Bringing the Outside In: Field Interaction and Transformation from Below in Political Struggles

This article applies field theory in order to build an understanding of aspects of social movements practice. It argues that the way social movements are positioned within their various fields of practice and the way these fields inter-relate with each other can help explain how movements arrive at their strategies and ideologies. The relationship between the fields within which social movements operate also provides a means to explain how movement participants can become agents for change.

The article discusses the case of British Jewish Israel-critical groups, an example of a movement suspended between several different fields of practice – both local and distant. The internal movement debate around boycotting Israel illustrates how movement activities are channelled by the local fields within which they contend. Their relationship with the distant Palestinian field demonstrates the importance of the influence of external fields in forming social movement ideology. This model views social movement actors – especially those within distant issue movements – as translators between various fields of practice. This provides a mechanism to explain how challengers within a field can overcome the limitations of internal field habitus and become agents for field transformation.     

Young persons as epistemological agents in social work assessment and intervention

SummaryLiterature debates whether young persons' participation in social work decisions is tokenistic in nature or it empowers them to shape their world. By and large, young persons deemed at risk remain the targets of intervention. This paper aims to underscore the need to move beyond soliciting young persons' voice merely in order to corroborate information provided by adults and professionals in social work assessment and intervention. Instead, it explicates the philosophical foundation for social workers to treat young persons as knowledgeable agents capable of contributing to professional knowledge.FindingsThrough reinterpretation of a published case study on children of sex worker mothers in India, this paper highlights how young persons are active agents of their own lives even in extreme dire situations. These children of sex worker mothers were capable of advocating for their own rights as well as that of their mothers. Through the secondary analysis of data, we illustrated the dynamic process of knowledge construction by young persons.ApplicationBy paying attention to the young persons' capacity as knowledgeable agents we propose social workers to intentionally incorporate their knowledge in their practice.     

Social Work Admissions and Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

ABSTRACT

The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) protects students wth disabilities from discrimination by academic and professional programs in higher education. A student with a disability cannot be denied admission to an educational program because of his or her disability if the student is otherwise qualified. This means that a student with a disability who is qualified for an academic or professional educational program cannot be denied admission to a program based solely on the student&s disability. This educational requirement mandated by the ADA applies to all educational fields including social work education. The purpose of this study was to explore how social work programs are dealing with these requirements in their admission and academic accommodation procedures. Twelve social work programs located in the mid-western United States participated in the study. Representatives of each of these programs were given an in-depth interview focusing on their admissions process, academic accommodations, and general topics related to social work education and disabilities. All programs taking part in the research were accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The CSWE is the national accreditation body for social work education within the United States.     

Utilizing International Clinical Practice to Build Inter-Cultural Sensitivity in Social Work Students

ABSTRACT

This paper describes an international clinical internship that uses a developmental model to build inter-cultural sensitivity in baccalaureate social work students. The paper analyzes the stages students go through as they struggle to develop a bi-cultural professional perspective. This model adheres to the position that cross cultural practice in a multicultural world not only conforms to the emerging picture of life in the United States, but is also in accord with the values of social work.     

Towards a 'Movement Society'? On the possibilities of institutionalizing social movements

Social movements come into existence only on the basis of certain preconditions. The concurrence of distinct factors on the levels of individual experience, collective framing and societal structure favour the emergence and stabilization of social movements. Drawing on a model that links these three levels with aspects of problematization, mobilization and stabilization, we argue that there is a growing probability for social movements to come into existence. This probability stems mainly from a set of macro-structural trends and their problematic effects that can be interpreted in terms of differentiation theory. Instead of encompassing and stable class movements as represented, for example, by the labour movement, we expect a multitude of more situationally bound movements that vary considerably in their themes, social bases and forms. It is precisely this heterogeneity of movements that is an enduring feature of contemporary Western societies.     

Changing Directions in HIV Prevention: The Move Toward a Psychosocial Model

ABSTRACT

Although some HIV prevention programs have been successful in helping gay and bisexual men change their sexual behaviors, rates of HIV infection continue to increase. In an attempt to address this problem, social workers need to move beyond traditional HIV prevention approaches to a psychosocial model of HIV prevention. Based on the work of previous researchers, this approach assumes that a combination of individual, psychological, and social factors contribute to risky sex in gay and bisexual men. Because social workers are trained to view problems from a psychosocial framework, they are already in a position to develop programs incorporating the psychosocial model. This article examines the psychosocial model of HIV prevention and the various psychosocial factors that may contribute to high-risk sexual behavior and concludes with examples of prevention research that have already incorporated the model.     

Preparing Social Work Students for Interdisciplinary Practice

Summary

This article reports findings of an MSW interdisciplinary practice curriculum experiment. A diverse group of students at ten schools of social work were provided with specialized fieldwork and training. The agencies represented a broad array of services, fields of practice client populations and professional disciplines. Students encountered frequent interdisciplinary disputes and often found social workers coordinating interdisciplinary teams, a role upon which social work curricula rarely focus. This specialized experience seems to have not only enriched students' preparation for interdisciplinary work, but also deepened their understanding of social work as a unique discipline.     

A Strengths Perspective on Caregiving at the End-of-life

Abstract

The most recent version of the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics includes substantial reference to social workers’ professional responsibilities for environmental awareness and advocacy. This article reports on a qualitative study of 20 Australian environmentally-conscious social workers from a variety of fields of practice. The study found that while there was a high level of awareness of the relevance of environmental issues for social work practice, participants reported professional and organisational constraints, which prevented them from aligning their environmental concerns with their professional practice. The findings from this study suggest that proenvironmental views and actions may not yet be accepted as a legitimate aspect of social work practice, despite strong recognition of the links between social justice, human rights, social work, and the environment in the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics.     

Social Facilitation Expectancies for Smoking: Psychometric Properties of a New Measure

Abstract

Objective: Expectancies about social outcomes for smoking are relevant to college student smokers, who frequently report “social smoking.” A new measure, the Social Facilitation Expectancies (SFE) scale, was developed to assess these beliefs. Participants: The SFE was administered to undergraduate college student smokers (N = 1,096; study completed in May 2011). Methods: Items were scored on a 5-point scale with a summed total score. The sample was randomly split and principle axis factoring and confirmatory factor analysis applied to determine scale structure. The structure was tested across sex and smoking groups and validation analyses were conducted. Results: A 9-item, 1-factor scale was replicated within each group. Higher SFE scores were observed among those with greater smoking experience and higher scores were associated with greater endorsement of other smoking-related beliefs. Conclusions: These preliminary findings provide support for the sound psychometric properties of this measure for use with young adult college students.     

Teaching and incorporating practice models in a human behavior in the social environment (HBSE) course

ABSTRACT

Human behavior and the social environment (HBSE) instructors do not systematically or routinely teach and incorporate practice models in their course. In this article, social work educators describe an approach to teaching and incorporating practice models in a HBSE course using a five-step adapted, modified version of Mosey’s extrapolation method for teaching master level social work students to evaluate and apply practice models. The authors use the Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) model as an illustration to help social work students develop critically reflective approaches to evaluating and applying practice models. The techniques and guidelines outlined in this article could be applied to other practice models and used by social work educators and students interested in other fields of practice.     

Analysis of social innovation on social networking services

ABSTRACT

Social network services are allowing more social connectivity and making possible sharing information and knowledge of a different nature. This article analyses if social workers related to active social policies from Malaga province (Spain) are using social network services to share information and knowledge and if there is a mirror between online and offline relationships. Since it is an experimental model, through virtual ethnography and through social network analysis methodology, we observed the presence, connectivity and analysed the structure of relationships that keep 235 professionals from 52 organizations in Facebook®. Moreover, the model uses the statistical technique of modularity for detecting online communities, which are compared with distribution of professionals in their organizations. Results show how social network services applied to social intervention are massively and frequently used by professionals. On the other hand, the detected communities reflect existence of analogy between online and offline relationships. The online structure shows a high degree of cohesion and how certain professionals have higher capacity of influence and diffusion depending on position in the online structure. It argues about the opportunity to incorporate social network services towards social intervention as a manner of social innovation to improve cooperation and diffusion of information and knowledge.     

Grassroots Support Organizations and Transformative Practices

ABSTRACT

This essay theorizes grassroots support organizations (GSOs) as empowerment-oriented development nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and grassroots support as a growing field of community-based practice. It offers a conceptual definition of GSOs; specifies their organizational features, functions, and goals; and differentiates them from other public and private intermediary organizations. It also details the activities carried out by GSOs and suggests how these cohere into a model of grassroots support. The article discusses the challenging issues of financing, accountability, and scale faced by GSOs. Finally, it establishes the relevance of social work to grassroots support and GSOs as fields of study and practice.     

Changing Contexts of Practice: Challenges for Social Work and Community Development

ABSTRACT

In a rapidly changing global environment, there have been renewed calls to position community development more centrally in social work, particularly in the face of contemporary practice challenges. This paper analyses the broad policy contexts of neoliberalism, globalisation, and governance change and discusses how these forces interact with social work and community development, drawing on examples from Australia and Ireland. The paper argues that sociopolitical forces both restrict and present opportunities for social work and community development practice and we seek to reactivate debate about the position of community development within changing and challenging contexts.

IMPLICATIONS

• Contextualises community development practice, policy, and research within contemporary environments of neoliberalism, globalisation, and governance change.

• Critically evaluates implications and new opportunities for social work and community development, drawing on examples from Australia and Ireland.

• Reactivates debate and analysis on the position of community development in contemporary social work as we move forward into the new decade, and the next global agenda for social work and social development.

     

Strengths and Pathological Perspectives in Community Social Work

ABSTRACT

Current social work theory distinguishes between the traditional pathology-oriented perspective and the strengths perspective. This paper posits that the working model of community social workers is grounded in a strengths perspective, which, in relation to community work, is compatible with and supplementary to empowerment models, providing a methodological base for the values and practice of the macro method of social work. The current study aimed to assess the prevalence of each of these two perspectives towards community activity, and to examine the differences between them regarding the sense of empowerment and professional skills acknowledged by community social workers in Israel. The findings revealed that while the majority of community social workers adopt a strengths perspective in their work, they experience a greater sense of empowerment and of professional skills when adopting a pathology-oriented perspective.     

A theory based evaluation of an intervention to promote positive health behaviors and reduce social isolation in people experiencing homelessness

ABSTRACT

Homelessness adversely affects an individual's ability to access healthcare, opportunities for social interaction and recreational activities such as physical activity. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a community-based physical activity and peer support intervention on the health and wellbeing of homeless participants. This study employed semi-structured interviews to investigate the perceived impact of the Street Fit Scotland intervention on the health and wellbeing of 10 homeless adults. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis was conducted. Participants reported that their health and wellbeing had improved since attending the intervention. This was attributed to improvements in self-esteem, social interaction and mental wellbeing. Participants generally felt that their physical activity had increased since attending Street Fit Scotland, and a number of individuals reported that they were making healthier choices with regards to health behaviors. A theory of change logic model was developed that demonstrated how each component of the intervention influences the observed and intended outcomes. Attendance of Street Fit Scotland had positive effects on participant's health and wellbeing, particularly concerning self-esteem, health behaviors, social interaction, and physical activity. More efforts should be made to evaluate small-scale interventions that are reaching vulnerable population groups.     

Confronting Power

ABSTRACT

This paper describes a three-stage model to introduce legislative learning into the study of social welfare policy at the undergraduate level. It provides strategies to prepare students to engage in the legislative process, to empower undergraduate students to participate in legislative activity, and to integrate their learning. Students (n = 18) report that the impact of their legislative learning experiences includes: overcoming fear of engagement and justifying participation, greater comprehension of the legislative process, understanding the role of policy work within the profession, and becoming empowered and gaining voice.     

Teaching Social Work and Social Policy in the Era of Hyperpartisanship

ABSTRACT

For social work educators, teaching social policy in the current political climate in the United States may seem daunting and energizing at the same time. Students are often acutely aware of the political and policy-related controversies raging in Washington, D.C. and local governments, and yet their position on these issues may be unexplored or conflicted. The social policy classroom can be a productive place to explore these conflicts, but instructors may be especially wary of undertaking these difficult conversations in the current hyperpartisan era. This article explores how to ground these conversations in social work’s professional values, pedagogical theory, and educational best practices to help students build skill and confidence in developing their own well-informed assessments about policies and politics.     

Evaluation of Distance Education Programs in Social Work

SUMMARY

Social work courses and programs delivered with distance technologies continue to increase in number. This article reports on current social work education research on distance courses and programs, and makes recommendations for future distance education research. Distance education research in other fields is described to give context for social work efforts.     

Measuring the Unmeasurable—A Study of Domestic Violence Risk Prediction and Management

ABSTRACT

The prevention of domestic violence (DV) have aroused serious concerns in Taiwan because of the disparity between the increasing amount of reported DV cases that doubled over the past decade and the scarcity of social workers. However, most common collaborations for DV prevention, between academic researchers and advocacy groups or governments outsourcing, often fail to produce effective prevention strategies. Hence, Data for Social Good Initiative (D4SG) worked with Taipei City Government to improve the efficiency of DV prevention and risk management on two levels—project collaboration level and data level. On the project collaboration level, we adopted a platform strategy and utilize public-private partnership (PPP) to connect and empower change agents across data silos from pilot runs to actual project execution. On the data level, we helped social workers differentiate the risk level of new cases by building a repeat victimization risk prediction model using random forest method with the 2015 data from Taipei City government’s DV database. The accuracy and F1-measure of our model were 96.3% and 62.8%. This projects’ PPP approach and quantification method successfully improved DV prevention process. These methodologies have also been applied to other work fields including firework prediction, emergency healthcare management as a paradigm.