Group Work and Social Justice: Designing Pedagogy for Social Change

In this article the authors explore the gap between education and action in putting the social work core value of social justice into practice. Describing how their School of Social Work has taken up this challenge, the authors analyze how a new social action course helps bridge this gap and draw on student reflection on their experiences and assignments in the course to show how students concretize and interiorize the meaning of social action and social justice. Learning by doing social action through a case study, group work becomes the vehicle through which students act on social issues and work for social change.     

社会管理创新与社区教育发展形势分析

社会管理创新是当下社会管理的热点话题。文章对广州社会管理创新背景下社区教育发展形势进行了分析,提出社会管理创新为社区教育的发展赋予了可持续发展的人本理念、搭建了与众不同的组织载体、带来了千载难逢的时代机遇;社区教育作为社会管理创新的内容和有效形式,也将助推社会管理创新的实现。     

Participatory community organizing revisited: political involvement and social development in two post-socialist villages in north China

The paper, based on seven months of intensive ethnographic fieldwork in two neighbouring villages in north China, describes a more complicated relationship between members' political involvement and community social development than is generally perceived in literature. The intriguing mechanisms and contents of political participation presented call for a close examination of grassroots political economy, local authority, democratic institutions, and community organizing in the specific social contexts of post-socialist rural China under reforms. The study argues that a context-sensitive understanding of participatory democracy and community development is necessary for the success of macro social work practices, and therefore needs to be built into the curriculum of community organizing and international social work and addressed in social work professional training.     

Surviving in “Localistic Communitas”: Endogenous Multicultural Community Organizing among Migrant Workers in Post-Socialist China

ABSTRACT

Based on 5 months of ethnographic fieldwork and 43 in-depth interviews with villagers of T Township, the author uncovers an emerging approach of endogenous multicultural community practice in the cities where the villagers have migrated to work. Cadres and villagers transplant their localistic networks to the new urban contexts while transforming hierarchical and clientelistic personal ties into more horizontal relations of comradeship. Through these redefined ties, they manage to transcend the persisting boundaries of village units, class status, and lineage institutions that segment the rural society, and succeed in mobilizing community resources to fight for urban survival and social justice. Although neither community service nor the social work profession is fully institutionalized in contemporary China, innovative organizing is appearing in grassroots communities in response to sweeping social changes. This article draws academic attention to these community practices and discusses their implications for the future development of strength-based social work and social services in post-socialist China.     

To be or to be trained to be: On emerging and diverging ideological traditions in organizing day care activities for people with severe mental disorders in Sweden

Organized activities for people with severe mental disorders have until recently been the societal task of one human service organization, the medical speciality of psychiatry. With former psychiatric impatients moving out into the local community and with heavier dependence on outpatient polyclinic care, the situation is slowly changing. Day care activities for people with severe mental disorder are organized with an increasing involvement of the social services. The aim of this article is, using data from a national survey carried out in 1991 in Sweden, to describe and categorize how day care units interpret their task. Results show that claims-making activities still adhere largely to a therapeutic paradigm in spite of the outspoken social character of the work of organizing everyday life activities.     

Small Steps Toward Social Justice

This article assumes that social workers can choose to interpret their knowledge base in a way that promotes social justice, that is, that advances equality and fairness in the society. It takes a fresh look at group and mutual-aid dynamics, seeing the two sets of dynamics, foundational knowledge for group workers, as linked to what happens inside as well as outside the group, in the community. Some challenges are addressed in conclusion.     

“Working with COW”: Social Work Supporting Older Women Living in the Community

ABSTRACT

Australia, like all developed Western countries, is experiencing a demographic shift resulting in an increasing proportion of the population being over the age of 65 years. Contrary to stereotypes, the vast majority of older people live independently in communities. This article explores the potential of social work practice informed by community development principles to enable socially disadvantaged older women to live in vibrant and supportive communities, in which they feel safe and are able to access the support services they need. It argues that participation in social action not only builds older women’s well-being but also enables them to become (or continue to be) agents for social change in local communities. Adopting a community-based research methodology, this article draws on a decade of community development practice with the Concerned Older Women’s (COW) Group. This data suggests that community development practice based on participation, empowerment, and social action founded on respectful relationships may accrue significant benefits to individuals and the broader community. This social work practice creates the social conditions to facilitate older women’s capacity to work collectively to achieve social change, challenging ageist stereotypes.     

Social cohesion in rural Australia: Framework for conformity or social justice?

While social cohesion has become a commonly accepted policy goal and framework in many ethnically diverse societies, there is a general concern in some academic literature that it can be a form of governmentality that constructs manageable subjects and communities, represses diversity and distracts attention from the social, political and economic production of inequalities. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in two rural Australian towns with ethnically diverse populations, this article engages with these criticisms of social cohesion while simultaneously asserting that social cohesion is viewed by local practitioners as a desirable objective for both strengthening intercultural community and addressing issues of social justice and inequality. We also aim to bring some needed clarity to relevant debates in the literature in distinguishing between social cohesion discourses used for normative and/or homogenising purposes versus frameworks developed in the academic literature with a concern for social justice and equality among diverse populations.     

Discourses of community: challenges for social work

The ambiguity of community allows it to be a space for a vast range of imposed and 'organic' social reproduction functions, and an accessible site for meaningful collective action, but it also has the potential for disempowerment. The breadth of the concept of 'community' allows for it to be critiqued as ephemeral or as romantic fiction, but also used and exploited by government. It is because it retains such power to evoke reaction and contest that we need to understand the power that drives it, and the ideological purpose for which it may be used or misused. The notion of discourse immediately becomes useful. We can recognise competing discourses of community, and examine how they are used politically. We can recognise ways in which social work can engage with community discourses of empowerment rather than control. The article will explore a number of discourses and examine their usefulness for practice.     

The relationship between social work and environmental sustainability: Implications for interdisciplinary practice

Schmitz CL, Matyók T, James C, Sloan LM. The relationship between social work and environmental sustainability: Implications for interdisciplinary practice The Brundtland Commission, formally the World Commission on Environment and Development, established by the United Nations in 1983, links peace, security, development and the environment claiming that war, poverty and structural violence result in the oppression and degradation of the human community as well as the physical environment. Likewise, human rights and social and environmental justice are intertwined, and social work, as a profession that collaborates across disciplines and within communities, is uniquely situated to provide leadership in the field of environmental studies. Its strong focus on human rights, social justice and community building creates a sound base from which to engage in the collaborative, creative, interactional processes required for environmental practice. This article seeks to discern a model for environmental social work within the context of interdisciplinary practice with peace and conflict workers and through the integration of inclusive models of economic development.     

Community Development, Partnership Governance and Dilemmas of Professionalization: Profiling and Assessing the Case of Ireland

Over the last two decades, Ireland has emerged as a paradigmaticcase of partnership governance. Underpinned by state-facilitatednational agreements that sought to maximize economic and socialdevelopment, ‘partnership’ was also held to includethe development of progressive social policies. The ‘communityand voluntary sector’ has been both the site and purportedvehicle for these progressive policies. In this context, communitydevelopment emerged as a discourse of social action that wasboth popular with what Donnelly-Cox and Jaffro (1999) have inthe Irish context called ‘second generation communitydevelopment’, i.e. the emergence of self-activated localcommunity groups informed by a social justice ethos, and tothe Irish state as a route to social inclusion for an arrayof marginalized social groups. Since the early 1990s, thesegroups have been the recipients of significantly increased statefunding. This resource has had a dramatic effect on the structureand nature of community development. In this paper, we outlineand assess the model of community development that has emergedin Ireland during this period. Based on empirical data arisingfrom a nationwide survey of community workers, we profile theextent of state funding; the consequent employment profile ofcommunity development workers and the impact on volunteerism;and the nature and consequence of community development’semerging relationship with the Irish state.     

Enhancing Social Support for Migrant Families: A Case Study of Community Services in a Shanghai Urban Village and Implications for Intervention

Recent years have witnessed the growing emphasis of the Chinese central government to develop community services as a method of building communities and strengthening social solidarity. With the increased involvement of multi‐generation households in China's internal rural‐to‐urban migration, however, little is known about what community services are available for migrant families. Nor do we know much about how such services can enhance social support for migrants, which is crucial for their psychological well‐being in managing the ongoing challenges that arise from migration and further integration into cities. This article presents a case study conducted in Shanghai where social services are emerging in a few urban villages. We begin with a brief background on China's rural‐to‐urban migration and the emergence of urban villages, followed by a discussion of community services and social support for Chinese migrant families. We then document existing services in an urban village to explore how they can influence migrant families' social support. Drawing on the perspective of service providers, we highlight the effects social work interventions can have on improving social support for migrant families. Finally, we propose an intervention framework based on multi‐dimensions of social support, emphasizing an integration of formal and informal social support through community services for migrant populations.     

Understandings of environmental injustice and sustainability in marginalized communities: A qualitative inquiry in Nevada

As eco‐social work practice and scholarship continues to grow, multiple frameworks are emerging to help guide the work. In this study, we interviewed 59 people affected by environmental injustice. Participants identified components within both environmental injustice and sustainability, as well as gaps that these models individually do not support. Therefore, we suggest that merging environmental justice with sustainability through centering justice (a component within environmental justice), and also finding solutions through technological advances (a component within sustainability), may best support these communities. In addition, the participants discussed the need for support, which social workers can provide.     

Family and community support among older Chilean adults: the importance of heterogeneous social support sources for quality of life

Family and community social networks act as social resources that promote well-being at advanced ages. In this study, we analyze the association between social support received from personal social networks (social support from various family members and friends) and community social networks (social support from neighbors and the neighborhood, age, ethnic, or religious group peers and formal social support networks) and quality of life (QoL) for a sample of older Chilean persons (n = 777). The results confirm that social support from family (partner, children, and extended family) and friends, integration in the community (neighbors) and social support from informal systems (social groups) are associated with QoL. Moreover, the model including both types of support explains 25.8% of variance in QoL. The results and their possible implications are discussed.     

Engaging men for gender justice: Overcoming barriers to girls' education in the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan

Resistance to girls' education is a social justice and human rights issue in many countries. In Pakistan, where the lowest school enrollment for girls is in Pashtun areas bordering Afghanistan, it is especially problematic. Pashtun society is patriarchal: Men have the power to construct obstacles to girls' education, and to remove them. This article therefore explores a different way of overcoming barriers to gender justice, namely through the participation of men. A qualitative Delphi process and in‐depth interviews with Pashtun men led to their consensus on seven key points of leverage where action could be taken. Participants agreed that progress toward gender parity could be achieved only by making allies of powerful community leaders, especially religious leaders, and by utilizing existing institutions, such as the mosque, Jirga (council of elders), and the men's guest house. For each point of leverage, a policy recommendation is made for increasing girls' participation in education.     

Multiculturalism and social cohesion: A Japanese community’s perceptions of “being Australian”

Based on a large‐scale survey conducted with parents from Japanese language schools in Sydney in 2015, this paper aims to review multiple dimensions of social cohesion in the Japanese ethnic community in Australia. Looking at several indices such as economic, political, and cultural integration, the paper describes the social profile of the Japanese ethnic community, questioning the generic perception of the community as a coherent body of middle‐class migrants in Australia. This was achieved through a comparative analysis with outcomes of a national survey of the Australian population on social cohesion and draws attention to the ways in which a particular sense of social cohesion with Australian society is constructed by Japanese migrants. The study found a differentiated sense of belonging to the local community, country of residence (Australia), and nation of origin (Japan). It found communal diversity in the Japanese community resulting from there being a majority of women migrants who were part of cross‐border marriages and their children living in multicultural family circumstances. It was concluded that this configuration within the community leads to advocacy related to a re‐identification as a possible ethnic group of migrants that should be recognized in an inclusive migration settlement policy in Australia.     

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.     

Coordinating community organizations in urban China

Since its introduction in the 1980s, China's housing privatization reform has gradually transformed urban residents into private homeowners, and reinforced disparities in housing allocation and living conditions. Various studies have analyzed the mobilization of private homeowners in newly built, upscale apartment complexes. Using data from field observations and in-depth interviews conducted in five low-income, urban neighborhoods in Beijing in 1999–2000, this article investigates the shifts in the organizational and power structure in older, working-class communities. The article describes the changing status of traditional and newly developed organizations and agencies within these neighborhoods, and analyzes the underlying reasons for the displacements and conflicts they experienced. Drawing on the author's subsequent fieldwork with community organizations in the USA in 2001–2002, the article suggests means of coordinating community organizations in low-income, urban neighborhoods in China, and discusses the opportunities and challenges for the social work profession in its attempts to deliver social services and advocate social justice.     

Coordinating community organizations in urban China

Since its introduction in the 1980s, China's housing privatization reform has gradually transformed urban residents into private homeowners, and reinforced disparities in housing allocation and living conditions. Various studies have analyzed the mobilization of private homeowners in newly built, upscale apartment complexes. Using data from field observations and in-depth interviews conducted in five low-income, urban neighborhoods in Beijing in 1999–2000, this article investigates the shifts in the organizational and power structure in older, working-class communities. The article describes the changing status of traditional and newly developed organizations and agencies within these neighborhoods, and analyzes the underlying reasons for the displacements and conflicts they experienced. Drawing on the author's subsequent fieldwork with community organizations in the USA in 2001–2002, the article suggests means of coordinating community organizations in low-income, urban neighborhoods in China, and discusses the opportunities and challenges for the social work profession in its attempts to deliver social services and advocate social justice.     

Environmental justice at the heart of social work practice: Greening the profession

Social workers face many contemporary challenges. Alongside the difficulties of upholding human rights, social justice and active citizenship, are those of affirming environmental justice and care for planet earth in and through social work practice and addressing climate change and other disasters. I call for social workers to take action that addresses these issues as a strong, united profession that works alongside dispossessed and marginalised people who do not get their share of global resources, despite their limited ecological footprint. I suggest a new paradigm for practice rooted in environmental justice that enhances the well‐being of people, the flora, fauna and the ecosystem that sustains and supports us all – green social work, for practitioners supporting life in one interdependent world.