An Unfinished Reflexive Journey: Social Work Students' Reflection on their Placement Experiences

The fieldwork placement is recognized as one of the major componentsof social work education and a major determinant of its quality.A key aspect of the learning process in the fieldwork placementis the exposition of practice encounters to the students’critical reflection. Given the importance of the process of‘reflection’ or ‘reflective learning’,a qualitative study based on the reflective logs of social workstudents was conducted to explore the meaning of social workfield education and the learning experiences of social workstudents during their placement. The study findings revealedthat disturbing events experienced by students in their fieldworkwere a catalyst to their reflective process. Meanwhile, theirundue concern with knowledge and skills application within acircumscribed knowledge frame suggests the dominant influenceof scientism and competence-based practice in social work, inwhich learning outcomes and instrumental and technical reasoningare highly emphasized. Discovery of ‘self’ was alsothe major premise in the students’ reflection logs, inwhich a majority of them took their prevailing self-identityas a constant state to be verified in interaction with othersin the fieldwork placement. Reflexivity is manifested in askingfundamental questions about assumptions generated by formaland practice theories; it addresses the multiple interrelationsbetween power and knowledge, and acknowledges the inclusionof self in the process of knowledge creation in social workpractice. Its realization in social work education requiresthe social work educators’ reflexive examination of thedynamics that influence the construction of curriculum, whichin turn construct our prospective social workers.     

Risk, Mental Disorder and Social Work Practice: A Gendered Landscape

Whilst the importance of gender for social work practice, riskand mental health has been recognized theoretically for sometime, few attempts have been made to explore this area empirically.This paper presents findings from a mixed-methods study of socialwork practice in relation to mental health service users perceivedto be ‘high-risk’. Findings suggest, first, thatthe concept ‘high-risk’ was gendered because theprimary focus in social work practice was on the risks posedby male service users to others. Second, female social workersin the present study were found to have more female serviceusers from their caseloads who had been defined as ‘high-risk’compared with their male counterparts. The paper goes on toexplore this apparent congruence between female social workersand female service users and highlights how the management ofrisk could be considered gendered because it reflects a worker’s(perceived) capacity in cultural terms to ‘decode’the nature of the risks that their clients face as genderedsubjects. The paper demonstrates how the intersections betweenrisk, mental disorder and social work practice can thereforebe understood as a gendered landscape. It concludes by highlightingthe implications of these findings for social work practiceand research.     

Reflexivity, its Meanings and Relevance for Social Work: A Critical Review of the Literature

The concept of ‘reflexivity’ has become increasinglysignificant in social work literature in relation to socialwork education, theory and practice. However, our reading ofthe literature indicates that there is a lack of clarity aboutthe concept in terms of who is being exhorted to be ‘reflexive’,when and how. This article addresses these questions througha critical review of social work literature since the 1990sthat discusses the concept of ‘reflexivity’. Giventhat many authors seem to use the concepts of ‘reflexivity’and ‘(critical) reflection’ interchangeably, wealso apply this analysis to ‘reflection’ and ‘criticalreflection’. This article raises important questions abouthow the concepts of ‘reflexivity’, ‘criticalreflection’ and ‘reflectivity’ are definedand the different consequences such definitions might have forsocial work education, theory and practice.     

Globalization and Social Work: International and Local Implications

Globalization can seem a remote process, related only to theeconomic and commercial world. However, it impacts (differentially)on the work opportunities and living conditions of populationsaround the world and has also influenced thinking about welfarepolicies, including through state provision. It thus has implicationsfor the practice and education of social and community workersin both affluent and poverty stricken states. In addition tosocial professionals who seek opportunities to work internationally,globalization is also affecting the practices of those who wouldpreviously have seen their work as essentially rooted in localconditions and community needs. This paper therefore gives someexamples of the ways in which local practice may have cross-borderand international dimensions, drawing on experiences in thechild-care field, particularly in the UK and European context.The author indicates how international social work courses areaiming to equip specialist international social workers, whilealso arguing for the development of educational programmes whichprepare ‘local’ social workers for practice in aninterdependent world.     

Emotional Intelligence, Emotion and Social Work: Context, Characteristics, Complications and Contribution

Emotional intelligence (EI) has become one of the new management‘buzz’ terms. It is suggested that this is the missingingredient that separates average from top management or performance.However, despite its potential relevance for social work practice,there has been little investigation and few reports about itsapplication in social work settings. This paper seeks to stimulatedebate about the role of EI in social work practice by consideringits development, definitions and problematics. Whilst the empiricalevidence supporting the existence of a separate and measurableEI is ambiguous and emergent, the role of emotion in the organizationof human behaviour is more firmly established. The paper examinesthe role of EI and emotion in relation to five core social worktasks: engagement of users; assessment and observation; decisionmaking; collaboration and co-operation; dealing with stress.The paper situates itself in the rapidly changing context ofsocial work: the merger of social services departments withlarger more powerful bureaucracies; the movement towards integratedservice delivery; and the new social work degree. It is arguedthat social work needs to identify its claims to professionalcompetence at a time of such change, one of which is the abilityto use relationships to address users’ needs. This requiresthe capacity to handle both one’s own and others’emotions effectively.     

A Camel's Nose Under the Tent? Some Australian Perspectives on Confidentiality and Social Work Practice

This article examines contemporary meanings attributed to theethical principle of confidentiality—a core practice dimensionfor social workers—in the context of current practicerealities and legislative requirements. The meanings usuallyattributed to the term, together with Code of Practice requirements,are considered alongside the organizational and legal ridersso frequently used to justify a stepping away from what clientsmay consider confidentiality to require. The particular difficultiesassociated for those in practice with families and children,and the implications of attention to best interests and paramountrights notions, are examined. The article concludes that, inlieu of a misleading commitment to confidentiality, the practitionerrather needs to commit to respectful and open dealing with clientinformation.     

'Anti-Oppressiveness': Critical Comments on a Discourse and its Context

This paper identifies and aims to explain an apparent dissonancebetween the dominance in Britain of ‘anti-oppressive’social work discourse and the socio-political context surroundingits use; a context often claimed to feature excessive regulationand control. Pursuing this, some politically radical aims associatedwith ‘anti-oppressiveness’ are spelt out, and thedifficulty of achieving these in an unconducive climate is discussed.Then, a distinction made by Robert Merton between ‘latent’and ‘manifest’ functions is used to suggest thatthe manifest radicalism of ‘anti-oppressive’ discoursecan helpfully be distinguished from some latent largely unrecognisedconsequences of its use – not consequences with politicallyradical impact, but with a social meaning congruent with a climateof control. It is concluded that the ‘success’ ofanti-oppressive discourse might well be viewed as requiringmore of the kind of critical analysis that the discourse itselfwas supposed to espouse.     

Recognizing But Not Acknowledging: On Using Research Information in Social Work with Elderly People Suffering from Dementia

The gap between theory and practice in social work continuesto be great, and research results seem to live a life of theirown, far from the field they were intended to improve. Thisarticle considers research information as a useful contributionto the practice of social work with elderly demented peopleand to qualitative methods used in the area of social scientificresearch. Arising out of a project aimed at studying the usefulnessof research information through an interactive exercise withinfocus groups, the author discusses how the results of researchcan be used to improve practice. When the researchers’theoretical- oriented perspectives meet with the practitioners’action-oriented perspectives, two different models enrich eachother in the process of developing integrated knowledge.     

Genealogy's Desire: Practices of Kinship Amongst Lesbian and Gay Foster-Carers and Adopters

This article considers the practices of kinship amongst lesbianand gay foster-carers and adopters, and asks how far these havechallenged dominant genealogical discourses. It asks not howexisting social work practice can be adjusted to prevent discriminationon the basis of sexuality, but rather how the practices of lesbianand gay carers can be drawn upon to expand the genealogicalvisions of state foster-care and adoption work. The author discussesthe methods by which lesbian and gay carers have challengedheteronormative views of adult relationships, the idea of ‘natural’parenting, conventional state child welfare models, the biogeneticbasis of adult–child bonds, notions of the proper ‘family’,and the supposedly non-political nature of heterosexual kinship.Finally, the article asks how foster-care and adoption practicemight learn from the new forms of intimacy, care and parentingdeveloped by lesbians and gay men.     

Reflective Practice in Contemporary Child-care Social Work: The Role of Containment

In recent years, there has been growing interest in reflectivepractice as an approach that acknowledges the complexity anduncertainty inherent in contemporary social work practice. Whilstattention has been paid to how reflective practice is definedand understood, less consideration has been given to the conditionsthat facilitate its development. Drawing on recent doctoralresearch, this paper suggests that a particular type of reflectivepractice—holistic reflective practice—has the potentialto encourage thoughtful and creative practice capable of addressingthe challenges of contemporary child-care practice. Findingsfrom this research indicate that for holistic reflective practiceto be facilitated, the interdependence of the practitioner,team and organizational contexts needs to be recognized. Practitionersneed to work within safe containing contexts characterized by:clear organizational and professional boundaries; multifacetedreflective forums; collaborative and communicative working practices;and open and ‘contextually connected’ managers.Drawing on these findings and theorizing them in relation toBion’s concept of containment, the paper concludes byproposing a model of containment for the promotion of reflectivepractice.     

United We Stand? Partnership Working in Health and Social Care and the Role of Social Work in Services for Older People

The concepts of ‘partnership’ and ‘collaboration’have become amongst the most critical themes of ‘new’Labour’s social policy, particularly in respect of thedelivery of health and social care. Although the terms are rarelyprecisely defined and hence have become problematic to analyse,in most understandings successful partnerships rely upon goodsystems of inter-professional collaboration. Through revisitingthe extensive literature on the sociology of the professions,and the nature of inter-professional working, this paper willargue that effective collaborative working within health andsocial care is hard to achieve, particularly in the light ofthe vast differences in power and culture between various occupationalgroupings, and the inherently competitive nature of professionsjostling for territory in the same areas of activity. It suggeststhat these issues cannot be resolved unless they are properlyunderstood; a rhetorical appeal to the unmitigated benefitsof ‘partnership’ alone will not produce more effectivejoint working. In addition, it notes that an appropriate rolefor social work in the context of partnership working has yetto be defined and proposes specific tasks and values that distinguishthe social worker from other related professionals.     

Liquid Social Work: Welfare Interventions as Mobile Practices

This paper re-examines the nature of social work from the perspectiveof movement and ‘mobilities’. It shows that socialwork is at all times ‘on the move’, yet theory andanalyses of policy and practice largely depict it as static,solid and sedentarist. The paper draws on the ‘new mobilitiesparadigm’ (Sheller and Urry, 2006), through which a concernwith flows and movements of people, objects, information, practices,speed and rhythm, with complexity, fluid images and liquid metaphors,is moving to the centre of social theory. An understanding ofthe ‘liquid’, mobile character of social work meansproducing accounts which are much closer to what its practicesare, how and where they are performed and experienced by serviceusers and professionals, and the opportunities and risks inherentto them. Three key domains of practice—the home visit,the car journey and the office/organization—are examinedin terms of the movements that go on in them. Viewed throughsystemic and complexity theories, it is shown that social workinterventions in late-modernity are best understood in termsof a flow of mobile practices between public and private worlds,organizations and the home, at the heart of which is the sensualbody of the practitioner on the move.     

Accounting for Ethical Difficulties in Social Welfare Work: Issues, Problems and Dilemmas

This paper is a preliminary exploration of social welfare practitioners’accounts of ‘ethically difficult situations’. Itdescribes variations in the ethical vocabulary and form of theseaccounts. Analysis of practitioners’ own accounts (asopposed to ‘textbook’ cases) draws attention tothe ways they construct events, actions and qualities of characteras ethically significant and highlights the qualitative distinctivenessof ethical dilemmas, where seemingly irresolvable choices leavea residue of moral loss, regret or guilt.     

Dual Relationships: Personal and Professional Boundaries in Rural Social Work

Social workers in rural areas often live and work in the communitiesthat they serve. Consequently, they may have, or later develop,dual relationships with service users. These ‘out of hours’connections raise some complex issues about how social workersconduct their practice and comport themselves socially withinthe wider community. This paper reviews the notion of dual relationshipsand assesses the schema proposed for assessing their ethicalprobity. Its conclusion is that the practical realities of ruralpractice challenge absolutist conceptions of confidentialityand undermine assumptions of objectivity and neutrality in professionalstance.     

Recognizing Social Work

There has been little interest until recently in the questionof whether social work has the characteristics of an academicdiscipline. This article offers a synopsis of issues arisingfrom a review of social work and social care research fundedthrough the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). Followinga brief scene setting, the first main section of the articlegives a synopsis of the social work and social care community’sexperience and judgements regarding their engagement with theresearch council. In the second part of the article, we reviewrelevant policies, structures and trends from an ESRC and socialscience perspective. We focus on the development of researchprogrammes, followed by an outline of the delivery and implementationof programmes. In the final section, we review the issues, themesand directions that emerged from the project. These includejudgements of research relevance, research users, research utilization,the social work contribution to the development of researchmethods, inter-disciplinary research, the question of whetherthere are distinctive attributes of social work research, researchcapacity, career building, priority setting, and the outcomesof social work funding bids. We also reflect on the developmentand delivery of research programmes, and the implications ofthe invisibility of social work research within the ESRC. Disciplineswithin universities are not fixed and abiding realities. ‘Recognizing’social work is a dynamic, socially negotiated process, shapedby the construction and ordering of knowledge claims withinsocial work and social science communities, and reflecting powerdifferentials that are mediated through structural mechanismsthat tend to exclude new ‘claimants’ such as socialwork. We include a number of recommendations, and suggest waysin which the issues may have relevance beyond the UK.     

A Contested Identity: An Exploration of the Competing Social and Political Discourse Concerning the Identification and Positioning of Young People of Inter-Racial Parentage

The development of racial and ethnic identity of minority ethnicchildren and young people in contemporary multi-racial Westernsociety remains an important academic concern. More recently,a relatively new debate about the identity and ‘correct’labelling of children of inter-racial relationships has beenbrewing in British academic literature. Nowhere is this morevociferous and intense than in the field of social work. Thispaper identifies two competing perspectives vying for positionin this ideological and political battle. It is argued thatwhilst overall consensus may not be possible or even desirable,it is important to explore these ideological positions as theyplay a key role in influencing social work policy and practice.     

Shaping the Future of Mental Health Policy and Legislation in Northern Ireland: The Impact of Service User and Professional Social Work Discourses

This paper explores the complex interrelationship between serviceuser and professional social work discourses and provides acritical commentary on their respective contributions to therecent review of mental health policy and legislation in NorthernIreland. The analysis indicates that dominant trends in mentalhealth care, as mediated through service structures and institutionalidentities, have tended to prioritize the more coercive aspectsof the social work role and reinforce existing power inequalitieswith service users. It is argued that such developments underlinethe need for a ‘re-focusing’ debate in mental healthsocial work to consider how a more appropriate balance can beachieved between its participatory/empowering and regulatory/coercivefunctions. Whilst highlighting both congruence and dissonancebetween respective discourses, the paper concludes that opportunitiesexist within the current change process for service users andsocial workers to build closer alliances in working togetherto reconstruct practice, safeguard human rights and developinnovative alternatives to a traditional bio-medical model oftreatment.     

Promoting Compassionate Concern in Social Work: Reflections on Ethics, Biology and Love

This paper challenges proceduralized, rule-bound approachesto ethics and considers how social workers and teams can developan attitude of compassionate concern and become more effectivein dealing with ethical problems in their day-to-day practice.It introduces the work of Humberto Maturana, a widely respectedtheorist, whose work has received little attention in socialwork. The paper argues that Maturana’s biology of cognitionprovides an approach to ethics that takes into account the spontaneousnature of everyday work in which social workers undertake theirethical actions. It stresses the importance of emotions, particularlylove, and considers the way in which ethical action is shapedby culture. It emphasizes the importance of engaging in reflectionon professional practices and team, professional and organizationalculture in order for social workers to improve their awarenessof ethical dilemmas and promote ethical practice. For thoseteaching ethics, this paper suggests an alternative to the rationalconsideration of moral dilemmas and proposes approaches to trainingthat can help social workers become more attuned and responsiveto ethical conflicts.     

College Based Placement Co-ordinators in the United Kingdom: Their Perceptions of Stress

Placement co-ordinators on college-based social work courseshave a demanding task, liaising with students, tutors and agencytraining sections in order to provide appropriate practice learningopportunities. They cope with long established limitations onthe quantity and quality of placements. Therefore, the rolewould appear to be a stressful one. This research examines jobsatisfaction, pressure and constraints, psychological well-being,the impact of the host institution, and some changes that mightalleviate stress. A postal questionnaire was sent to all placementco-ordinators on college-based social work courses in the UK.The findings indicated that small numbers of placement co-ordinatorsexperienced high levels of stress to the point of sufferingfrom ‘borderline’ anxiety and depression. Stressscores for placement co-ordinators as a whole, however, werelower than those of the general UK population. The co-ordinatorsenjoyed considerable autonomy and a reasonable amount of support.Generally, they had positive attitudes towards the institutionswhere they worked. Males tended to emphasize the importanceof the institutional context rather than females. However, aroundhalf of the placement co-ordinators had considered giving uptheir posts; only about a quarter liked their work. Respondentsenjoyed only limited job satisfaction, felt pressurized, subjectto excessive demands and were ambivalent in attitudes aboutmanagers, colleagues, students and practice teachers.