IASWG Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups: The Case of Quebec Practices

The International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG) proposes Standards of social group work that are intended to act as minimum standards that can be applied internationally. The aim of this article is to examine group work practices in Quebec in the light of IASWG Standards. To address this question, secondary analysis of existing data from a study undertaken in Quebec is presented. Results indicate that group work practices in Quebec tend to be rather structured (e.g., selection criteria, norms). The discussion shows that the IASWG Standards are useful for critically examining Quebec practices but also provides information that could contribute to the improvement of these Standards.     

Developing Anti-Oppressive Empowering Social Work Practice with Older Lesbian Women and Gay Men

Summary Available studies suggest that around 10 per cent of the populationmight self-identify as a lesbian woman or gay man (Davies andNeal, 1996). It follows that social workers will engage witholder people who are homosexual. It does not follow that theywill know who they are, as this is a group often characterizedby its invisibility. This paper reports the results of a small-scale,exploratory study which examined how older lesbian women andgay men perceived their needs should they become ill or disabledas they age (Langley, 1997). Their concerns were viewed in thecontext of their past as well as present lives, and oppressionwas a unifying theme. Some of the findings are examined in orderto highlight key challenges for social work practice. Theseinclude: (i) working with invisibility and fear of oppression;(ii) developing awareness and recognition of lesbian and gayrelationships and supportive networks; (iii) the need for anti-oppressiveempowering services which match the needs and circumstancesof older lesbian women and gay men; (iv) importantly, the needfor greater awareness of the heterosexist assumptions whichinfluence institutional responses and individual practice.     

General Practice, Social Work, and Mental Health Sections: The Social Control of Women

Michael Sheppard, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Polytechnic South West, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA. Summary A survey was undertaken of all referrals for compulsory admissionreceived by a city mental health centre over a one year period.The centre receives the overwhelming majority of all these referralsin the city. Referrals from GPs were compared with other referralsfocusing particularly on women. The results indicate GPs discriminatedagainst women, referring considerably more women than men withless emphasis on major (psychotic) mental illness. The involvementof approved social workers (ASWs) in the assessment processwas associated with diversion of many of the women away fromcompulsory admission, although even they appeared affected bypatriarchal assumptions. GPs' behaviour with regard to sectionsis consistent with reports about sexist practice in other areasof work. This, however, is particularly grave with sectionsbecause of civil liberties implications. The article concludesthat ASWs need be aware of potential sexist GP practice, thattheir psychosocial perspective is critical to assessment andthat ASW training should include gender issues.     

Social Work Teachers and Social Work Practice

Summary A survey was undertaken to discover the extent to which thosesocial work teachers who teach social work methods, continueto practise after they become educators. The results suggestthat not more than 25% do so, and many of these on only a tokenbasis. Most respondents however regarded such practice as animportant aide to the teaching of social work methods, althoughsome consider consultancy roles to be equally relevant. In nocases was such practice linked with research, and only exceptionallydid employers allow time explicitly for it. We outline fourdifferent bases on which teachers might practise, all of whichwere suggested by respondents, many of whom added personal notesto the questionnaire, indicating the extent to which this subjectis a matter of wide interest and concern     

Bias in Social Work Intervention with Battered Women

A total of 149 social workers from 21 social service agencies responded to questions regarding a client after reading one of six possible case vignettes. The results indicate that social workers stereotype clients who have been battered. In addition, social workers are less likely to consider relocation as an option to protect the victim who is married to her attacker. Also, surprisingly, male-social workers focus on violence related concerns as targets for intervention more than do female social workers.     

西方外来移民社会工作理论与实践及对中国的启示

以外来移民为服务对象的社会工作就是外来移民社会工作.西方外来移民社会工作理论与实践主要由作为服务提供者的社会工作者及社会工作机构、 作为服务对象的外来移民和作为社会工作实践土壤的外来移民社会政策三个要素构成.它要求相关社会工作者以反压迫、 反种族主义、 反歧视视角看待外来移民和东道国主流社会、 外来移民服务对象和社会工作者之间的结构性不平等及力量不平衡.中国可以在诸多方面借鉴西方外来移民社会工作的经验.     

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.     

Theory and Practice in Long Term Social Work: a Case-Study of Practice with Social Services Department Clients

Summary This study is based on empirical research into the practiceof 14 social services department social workers with 42 of theirlong term clients. The findings suggest that, contrary to expectation,this type of social work practice is not characterised by aproblem solving approach, but rather by a concern for the containmentof problems and the maintenance of stability. This leads toa restricted form of social work practice which is not linkedto any particular method of intervention. Reasons for this theory-practicehiatus are suggested along with a discussion of the issues surroundingtraining for long term social work of this kind in the future.     

Contracts in Social Work Practice

Summary This article explores the paradigm of Contract Law to identifyproblems and advantages of introducing a contractual model intosocial work practice. Recent social work literature on the useof contracts is reviewed and a social worker's record of howa contract was negotiated is analysed. The author argues thatthe value-base of a contract model must be founded on reciprocity.     

Social Work Practice in Long-Term Care Facilities:

Although few would deny the relevance of social workers in long-term care facilities, there remains a dearth of professional social workers in such facilities. Generally an untrained and uneducated social work designee with multiple jobs is the service provider, with a professional social worker as consultant. This paper explores the current predominant social service delivery model and the implications of this model to the actual attainment of the stated goals of social work in long-term care.     

Social Work Practice for Social Development in Bangladesh: Issues and Challenges

Social work addresses social issues that constrain the betterment of a community. However, social work practice is struggling to deal effectively with the development challenges of Bangladesh. Based on a literature review and the experiences of the authors, this paper explores the emerging issues where social work practice is anticipated as a promising alternative for bringing sustainable social development in Bangladesh. Simultaneously, the paper discovers the limitation of social work practice in Bangladesh addressing these challenges.