Social Work and Social Justice in Northern Ireland: Towards a New Occupational Space

Correspondence to: Dr John Pinkerton, School of Social Work, Queens University Belfast, 7 Lennoxvale, Belfast BT9 5BY, Northern Ireland. E-mail j.pinkerton{at}qub.ac.uk Summary This article considers the concept of social justice by referenceto the experience of social work in Northern Ireland duringthe past forty years of communal, paramilitary and state violence.It notes the contested nature of the concept and its chequeredhistory within the professional ideology of social work generallyand its absence as a significant explanatory and motivationalconcept for social workers in Northern Ireland to date. It arguesthat in the emerging post-conflict situation social work asa profession needs to operationalize a view of social justicethat acknowledges social and cultural diversity in order toredefine the profession itself and direct its relationship toboth the state and civil society.     

Parents' Views on Social Work Interventions in Child Welfare Cases

Correspondence to Trevor Spratt, Lecturer in Social Work, School of Social Work, The Queen's University Belfast, 7 Lennoxvale, Belfast BT9 5BY, Northern Ireland. E-mail: T.Spratt{at}qub.ac.uk Summary This article reports findings from the third part of a three-partresearch project examining the potential for social workersto shift from a child protection to a child welfare orientationin their practice. Whilst social workers in the UK have beenencouraged to make such changes, they have been hampered byconcerns to manage risk. Findings reported from the earlierparts of the project, indicated that there was potential fora substantial proportion of child protection work to be redesignatedas child welfare work, but that where this was achieved in practice,there was evidence of the continued influence of child protectionprocesses as social workers sought to manage the risks inherentin child welfare cases. The study reported here sets out toascertain the views of parents who were subject to child welfareinterventions. The findings indicate that while parents feelapprehension with regard to contact with social workers, inthe majority of cases successful relationships are formed. Itis argued that social workers display considerable skill inmonitoring potential risks whilst engaging with families andthat the subtleties involved in such activity are not capturedby official measures of governance which concentrate on moreabstract indicators of performance.     

An Empirical Study into the Psychosocial Reactions of Staff Working as Helpers to those Affected in the Aftermath of two Traumatic Incidents

Correspondence to Professor Dorota Iwaniec, Institute of Child Care Research, Queen's University Belfast, 5a Lennoxvale, Belfast BT9 5BY, Northern Ireland, UK. Summary This paper will address the outcome of the first empirical studyon the psychosocial impact on four groups of professional staffinvolved as helpers in the aftermath of two major incidents.The two incidents selected were the Kegworth Air disaster thatoccurred in the East Midlands area of England in 1989 and aterrorist bombing on the Shankill Road Belfast, Northern Ireland(NI) in 1993. The four groups of staff chosen for the research,both in England and Northern Ireland, were social workers, ambulancepersonnel, accident and emergency nurses and clergy. The policyand practice implications of the study were used to developa training programme for those who have to cope with traumain their workplace. The need for such training was based onthe hypothesis that pre-training will help to ameliorate anynegative reactions that may be experienced by the helpers. Theresults from both incidents were compared to highlight the impactof the work on helpers working with victims from a single incidenttrauma and in a situation where there was multiple incidenttraumatization.     

The problem of engaging men in child protection work

Correspondence to Kieran O'Hagan, Department of Social Work, The Queen's University of Belfast, 7 Lennoxvale, Belfast BT9 5BY Summary Child protection workers often concentrate upon mothers, andignore or avoid fathers and male cohabitees. This article attemptsto explore such tendencies, with the help of literature, researchand the author's own experiences. It asks: when does this ignoringand avoidance take place? How and why is it done, and what arethe likely consequences for child, mother, father/male partner,and child protection worker? It suggests that ignoring or avoidingmen constitutes a serious problem in child protection work.It makes suggestions on how trainers and managers may prepareworkers more effectively, enabling them to engage men who aresignificant in the lives of abused children.     

Occupational Stress in Social Work

Correspondence to Faith Gibson, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Ulster at Magee College, Londonderry, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Summary This article reports the results of a study of occupationalstress undertaken with a large sample of Northern Ireland fieldsocial workers, including both main grade practitioners andfirst line senior social work managers employed as team leaders.This study formed part of a wider interprofessional study ofsocial workers, nurses and teachers; publications for the lattertwo professions along with interprofessional comparisons arein preparation and this present article focuses on the socialworker cohort. The design and methods are described and demographic characteristicsof the social work sample are provided, with their views aboutsocial work. Stressors are identified in both professional andprivate lives. The effects of stress as manifested through theGeneral Health Questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventoryare examined and the social workers' views on various stresscoping strategies are discussed.     

Hidden Gems: Systematically Searching Electronic Databases for Research Publications for Social Work and Social Care

Correspondence to Brian Taylor, Queen's University Belfast, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Mulhouse Building, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BJ, Northern Ireland. E-mail: b.j.taylor{at}qub.ac.uk Summary Context: Electronic bibliographic databases are an importantsource for professional publications about social work and communitycare more generally. This article describes and evaluates amethod of identifying relevant articles as part of a systematicreview of research evidence. Decision making about institutionaland home care services for older people is used as an example.Method: Four databases (Social Science Citation Index, Medline,CINAHL and Caredata), which abstract publications relevant tohealth and social services, were searched systematically toidentify relevant research studies. The items retrieved wereappraised independently using a standard form developed forthe purpose. The searches were compared in terms of sensitivity,precision, overlap between databases and inter-rater reliability.Results: The search retrieved 525 articles, of which 276 wererelevant. The four databases retrieved 55 per cent, 41 per cent,19 per cent and 1 per cent of the relevant articles respectively,achieving these sensitivities with precision levels of 54 percent, 48 per cent, 84 per cent and 94 per cent. The databasesretrieved 116, 73, 24 and 15 unique relevant articles respectively,showing the need to use a range of databases. Discussion: Ageneral approach to creating a search to retrieve relevant researchhas been developed. The development of an international, indexeddatabase dedicated to literature relevant to social servicesis a priority to enable progress in evidence-based policy andpractice in social work. Editors and researchers should considerusing structured abstracts in order to improve the retrievaland dissemination of research.     

Preventive Intervention as a Working Concept in Child-Care Practice

Correspondence to: Rosalind Hargreaves, Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Social Work Studies, Keynes College, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NP. Summary Prevention persists in social work despite criticism of theterm. In 1975 and 1990 identical surveys were carried out todiscover what social workers were trying to prevent in sampledindividual pieces of work. The study elicits the assumptionsunderpinning their thinking about prevention and notes differencesbetween the two surveys. The findings are then discussed inrelation to the 1989 Children Act. A model for individual preventivepractice is presented and the discussion of issues concludesthat the usage of the term will continue despite a change offocus in child-care legislation. Prevention can provide a morevaluable framework for practice with the benefits of greaterspecificity and clarity of thinking on the part of practitioners.     

The 1996 Research Assessment Exercise and the Response of Social Work Academics

Summary In 1996 the Higher Education Funding Council undertook the fourthResearch Assessment Exercise (RAE) in universities in England,Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Performance in researchis a crucial measure in university departments because it hasdirect implications for funding, but some doubt that the criteriaused are appropriate measures of quality of research. Many factorshave an impact on the way that research by social work academicsis presented in the RAE. After the 1996 RAE, the Joint UniversityCouncil Social Work Education Committee undertook a survey ofdepartments which teach social work to try and elicit responsesto the assessment exercise which might inform preparations forthe next RAE.     

Social Work Intervention with a Multiple Sclerosis Population

Correspondence to Dr. G. J. Welch, Department of Social Work, University of Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa. Summary The paper describes a successful social work intervention programmeaimed at stress reduction and increased self-acceptance formembers of a multiple sclerosis self-help group. The clinicalprogramme is described in detail and both statistical and graphedoutcome results are reported.     

A Case for Social Work Evaluation of Social Work Education

Correspondence to Imogen Taylor, Research Fellow, Department of Social Work, University of Bristol, 8 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TN Summary This paper discusses the importance of evaluation of socialwork education by social work researchers, particularly giventhe increasing demands from different interest groups for socialwork courses to demonstrate effectiveness. It is noted that educational researchers are dominating thefield of educational evaluation, yet it is crucial for the survivalof social work that social work education be evaluated by socialwork researchers. Both the tools and the outcome of such evaluationwill shape the future of social work education and social workitself. Recognizing that cross fertilization of ideas between disciplinesis essential, a model for social work evaluation is proposedwhich is derived from models developed by other disciplinesand integrated with social work practice theory. The resultingresearch model draws a number of parallels between researchand practice, bringing together two groups which are often distantand distinct. The model also brings researcher and user closertogether. The model is analysed in light of its applicationto the evaluation of Enquiry and Action Learning, an innovativeapproach to social work education implemented by the Departmentof Social Work, University of Bristol. Central government funding must be available to ensure systematicand rigorous evaluation of social work education rather thanthe piecemeal research possible so far.     

Managing Human Services in a Market Environment: What Role for Social Workers?

Correspondence to Karen Healy, Department of Social Work, Social Policy and Sociology, Building A26, University of Sydney 2006, New South Wales, Australia. Summary International research suggests that the market reform of humanservices is leading to reduced opportunities for social workersto achieve organizational management positions. This paper exploresthe future of social workers as managers of human service organizations.It examines the tensions between the social justice principlesthat guide social work and the emerging contexts of social welfaremanagement. The exploration draws on in-depth interviews withthirty-four social welfare managers working in the non-profitsector in Australia. These managers were identified by theirpeers as progressive, that is, as championing social justicevalues such as access, equity and social inclusion. This paperwill report on their approaches to social welfare managementand their perceptions of the threats and opportunities for progressivemanagement practices in a climate of public sector reform. Thepaper will consider how social work educators can better prepareservice professionals for social welfare management positions.     

Outcome Measurement and Service Evaluation--A Note on Research Design

Correspondence to Martin Dempster, School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK. E-mail: m.dempster{at}qub.ac.uk Summary The purpose of this research note is to demonstrate how an individualizedquality of life instrument could be adapted to provide a moreaccurate estimate of the impact of a social service on a person'squality of life. An increase in quality of life between thestart and end of a service is often taken as an indication thatthe service impacted positively on quality of life. The modificationsto the quality of life instrument suggested in this paper showthat this assumption is not always accurate and should be questioneddirectly.     

The Limits of Positivism in Social Work Research

Correspondence to David Smith, Leaturer in Social Work, Department of Social Administration, Fylde College University of Lancaster, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4LX. Summary This paper considers the argument that research on social workshould be more rigorously scientific in its methods, using thework of Brian Sheldon as representative of this position. Itis argued that a wholly positivist approach is inadequate onepistemological grounds, and that the procedures characteristicof this approach, particularly the experimental method, areunlikely to prove generally feasible or useful. Evaluation researchin other fields is used to illustrate this argument, and itis suggested that social work is far from unique in its under-useof research findings. A possible alternative, that social workshould be evaluated by artistic criteria, is briefly examinedand found to be problematic. The paper concludes with an argumentthat research in future should be more concerned with process,and more open, participative and pragmatic in style.     

Beyond Retroduction? -- Hermeneutics, Reflexivity and Social Work Practice

Correspondence to Susan White, University of Manchester, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Williamson Building, Oxford Road, Manchester Summary Over the last three decades qualitative research methodologieshave been in the ascent within social science. Yet social workevaluation studies have tended to be quantitative in nature,conventially relying upon the generation of criteria againstwhich interventions are retrospectively judged. The generationof such criteria inevitably depends upon pre-suppositions, whichin themselves go unresearched. As a consequence the .sense makingactivities on which social work interventions depend are renderedimmune from critical analysis. This reflects a broader tendencyfor social work to cling to naive realist epistemologies, whichare arguably obsolete within the interpretive paradigm in whichits activity is properly located. By examining the debates withininterpretive social science, this paper argues for an approachto social work assessment which avoids the pitfalls of naiveobjectivism and the nihilism of anarchic relativism, whilstretaining creativity, imagination and hope.     

Working with Female Offenders: Beyond 'Alternatives to Custody'?

Correspondence to Anne Worrall, Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Applied Social Studies and Social Work, University of Keele, Keele, Staffs. ST5 5BG. Summary Developments in the Probation Service in the 1980s have beendominated by the rhetoric of ‘Alternatives to Custody’.At the same time, there has been an increasing awareness ofgender biases within the criminal justice system. This articlereports on research into the attitudes of probation officersand female offenders and explores the implications of thesefor future work with women by the Service.     

Social Work: Gender, Care and Justice

Correspondence to: Joan Orme, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Lilybank House, Bute Gardens, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8RT, UK. Summary This article, in examining gender and justice, seeks to examinethe relationship between feminist theory and social work. Specificallyit reviews writings on social work ethics and suggests thatlittle attention has been paid to feminist scholarship thatresonates with social work practice. Focusing primarily on communitycare, it demonstrates how debates within feminism have becomemore complex and have problematized understandings of both careand justice. It argues that for social work it is unhelpfulto dichotomize justice and care; we should aspire to just socialwork practice.     

Supervision, Role Strain and Social Services Departments

Correspondence to Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6009 Summary The paper analyses the potential for ambiguity and ambivalencetowards the supervision of practice in social services departments.While supervision may be integral to much social work practicein clinical settings, the culture and tradition of supervisionin social services departments looks to be permeated with confusionabout ‘supervision’ or ‘consultation’,the nature of accountability and the functions of supervisionof qualified and experienced practitioners. To move beyond anideology prescribing supervision, the paper considers evidenceof the effectiveness of supervision practice, analysing thetransition from practitioner to line-manager/supervisor andthe subsequent strain on the supervisor's authorities of positionand of expertise in some current arrangements for supervisionin field-work ‘teams’. Finally, there is an unequivocalassertion that effective supervision is an essential componentin the monitoring of client service and the maintenance of practitionersengaged in stressful forms of practice. Such supervision needsto recognize the managerial and administrative tasks necessaryto protect the agency and the client from poor quality practice,while also respecting the emotional and educational needs ofnewly qualified and experienced practitioners exposed to thedemands of high-risk judgement and practice.     

Social Programme Evaluation in the USA: Trends and Issues

Correspondence to Edward Allan Brawley, Professor of Social Work, The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Sociology, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, Pennylvania, 16802 USA. Summary This paper reviews the emergence of social programme evaluationas an important and frequently controversial topic in the UnitedStates during the last three decades. Political, practical,epistemological, and ethical Issues involved in the evaluationof social service programmes are discussed, as well as the strengthsand shortcomings of a range of specific evaluative approachesand techniques. Current trends towards evaluation strategiesthat take greater account of the special attributes of the socialservices and social work practice and that produce informationthat is more useful to policy-makers, programme administra torsand social work practitioners than has been true in the pastare identified. Some cautionary remarks are included about thedangers of overemphasizing ‘hard’ quantitative methodologies,goal attainment, and efficiency at the expense of alternativeapproaches that can produce other and sometimes more appropriateindicators of programme perform ance and results. This paper examines the evolution over three decades in theUnited States of efforts to evaluate social programmes, socialservices and social work practice. Some lessons that can bedrawn from the failures and successes of this experience aresuggested and the strengths and weaknesses of various evaluativestrategies and techniques are discussed.     

The Rise of Relativism: The Future of Theory and Knowledge Development in Social Work

Correspondence to Colin Peile, Department of Social Work and Social Policy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia Summary This paper explores a range of paradigms evident in recent debatesabout social work theory and epistemology, including the positivist,post-positivist, interpretivist, critical, ecological, feminist,poststructural and creative positions. While applauding theopenness generated by these competing approaches, concerns areraised about the emergence of a meta-paradigm of relativism.After identifying the evidence of this move towards relativismin various paradigms, the potential problems and limitationsof this trend for social work are explored. Relativism has,however, played an important role in undermining dogmatic attachmentsto certain positions and the paper attempts to rescue this usefulquality of relativism while combining it with a constructivecommitment to creative action.     

Dying and Bereavement, Spirituality and Social Work in a Market Economy of Welfare

Correspondence to Margaret Lloyd, School of Social Work, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL Summary This paper examines the contribution of social work practiceto the care of people who are dying or bereaved. It considerscurrent challenges to traditional practice arising from societaland organizational change, reaffirming the importance of thesocial work role but arguing that, in order to face those challenges,social workers must broaden their perspective to incorporatea spiritual dimension. The paper draws on a research study conductedby the author.