Professional Socialization and Social Work Values: Who Are We Teaching?

Despite the centrality of values to professional socialization, the social work literature lacks an extensive exploration of the readiness of students to be socialized into the profession and taught the theoretical framework and skills for ethical decision making. This study explored the relationship between age, academic class standing, and identity development. Results indicated that the Identity Achievement status occurs later than traditional university years and correlates with age but not with academic class standing. Important implications for teaching social work values, ethical decision making, and the significance of a liberal arts foundation are discussed.     

Coverage of Women's Issues in Social Work Journals: Are We Building an Adequate Knowledge Base?

Abstract

The authors of this article conducted a review of selected social work journals published between 1982 and 1991 to determine the coverage given to women's issues during this period. Because this study was similar to one conducted for the previous decade, the authors were able to analyze trends over time as well as differences among various journals. The findings indicate that articles focusing on women's issues comprised less than 10% of all articles published in the sampled journals during the decade. The study also found that women authored over 75% of the articles and books on women's content, but that only about 15% of the articles women write are on women's issues.     

Informed Consent with Children and Young People in Social Research: Is There Scope for Innovation?

Over 20 years of research has enhanced our understanding about the methodological and ethical benefits and challenges of involving children and young people in research. Concurrently, the increasing bureaucratisation of research ethics governance within UK universities has reified expectations about the methods used to gain informed consent for research participation. This paper explores how social researchers in the UK are navigating this tension and whether there is any scope for innovation through the use of technologies in how children and young people provide informed consent to take part in research. We conclude there is a need for the co‐creation of research information with children and young people and greater transparency by sharing creative solutions.     

Social Work and Social Justice: What Are We Fighting For?

Abstract

A cardinal value of social work practice is social justice. Social justice ranks as the second of five values that underpin the Code of Ethics of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW. However, although social work's commitment to promoting social justice is laudable and, indeed, may even be a distinguishing feature of the profession, precisely what kind of social justice does social work espouse? The answer to this question remains unclear. Views about the nature and scope of social justice stem from broader conceptions of justice that not only differ from, but may also conflict with, each other. Therefore, it is important not only for social work to be clear about the type of social justice that it currently advocates, but also to ensure that it is one that the profession seeks to defend and maximise. It is argued that the choice must be as egalitarian as possible. Indeed, it must be radically so. Otherwise, what is social work fighting for?     

Risky Sexual Behavior Among Young Adult Latinas: Are Acculturation and Religiosity Protective?

A sexual health disparity exists among U.S. Latinas, who have rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that are more than double their peers. Previous research has identified acculturation and religiosity as key social determinants of sexual health, but such findings have been inconsistent, with some researchers identifying protective benefits and other researchers noting increased risk. The purpose of this study was to explain how intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity as well as acculturation predict risky sexual behavior using Structural Equation Modeling of a nationally representative sample of self-identified Latinas (N = 1,168) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. Results indicated that intrinsic religiosity and acculturation assert protective effects while extrinsic religiosity increases risk. Recommendations for policy, intervention, and future research are offered.     

Help to Family and Friends: Are There Gender Differences at Older Ages?

This paper uses recent data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (N = 5,220) to explore gender differences in the extent to which adults in their 50s and 60s provide informal help to their adult children, elderly parents and friends We find that both men and women report very high levels of helping kin and nonkin alike, though women do more to assist elderly parents and women provide much more emotional support to others than do men. Men provide more assistance than do women with "housework, yard work and repairs." As they retire from the workforce, married men become significantly more involved in the care of their grandchildren, virtually eliminating any gender difference by the time they are in their 60s.     

Are There Myths on Road Impact and Transport in Sub‐Saharan Africa?

Large investments in road infrastructure continue to be high on the agenda of many African countries, only a few of which have actually amended their investment strategy. In many cases, there seems to be a preference for a status quo that can easily be explained by political‐economy factors driving policies in the sector. After presenting data on the state of roads in sub‐Saharan Africa (length, density, condition), this article demonstrates how most countries’ transport strategies are based on certain misperceptions and recommends better prioritisation of investments, better procurement and contract management, better projects implementation and better monitoring to improve the developmental impact of recent road investments.     

What Helps Working Informal Caregivers? The Role of Workplace Characteristics in Balancing Work and Adult-Care Responsibilities

Population ageing and expected labour shortages mean that successful reconciliation of adult care and paid work is becoming a key issue for employers, employees and frail older people alike. Based on the detailed workplace-related variables in the fourth European Working Condition Survey, we examined differences in levels and determinants of carers’ and non-carers’ role conflict and one of its outcomes, absenteeism. We found caregivers to exhibit higher levels of perceived work–family conflict. Work schedules and time regimes affect carers’ and non-carers’ work–family conflict alike. However, good friends at work and work overload have a larger impact on carers’ work–family conflict. Furthermore, we found indications for a trade-off between perceived work-to-family conflict and absenteeism via workplace policies.     

Are There Still Alternatives? Relationships Between Alternative Media and Mainstream Media in a Converged Environment

Media scholars and non‐scholars alike have long sought to discern and describe the differences between alternative media and mainstream media — a task that became harder in the digital age, as online communications blurred boundaries. This essay examines how theorists and researchers have attempted to clarify the term ‘alternative media’ and to explain why this category remains relevant in a networked society. Academics largely reject the alternative–mainstream dichotomy and view these media on a continuum, featuring many hybrids and few pure instances. While differences between the two forms are less apparent in liberal democracies than in authoritarian regimes, alternative media persist in being less commercial, producing more critical content and being more committed to social change than their mainstream counterparts. In a converged context, the idea of ‘alternative media’ with a dialectical, interdependent relationship to the mainstream remains important to many producers, users and scholars.     

Gender/Sex,Sexual Orientation,and Identity Are in the Body: How Did They Get There?

In this review, I explore theoretical and empirical approaches to the development of gender/sex and sexual orientation (SO). Leaving behind the nature versus nurture opposition, I look at both identities as deeply embodied. My approach intertwines sex, gender, orientation, bodies, and cultures without a demand to choose one over the other. First, I introduce basic definitions, focusing on how intertwined the concepts of sex and gender really are. I affirm recent trends to consider a new term—gender/sex—as the best way to think about these deeply interwoven bodily traits. I introduce several literatures, each of which considers the processes by which traits become embodied. These points of view offer a basis for future work on identity development. Specifically, and selectively, I provide insights from the fields of phenomenology, dyadic interaction and the formation of presymbolic representations in infancy, and dynamic systems in infant development. I consider how thinking about embodied cognition helps to address intersubjectivity and the emergence of subjective identity. Next, I review what we currently know about the development of complex sexual systems in infancy and toddlerhood. Finally, I discuss the few existing theories of SO development that consider the events of infancy and childhood.     

Work Hard,Play Hard?: A Comparison of Male and Female Lawyers' Time in Paid and Unpaid Work and Participation in Leisure Activities

Les auteures tentent de déterminer le temps que les professionnels, hommes et femmes, passent à effectuer du travail rémunéré ou non, et la façon dont cela influe sur leur participation à différentes activités de loisirs. Elles se fondent sur des données provenant d'avocats professant dans différents milieux juridiques. Elles constatent que les hommes rapportent consacrer plus de temps au travail rémunéré et aux loisirs, alors que les femmes accordent plus de temps aux travaux ménagers ainsi qu'aux soins des enfants. Les résultats semblent démontrer que les occasions dans l'ensemble plus importantes de loisirs chez les hommes comparées à celles des femmes seraient attribuables à des relations inattendues entre la participation des hommes aux travaux domestiques et aux soins des enfants, et leurs activités de loisirs. Les auteures présentent différentes explications à ces résultats. There has been a considerable amount of research that documents how women and men spend their time in different work and home tasks. We examine how much time professional women and men spend in paid and unpaid work and how this relates to their participation in different leisure activities. We also explore whether time in paid and unpaid work has gender‐specific effects on leisure participation. In examining these issues, we rely on data from lawyers working in different legal settings. Our results show that, as hypothesized, men report more time in paid work and leisure whereas women devote more time to housework and childcare. An unexpected finding is that the time men spend in housework or childcare is either unrelated or positively related to their leisure participation. These results suggest that men's greater overall opportunities for leisure compared with women's appear to stem from the unanticipated relationships between men's involvement in housework and childcare and their leisure activities. We raise several possible explanations for these findings.     

50?Years and the Future of Agency-Based Clinical Social Work Practice: Introduction to the Special Issue

This special issue is a celebration of the Silver School of Social Work??s 50th Anniversary in 2010?C2011. The articles in this issue celebrate the School??s distinct reputation for excellence in clinical social work. They also celebrate the school??s current mission, which includes knowledge development for social work practice, with an emphasis on urban problems, poverty and social justice, and agency-based practice. The majority of the submissions focus on contemporary and future social work practice. This paper concludes with a discussion of several issues that confront the future of clinical social work practice including workforce trends, technology, and the scientific basis for practice, wealth disparity and race as contemporary American issues that affect clinical social work, the globalization of social work and mental health services, and education for tomorrow??s clinical practice.     

Thirty‐five Years Later in Development Assistance: Have We Moved On,or Just Performed a Minuet?

Development economists have presented the problems of development in varying and incompatible terms, and have influentially advocated contradictory policies. After twists and turns a broad consensus has emerged on pro‐poor growth objectives and on the policy and institutional means of achieving them. But a number of important questions remain unresolved or indeterminate. Development experts, economists and others, should have the humility to recognise the country specificity of much development experience and the multiplicity of valid paths to the goal of material wellbeing. They are least likely to mislead if their advice acknowledges the likely joint importance of macroeconomic stability, reasonably efficient markets, and supportive institutions.     

Guest Editorial―An Update to the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education: Past and Future Considerations

ABSTRACT

Spirituality and religion predicted the development of social justice orientation (SJO) among young adults in a previous study (Chenot &; Kim, 2013). The current study explores the manner in which the effects of spirituality and religion on social justice orientation vary depending on the career aspirations of young adults. The longitudinal data (two waves) used for this study was gathered from 14,527 students at 136 universities in the USA. Results of structural equation modeling analyses revealed that spirituality significantly predicted projected SJO behaviors among those who aspire to join the helping professions and the SJO attitudes of those who sought to join other professions. The implications of the findings for social work and social work education are discussed.     

Are There Homeless Youth in My Community? Differences of Perception Between Service Providers and High School Youth

While teen homelessness, like all homelessness, is increasing, there have been few solid estimates of the actual number of teens effected. A twofold methodology to count homeless teens was used in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire and Maine. Social service agencies were contacted to obtain a count of homeless adolescents, and over 3000 high school age teens were surveyed in the seacoast ofNew Hampshire and southwestern Maine to identify how many were homeless. By using different definitions of homelessness, it was found that a minimum of 5% of all teens in high school reported that they had been homeless sometime during the past year. When using a broadened definition of homelessness, it was found that 20% of the teens regularly stayed with others. However, this experience was not identified by social service providers, who reported that teen homelessness simply was not a problem in their communities. In order to more accurately describe the phenomenon experienced by teens, it is proposed that the term “homelessness” should be replaced with a more inclusive word, such as “housing distress.”     

Examining the Ethical Utility of Social Work Program Rankings in the US: Are We Measuring One Thing and Selling Another?

Social work program rankings are frequently used in the US to communicate program identity, and no ranking structure has become as commonly accepted as the one compiled by US News & World Report. However, the metrics used to assemble these rankings, and what the rankings have been used to communicate, have come under question over recent years. This project details an analysis that was conducted on the relationship between US News rankings for social work programs in the United States (n = 200) and Carnegie research designations for the universities with which those programs are affiliated. Findings suggest that as institutional size increases, so do rankings. This study assesses the strength of that relationship and questions the ethical utility of this ranking system, particularly when used as a tool to recruit students (a common practice in the United States). Additional metrics are suggested to help potential students make more informed decisions in reference to program selection.     

Are There Differing Patterns of Health Care Access and Utilization Among Male Sexual Minorities in the United States?

Disparities in health care access and utilization among male sexual minorities in the United States were explored using data from the National Survey of Family Growth (N = 8,846). Bisexual men had a small disadvantage in health insurance coverage but no differences were found in health insurance or consistency of coverage between gay and heterosexual men. Gay men were more likely to have a usual place of care, but were not more likely to utilize services. The current study provides inconclusive evidence for systematic disparities in health care access and utilization among gay and bisexual men in the United States.