The comfort of strangers: social work practice with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people in the UK

Unaccompanied children and young people seeking sanctuary as political refugees are increasingly visible within many industrialized nations, where several studies confirm their vulnerability and needs. These studies also highlight what appears to be the poor quality of social work services and practices that these minors encounter. This paper examines some of the details contained in such reports of deficiency and seeks to place them within a more optimistic appraisal of social work practice. Based on a small research study, it suggests that resettlement for unaccompanied minors is complex and contains different types of loss as well as gain. It also asserts that practice by some social workers shows they have a grasp of this complexity as they offer practical assistance, therapeutic care and companionship to the young people to help them resettle in new environments.     

Teaching and learning communication with children and young people: developing the qualifying social work curriculum in a changing policy context

Twenty years after survey evidence showed that UK social work students could complete their training without having learnt about or worked with children, new research suggests little has changed. There is still no guarantee that any student on qualification will have been taught about or assessed in communication skills with children and young people. This is despite the claim that the pre‐registration award provides teaching and assessment in core generic skills as a foundation for the development of specialist practice roles in agencies. In fact, as this paper shows, a common understanding of what counts as effective communication with children has yet to be consolidated in social work practice and research. This has impeded the process of curriculum development. Divergent expectations about what counts as social work communication with children in a changing policy context may be exacerbating long‐standing uncertainties about how genericism and specialism should be linked in professional education and training. In exploring these issues, this paper seeks to clear the way for the renewed effort that is now required if this aspect of curriculum development is to be effective.     

Developing social work students' communication skills with children and young people: a model for the qualifying level curriculum

Currently, there is no explicit requirement for qualifying level social workers to be skilled in communicating with children. In a recent Knowledge Review, we argued that practitioners should have a basic level of competence in such skill at the point of qualification. If that argument is accepted then how this should be acquired within the qualifying social work curriculum needs consideration. The authors present a framework for understanding those components of skilled communication with children that should be included in the qualifying curriculum. A whole programme approach to curriculum development will be outlined which, we suggest, might enable students to develop the knowledge, capabilities and values required for skilled practice in this area.     

Is there a field of social work?: Trainees evaluating social problems and social work

My aim was to study the experiences and priorities of two age groups of social work students practicing in client-centered social work. This article is based on the research on rationality and language games in social work. The target groups of the research project as a whole were the actors: the heads and social workers or activists in public social welfare and health care agencies and institutions and in voluntary associations and action groups, and finally, two subsequent classes of students from a school of social work, during their practicing periods. This article concentrates on the trainees. At first, the trainees wrote essays and kept diaries. Secondly, they marked their standings on graphs visualizing different types of information contents and social relation structures. Thirdly, they made their choices of reasons for and solutions to social problems on a problem wheel. The trainees' study, using different data gathering techniques, partly confirms the results of the research of the other actor groups, in which the data were derived using questionnaires and interviews. The trainees' study shows variation in the respondents' priorities within and between specified social problem categories. Qualitatively analyzed, however, the characterizations of social work, both those who currently act in and those aiming to enter this field, resemble one another.     

Class-competent social work: a preliminary definition

The article seeks to present a theoretical framework for defining class-competence in social work practice. Social work has made significant progress in enhancing practice competence with respect to contextual factors that transcend social class such as gender, culture, race and ethnicity. But this positive development in overcoming the rigid view, which framed class as the sole explanation of diversity, has obscured the current impact of social class differences in social work practice. This article takes a critical look at the historical approach of the profession to class issues, extends the boundaries of the social class concept beyond its narrow economic dimensions, discusses the relevance of addressing class issues in light of current challenges in social work practice and, lastly, proposes a preliminary definition of class-competent social work practice.     

Environmental shifts for social work: A principles approach

Miller SE, Hayward RA, Shaw TV. Environmental shifts for social work: A principles approach The social work profession is rooted in a history of addressing the needs of vulnerable populations. Generally, however, this history has not extended to issues relating to the natural environment. Building on a framework of environmental justice, this article proposes a shift from the artificial separation of the social and natural environments in its person‐in‐environment focus to an expanded holistic understanding of the dynamic interplay between human society and the natural environment. It examines issues surrounding environmental and ecological justice, and proposes a principles approach to move the profession towards a paradigm of environmental justice using as its template the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice adopted by the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in the USA in 1991. It discusses the value of these principles in enhancing social work's capacity to address issues of environmental concern. It proposes that, with greater awareness of the effects of environmental issues on high‐needs populations, the profession would be better able to balance environmental and human concerns.     

Build the social justice bridge: participatory photography with the international group work community

ABSTRACT

“Build the Social Justice Bridge” was a participatory photography project that engaged international group workers in an assessment of group work as a social justice profession. Inspired by principles of photovoice research, the project invited social work students, educators, and practitioners from around the world to contribute photographs and brief narratives that represented the relationship between group work and social justice. The photographs were exhibited during the opening session of the 2018 Symposium of the International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG) in South Africa, where more than 200 participants from ten countries reflected on the meaning of the photos for the group work community. In viewing the photos, symposium participants identified a common vision of social justice as well as culturally-specific approaches to group work. Implications are drawn for the internationalization of professional knowledge.     

Mental health in postgraduate social work curriculum: Review of training contents in Indian schools of social work

Training of social workers according to the changing needs of the society is important. To this end, we decided to review the adequacy of mental health training in postgraduate programme in social work. The Mental Health Care Act 2017 defines psychiatric social worker (PSW) in India to have additional higher qualification beyond post‐graduation in social work. The number of such qualified PSWs appears to be limited due to small number of institutes that offer advanced training in the country. Though, the number of available PSWs with such qualifications is rising, the manpower in proportion to the mental health needs in the country continues to remain low. It is therefore, relevant to review the quality of psychiatric social work education at postgraduate level if this level is to be considered as the desirable qualification for PSW. In this context, postgraduate social work syllabi from 71 universities including autonomous institutions were reviewed using semi‐structured assessment. The results show a lack of uniform teaching components, training methods and insufficient skill orientation towards mental health interventions. These observations suggest that curricula and training are modified with strengthening and enhancing the quality of training of mental health at post‐graduate level in Social Work.     

Integrating the teaching,learning and assessment of communication with children within the qualifying social work curriculum

Qualifying social work education must provide students with a variety of experiential, personalized, participatory, didactic and critically reflective learning opportunities across both the taught curriculum and in practice placements if deep learning of the capabilities needed for effective communication with children and young people is to be ensured. At present, programmes in England are not consistent in the curriculum structures, content and pedagogical approaches they are employing to teach and assess this topic. This paper discusses first how current proposals for the reform of qualifying education in England do not address the ambiguities and discretion in regulatory guidance, which have meant that the place and relevance of this topic within the curriculum remain uncertain and contested. It then draws on a model of the sequencing of students' learning and development in qualifying training, developed through the author's recent empirical research, to present an integrated and coherent approach to the teaching, learning and assessment of this topic. It is proposed that this strategy will enable students to develop the generic, ‘child‐focused’ and ‘applied child‐specialist’ capabilities they need for the ‘knowing’, ‘being’ and ‘doing’ of effective communication with children.     

Families with young children in times of economic downturn: Implications for social work practice

In response to the global financial crisis, social policies in Europe and elsewhere incorporated a logic of social investment to reduce (child) poverty and social inequality. Several critiques, however, have been raised against the narrowness of this discourse. In order to introduce another way of seeing, an interview study was conducted inspired by the interpretative paradigm of lifeworld orientation. This has allowed us to acquire a critical, in‐depth understanding of the consequences of economic downturn and unemployment for families with young children (0–3 years old), from their point of view. Findings highlight the importance of listening to parents here and now, in order to be able to take account of their concrete, lived realities within the context of the broader society and critically assess these realities according to principles of human dignity and social justice. Implications for social work practice are discussed.     

The perspectives of young children in care about their circumstances and implications for social work practice

Recent reviews of research regarding children in care have concluded that there remains little research which specifically focuses on young children. This paper presents the findings of research carried out with a sample of young children in care (aged 4–7 years) regarding their perspectives of their circumstances. The findings reveal that they have deeply held views regarding living with risk; removal from their families; unresolved feelings of guilt and loss; and not being listened to. This paper considers the implications of these findings for social work practice. It concludes by stressing the capacity of young children in care to express their perspectives, and the importance of practitioners seeking these views and incorporating them into assessment and decision‐making processes.     

An ecological approach to social work with children and families

This paper examines research into the social ecology of parents and children, with particular reference to the effects of social support on family functioning and outcomes for children. The historical failure of social work in the UK to successfully apply the findings from this area of research to mainstream work with children and families is considered in the light of the prevailing child protection discourse. Challenges to this discourse are now beginning to emerge from developments in both research and practice. The implications of these developments for the construction of a new discourse, which recognizes the wider social and political factors that shape the family environment, are discussed. It is argued that there is sufficient research evidence available to demonstrate the potential of community social work strategies, which enhance the social support networks of families, to significantly reduce the incidence of child abuse. A number of successful action-research projects of this nature are considered.     

Preventive therapy and resilience promotion: an evaluation of social work led skills development group work

Concerns have been expressed for some time about a decline in emphasis on therapeutic work in social work, notably articulated in the Munro Review. Further concerns have been expressed in child care that social workers have increasingly had to focus on child protection work rather than earlier stages of prevention. However, there remain opportunities for social workers through the development of new programmes. One development has been that of Behaviour and Education Support Teams: multi‐professional teams, containing as a key element social workers, and encouraging novel practices designed to help emotional stability and improved behaviour and education performance. This study reports on an evaluation of a social worker delivered school‐based social skills programme, which can contribute to the important area of resilience. This showed significant and sustained improvements in pro‐social behaviour and friendships. The implications of this for the therapeutic potential and professional role of social work are discussed.     

Revitalization of social work in China: the significance of human agency in institutional transformation and structural change

Drastic economic and social transition, emerging social problems, and emphasis of the Chinese government on social harmony as a national policy have created ample opportunities for the development of social work as a profession in the Chinese mainland1 1. In this paper, China refers to the Chinese mainland. in recent years. Besides the phenomenal expansion of social work education, the Chinese government announced a series of national policy initiatives in 2006 to professionalize social work and to assess the professional standard of social welfare personnel. But these achievements would never be possible without the commitment, perseverance and active engagement of the social work community during the past two decades to foster the development of social work in China. In this paper, the authors will present the four stages of development which the social work profession has undergone in China, and will discuss the role of human agency in facilitating institutional transformation and structural change in the process. The active agency of members of the social work community, including educators, Civil Affairs officials, and front‐line practitioners to resist the domination of environmental constraints and to co‐construct a social work profession which is appropriate to the Chinese context will be presented.

近年来, 急剧的经济及社会转型、日益涌现的社会问题及中国政府将建立和谐社会作为国策, 使社会工作在中国成为一个专业获得了空前的机遇。 除了社会工作教育的惊人发展外, 中国政府于2006年宣布一系列创新的国家政策, 推动社会工作专业化以及对社会福利服务人员的职业水平进行专业评估。 然而, 如果没有社会工作社群在过去二十多年来的支持、坚持不懈及积极的参与, 努力地在中国发展社会工作, 这些成就将永远不可能实现。 在本文中, 作者将描述社会工作专业在中国的四个发展阶段, 以及讨论能动性在推动制度转型和结构变迁方面扮演的角色。 作者讨论了社会工作社群的不同成员的积极的能动性, 包括教育工作者, 民政部官员及一线工作者, 如何应对环境制约的支配影响及建构一个适合华人社会为背景的社会工作专业。     

The return of the political in social work

This article is a follow-up to our article 'Revisiting social work as art' and in part a response to Karen Healy's reply [both published in IJSW 17(2)]. It is, however, also a significant extension of this material since it engages with more general concerns about the critical project that is intrinsic to social work. Social work is not just about self-foundation based on knowledge, values and skills formation, but also about self-assertion. Crucially, it is through this notion of self-assertion that social work can be best understood as an agent of change. This transformative aspect of social work is our central focus. We are not concerned with structural conditions of power and domination but with theorising what a transformative politics would look like for social work using the lens of the French political philosopher Alain Badiou as a conceptual medium for permitting the return of the political for social work.     

Correcting misconceptions about the development of social work in China: a response to Cunfu Jia

In this brief debate article we respond to Cunfu Jia's criticism of our article ‘Defining the Profession?’ (International Journal of Social Work 16: 382–389). We address the issue of ‘evidence’ and the issue of the applicability to China of the global definition of social work. We suggest that although debate articles by their very nature risk generating false dichotomies, they provide an important and welcome opportunity to explore commonality and difference and to develop our knowledge and thinking as a result of an international exchange of views.     

The application of a small group learning approach to social group work teaching - an exploratory study

A new modality – the small group learning approach, was developed for social group work courses for social work students in Hong Kong. A research study, aimed at understanding the students’ level of satisfaction with the new approach and exploring its effectiveness regarding enhancing students’ learning in social group work, was conducted for three cohorts of students in the academic years from 2013-14 to 2015-16. The findings indicated that its effectiveness was influenced by the quality of the tutors and the level of co-operation of the students. Strategies for improving the design and the implementation of the approach will be discussed     

Social work students and social change: on the link between views on poverty, social work goals and policy practice

This article seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the factors that are associated with social work students' willingness to engage in policy practice. It examines a model according to which the willingness to engage in policy practice is linked to the importance that students attribute to the goals of social work and to their views on poverty. The sample consisted of 138 social work students in one of Israel's leading universities. The measures consisted of four questionnaires developed specifically for this study. The findings revealed strong relationships between students' views regarding the causes of poverty and their attitudes towards the preferred ways to deal with poverty. In addition, strong relationships were found between the importance that students attributed to the goals of social work and their willingness to engage in policy practice. However, no significant relationships were found between students' views on poverty and their willingness to engage in policy practice. Different explanations for these findings are advanced in the article.