Inappropriate admissions to a Mental Hospital 1

Despite the impact of Dr. King and his vision of a beloved community upon the lives of many individual social work educators and social workers, one finds very little in social work literature analyzing the relevance of King's social philosophy and strategies, or applying them to either social work education or social work practice. This study explores ways in which Dr. King's conception of a beloved community can be applied to social work education. It focusses on his synthesis of basic assumptions from the locality development and social action models of community organization, and his consequent struggles with the tension between the values and goals of social justice and reconciliation. It further suggests implications of beloved community for the teaching of social work values and for incorporating the issue of racism in social work curricula.     

Social Group Work in Community Life

This paper focuses on social group work practice with adult community groups, highlighting the importance of these groups to the achievement of increased citizen participation in current social concerns, and identifying characteristics of these groups which require some different conceptualizations of social group work practice. This paper characterizes our current social context as deficient in the necessary social arrangements for a just and humane society. Thus it argues for a major shift of professional skill to assisting adult community groups to deal with environmental deficiencies, whether these be social policy, resource allocation, or program administration. It suggests that many problems which are identified as "personal inadequacy" may, in fact result from environmental deficiencies, and may be better served through the active efforts of citizens in their own behalf. The paper assumes an interaction between person, group and context, and posits that more effective use is made of professional knowledge and skill through work with those groups which seek to address the environmental context of human affairs.     

Social work in South Africa at the dawn of the new millennium

The article examines recent developments in social policy and its implications for social work education and practice in South Africa. It traces the changes from the birth of democracy in South Africa to the dawn of the new millennium as these crucial years marked the beginning of a new era in South Africa's welfare history. It examines the challenges to social work and provides an example of the integrated, holistic developmental interventions, which are needed to combat social problems such as crime, AIDS and poverty. It ends with an examination of the implications of developmental welfare policy for social–work education as social workers are called to address mass poverty, unemployment and social deprivation through greater use of diverse social work methods, such as advocacy, community development, empowerment, consultation, networking, action research and policy analysis.     

Community Organizing for Social Justice: Grassroots Groups for Power

Social justice, community organizing, and task-oriented groups are inextricably connected. Collective action through community organizing can generate the requisite power to overcome unjust social relations and achieve changes that further human rights, participatory democracy, and distributive justice. Most community-organizing work is conducted through task-oriented groups that enable organizational activists to engage directly in collective action for social change. This article presents examples of the use of task groups by a variety of constituencies, in multiple arenas, employing citizen participation, community development, and social action community-organizing approaches and strategies.     

The importance of schools and teachers in child welfare

The article begins by challenging what is considered to be the relative neglect by child and family social work of the importance for children of school and teachers. Key roles of school in children's lives are conceptualized. School is argued to have potential as an ally for children, a guarantor of basic protection, a capacity builder, a secure base from which to explore the self and the world, an integrator into community and culture, a gateway to adult opportunities and a resource for parents and communities. It is suggested that school can have a special supportive value for children experiencing adversity, including those in state care or under supervision, those whose parents have divorced, and those recovering from abuse or neglect. The implications of the central importance of schools and teachers for child and family social work are discussed with reference to the child as client, work with teachers, work with the wider school and community, and policies in social work agencies and in education and training programmes for social workers and teachers.     

Group Work Education Today: A Content Analysis of MSW Group Work Course Syllabi

This article presents the results of a content analysis of MSW group work course syllabi in an effort to better understand the extent to which social group work education shows consistency with guidelines articulated in the Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups. This study aims to provide a current depiction and in-depth account of the state of group work education today through the lens of course syllabi.     

Probation and Social Exclusion

The paper begins with a brief discussion of the value of the term "social exclusion", before drawing on quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) evidence to suggest that young people on the caseload of the probation service are, in general, excluded from the full range of social goods. The basis of this exclusion is not only in poverty and unemployment, but in social and personal insecurity, lack of access to the benefits of education and training, and housing and health problems. It is argued that despite their exclusion these young people have predominantly conventional hopes and aspirations, and that there is therefore no reason to believe that a programme for their social inclusion and reintegration would be doomed to fail. The paper then reviews some aspects of present practice in probation which may tend to increase rather than reduce the exclusionary pressure on those with whom the service works, by stigmatizing and marginalizing them through a narrow focus on their offending. It concludes by suggesting strategies for more inclusionary and integrative practice in the areas of anti-custodialism, restorative justice and reintegrative shaming, community safety, and help with access to education, training and health services. The paper considers what local inter-agency structures are needed to support intensive work on offending, and sketches some characteristics of a probation service committed to social inclusion.     

社会工作对社区矫正的推动作用研究

目前社区矫正在许多西方国家已得到普遍认可,并广为推行。而事实表明,社会工作应用于社区矫正实践中具有其他学科所没有的优越性。然而,在我国无论是社区矫正还是社会工作都刚刚起步,社会工作在运用于社区矫正实践中还存在一定的限制因素。本文从阐述社会矫正中引用社会工作的必要性入手,分析了社会工作对社区矫正的作用,同时指出了社会工作在社区矫正运用中所面临的限制因素,并对其完善措施提出了建议。     

THE GROPE FOR GROUP

There has been an apparent increase in the use of social work groups for clinical purposes. This trend has neglected the more traditional and important use of groups for community change goals. Even when working with clinical groups, community goals can be impacted. This article suggests a specific methodology for integrating group treatment goals with community action. It suggests that group workers view their role as instigators in broadening community support and action around clinical group work issues; that agencies need to make time to do this; that how group workers connect group work to community action needs to be empirically demonstrated with each service act.     

社会工作方法在社区工作中的应用——以合肥市标准化示范社区建设为例

从我国社区建设的实践来看,社区社会工作包括社区服务、社区社会救助、社区卫生、社区治安和社区教育等五个方面的主要内容。本文立足于标准化示范社区建设的实践,运用社会工作的理论与方法,对当前社区工作中的工作方法进行了探讨。虽然专业性社会工作服务机构相对缺乏,但是很多社区工作者已经运用了诸多社会工作方法与技巧,为社会工作的本土化提供了一条可行的实践路径。最后,对社会工作方法在社区工作中推广和应用退出了操作性建议。     

In the Footsteps of Kurt Lewin: Practical Theorizing, Action Research, and the Psychology of Social Action

How and why do people become actively involved in doing good for others and for society by taking action to respond to social problems? Such involvement can take the form of participation in volunteerism and philanthropy, community groups and neighborhood organizations, and social activism and political movements. To understand the dynamics of these processes of social action, I draw on coordinated programs of basic and applied research, conducted in field and laboratory settings, to illustrate the complex interplay between features of persons and properties of their environments in determining why some individuals become involved in social action, what sustains their involvement over time, and the consequences of such action for individuals and for society. Then, building on the messages of these programs of research, and the theoretical perspectives guiding them, I consider implications for social policy issues of relevance to individuals, groups, and society as well as the ways in which the social sciences can contribute to the effective functioning of society and the well-being of its citizens.     

社会工作方法在社区工作中的应用-以合肥市标准化示范社区建设为例

从我国社区建设的实践来看,社区社会工作包括社区服务、社区社会救助、社区卫生、社区治安和社区教育等五个方面的主要内容.本文立足于标准化示范社区建设的实践,运用社会工作的理论与方法,对当前社区工作中的工作方法进行了探讨.虽然专业性社会工作服务机构相对缺乏,但是很多社区工作者已经运用了诸多社会工作方法与技巧,为社会工作的本土...     

Group Work and Social Justice: Designing Pedagogy for Social Change

In this article the authors explore the gap between education and action in putting the social work core value of social justice into practice. Describing how their School of Social Work has taken up this challenge, the authors analyze how a new social action course helps bridge this gap and draw on student reflection on their experiences and assignments in the course to show how students concretize and interiorize the meaning of social action and social justice. Learning by doing social action through a case study, group work becomes the vehicle through which students act on social issues and work for social change.     

Community Integration of the Elderly in Foster Family Care

Currently the care of the elderly is part of a nationwide trend of deinstitutionalization. However, community placement of formerly institutionalized clients, particularly through the mental hygiene system, has in some instances met with negative community response. Extent of resident participation in the community and degree of community acceptance were studied through interviews with caretakers ir) 100 foster homes, housing one to four clients over 60. More than 3/4 of the residents were reported as having met neighbors. One-third of the residents take walks in the neighborhood, with an additional 2/5 visiting in the neighborhood. One-third participate in activities such as senior centers or church groups. Contrary to expectation, those homes associated with the mental hygiene system reported greater participation in community activities than did those sponsored by the social services system. Negative response from the community occurred in only about 10% of homes. Thus, foster family care appears to show promise both for community integration of the elderly and for community acceptance of the deinstitutionalized.     

“I Am So Glad That I Am a Group Worker”

This article explores the ominous consequences of the profession of social work and its schools’ gradual drift away from a long tradition of valuing practice and education that is community based and addresses private troubles and public issues. A series of pointed questions are offered that suggest what needs to happen to reverse course, in schools of social work, against the currents of corporatism and crude individualism infecting our politics, economy, social relations, and broad culture. The article concludes with a “modest proposal for the free school of social work.”     

打工子弟学校社会工作的实践与反思——以北京市打工子弟学校教育援助项目为例

打工子弟虽然大多已有条件接受基础教育,但他们普遍存在社会适应、城市融入、人际交往的能力差以及亲子沟通障碍等问题。为了解决这些问题,帮助打工子弟在大城市健康成长,我们尝试在两所北京市打工子弟学校运用学校社会工作的方法开展了一系列服务,包括个案、小组和社区教育等。通过这些服务,服务对象在个人卫生习惯、人际交往等方面比以前有了显著改善,不少打工子弟尊重和关心他人的意识增强,架设了学校、打工子弟、打工子弟家长三位一体的沟通桥梁。但是,我们的服务也暴露出了一些不足,比如个案工作开展得不够深入、社会动员不够等。导致这些问题的原因包括实习学生经验不足和未能充分利用社会支持系统等方面。以上问题,希望在今后进一步服务过程中能够加以避免和克服。     

The Relationship Between Citizen Participation and Organizational Processes and Outcomes and the Benefits of Citizen Participation in Neighborhood Organizations

ABSTRACT

A major resource of neighborhood organizations is the voluntary participation of residents who give their time and energy to improve their communities. In recent years, there has been a revitalization of strategies to engage residents to volunteer for neighborhood-based organizations. Guided by organizational empowerment theory and the ecological perspective, the current study examined the relationship between citizen participation and organizational characteristics and effectiveness and the benefits received by residents participating in neighborhood organizations in poor communities. The data were gathered through a survey of resident volunteers in four neighborhood organizations in Pennsylvania and were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The results showed that volunteers' level of involvement in their neighborhood organization influenced their self-efficacy. However, volunteers' perceptions of their neighborhood organizations' characteristics and effectiveness were the most strongly related to the benefits of citizen participation, contributing to residents' self efficacy, collective efficacy, and sense of community. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.     

双向互动发展模式下的“母亲教育”与社区建设

社区建设在近期的主要目标应当是进一步提高居民的自治能力和社区意识，有效整合社区资源以及培养居民互相关怀的传统美德。配合这一目标，社区工作必须摆脱传统工作思路的限制，在工作手段上不断寻求新的突破。母亲教育就是在此背景下提出的，它以科学育人与弘扬传统文化为使命，对促进家庭、邻里和谐，儿童的健康成长以及推动民间力量的发育上都有积极作用。它既拓展了社区工作的实践领域，同时也为社区建设提供了新的思路。     

Impact of Community on Personal Well-Being in Urban China

ABSTRACT

As the work-unit system fell after economic reform in China, neighborhoods replaced work units as the primary provider of vital social services for the urban population and became a new social space for enhancing the quality of people's well-being. This study examined the neighborhood characteristics that influenced personal well-being of residents. Drawn by multistage sampling and administered by face-to-face interviews, the survey included a sample of 976 participants from 31 neighborhoods in urban Shanghai. Results indicate that neighboring behaviors enhanced subjective well-being of the young and middle-aged residents but had no impact on older people. Sense of community, on the other hand, was found to contribute to well-being of all age groups and was particularly strong among older people in more deprived neighborhoods. Findings inform development of community practice strategies for vitalizing community efficacy and fostering individual well-being in urban China. Recommendations for future research are made using the results of this study.     

Political and Civic Participation Among Disadvantaged Urban Mothers: The Role of Neighborhood Poverty*

Objective. This article explores the relationship between neighborhood economic conditions and mothers' political and civic participation, examining whether this relationship is conditioned on mothers' individual characteristics. Methods. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well‐Being Study, it tests specifically whether neighborhood poverty influences mothers' voting and voluntary behavior differently depending on their income, education, race/ethnicity, and relationship status. Results. The results suggest that the relationship between neighborhood poverty and voting behavior depends on mothers' education level and relationship status, whereas the relationship between neighborhood poverty and mothers' volunteer work varies by race and relationship status. Conclusions. The results are in accordance with what some qualitative research has long suggested: that the relationship between neighborhood conditions and individual outcomes varies from person to person and group to group. Future research on “neighborhood effects” should continue to move beyond homogeneous explanations for how neighborhoods influence behavior and instead seek to determine the specific conditions under which neighborhoods exert influence on individual outcomes.