QUESTIONS AND HINDSIGHT: WORK WITH ZARA,AN ASYLUM SEEKING CARE LEAVER

Psychodynamic ideas are used to think about social work with an asylum‐seeking young woman with mental health problems. Questions are raised about her needs and our response to them in relation to her individual history, the organisation and the wider socio‐economic context. These lead to reflections on adolescence and the leaving care task, non‐dependence, loss of home and homelessness, fear of madness, attitudes to difference and asylum seekers and institutional racism. Failure and learning from it is also a theme.     

THE GLOBAL VORTEX: SOCIAL WELFARE IN A NETWORKED WORLD

This paper examines the impact of economic globalization on the organization and delivery of social welfare services. Sennett's analysis of the modern networked organization is linked to psychodynamic theory in relation to the loss of ‘containment’ resulting from the demise of the post‐war welfare bureaucracies. This changing environment has generated an anxiety‐ridden and risk‐obsessed society that features surveillance, control and the gradual diminution of civil liberties. The impact of these changes on the ethics of professional social welfare practice has been profound. It is argued that public moral debate in the context of pluralist ethics is required not only for upholding a relational based social welfare practice, but also for preserving an open and compassionate democratic society. The paper concludes with a set of questions that provides a framework whereby practitioners can assess the extent to which different practice organizations support relational practice. This typology can be a tool to enable practitioners to exercise moral agency when making career choices in today's fluid organizational world.     

AN INTERACTIVE MODEL OF INFORMAL ADULT CARE AND EMPLOYMENT

This study examines a multifactorial model of caregiving strain and accommodations, utilizing a sample of 1,146 employed caregivers. Based on a theoretically derived resource and demand model of caregiving outcomes, stepwise multiple regression equations were utilized to assess the contribution of selected caregiver background characteristics, family and work demands, and resources. Demanding aspects of caregiving and work responsibilities were found to contribute the most to caregiving strain and to work and family accommodations. Caregiver health status, job control and co-worker support also contributed significantly to the regression models. These findings underscore that demands at home and at work both contribute to work–family strain, suggesting that interventions are not apt to be effective in reducing the stress on employed caregivers unless they directly reduce the growing time pressures and energy demands experienced by today's workers and family members.

Cette étude analyse le degré de surmenage des auxiliaires de vie en utilisant un échantillon de 1.146 professionnels en activité. Basé sur un modèle conceptuel d'offre et de demande pour ce type de service, une série d’équations régressives par étape a été utilisée afin d’évaluer la prestation de l’échantillon analysé sur la base de ses caractéristiques sociaux démographiques, des charges familiales et professionnelles et des conditions de ressources. L’étude a prouvé que les caractéristiques contraignantes de ce type de profession ainsi que les responsabilités qui s'y rattachent contribuaient les plus au surmenage des auxiliaires de vie; cela ainsi que les aménagements nécessaires entre vie de famille et astreintes professionnelles. L’état de santé, le degré d'autonomie ainsi que le soutien potentiel des collègues de l'auxiliaire de vie ont également une incidence significative sur le modèle régressif. Ces conclusions soulignent que les contraintes domestiques associées à celles du travail contribuent conjointement au surmenage tant dans le cadre familial que professionnel, suggérant que des interventions ne sont pas en mesure de réduire ce surmenage chez les auxiliaire de vie en activité, excepté si elles agissent directement en diminuant le stress lié aux contraintes de temps croissantes et aux exigences en énergie rencontrés par les auxiliaires de vie et leurs familles de nos jours.     

A STUDY OF BACCALAUREATE SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS' BELIEFS ABOUT THE INCLUSION OF RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL CONTENT IN SOCIAL WORK

This exploratory quantitative study employs a 4-page Religion/Spirituality and Social Work Questionnaire that focuses on the beliefs and perceptions of 324 undergraduate social work students in 7 Council on Social Work Education–accredited schools of social work in the state of Texas about the role of religion and spirituality in social work practice and education. The vast majority of students in this sample (80.6%) are practicing Christians who have strong personal religious/spiritual beliefs and are relatively open to incorporating at least some religious/spiritual content into their practice with clients. More than 82% indicate that they want their social work courses to include content on religious/spiritual diversity, and 87.6% indicate interest in content on how to effectively deal with religious/spiritual issues in practice.     

ENGAGING COMMUNITY IN A CYCLE OF PRAXIS

This study employed an action research model known as the community wellness cycle of praxis in research with culturally diverse community members from the St Albans region (Melbourne, Australia). The major aim of the study was to gain a theoretical and pragmatic understanding of well-being from a multicultural perspective. In order to meet this aim, a qualitative study was designed to find out (1) What are the community ideals; needs; and strengths of residents of St Albans, and (2) What actions can be undertaken to improve the well-being of the community? The research involved focus groups with a total of 29 Anglo, Maltese, Vietnamese and Italian community members. The first research question was addressed by asking community members systematically about positive and negative aspects of personal, relational and collective well-being. The second research question was addressed by asking community members to generate ideas on what could be done to improve well-being and by identifying issues of concern that emerged throughout the research. The issues identified by participants offer a rich picture of community ideals, strengths and needs, as well as possible actions that could improve personal, relational and collective wellness in St Albans.

Cette étude utilise un approche de recherche action connu sous le nom du cycle de bien-être de praxis de recherche avec des membres culturellement varies dans un banlieue de Melbourne (Australie). Le but principal de l’étude était de comprendre théoriquement et pragmatiquement bien-être dans d'une perspective multiculturelle. Dans ce perspective étude qualitative a été conçue pour identifier (1) ce que sont les opinions des groupes diverses; leurs besoins et leurs atouts, et (2) de quelles actions peuvent être entreprises affin d améliorer le bien-être de ces groupes? La recherche a utilisé 29 Anglo-Australiens, Maltais, Vietnamiens et Italiens. Les premières questions ce sont posées a propos des aspects positifs et négatifs de bien-être individuel et collectif. Ensuite des questions ont été demandé à propos des idées sur ce qui on pourrait être fait pour améliorer le bien-être et en identifiant leurs soucis. Les soucis identifiées par les participants offrent une image riche des images et des représentations leurs atouts leurs, aussi bien que les actions qui pourraient améliorer le bien-être individuel et collective.     

FAMILIES’ CARE OF THEIR CHILDREN WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES IN AUSTRALIA

In Australia, from the 1980s, the processes of de-institutionalization and non-institutionalization have resulted in most children with severe disabilities being cared for at home. Current Australian government policy suggests that care increasingly will be undertaken in the home. The needs of families, then, is an area that requires attention. The findings in this paper are drawn from a series of qualitative in-depth interviews with parents of children with severe disabilities and, in particular, I highlight issues raised in relation to income, work, leisure and social relationships. Typically, despite the provision of formal (and informal) support services, participation in the wider community is limited. I argue that the provision of support services has been inadequate to enable engagement in activities that other families take for granted and that greater social policy attention is warranted.     

KNOWING THE CHILD: AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE

Social workers in agencies and school settings often deal with high risk, multi problem children such as those in foster care. Increasingly, there is widespread recognition that a coordinated, multifaceted approach is required to address the range of cognitive, social, and mental health problems with which they present. This article recommends utilization of an ecological treatment intervention that is specifically tailored to the needs of the child based on a formulation of the child’s experience and developmental deficits. A case example comprising the treatment of an eight-year-old boy in foster care with comorbid diagnoses of alcohol related neurodevelpomental disorder, failure to thrive, and attachment disorder, illustrates this approach. The article concludes with implications for social work practice.     

TERROR AND THE COLONIAL IMAGINATION AT WORK IN THE TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATE SPACES OF JAKARTA,INDONESIA

This article examines the role of the imagination in the construction of meaningful places out of economically defined and organized spaces. It seeks to understand the processes through which a colonial imagery is deployed in the negotiation of a complex and continually transforming transnational corporate order. This article is based on research conducted while working as a cross-cultural trainer within a transnational corporate office space in Jakarta, Indonesia. I discuss cross-cultural training as a space within which a colonial discourse based on terror and uncertainty persists, producing an ambivalent understanding of foreign overseas labor. I argue that a colonial approach to the social relations that take place within trans-national spaces persists for both Western-born and Indonesian members of the transnational capitalist class and is central to their perspective on capitalist expansion.     

THE FATALISTIC IMAGINATION AND THE CONTINUED SALIENCE OF RELIGION IN THE MODERN WORLD: A TEST OF RESOURCE COMPENSATION/RESOURCE AMPLIFICATION HYPOTHESES USING CROSSNATIONAL DATA

The resource compensation hypothesis predicts that religiosity will serve as a cognitive buffer against structural constraints whereby more religious individuals will exhibit lower levels of fatalism than their less religious counterparts. The resource amplification perspective, on the other hand, predicts that religiosity will foster a sense that otherworldly forces control life's outcomes, leading to higher levels of fatalism. Using a precise measure of fatalism from the two most recent waves of the World Values Survey, a comparative examination of three Latin American countries, South Africa, and the United States is carried out. With Mexico as the sole exception, findings from ordered logistic regression models suggest that higher levels of religiosity are associated with lower levels of fatalism, supporting the resource compensation hypothesis. Implications for longstanding debates over the salience of modern religion are considered. An important and underappreciated cognitive function provided by thriving religious denominations and institutions may be to provide a catalyst for personal empowerment that comes through the rejection of a fatalistic mentality.     

REVERSING A SPIRAL OF DEPRIVATION: WORKING TO AMELIORATE THE RELATIONSHIP OF STAFF AND BOYS IN A RESIDENTIAL HOME

This paper discusses the work of a consultation to a staff group at a residential home for adolescent boys. The work discovered that each encounter increased each group's sense of deprivation. This escalation is understood as their relationship being based upon a spiral of deprivation. In this situation the staff's capacity to think in terms of their training in Winnicott's ideas about residential care, and that behaviour has meaning, was lost. By using himself as the container of staff emotional states, through recognising their communications in terms of Bion's concept of normal projective identification, the consultant was better able to understand the nature of the difficulties in the boys' and staff relationship. Hence, the attempt to engage staff through the consultation was successful and their capacity to think was restored. The material discussed shows this development enabled staff to better contain their own and the boys' feelings, thus allowing the spiral to reverse.     

NARRATIVES AND THE CONSTITUTION OF A COMMON IDENTITY: THE KAREN IN BURMA

This research was conducted in an informal school located in Thailand at the border with Myanmar (Burma) and supervised by the Karen National Union (KNU). The KNU has claimed and fought for political autonomy and independence from the Burmese government for more than a half century. The authors examine how, in their narratives about what it means to be Karen, future Karen leaders try to deal with challenges to a sense of Karen unity and “groupness,” and to the legitimacy of the Karen struggle. One important challenge is the substantial cultural, religious, linguistic, and geographical internal diversity. Establishing a coherent Karen identity among the different subgroups is a continuing struggle for Karen leaders. Another is the negative labeling of the KNU as stubborn people and violent terrorists. These labels endanger the political project, the international reputation, and the local attractiveness of the KNU.     

DEMOCRACY AND INFORMATION : A CASE STUDY OF NEW LOCAL GOVERNACE STRUCTURES IN BANGALORE

The phenomenon of rapid urbanization is posing challenges to planners in developing countries. As it becomes harder and harder for planners to disentangle the global from the local, it is increasingly recognized that without a solid local base, city governments will not have the strength that is needed to navigate global circuits. This social integration requires democratized political mechanisms based on administrative decentralization and the participation of citizens in municipal management. Our paper focuses on the role of information in the democratic process looking at a case study of new local governance structures in Bangalore. The city has become a focal point for software development regionally and globally.Such regional and global interconnections are taking place simultaneously with a number of local level initiatives aimed at encouraging democratic decisionmaking via legislation and by introducing new local governance structures.     

WORK AND THE CITY IN THE e-SOCIETY A critical investigation of the sociospatially situated character of economic production in the digital content industries in the UK

The aim of this paper is to ground debates about the 'new economy' or 'e-society' in the practice of individuals and companies producing 'new media'. The uncontroversial starting point is to question the generalization in much theorizing, and the tendency to technological reductive accounts of social and economic change. The focus here is to point to the intellectual sources of much policy in this field. The authors present case study material of three very specific parts of the new media/digital content industries (film special effects, computer games and web design). The paper concludes that both technological reductive and agentic accounts have underplayed the continuing importance of the social and economic embeddedness of production, and of the situated co-constitution of technologies, people and places. The differences between industries associated with labour processes, labour markets, users and markets for goods are highlighted. These particularities begin to offer more robust accounts of location and organization.     

AN EXPLORATION OF THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP AND COUNSELLING OUTCOMES IN A PROBLEM GAMBLING COUNSELLING SERVICE

This study examined the relationship between a number of counselling process variables thought to influence counselling outcomes in a sample of 150 clients undertaking short‐term counselling in the state‐wide government funded Gambler's Help problem gambling counselling services in Victoria, Australia. Factors measured included psychosocial well‐being of clients prior to and after counselling, client readiness to change, self‐reported gambling activity levels before and after counselling, self‐assessment of current gambling behaviour, strength of therapeutic alliance, self‐reported counselling outcomes achieved in the area of symptoms, life matters, and related problems and a measure of client satisfaction with the service. The therapeutic alliance was found to have the strongest predictive power with respect to the level of problem resolution achieved by clients across all but one of the problem areas. The implications of these findings for clinical social work practice and education of practitioners are noted.     

INTERFACING FEMINISM AND CULTURAL STUDIES IN HONG KONG: A CASE OF EVERYDAY LIFE POLITICS

Cultural studies, as a cultural and political re-articulation of common sense, knowledge and community practices, aims at opening up new cultural space for criticisms, reflections and action. Originating from the women' movement and later flourishing in the academy as well, feminism espouses similar aims to cultural studies. Both cultural studies and feminist/gender studies have a strong sense of intervening into everyday life politics. This paper is an attempt to discuss how feminism and cultural studies interface with each other, largely based on examples of gender-related everyday life politics taken from the feminist movement in Hong Kong. It will examine issues concerning the conflict of consumption and female subjectivities, the reconceptualization of home and housewives, and the representation of everyday life for women and history writing. It is argued that by blurring, negotiating or deconstructing the boundary or division between positions, identities and domains–such as subject and object, housewives and workers, private and public, personal and political, consumption and production–the re-articulation of knowledge about ‘victim’, ‘exploitation’, ‘home’ and ‘history’ in the feminist movement will not only provide the movement with new impetus and insight to reconsider its strategies in fighting for more cultural, social and economic space for women and other marginal groups at large in Hong Kong, but will also ‘metabolize’ the newly developed discipline of cultural studies in Hong Kong by providing a platform to strengthen the dynamic arm of cultural studies education and research. Based on her feminist and teaching experiences in Hong Kong, the author has highlighted activism and pedagogy as the two important dimensions of feminism and cultural studies in this paper.     

THE RISE AND FALL OF A LOCAL HERO: MEMORY,IDENTITY AND POWER IN RURAL AUSTRIA, 1945-1960

The article questions abstract concepts like lieux de mémoire, invented tradition and imagined communities linked to a concrete field of research. It reconstructs structures and practices of the cultural representation of mythical narrations in symbolic and social spaces. The case of a rural community in Austria after World War II shows that the encoding and decoding of a heroic saga is embedded both in the macro structures of the economic and political reconstruction of the Second Republic and the micro structures of the local festive culture. In the late 1940s, the supply of the narration, a variation of the German National myth of Herman the Cheruskian, met the demand of the majority of the villagers, above all the male inhabitants. In the 1950s, the market of cultural representations had changed: the hero of village memory became a relic of village history.