voter Mobilization Campaign

ABSTRACT

The National Social Work Voter Mobilization Campaign, also known as Voting is Social Work, involved social work faculty, field educators, practitioners, and students in a nonpartisan voter engagement drive. Following the 2018 elections, researchers surveyed Campaign participants in social work schools and agencies to document their voter engagement activities.The study reported extent and amount of their involvement. The survey distinguished between the voter engagement participation of school- versus agency-based social workers, which has not been studied elsewhere. Participants also reported the benefits of political participation to individuals, communities, and the profession and perceived barriers such as organizational constraints, fears of appearing partisan, and distrust of politics. Presented in historical context, the findings highlight the need to mainstream voter engagement throughout social work education.     

Information Technology Availability in Schools of Social Work

Abstract

The introduction of information technology into social work education is essential and inevitable. Little, however, is known about the current use of computers in schools of social work. This study is the first to focus on the variety and availability of hardware and software; the extent to which computer-related courses are integrated into the curriculum; and the types of computers, uses, and users in schools of social work. The sample consists of non-US schools drawn from the membership of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and US schools drawn from the membership of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The study tested three hypotheses: A. Schools in the United States use computers significantly more and for more advanced purposes than do schools in other countries; B. Schools that offer graduate degrees will be better equipped with computers and use them more extensively; and C. The larger the school, the greater the number of computers and the higher the sophistication of computer use. The findings supported these hypotheses and portend a trend for standardization of hardware and software in schools of social work. Based on the findings, the article recommends curriculum and policy modifications that should be considered by schools of social work.