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.     

Preparation for practice: embedding the development of professional identity within social work curriculum

Newly qualified social workers often enter challenging interdisciplinary settings where they need to be able to clearly articulate a distinctive professional identity. To prepare for these realities, this paper discusses how the development of professional identity has become increasingly central to qualifying social work curriculum at an Australian university. Preparation for social work practice has long been the focus of research in a number of countries, with a significant emphasis on knowledge and skill acquisition, rather than on the development of an overarching professional identity that is also underpinned by shared values and sense of professional purpose and expectations. Against this backdrop, the paper describes initial changes that have been made within core social work courses to progressively embed the development of professional identity more consciously across their studies, to be better prepared for contemporary challenges in the workplace. It is concluded that further changes are needed to fully transform the curriculum, and that the impacts of these changes be systematically evaluated in relation to preparedness for practice.     

Social Workers as Boundary Spanners: Reframing our Professional Identity for Interprofessional Practice

One of the more difficult tasks for social work educators is socializing students into a professional identity. Social identity theory provides a lens to consider what is needed for a social work identity that will continue to be salient for students as they move into practice. Framing social workers as boundary spanners might offer students a professional identity that is congruent with core values, reflects what social workers do and places less emphasis on old debates about the profession. It also positions students well for work in the increasingly interprofessional realms of health and social care. I consider how social workers are well equipped to meet the demand created by ‘joined-up working’ for people with boundary-spanning expertise. Seeing ourselves as boundary spanners is one way to reconcile our professional and interprofessional identities, thereby increasing the chances that our students will continue to identify as social workers when they move into interprofessional practice.     

‘Listen: This Really Happened’: Making Sense of Social Work Through Story‐telling

The use of guided critical reflection and analysis is increasingly popular in the education and training of social workers, especially when students embark on their practice learning opportunities. This paper explores the use of structured story‐telling in tutorials as a way of helping students make sense of social work practice. By focusing on a narrative shared with a tutor group, the argument will be made that tutorials are important places to ‘monitor’ the self (and others) in social contexts, and are helpful places for students to identify their personal values and how these might link with their future professional selves.     

‘Not Easily Put Into a Box’: Constructing Professional Identity

Researching the interplay between social work students' personal and professional identities, I found that, in talking about becoming professionals, students drew on a wide range of discourses. Three common usages of the term ‘professional identity’ are explored here: it can be thought of in relation to desired traits; it can also be used in a collective sense to convey the ‘identity of the profession’. Taking a more subjective approach, professional identity can be regarded as a process in which each individual comes to have a sense of themselves as a social worker. I argue that the variations in students' talk reflect a wide range of cultural understandings that are prevalent within the social work community and society in general, and conclude that professional identity is more complicated than adopting certain traits or values, or even demonstrating competence. The different meanings of professional identity all have something to offer, providing resources for students as they construct themselves as social workers. This is important for social work education because it acknowledges the dynamic nature of professional identity, highlights the difficult identity work which each student must undertake, and prompts us to consider how this process might best be supported.     

Letters from the future: an exercise with child welfare predictions

Abstract

The article presents an empirical exercise about predictions in child welfare. In the exercise, social workers imagined letters which they could receive from a child and his/her parents in five years’ time. The children had been in care for one year at the moment of letter-writing. When the social workers wrote the imaginary letters, they used their professional imagination, based on practice knowledge and experience, and were involved in a role-play. The analysis of the letters (34 from ‘children’ and 33 letters from ‘parents’) demonstrates four themes shared by the letters: ordinary life, family contacts and return home, social problems as shadows and assessment of the placement. Two narratives were performed: the narrative of future of ordinary life and that of the troubles. It is suggested that imaginary letters are helpful in highlighting practitioners’ sense of the future, professional imagination as well as the empowering and critical points in practice.     

Ethical Dilemmas of Practicing Social Workers Around Psychiatric Medication

Abstract

It is acknowledged that social workers in mental health and other settings routinely experience client-related ethical dilemmas. Further, there is wide recognition of the potential impact of ethical dilemmas on social work practice with clients who use psychotropic medication. Little is know empirically, however, about the experiences of practitioners with these dilemmas. This article describes the results of a national survey of practicing social workers regarding the nature of ethical dilemmas they face related to their work with clients on medication issues. The results make it clear that social workers regularly confront a variety of ethical dilemmas in this type of practice. Many of these dilemmas are related to ambiguities around the knowledge base of practice, appropriate roles of providers, and basic personal and professional values. The authors present implications of these findings for social work practice and further research.     

Insights on Professional Identification and Licensure from Community Practice Social Workers

ABSTRACT

This article describes a qualitative study designed to explore both how community practice social workers identify professionally and to examine their view towards professional regulation. Thirty-five MSW-level social workers in a large metropolitan region who self-identified as community practice social worker participated in in-depth interviews. The respondents shared their views regarding professional identification as social workers and the impact of professional identity on their work as community practitioners. Approximately half of the respondents indicated that they only sometimes or never identify as a social worker. The respondents were generally critical of the licensing burden placed upon them as community practice social workers.     

Children's rights: have carers abandoned values?

Traditionally, social workers have been concerned about the importance of values as significantly influencing professional practice. It is argued here that the emphasis on values has latterly been superseded by a focus on rights. This shift in perspective has come to characterise the activities of social workers and ‘professional’ carers such as foster and residential carers, and is related to a growing concentration on the externally measurable elements of practice (performativity) rather than the internal, and relatively intangible, quality of relationships (caring). It is necessary to understand the relationship between rights, needs and values in order to ensure that children are accorded their rights without having to forfeit the experiential quality of relationships with their carers.     

Looking for ‘social work’ in school social work

School social workers can be seen as a professional group operating on the margin of an educational logic that dominates schools as institutions. This conditions what tasks they are assigned and what aspects of social work knowledge they will find relevant. On the other hand, the role as a sole professional and relative outsider in the organization provides a potential for school social workers to transcend established theories of social work practice. This article aims to investigate how social work theory is applied in school social work. Twelve semi-structured interviews with school social workers were analysed in terms of how they relate to four knowledge approaches derived from the literature: task-centred, systems theory, strengths and anti-oppressive. Contrary to claims within the sociology of professions that social work practice is formed largely by organizational context rather than a discipline-specific knowledge base, the interviewees seemed to lean on a robust professional foundation within social work theory. Interviewees strongly emphasised their role as working for the individual pupil and positioned themselves as somewhat in opposition to a somewhat oppressive school environment.     

Narrative social work: conversations between theory and practice

This paper begins by reviewing the current situation in social work practice. It is contended that much of the literature around social work consists of diverse models of practice that urge social workers to take up various theoretical positions. Equally, social workers are often encouraged to listen to the views of service users. In this complexity, it is often difficult for social workers to know which approach to take. This paper goes on to propose a narrative-based approach to social work practice. Narrative social work is defined as a conversation between theory and practice, which can lead to development in both social workers and service users. An example from the lead author's practice is used to outline the model in action. The paper concludes with some comments about the values inherent in narrative based social work.     

The Early Professional Experience of a New Social Worker in China

Social work is emerging as a rapidly developing profession in mainland China, a unique context that affects how these new social workers view themselves, their professional identity, and their work. Few studies explore the lived experiences of these new social workers as they enter agencies and begin working with clients while interacting with larger systems that influence clients and social workers alike. This case study highlights the experience of one of the first professionally educated social workers in Shanghai and describes the challenges and achievements of her first 5 years of professional practice. This case highlights the professional experiences and feelings of many social workers in China. We give recommendations for social work education and training.     

Professional stances and personal values in the realm of transnational family reunification with older parents: social work practice in an emerging field

National rules for family reunification take place in an increasingly transnational context. Social workers in Switzerland, whether they work in services for migrants or for elders, are confronted with requests for transnational family reunification with older parents. Such requests, while relatively rare, elicit responses which must be viewed as largely founded on professionals' values and norms regarding the care of elders, family cohabitation, the influence of cultural factors, and examined against a backdrop of increasing suspicion of motives for migration—especially in fields where migration issues have not been at the forefront of professional debate and practice. The militant stance of some services for migrants can thus be contrasted with the relative inexperience of professionals active in social services for elders, who rarely encounter recent migrants. The latter are more likely to reflect their own private—and unexamined—views when advising clients in a field characterised by complexity and instability. The authors interviewed social workers and families in two Swiss cantons. Their results point to ways in which distinct professional cultures could enrich each other and provide social workers with tools to critically analyse their own practice in a very difficult field, the contours of which remain largely unexplored.     

Social Work and Criminal Justice

SUMMARY

We shall begin with the principal, and complicated, conclusion: Regrettably, the social work profession has largely abandoned the criminal justice field. That is not to say that social workers are not employed in criminal justice settings. Certainly they are. Significant numbers of social workers earn their living as probation and parole officers, caseworkers in public defender offices, counselors in correctional institutions and halfway houses, and so on. As a profession, however, social work no longer has a major presence in the criminal justice field (Gibelman and Schervish, 1993). Relatively few social workers embark on their professional education with the aim of employment in the criminal justice field. Virtually no courses in social work education programs focus explicitly or comprehensively on criminal justice (Knox and Roberts, 2002; McNeece and Roberts, 1997). Workshops offered at professional conferences or continuing education seminars rarely focus on criminal justice issues per se. And, relatively little serious scholarship on criminal justice issues is authored by social workers.

Interestingly, this has not always been the state of affairs. Earlier in the profession's history, social workers were much more visible and vocal participants in dialogue, debate, research, and practice related to criminal justice. Ideally-in light of social work's unique perspectives on practice and social problems, and the profession's noble value base-the profession will reclaim its preoccupation with criminal justice. As Sarri (2001) concludes with respect to social workers' involvement in the juvenile justice system in particular:

Thirty years ago, social workers were in leadership positions in juvenile justice in the majority of states. In the 1980s, a gradual decline began in agencies and in social work education for practice in juvenile justice. Some have suggested that the decline was at least partially due to professional resistance to working in coercive settings with involuntary clients. However, given the millions of people now caught up in the criminal justice system who are not receiving the social services they desperately need, it is a priority that social work return to a more central role in criminal justice. (p. 453)     

The Student-Supervisor Relationship in Social Work Education

Among the skills social workers claim for their professional practice, the understanding and use of a professional relationship is one of the most important. Most practitioners are familiar with the theoretical and practical issues of this subject, but for students they are among the most fundamental learning requirements of the social work course.     

Students' Use of Self: Teaching Implications

Social workers acknowledge that they bring more than their professional skills and knowledge to practice, hence the emphasis in many social work programs on enhancing students' self knowledge. After a general overview of self‐knowledge activities for students, the gap between insight and practice is highlighted. The empirical literature is reviewed to find specific and purposeful self enactments, defined as functional ways in which workers intentionally apply their self to practice. Located within professional boundaries, such self enactments potentially form the basis upon which students might consider how to apply their own personal self.     

Professional Distance and Social Work: Stretching the Elastic?

Abstract

Professional distance and the parallel concept of models of practice reliant on professional objectivity have been major platforms in professional education. In social work, these ideas are often seen as contentious, unreasonable and, in some cases, unrealistic. Radical, feminist and rural social work approaches, for example, suggest that the expert role is not only inappropriate, but can be counter-productive and disrespectful of the people with whom we work. Postmodern approaches call for a deconstruction of professionalism in favour of context-specific partnerships between worker and client. How can workers ensure good, professional practice within a more flexible approach to professional distance and expertise? What are the issues and how may they be resolved? Are the boundaries of the professional relationship elastic and, if so, what are the consequences for practice and the individual worker? The present article explores the notion of flexible, elastic boundaries using literature and research from radical, postmodern, feminist and rural social work approaches.     

A SWOT analysis of social work education in Canada

This paper draws upon the research carried out for a study of human resource needs of social workers in Canada to make a SWOT analysis of social work education and the profession. Strengths that were identified included a holistic practice orientation; the linkage between theory and practice; regulation and certification; a generalist approach to practice; increased cultural relevance of social work education; high quality social work programs; a continued demand for social workers; and the values of the profession. Weaknesses included a lack of professional identification, or identity crisis; an inability to promote the profession; the diffuse knowledge base of the profession; conflict between the values of social action and social control; a lack of preparation to manage the stress of our work; insufficient aboriginal, visible minority and multicultural members of the profession; and for aboriginal people, that social work can be seen as a residual effect of colonization. Threats to the profession included a trend to neoliberalism; increasing identification of social workers with the bureaucracy; increasing managerialization; increased community responsibility for service delivery; and interdisciplinarity. Opportunities identified included design of cost effective programs which meet service user needs; exercise of responsibility for social advocacy; development of managerial competence in social workers; extension of job opportunities through privatization; and articulation of social work competencies.     

Evidence-Based <Emphasis Type="Italic">Practices</Emphasis> Do Not Exist

The original process model of evidence-based practice (EBP) is described, and contrasted with the empirically supported treatments (EST) initiative which designated selected interventions as meeting some evidentiary benchmark (e.g., supported by two-well-designed randomized controlled trials). EBP does not utilize lists of ESTs, and designating a given psychotherapy as empirically supported is actually antithetical to the EBP decision-making process. Much of the resistance to EBP within social work may be attributable to confusion between EBP as it was originally conceived as a mutual decision-making process occurring between the clinician and the client, and the promulgation of lists of EST and the subsequent urging that social workers select their psychotherapies from such lists. The latter is not scientifically justifiable, nor does it taken into account other variables crucial to EBP, such as professional values, clinical expertise, client preferences and values, and available resources. EBP as it was originally conceived has much to add to the practice of clinical social work.