Social Changes and Welfare Reform in South Korea: In the Context of the Late-coming Welfare State

The Korean welfare state is facing diverse pressures and challenges due to changing economic, social, and demographic circumstances: prevalence of the service economy, labor market flexibility, weakened family function and increase of untraditional families, lowest fertility rate and the most rapid ageing of the population among OECD countries, and so forth. These challenges, which indicate new types of social risks, have been stimulating a series of discussions on welfare reform in Korea. The old social risks such as retirement, ill health, poverty, and unemployment have not disappeared because of insecure or inadequate welfare, and now these risks are even intertwined with the so-called new social risks. Thereby the Korean welfare state is facing complicated reform tasks. This study attempts to analyze the structure and context of these challenges in Korea, and to explore the various driving forces that have formulated Korean welfare reform in recent decades. Through the above analyses, this study will shed light the characteristics of welfare reform in Korea as a late-coming welfare state.     

Welfare vs “Cyberfare”

Due to the continual reliance on an outdated paradigm, current welfare reform proposals fail to adequately address the fundamental problems behind the welfare system itself. Obstacles to welfare reform abound, yet are not insurmountable with a redefinition of the federal role and a new overall way of thinking. Through the reexamination of current and past policies and existing cultural mores, the welfare system could, be recreated to rely on a new paradigm: cyberfare. Cyberfare is an economic and social support system which addresses the issues associated with an information/technology age, global economy, and the changing role of families and social institutions. Although the incorporation of cyberfare and the reforming of the welfare system is not without its challenges, it is vital to solving the poverty problem in American society.     

The Swedish Welfare State and the Emergence of Female Welfare State Occupations

The Swedish welfare state has, during the twentieth century, developed into the primary guarantor of health and social services as well as economic security. As the welfare state has developed, a new group of professions has emerged which can be described as welfare state professions. In this paper I will point out a few central aspects of how female‐dominated welfare state professions have emerged and developed within the framework of the Swedish welfare state's expansion. These ideas will then be demonstrated on two female‐dominated occupations, nurses and occupational therapists, which have developed in close association with the expansion of the welfare state. The results indicate that the emergence of a centrally planned welfare state and the occupational groups' organizational resources have been of crucial importance for the professional development of female‐dominated health and care occupations in Sweden. The welfare state has opened up new professional fields and created a stable labour market, which has provided good conditions for professional organizing. The state has also been quick to establish relationships with occupational groups whose professional competence has been deemed to be suited to the welfare political context. However, the state's interests in professional matters have often been in conflict with those of the professions themselves, regarding, for example, education, sub‐specialization and certification. One conclusion that can be drawn is that the Swedish welfare state has acted both as an engine and a brake regarding professional development and status.     

Welfare State and Social Enterprise in Transition: Evidence from Serbia

This paper analyses welfare regime changes in Serbia and their impact on social enterprise development in the last two decades. We cover the period of significant transition-related reforms within the welfare state, with important implications on the position of these enterprises. Using data gathered from the qualitative field research, our study shows that there are two broad groups of factors that are important for development of the new generation of social enterprises, those that emerged in the last decade with an idea to foster entrepreneurial spirit and expanded into new domains other than those providing assistance to the marginalized groups. First, their decision to enter the social economy sector still depends on the environment created by the state. Secondly, their sustainability is affected by the factors typically found in any other enterprise of comparable scale like business skills, capacity to form networks and partner with relevant stakeholders.     

Care Diamonds and Welfare Regimes in East and South-East Asian Societies: Bridging Family and Welfare Sociology

This paper tries to bridge the micro-level analyses of social networks for "care" provision which have been conducted in the field of family sociology, and the macro-level framework on welfare mix which has been developed in the area of welfare sociology, because the options for creating social networks are given to individuals by society. A group of Asian researchers including the author have conducted comparative research on social networks for childcare and elderly care in six Asian societies, namely Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and Japan. To reexamine the results, the author draws diagrams of the care diamonds in each society for each type of care (childcare or elderly care) to show the balance between four sectors (the state, market, family and relatives, and the community) which determines the pattern of welfare mix. The most prevalent pattern in Asian societies today is the pattern with a large family and relatives sector and a large market sector. We can interpret it as a familistic welfare regime combined with liberalism. However, Japan alone shows a pattern close to pure familism because the development of the market sector is restricted by immigration policies prohibiting the employment of foreign domestic workers. Unlike other Asian societies which were exposed to the global market before the family could become a closed organization and marketization of care work took place easily, in Japan, where the modern family system had been established, both socialization and marketization of care work have stagnated.     

Linking Social Welfare Policy and Global Problems

This article is a case study of an advanced social welfare policy seminar that explored the interconnections between global threats such as violence and warfare, environmental degradation, poverty, and immigration, and the current and future endeavors of the social work profession. The author describes the theoretical underpinnings and format of the seminar, examines four propositions or lessons that emerged from the course, and analyzes the implications of these lessons for social work practice, research, and education.     

Professional competencies in social work education for the third sector in southern Spain

The education of social workers in the Spanish university is structured around the professional competencies that will subsequently be applied in the labour market. As social work is a profession focused on the provision of social welfare and the prevention of social exclusion, it is expected of social workers that they become analytical, thoughtful professionals within their environment and that they play an active role in preventing social exclusion and inequality. However, there are important splits and contradictions between the official recognition of such competencies by universities and their effective implementation in the labour market. In this paper we analyse the main constraints and contradictions involved in the acquisition of the professional skills of social workers in their transition to the labour market. To do this, we focus on the specific case competencies in professional field of the third sector in Andalusia     

Social policy and social work in the voluntary sector: the case of Ukraine

Over a decade has passed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This major political change has had profound effects on how social welfare is delivered in countries in transition from communism. Using material derived from the author's involvement in social work education projects in Ukraine, this article examines the changing relationship between statutory social welfare provider agencies and the burgeoning voluntary sector. A confusing and rapidly changing picture has emerged. Some prominent themes likely to shape future directions are identified, particularly the imperative to ensure that social work education continues to be sensitive to local political and cultural contexts, rather than relying on importing Western solutions.     

The Relationship Between Schools of Social Work,Social Research,and Social Policy

This paper outlines a curriculum model for the continuing education of graduate social workers. The curriculum plan is based on the assumption that western industrial man has entered a new era—the cybercultural era. The paper argues that the graduate practitioner must be retooled to fit the conditions and circumstances of the new era. Eight knowledge areas are explored as priorities in this continuing education plan: the nature of global ecology, the nature of mass organization, the nature of youth, the nature of the new economy, the nature of contemporary politics, the nature of inter group communications, the nature of professionalization, and the condition of social work theory. Through the exploration of these knowledge areas, it is felt that a new updated social work practice theory will be developed.     

Kinship Care and Public Child Welfare: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Work Education

Abstract

The growing practice of arranging and financing “foster placement” of abused and neglected children with relatives provides an opportunity to redefine relationships between extended families and the child welfare system. The dilemmas and possibilities presented by kinship care as a child welfare service challenge schools of social work to provide intellectual leadership and to prepare social workers for changing child welfare practice. The author's ideas concerning responses to this challenge focus on key mandates of the Council on Social Work Education's Curriculum Policy Statement and on five principal curriculum areas in social work education.     

Geographic Information Systems and Human Services

Geographic Information Systems (GISs) are pictorial representations of information and are quite useful in understanding social welfare problems and showing social work clients in their environment. This paper presents GIS as a potential tool for social work research, planning, management, and administration. It includes sections defining GID, explaining the possibilties for GIS use in human services, presenting a case study using geographic information, advising potential GIS users, and discussing the implications for social work education.     

流动儿童的社会福利现状与发展策略

流动儿童是跟随农民工父母或其他监护人进入城市生活或学习的0-16岁农村户籍儿童。我国流动儿童的各项社会福利已取得显著进展,包括营养与健康、教育机会与教育质量、家庭与社会支持等。但是,流动儿童的社会福利水平仍有待提高,许多福利不平等问题亟待解决。为此,需建立新型的以“常住人口”为服务对象的管理模式,建立流动儿童登记管理制度,建立健全流动儿童社会福利工作协作机制等。     

Educating for social work in Poland—challenges of the transformation period

This article discusses the changing approach to social welfare staff education against a background of political and social transformation in Poland: new social processes, growth of social problems—especially crime and unemployment, a widening poverty sphere, but at the same time new possibilities created by the development of democratic structures, requiring new qualifications. The change in professional profile of social workers and an updated curriculum were natural consequences of that demand. Both internal reforms as well as an increase in international contacts have had a great impact on the curriculum, making it modern in regard to its content and the approach to the process of education. Important virtues of the curriculum are: due consideration for the international context of the material presented and teaching goals defined in such way that they meet the transformation period requirements without introducing only provisional solutions. Professional improvement training and post-diploma courses have also been mentioned as an important factor of successful welfare sector operations. This kind of education equips welfare staff with necessary qualifications and prevents burnout syndrome. The article briefly discusses new conditions for social education development and identifies the remaining stumbling blocks.     

NCWWI Traineeships: A National Cross-Site Evaluation of Child Welfare Stipend Programs for Ethnically Diverse Students

The task of recruiting and retaining ethnically diverse, qualified, and committed social workers in child welfare is challenging. Federal funding supporting BSW and MSW education has been a catalyst for university–agency partnerships across the country. An important goal of these partnerships is to prepare social work students with the knowledge, skills, and competencies for effective child welfare practice. The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute’s innovative child welfare traineeships program prepares students from 12 social work programs around the country. This study focused on diversity, competency attainment, and readiness for the job. Results showed that programs recruited ethnically diverse students, and after receiving child welfare–specific content and hands-on experiences in the field, students felt competent and prepared for child welfare work.     

Introducing Technology in Child Welfare Referrals: A Case Study

Access to social services is important for the safety of children and ultimately for reunification of families involved in the child welfare system. The process of linking families to services, however, varies by caseworker and can be cumbersome and time consuming. The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Needs Portal is an Internet-based intervention to improve the timing and quality of social service referrals in Los Angeles County We used a case study approach including in-depth interviews, direct observations, and user feedback obtained from the Needs Portal to (a) determine perceived benefits and barriers to adopting the Needs Portal, and (b) report how the flow of information between users and developers was used to adapt to user needs. Our analyses revealed four major barriers: (a) caseworker apprehension regarding new technology, (b) variation in communication styles by user type, (c) lack of technological infrastructure, and (d) competing workplace demands. Information sharing between developers and users has the potential to better meet the needs of users and ultimately maximize utilization of new technology. Although Internet-based interventions are designed to inexpensively and effectively coordinate services, emerging interventions may require in-person assistance and modifications in order to succeed.     

International Circumstances as Factors in Building a Welfare State: Welfare Regimes in Europe, Japan and Korea

The East Asian experiences of welfare-state building have universal implications for the sociology of the welfare state because they clearly indicate the relevance of international circumstances to welfare-state building. The convergence theory of the welfare state lays emphasis on the economic development, demographic structure, and age of the social security system. The path dependency theory regards a country's social structure and history as important. However, both these theories clearly state the importance of the domestic factors as well. On the contrary, the East Asian experiences show that the dates of the takeoff of the welfare state and the international context at that time were decisive for the subsequent development of the welfare state. The European welfare states are considered to be a by-product of "embedded liberalism." The Japanese welfare state, on the other hand, was established in the context of the worldwide stagflation of the 1970s; therefore, Japan experienced the formation and crisis of the welfare state at the same time and this is what characterized its present welfare system. The Korean welfare state emerged in the age of global capitalism and was consequently shaped by the co-occurrence of welfare and workfare. Given the above, it can be said that the international circumstances faced by each welfare state characterized the three worlds of welfare capitalism: Europe, Japan, and Korea.     

What's on Their Minds? The South African Child Welfare Academic Agenda from 2001 to 2010

Social work teaching and research is assumed to impact significantly on practice, readying students for employment and investigating areas relevant to practice. In South Africa, the historic divergence between the academic agenda and population needs is significant. In a context of transformation towards developmental social welfare, this paper investigates the extent to which tertiary education as well as research agendas match what South African child welfare practitioners have identified as priorities in the field. In a study examining trends and drivers in South African child welfare, it was found that the curriculum was largely being informed by the same trends that shaped practice. However, the research agenda differed markedly from the issues concerning practitioners. Also, practitioners thought that new graduates were ill-equipped to deal with practice demands in resource-poor and transforming (post-apartheid) environments. It is recommended that South African academics and practitioners ensure that child welfare curricula, academic enquiry and practice demands overlap more closely in order to better prepare novice social workers and provide leading research. With globalization and the increased need to respond to diverse populations, it becomes critical that social work education is reviewed both in the north and south to ensure its relevance for practice.