ICT,young people and social work: distances and opportunities

ABSTRACT

The relationship between social work and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is an awkward one in Spanish tradition, particularly from social work perspective due to a certain lack of institutional and professional competence in terms of understanding the capabilities of ICTs. Young people use ICTs to connect to each other and express themselves, however. ICTs represent a means—increasingly the main one—for young people to build and communicate their own identities and understand reality. As with other social sciences, social work suffers from a difficult relationship with young people. Youth is often studied differently and sometimes perceived as a problem that ends when adulthood is reached. In this context, the relationship among ICTs, social work and young people is also a difficult one. But this problem may also be a solution. By adopting a critical ICT approach, social work can create innovative initiatives and frameworks to improve communication between social work practitioners and teachers as with young people and students. Imagination and empathy will clearly be key to achieving this, in addition to deeper involvement in the use of new software and applications that can offer enhanced communication and build bridges between social workers and young people.     

How an intervention project contributes to social inclusion of adolescents and young people of foreign origin

This article presents the results of the impact study of the Nightingale Project, a social mentoring project, whose aim is to support the welcoming and social inclusion processes of adolescent students of foreign origin who recently arrived in Catalonia and who are currently enrolled in the country's schools. The more than one hundred mentoring pairs (mentor and mentee) that took part in the intervention project were administered a questionnaire (N = 58). This same questionnaire was also given to a group of adolescents with the same profile but who did not participate in the project (N = 128) and who were treated as a control group.After six months of intervention (which corresponds to the duration of the Nightingale Project), results show that students who participate in mentoring learn the language faster, create broader and more diverse networks of friends in school, develop higher educational aspirations and expectations, are better acquainted with the reception context (municipality they live in), and improve standards of self-confidence and self-esteem, among other characteristics. The research also demonstrates that mentoring aimed at adolescents, as is the case of the Nightingale Project, plays a key role in avoiding development of an oppositional identity and, conversely, helps facilitate a process of resilience in adolescents in the new context of reception.     

Social capital, social inclusion and services for people with learning disabilities

Both social capital and social inclusion have emerged as significant concepts for human services in the last decade and yet their inter-relationship remains largely unexplored. This article argues that, whilst they are similar in their vision for a healthy society, they adopt sufficiently different perspectives to stimulate and challenge each other. This can be well illustrated by reference to services for people with a learning disability. Commissioners and providers of learning disability services are encouraged through this article to harness both concepts in order to assist in the process of modernizing services and increasing life opportunities for the people they support. It is argued that it is not possible to understand the full consequences of adopting either theoretical position without an adequate understanding of the other. Examples are given of the implications of this for advocacy services, day opportunities, rural communities, transition and staff training.     

Conceptualising social capital in relation to the well-being of children and young people: a critical review

This exploratory article forms the background for an empirical study for the Health Education Authority on children, young people, health, well-being and social capital. In terms of morbidity, children tend not to exhibit clear health problems, but obviously engage in activities that have important implications for their health and well-being (West & Sweeting, 1996), and these activities may be influenced by, as well as impact upon, children's social capital. Social capital is an elusive concept and has been defined in various ways, and refers to sociability, social networks and social support, trust, reciprocity, and community and civic engagement. The paper contrasts three interpretations of the concept, by Coleman (1988, 1990), Putnam (1993, 1995) and Bourdieu (1986). It concludes that the concept is currently poorly specified as it relates to children, and that the use of the term is inherently problematic, and needs to be carefully critiqued and empirically grounded before it can usefully be applied in social policy formulations. One possible way forward might be to conceptualise social capital not so much as a measurable ‘thing’, rather as a set of processes and practices that are integral to the acquisition of other forms of ‘capital’ such as human capital and cultural capital (ie qualifications, skills, group memberships, etc).     

A rights-based conceptual framework for the social inclusion of children and young persons with an intellectual disability

There is a basic principle that all children and young persons with intellectual disabilities should be able to enjoy citizenship on an equal basis with others. This includes enjoying personal dignity and exercising choice, control and freedom in social, community and cultural life, in keeping with their individual lifestyle preferences and aspirations. There is a need for a stronger human rights narrative to achieve this. This article identifies a conceptual framework for a rights-based approach to the integration of children and young persons with disabilities. Seven components of such a framework are identified: citizenship and social inclusion; recognition; agency; voice; capabilities; equality; and self-realisation. This framework was developed as part of an Irish case study involving consultation with young persons with intellectual disabilities, their parents or guardians and professional staff delivering support services. The rights of children/young persons with intellectual disabilities are essentially those of children generally. While this principle may be obvious in many respects, its implementation presents significant challenges. The need for a transformative narrative and its components are outlined.     

Let's do it! Advocacy,young people and social work education

This paper evaluates a pilot project that aimed to promote the participation of young people in the education and training of social care professionals. An accredited training programme for young people was developed and delivered. The young people involved then participated as educators in a Diploma in Social Work programme. The paper draws on the experiences of project staff, the young people and the social work students, and locates its analysis within the literature on citizenship, children's rights, advocacy and empowerment.     

A review of the risks associated with children and young people’s social media use and the implications for social work practice

Abstract

This paper explores what the research says about the risks to children and young people of using social media. Taking a systematic approach this literature search identified 16 peer reviewed articles, written in English since January 2010. Four areas of risk were identified: cyberbullying and online abuse, exposure to negative forms of user-generated content, the converging of offline and online networks, and developing interpretations of privacy. The research also highlighted how the extent of the risk depends upon the developmental stage and social circumstances. This review provides several implications for social work practice. Social workers must develop their understanding of different social media platforms in order to identify risks and maximise opportunities. Assessment approaches must be tailored to ensure social media use and its effect on those of different ages and backgrounds is considered. Finally they need to consider their role in educating about the risks of social media use.     

The Japanese hikikomori phenomenon: acute social withdrawal among young people

Although rare in the west, in Japan and in some other advanced countries on the Asian‐Pacific rim, there is a popular perception that there has been a significant increase in the numbers of young people who withdraw socially for protracted periods of time (referred to by the Japanese term ‘hikikomori’). This paper describes the hikikomori phenomenon in Japan, considers evidence relating to its prevalence and examines views about the causes. I argue that the tendency to think of hikikomori as a homogeneous group characterised by psychological malaise is misleading and that withdrawal and disengagement can also be linked to changing opportunity structures. The collapse of the primary labour market for young people and the growing prevalence of a precarious secondary sector has led to a situation in which traditional and deep‐rooted norms are undermined and young people forced to find new ways of navigating transitions within a highly pressured and rigid system. Under these circumstances, acute withdrawal often represents an anomic response to a situation where tradition no longer provides adequate clues to appropriate behaviour rather than as a malaise reducible to individual psychologies.     

Strengthening youth citizenship and social inclusion practice — The Australian case: Towards rights based and inclusive practice in services for marginalized young people

This article provides a framework for understanding disadvantaged young people from a youth citizenship perspective that includes social inclusion principles and a rights based approach to service delivery. This paper will argue that a rights based and inclusive practice approach can help to enable the self-confidence, resilience and capacities of marginal youth in efforts to counter social exclusion. A social inclusion strategy that is derived from the European Union helps frame inclusive practice and is explicitly linked to an emerging national human rights and inclusive agenda for marginalized youth in Australia. Elements of inclusive service practice include youth participation in services, issues of access and equity, service responsiveness, joined-up services and user-led accountability. These elements provide a basis for bringing a citizenship framework into services, and for professional learning and education in work with marginal youth. A framework is suggested that seeks to recognise and respond to highly disadvantaged youth that includes the marginalizing ‘intersections’ of gender, racial and disability identities. Brief excerpts of secondary qualitative data on two highly vulnerable youth populations-homeless youth and Aboriginal youth-are used to highlight the need for a citizenship approach that listens and responds to these vulnerable young people in both research and practice.     

School memories of young people with disabilities: an analysis of barriers and aids to inclusion

This article presents a selection of the results gleaned from research analyzing the way social exclusion processes are constructed among young adults between the ages of 18 and 25. The paper focuses on a subset of the population studied: young people with disabilities. Likewise, we limit our study to the dimension of school‐related experiences. Our research methodology – based on individual personal narratives and first hand accounts – allows a dynamic, participative and integrated approach to the study of exclusion. Participants in the study were asked to reflect on their experiences and, thus, were given a voice. Our specific objective in this article was to identify and explain the barriers and aids to inclusion encountered in a variety of educational environments as expressed by interviewees who had experienced them personally.     

Working with autistic children and young people: sense, experience and the challenges for services, policies and practices

This paper aims to create narratives of autistic experience that are not restricted by a primary consideration of impairments or deficits but rather related to ideas about 'assets' as a means of developing professional practice. It is argued that children's rights legislation (UN Convention on Children's Rights, 1989, and in the UK, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act, 2001) can encourage professionals working with autistic young people to search imaginatively for ways of conceptualising and accessing not only those assets but also the thoughts and feelings of their clients. Examples are taken from the author's own casework as well as from autistic 'insider' accounts which, it is argued, are providing insights into the inherently social contexts for the development of human feelings, thinking and meaning. While primarily directed at professionals, the intention is to encourage theories and the development of practices which are responsive to the wishes and views of disabled people and as such assist in their 'fight for full equality and social inclusion'.     

Residential care for children and young people: priority areas for change

Abuse in residential childcare has been of concern to the public and the profession for a number of years. This article highlights a Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care's (SIRCC) response to the Scottish Government which was requested following allegations of abuse in Glasgow City Council's Kerelaw residential school and secure unit. It offers priority actions to address the challenges of residential childcare and ensure the safety of children and young people as far as is practicably possible. It contextualises the residential childcare task, and explores four interrelated areas in which change is strongly recommended: (1) organisations' cultures; (2) workforce challenges including the status of the sector, staff selection standards, the role of residential childcare workers in relation to their level of autonomy and their education levels; (3) abuse allegations, in particular the sector's growing fearfulness of false allegations, support for practitioners' anonymity when accused of abuse and a reconsideration of criminal record certificate information; and (4) service delivery related to behaviour management and advocacy support. The intersection between the SIRCC and the subsequent Kerelaw Inquiry reports is outlined. Finally, it concludes with a scan of the immediate strategic policy horizon which indicates an unprecedented momentum for change. While based in the Scottish context, it reflects lessons which are applicable internationally. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.