Attitudes Toward Worker Co-Operatives in Queensland

In many parts of the world, and in at least three states in Australia, the last decade has seen a resurgence of interest in worker co-operatives as a response to high levels of unemployment. Significant determinants of the degree of success of worker co-operatives are the attitudes of powerful people and organisations in the community. This study documents the attitudes of politicians and political parties, public servants, representatives from business, trade unions, churches and cooperatives in Queensland. Despite the history of co-operatives and the persistent efforts of some informal groups to work co-operatively in Queensland, no strong commitment to the concept of worker co-operatives was found. Attitudes might best be described as varying between disinterested and hostile. Those committed to the development of worker co-operatives in Queensland will have to engage these critical attitudes as part of any development process.     

Preparing Social Work Students to Work with Grandparents in Kinship Care

Summary

Grandparents in kinship care represent an expanding population of older adults assuming primary parenting responsibilities for their grandchildren at a time when many grandparents may also be experiencing developmental changes accompanying their own aging process. Research documents a lack of social workers prepared to respond to the needs of an aging population in general, and grandparents in kinship care in particular, as curricular content on this population has been limited in undergraduate and graduate social work programs. This article describes an infusion model proposed for an undergraduate social work program's GeroRich Project designed to introduce content on an aging population in four foundation courses to expand students' knowledge of older adults and grandparents as kinship care providers.     

The Potential of Worker Co-operatives in Queensland

Australia's response to problems of unemployment, low productivity, industrial peace and individual and societal wellbeing, currently emphasises macro economic policy and the Accord. However, a small minority continue to call for the democratisation of business enterprises. The worker co-operative is one such mechanism. Following the location of several small groups attempting to work co-operatively and a survey of the attitudes of critical sectors of the community, this sympathetic and we hope, realistic analysis was undertaken of the potential of worker co- operatives in Queensland. Major issues of concern were economic viability, ideology, attitudes of unions and the involvement of the ‘disadvantaged’. We argue that worker co-operatives can be viable; can tap a broad central band of the political spectrum; can co-operate with unions; and can play a role in meeting the needs of disadvantaged groups, given a supportive environment While there are strong moral arguments for supporting such alternative approaches to economic organisation, the environment in Queensland is not sympathetic and the task is immense. Those wishing to take up this challenge should focus on education, research, lobbying, dialogue and enterprise development strategies and on the movement phase of co-operative development.     

Is Gender Inequality in Social Work Management Relevant to Social Work Students?

Correspondence to Ms C. Taylor, Research Fellow, Social Work Research Centre, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA. Summary This paper reports on a study carried out in 1991 based on questionnaireswhich asked 169 female and male social work students about theiraspirations and expectations in respect of promotion in theirfuture career. Underlying the study is a concern about the unequalrepresentation of male and female workers at management levelsin social services in the UK, there being at present a predominanceof male managers. The phenomenon is not regarded as unique tosocial services, but as part of the pattern of gender inequalityin the workforce as a whole. The view that women contribute to the phenomenon by a fundamentallack of interest in, or unwillingness to apply for, promotionwill be challenged. It will be argued that the differences inthe aspirations and expectations of male and female employees,which previous research studies have reported, may be an effectof the experience of the organization rather than a cause ofthe scarcity of female employees in promoted posts. The paper will focus on some of the findings, including students'aspirations and expectations, their opinions about the unequalrepresentation of men and women in social work management, theimplications of this for their own career and whether they considerthis issue is, or should be, a significant component of socialwork training.     

Odes to Group Work Symposia

No abstract available for this article.     

Goals for Group Work with Women Transitioning from Welfare to Work

This article reports on focus group data from African American women after participating in year-long groups while attempting to make the transition from welfare to work. Qualitative data analysis is employed to examine the women's words about their experiences, within the context of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) requirements and group work models for women who are multiply oppressed. Their words point to recommendations for group work knowledge and skills to best support the needs of these women in the era of TANF.     

Queensland Whistleblowing: Sterilising the Lone Crusader

This paper critically evaluates one of the more interesting American imports in the last couple of years – the whistleblower. While noting that post-Fitzgerald public life in Queensland is an obvious nurturant setting for the whistleblower, the paper considers how moral recovery may not be the most appropriate context for organisational dissent The paper predicts that whistleblowing will be captured in the heroic paradigm of the lone dissenting voice, and tethered to the limited agenda of clean government.     

高校新生入学适应的小组工作介入模式

大学新生进校后,面对的是一个既新奇而又完全陌生的环境,他们要完成专业学习上的自觉、环境和自身角色上的认同、生活上的自理、思想上的自我教育、目标上的自我选择等一系列适应问题。在以往的入学新生教育中多采用思想政治教育的方法来解决,而笔者根据所学知识结合带组经验,从社会工作的角度出发,采用社会工作三大专业手法之一小组工作来介入高校新生入学适应问题,并为小组工作提出了一套小组工作介入高校新生入学适应问题的基本模式。     

Restoring Power to Social Work Practice

Correspondence to Arnon Bar-On, Department of Social Work, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana. E-mail: bar-on{at}mopipi.ub.bw Summary Largely because they are unacquainted with power theory, socialworkers judge power as an aberration of their intentions toempower their clients and to make organizations more humane.Contrarily, this article, which explicates power and power-in-use,argues that social workers must increase their power and theirunderstanding of its dynamics and adopt a wider range of meansof influence than they currently do if they are to effectivelyhelp those society excludes and makes vulnerable.     

《社会工作概论》教学中的“角色扮演”

"角色扮演"教学法具有能够调动学生的积极性、模拟环境的安全性、模拟场景的真实性、增强学生之间的互动等优点。"角色扮演"教学法在延安大学《社会工作概论》课程教学中得到尝试和应用,并取得良好的教学效果。在《社会工作概论》教学中运用"角色扮演"法,一定要注意处理好角色扮演过程中出现的各种情况。由于在角色扮演过程中出现的情况难以预料,所以教师要全程参与,并把其它教学方法与"角色扮演"法有机结合起来使用,从而使社会工作教学取得更好的教学效果。     

Work Satisfaction in Probation and Social Work

Correspondence to Professor Martin Davies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ. Summary The design and preliminary development of a research instrumentintended to provide comparable measures of work satisfactionwithin different social work settings is described. The resultsof administering it to two separate samples of social workersand probation officers are presented. It appears that probation officers feel themselves more highlyregarded by members of the general public and are less likelyto say they are badly paid; they enjoy more job autonomy; rathermore social workers tend to feel alienated at work, but mostbelieve that they have better chances of career advancementthan is the case in the probation service. There are broad similarities between the two work settings sofar as work with clients and attitudes towards colleagues areconcerned; it is argued that the emergence of these similaritiesis methodologically reassuring because it suggests the stabilityof the data overall, and therefore increases the likelihoodthat the findings regarding agency differences are a valid reflectionof social reality in each setting.     

Adjustment Problems of Graziers' Families With Low Incomes in North-Western Queensland

Social and economic conditions of graziers in North-Western Queensland in the period 1968–1972 are surveyed. The majority of those surviving economic crisis due to drought and low wool prices had either financial losses or low incomes, and their debt position worsened. A combination of socio-economic conditions causes these low-income graziers to represent a potential source of an under-educated and un-employable younger generation. Instead of sporadic help and annual grants more attention should be paid to planning for growth centres, long-term finance, re-training and stabilization of primary industries by way of exploring new markets, modernizing the marketing system, and supporting the prices if needs be.     

社会工作的开展与弱势群体救助

社会工作以助人自助为宗旨，在弱势群体的救助中起着举足轻重的作用，而弱势群体的存在又促进了社会工作的不断发展。作为一种专业助人活动，社会工作在救助弱势群体领域有着无法比拟的先天优越性，因此我们应当在借鉴西方成功经验的基础上，立足于我国实际情况，尽快完善以社会组织和个人为主的社会支持系统，使我国社会工作在弱势群体救助领域沿着更加科学更加专业的路径发展。     

社会工作督导反思:学习成为有效的社会工作督导老师

有效的社会工作督导老师是社会工作实习教育成败的关键,但也成为内地社会工作实习教育发展的一大瓶颈。本文从这一历史现实问题出发,综合考察了有效的社会工作督导老师的职责、角色、素质要求及其发展基要,从成为有效实习督导的发展阶段的视角,着重从承担督导职责、澄清督导目标、建立督导关系、发展督导模式以及勇于督导反思五个方面探索了如何做一名新的专业实习督导老师及其持续发展。     

The Characteristics of Two Samples of Women Seeking Abortion in Queensland

The legalization of abortion is still a live issue in Queensland. The numbers and characteristics of women seeking abortion through the Children by Choice Association in 1973–74 and in 1980 were studied since no official statistics on abortion are available. From 1974 to 1980 there was a threefold growth in demand and a threefold rise in the proportion seeking their second or subsequent abortion. Both samples closely reflect the Queensland population as measured by place of birth and religious affiliation. Contraceptive knowledge was found to be associated with education while the proportion who stated they had formal lessons at school rose from 3% to 16% between the samples. In both samples two-thirds of the pregnancies resulted when no physical contraceptive was in use. Social characteristics of the women and men involved were investigated, as well as factors in the abortion decision.     

标签理论对社会工作的启示

随着社会转型时期的巨大变革,越来越多的越轨行为,如吸毒等,暴露在人们身边,而越轨者作为社会的边缘群体一直被人们歧视。社会工作作为一门专业化的助人工作在我国逐步发展起来,并且开始关注越轨者,对其进行辅助工作。关于越轨行为产生的标签理论以其独特的视角为社会工作提供了有益的启示。     

Social Work Responses to New Labour' in Continental European Countries

Summary The re-emergence of a majority of centre-left governments incountries of the European Union was associated with the hopethat, after the neo-liberal attempts at its marginalizationand de-institutionalization, social work could regain a morevalued position in society. There are indeed indications thatthe growth of the profession continues and that social workis returning to a more explicit and official role in nationalsocial policies. However, this tends to be associated with anexpectation that social work would play its part in ‘activating’the recipients of welfare benefits in the context of the NewLeft project of shifting from social rights to social obligations.The practical and political effects of this new agenda are,however, modified greatly by the prevailing ‘welfare cultures’as well as the professional and academic discourses. This paperexplores the dilemmas and opportunities for the social professionsin Europe associated with the ‘pull’ to become incorporatedinto these new social policy agendas.     

Social Work Practice to Support Survival Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa

The high levels of absolute poverty, malnutrition and illiteracyacross the sub-Saharan region require African social workersto develop new methods of intervention which differ from thoseused in Western countries. Identifying, augmenting and enhancingthe strengths of disadvantaged people lie at the core of allsocial work practice. This paper adumbrates the range of survivalstrategies used by African households and concludes that theserequire buttressing through alternative approaches to orthodoxsocial work methods.     

叙事治疗理论及其在婚姻关系调适中的运用

以叙事隐喻和社会建构隐喻为理论支撑,文章分析了婚姻问题的社会建构和个人内化的机理;借助于“外化问题”和“寻找独特结果”的实践技术在具体案例中的运用,解构了婚姻当事人受宰制的主流性别叙事并重构丰富的自我成长故事。本文认为,叙事疗法能够有效地应对高稳定低质量的中国婚姻状况,有利于国民婚姻观念的时代转型和婚姻品质的提升,