Individualism and Its Discontents in Social Work: Proposing a Counternarrative for a New Vision of Social Work Theory and Practice

The ideology of individualism undermines the foundation of social work theory and practice. Hyper-individualism drives cultural systems and institutions, rendering the social work profession fundamentally incapable of promoting social change for social justice. A radical communitarian counternarrative provides a critical analysis of the disconnect between the needs of individuals and the capacity of communities to meet those needs. A real-world application of radical communitarian principles is demonstrated in cohousing, a contemporary movement in community building. The cohousing model shows how social work might reorient its vision for professional theory and practice.     

Meeting Families Where There Are

SUMMARY

This article focuses on families in general, both those we as social workers and other mental health professionals work with and those within which we live. Specifically, the focus is on ways that growth may be facilitated as family members operate according to the principles of acknowledging connectedness, suspending judgment, trusting the universe, creating realities, and walking the path with heart. The ramifications for individuals, families and society of the choice to pursue soul healing, or to undertake consciously a journey toward wholeness, also is discussed.     

The U.S. Criminal Justice System: A Role for Radical Social Work

ABSTRACT

Characteristics of the current United States criminal justice system include mass incarceration at a rate higher than that of any other Western country, extraordinarily long sentences, rampant racial discrimination, and discrimination against all low-income persons. The impact of this system goes beyond devastation of those subject to supervision of the system to their families, communities, and society at large. This article analyzes the current criminal justice system relative to neoliberalism and ongoing reform efforts. The possible roles of radical social work in facilitating reforms and connecting criminal justice advocacy and issues to larger structural issues as well as direct practice strategies are explored.     

Family problem solving: A case study

Abstract

Working with the families of young offenders may often be the best method of helping those young offenders to change. Sometimes, however, social workers and others who work with young offenders are reluctant to work with family groups because they may feel that they lack skills in family counselling. This article presents a case study which illustrates a family counselling intervention. The case study uses Family Problem Solving, a method which involves the adaptation of mainstream social work skills to work with families. It is anticipated that the article might be of interest to social workers who work with families but who feel apprehensive about counselling family groups.     

Emancipatory engagement: An urban womanist social work pedagogy

ABSTRACT

Standing on the hope of the initial social work course from 1914 at Morgan College, this article provides insight into the significant learning outcomes of contemporary students in advanced social work practice with urban African American families. This research introduces the conceptual framework of urban womanist social work pedagogy as an inclusive practice-informed knowledge produced through the rituals, traditions, values, culture, and resilience of historically disenfranchised communities. Urban womanist social work teaching methods honor truth telling from the ones who have lived there. Urban womanist social work affirms transformative-centered research, teaching, and scholarship produced through institutions such as historically black colleges and universities (HBCU’s). The students’ reflective narratives reveal a process of transformation, centered in the freedom standpoint, which includes recognizing the location and context of their individual and collective identity as African Americans in the profession of social work. Urban womanist social work pedagogy cumulatively equips our students with intergenerational knowledge that inform their assessment of critical issues in Baltimore’s African American communities.     

The knowledge,skills and qualities needed for social work in a major paediatric teaching hospital

Abstract

The place of aged care in social work has long been ambiguous, if not marginal. Social work (as do other comparable professions) often displays a reluctance to place practice in this field within the core of the profession that embodies aspects of ageism in contemporary society. Working with older people is frequently characterised as ‘mundane’, ‘routine’ and even ‘not “real” social work’. This paper examines the practice implications of the current policy context. Forms of ‘indirect’ practice are identified as central to social work in aged care, and the implications of this for the standing of aged care social work in the wider profession are discussed. It is argued that ‘indirect’ practices are core to the development of the profession and so should be seen as ‘real’ social work. In conclusion, it is suggested that unless social work affirms practice with older people and their families we will fail to be congruent with our own values.     

Social Work,Spirituality, and Diasporic Communities

Abstract

The discourse surrounding the role of spirituality in social work practice has been expanding exponentially in recent years. Similarly, the discourse surrounding the role of spirituality among diasporic communities has expanded in recent times as well. In this paper, we will consider the linkages between social work, spirituality, and diaspora. We will focus our discussion on a particular diasporic spiritual community, the Sathya Sai Baba movement and its social service activities. We will then consider the implications of such spiritual movements for the social work profession. Among the key issues explored in this paper are the change in the social construction of populations that have moved between two countries as 'immigrant communities' to 'diasporic communities' and the implications of these changes for social work. Another critical issue we discuss is how working with spiritual movements may help address the 'spiritual deficit' concern that some social work academics have referred to, and indirectly at least, we begin to address 'the social work crisis' issue that has negatively affected the social work profession over the last few years.     

Fishing for success without rocking the boat: Value conflict and work control in a maritime context

This paper deals with the role of work control in managing tensions between communitarian social organization and individualistic values. It uses data from a peripheral maritime community, where communitarian control is emphasized above all else; yet work there is organized as petty entrepreneurship, with expressed values on individualism and the Protestant Ethic. The dominant community institution controlling work (the Methodist Church), the structure of the work place and social organization of labor, and the face-to-face transactions concerning work and rewards that have allowed these conflicting ideologies to coexist on a day-to-day basis are examined. For example, entrepreneurial success is controlled by informal communal and church pressures, which encourage watermen to produce at the same levels. Consumption is controlled by community norms and gossip so that people have basically the same possessions. These practices, along with work information control mechanisms, curtail tendencies to convert individual work outcomes into community status. They permit a sense of individual freedom and success in the work place yet at the same time control it so that equality and communitarianism predominate.The author wishes to thank Steven Cole, Rose Laub Coser, Bill Gromfein, Lyle Hallowell, Robert W. Hodge, John McCarthy, Charles Perrow, Pat Roos, Ed Royce, Gerald Suttles, Eugene Weinstein, Glenn Yago, Stony Brook Research Seminar, and editors and reviewers ofQualitative Sociology for comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

COLAGE

Abstract

COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) is a national, non-profit organization run by and for children who have one or more gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender (GLBT) parents. Our mission is to engage, connect, and empower people to make the world a better place for children of GLBT parents and families. This article chronicles COLAGE's work within the context of the larger GLBT-family movement. A review is made of the emotional and socio-political challenges that children of GLBT parents face, as well as the benefits and unique perspectives gained from growing up in a family outside of the social norm. Finally, COLAGE is conceptualized in terms of its prominence as a community based intervention for building networks, empowering youth, and ensuring society recognizes, validates, and celebrates all families.     

Dementia: challenges for social work education in Europe

ABSTRACT

Dementia has been identified as a global challenge across the spectrum of health and social care (World Health Organisation. (2012) Dementia: A public health priority. Geneva: WHO). This paper will explore the implications of this for social work education and the challenges it poses. There is a lack of this focus on social work with older people and people with dementia (pwd) in social work education. Based on calls for an infusion of content on ageing and dementia in social work curricula, paper proposes that we should adopt a person-centred philosophy alongside gerontological social work competencies to achieve this. The specific aim of this paper, therefore, is to explore how we can use these ideas as teaching tools to engage social work students in the discourse on dementia and to develop appropriate skills to work with pwd, their families and carers.     

Social Work Student Views on Palliative Care Learning Resources

Abstract

Many social workers are expected to work with individuals and families who are dealing with life-limiting illnesses, yet during their university education they may not have been exposed to materials that address issues related to death and dying. The Social Work Department of University of New England in Armidale, Australia designed and delivered a palliative care teaching and learning session using publicly funded online materials. Themes emerging from questionnaire and focus group data analysis included appreciation for the importance and emotional demands of the materials, sensitivity and flexibility among educators who ideally have work experience in the field, expanding presence of social work philosophy in curriculum materials and exploring spirituality, and examining culture-informed practice in greater depth. Among the implications is the need for concerted efforts to teach about death and dying using high quality accessible materials, while ensuring social work values and approaches are reflected in the content.     

Affordable Financial Services and Credit for the Poor

Abstract

The financial services and sources of credit available to poor families affect the rate at which families can be financially empowered through building assets. This paper provides background information on financial services, including credit sources, which are available for low-income people and communities. Also discussed are policies affecting financial markets and promising innovations in delivering affordable financial services to low-income families. Implications for social work education, practice and advocacy are discussed.     

Empowerment Practice in Canada and the United States

Abstract

This article discusses the legacy of colonialism and racism in Canada and the United States. It shows how this legacy, combined with a market-oriented philosophy to social and economic issues and policies, has resulted in major, persistent social problems in both countries. It goes on to argue that an empowerment-oriented approach, by restoring policy issues, and therefore social justice issues, to the core of social work, can help the profession address these problems more efficiently. The article concludes by examining three particular challenges related to empowerment-oriented practice: creating partnerships; working with and in communities, and finding optimal ways of integrating all levels of social work practice.     

Bosanquet's social theory of the state

Bosanquet's political philosophy was a social theory of the function of the State as ‘hinderer of hindrances to the best life’, where individual development was supported by relationships within a community. This was worked out in the context of considerable knowledge of conditions among the London poor at the turn of the century, and reinforced by his wife's practical work and research. He sympathized with Durkheim's pioneering sociology, and was in contact with him through the Sociological Society. His ‘New Liberal’approach, seeing problems of poverty as to be met by informed charitable activity, was restricted by insufficient recognition of the structural aspects of social problems and conflicts. The bearing of his Idealist Metaphysics is critically considered, and it is claimed that, although a good deal of this may not be acceptable, it gave a background to a kind of social thinking which is of interest to those looking for a communitarian type of political philosophy.     

A Journey Through the Prism of Race: An Evolution of Generational Consciousness

SUMMARY

Race consciousness is examined over the life course of three social work professors of color during different generations. This narrative method illustrates their journey through self-affirming families and communities that served as protective factors against hostile individual, community, and institutional forces that attempted to marginalize, subjugate, and oppress their will. Each experienced similar bouts with racism, albeit in less blatant forms, while all benefited from earlier leaders who served as ladders. Implications for diversity, social justice, and social work education are discussed.     

Contesting Benevolence: Market Orientations among Muslim Aid Providers in Egypt

This paper studies the pro-market and communitarian tendencies among Egypt’s khayr (benevolence) organizations based on interviews with and observation of managers, staff and volunteers. Can the conflicting market and community orientations in the field of benevolence be interpreted as an instance of the “double movement” of marketization and protection against the market? The analyses demonstrate a growing tendency of marketization and only weak tendencies to transform established communitarian ways of giving into more systematic ways of non-marketized giving. Due to an emergent state-business-civil society nexus, market-oriented voluntary associations hold the potential to undermine or absorb the actually more entrenched communitarian associations. Potentials for a double movement in the era of neoliberalism seem to be weaker than in the classical liberal era because of the deeper permeation of society by market ethics.     

Restorative Justice

Abstract

Restorative justice is the growing movement that aims to change the direction of criminal law by focusing it on the needs of victims and repairing communities. The focus of this article is on three restorative initiatives-family group conferencing, victim-offender mediation, and reparations. The link between social work and restorative justice is explored in each of these areas.     

Becoming a Movement Society? Patterns in the Public Acceptance of Protest, 1985–2006

ABSTRACT

A social movement society refers to a society in which protest is a standard, institutionalized feature of the political landscape. Is the United States steadily becoming such a society? Whereas other empirical tests of the movement society thesis have focused on political tactics and individual participation in protest, we point to the public’s attitudes as another indicator of the movement society. Using the General Social Survey (GSS) data, we find that the public has grown more accepting of protest with time. In addition, using indicators of social location, social engagement, and political engagement as predictors, we find that while these factors help explain support for the protest, their effects vary depending on the type of protest in question. Age, education, gender, income, employment status, and political interest all affect the acceptance of public meetings and demonstrations; however, the effect of income is reversed when it comes to the acceptance of a nationwide strike. Lastly, an age-period-cohort analysis finds evidence that a period effect is greater than a cohort effect in changing attitudes over time. Taken together, these findings support the claim that broad, societal-level influences have contributed to the public acceptance of protest, which is suggestive of a social movement society. Yet while the United States may constitute a social movement society, it is one with clear boundaries: Individuals do support protest but only to the extent that it does not disrupt the material advantages associated with their social location.     

The permaculture movement in India: a social movement with Southern characteristics

ABSTRACT

Permaculture is an attempt to design and develop sustainable communities in harmony with natural ecosystems. It embraces solution-oriented approaches to contemporary social and environmental problems. Originating in Australia, permaculture was initially considered a design system but it has become a global social movement and it is practiced in different countries in various forms and at multiple scales. It is manifested in numerous networks of local practitioners, teachers, promoters, demonstration sites, organisations and magazines where various ideas and practices converge. Despite its popularization scant attention has been given to analysis of permaculture as a social movement. Moreover, the few academic writings which analyse permaculture as a social movement do not systematically engage with its manifestation and adaptation in the global South. The latter is the main contribution of this article. Based on original research this paper narrates the origins of the permaculture movement in India, and it pays close attention to its contextual adaptation by a diverse group of practitioners. It demonstrates that these diverse actors and their strategies have clear linkages to the independence movement; they are influenced by the incomplete project of Indian liberal democracy; they operate on the sphere of civil and political society; and they engage middle and lower classes in a formal and informal political nexus.     

Organization as a theatre of performance

In this paper we introduce Bergson's philosophy of "action, process and movement" and its relevance for social science and the study of organizational culture. Bergson's philosophy of change argues against the spatialisation of thought in which phenomena are broken down into discrete components to be numbered, sequenced and manipulated: rather he argues for a view of time as qualitative; intuition as situated within experience rather than about it; the importance of the body in social experience and the importance of morality and religion in social life - in short and embodied conception of culture. Bergson's culture is socialised time actualised in experienced duration or durée - culture is always in motion, and does not need culture clash to drive change, but cultural expression and formulations are not, which runs counter to functionalist and psychoanalytic views of culture. Creativity, or the élan vital , is the human impulse to organise, but to improvise rather than to locate, divide and control. Culture grounded in experienced time and driven by the élan vital is in ceaseless motion - it is duration because its is en-dured as a multiplicity rather than as a unity. Where heroic leaders in treatments of organizational culture invite us the change our place in the world, in Bergson's thought they invite us to change out time - our qualitative experience of duration. We examine these arguments through a review of Bergson's work, concluding that Bergson's resonates with postmodern approaches to culture which shift our attention from signification to implication.