Burnout in Chinese social work: Differential predictability of the components of the Maslach Burnout Inventory

Burnout is a worldwide phenomenon among social welfare workers. This study examined how burnout affects student social workers and professional social workers. It first examined the construct validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory‐General Survey (MBI‐GS) scale, using data from two Chinese samples (848 student social workers and 748 professional social workers). The original three‐factor model was regarded as superior to other competing models. Investigation of the second‐order factor model indicated that exhaustion and cynicism are core components but that personal efficacy is not. The research also revealed the differential predictability of the three subscales of the MBI‐GS. Our expectation that differential patterns of effects could be predicted was largely supported. Professional efficacy plays a key mediating role in the relationship between student social workers’ professional identity and their satisfaction with fieldwork, while social workers’ cynicism is the main mediator in the relationship between their professional identity and turnover intention. Therefore, identifying at‐risk students and professional social workers to undertake appropriate intervention strategies that focus on both their professional identity and different dimensions of burnout may be an effective way to prevent students’ dissatisfaction and reduce social worker turnover.     

Research into the hardware construction mode of social work laboratory: based on the case study of the social work laboratories in seven institutions of higher education in Beijing and Wuhan

With the development of the social work profession in China, the demand for Social Work graduates is growing. In order to meet the manpower need for social workers, various colleges and universities have set up training programmes for the social work profession, and the need for social work labs which are considered a required facility for professional social work education is also rapidly growing. However, because of the lack of adequately trained professional social workers, there is no consensus among social work academics as to how social work labs should be set up. Based on a literature review and empirical research, this paper summarises and analyses the experiences of how social work labs have been set up in Beijing and Wuhan, both in terms of hardware and software, to meet professional requirements.     

职业社会工作者的专业标准与考核评价体系研究

我国社会工作职业化进程方兴未艾。实际社会工作从业人员如何转变为专业社工,高校的社会工作专业教育和社会培训机构如何把握专业社会工作者的标准,解决这两大问题的关键在于,尽快制定和建立职业社会工作者的专业标准和考核评价体系。作为整个社会工作者职业制度体系的核心机制,职业社会工作者的专业标准和考核评价体系,为职业社会工作者提供了从业标准和实践规范,从而为打造一支高水平、强素质的社会工作人才队伍提供了科学的制度保障。     

职业社会工作者的专业标准与考核评价体系研究

我国社会工作职业化进程方兴未艾。实际社会工作从业人员如何转变为专业社工,高校的社会工作专业教育和社会培训机构如何把握专业社会工作者的标准,解决这两大问题的关键在于,尽快制定和建立职业社会工作者的专业标准和考核评价体系。作为整个社会工作者职业制度体系的核心机制,职业社会工作者的专业标准和考核评价体系,为职业社会工作者提供了从业标准和实践规范,从而为打造一支高水平、强素质的社会工作人才队伍提供了科学的制度保障。     

未成年人犯罪矫治社会工作的介入途径与方法

现代犯罪矫治工作不再是司法人员的专职,社会工作者和社会志愿者也可以加入进来。社会工作者具有专业知识并掌握大量的信息资源。应当积极介入到未成年人犯罪矫治工作中去。未成年人特殊的生理、心理特征和矫治领域的不同,要求社工采用专业的科学的介入方法与之相适应。     

县域社会工作委员会职能的行使路径——以“专业社会工作者的工作模式”为发展方向

当前中国社会工作的发展之重点不在于盲目的扩大专业社会工作者人才队伍的规模,而更在于立足于现在已经存在的社会工作者岗位如何发挥出应有的作用,并随之提高社会工作者的职业声望。从而,基层社会工作委员会的工作内容和工作方式的明确化问题的解决已经迫在眉睫。本文提出县级社会工作委员会应采用专业社会工作者的工作模式,走出一条符合中国实际的社会工作专业化、职业化的道路。     

县域社会工作委员会职能的行使路径——以“专业社会工作者的工作模式”为发展方向

当前中国社会工作的发展之重点不在于盲目的扩大专业社会工作者人才队伍的规模,而更在于立足于现在已经存在的社会工作者岗位如何发挥出应有的作用,并随之提高社会工作者的职业声望。从而,基层社会工作委员会的工作内容和工作方式的明确化问题的解决已经迫在眉睫。本文提出县级社会工作委员会应采用专业社会工作者的工作模式,走出一条符合中国实际的社会工作专业化、职业化的道路。     

Abortion: With Particular Reference to the Developing Role of Counselling

Summary This paper suggests that counselling is a rapidly expandingfield in which professional and para-professional workers mightcombine to produce an effective service, given appropriate selectionand training procedures. Initially these are seen as being providedby professionally qualified social workers with relevant experience.The author has used her own social work experience in abortioncounselling to exemplify the article and to discuss some ofthe existing problems for workers and clients alike.     

Constructing social work identity based on the reflexive self

Summary In this article, the social work identity is conceptualizedbased on concepts of the self (Benjamin, 1995; Foucault, 1988),rather than concepts associated with ego psychology. Socialwork students, teachers and practitioners have historicallyattempted to gain a sense of ego mastery and control by theacquisition of theory to enhance skill-based practice expertise(Austin, 1952; Zetzel, 1953; Bandler, 1960; Memmot and Brennan,1998). In so doing, they have attempted to manage anxiety asa means to enhance learning. Traditional social work functionssuch as acceptance, non-judgemental attitudes, and empathy (Biestek,1957; Woods and Hollis, 1990) have been utilized to encouragepractitioners to manage their feelings related to difference.We argue, however, that the social work identity is enrichedwhen social workers allow their selves to be in a state of disassemblyin the presence of the other (Smith, 1997). When social workersexperience their selves as complex and dialogical, they aremore open to the influence of the other (Bakhtin, 1993). Wemake the case for practitioners to work on a reflexive selfrather than attempting to achieve ego control through the managementof anxiety.     

企业社会工作介入农民工服务：内容和推进模式

企业社会工作是专业社会工作的重要的实务领域,是专业社会工作服务于农民工的重要路径。企业社会工作介入农民工服务,将有助于农民工问题的解决。企业社会工作可以在维权和协调劳资关系、协助解决各种实际困难和问题、教育与培训、营造有利于农民工的企业文化等诸多方面为农民工提供服务。企业社会工作介入农民工服务主要有＂企业主动引入＂和＂政府购买服务＂两种基本的推进模式,以及作为重要补充的＂校企合作＂、＂社会捐助＂等其他推进模式。     

In Search of a Professional Supervisory Practice: External Social Work Supervision in China

This article examines the importance of supportive and educative functions in the practice of social work supervision and identifies the common features of external social work supervision. Using a qualitative study design, the author explores social workers’ need for professional supervision and support, and the functions and roles commonly played by external supervisors. A mixed model of internal and external supervision is used in some countries; however, such a method is not commonly used or discussed in the literature in Asian regions. The findings of this study suggest that the practice of external supervision should be considered by social work agencies in China. Arranging appropriate external supervisors and establishing a supportive supervisory environment at an agency level are recommended to facilitate the professional growth of social work practitioners.     

Professional and personal hierarchies of ethical principles

We explore social workers’ perception of the importance and rank ordering of ethical principles. Do they have a generally agreed upon hierarchy of ethical principles? Do they apply similar hierarchies of ethical principles when facing different cases? Are their professional and personal hierarchies of ethical principles similar? The findings based on a structured questionnaire indicated that while social workers attach high importance to most ethical principles closely associated with social work, they do not hold a universal hierarchy of ethical principles. Social workers change their ethical hierarchies in different professional situations but there is no difference between their professional and personal ethical hierarchies. Implications for practice and education are discussed.     

Between the maternal and the professional: the impact of being a child welfare officer on motherhood

Child welfare officers experience stress from exposure to child neglect and abuse and the burden of responsibility for children's well‐being. This qualitative study addresses the question: How do social workers who are child welfare officers perceive and cope with the influence of their professional occupation on their relationships with their own children? The research is based on in‐depth interviews with a purposive sample of 10 child welfare workers who are mothers (of 2–4 children aged 2–23 years). The data analysis illustrates how the professional identity and the maternal identity of the child welfare officer fluctuate between two positions. The first is ‘anxious motherhood’ in which anxiety is the prism through which the welfare officer views the world as dangerous for her children, stimulating protective, control‐enhancing actions. The second position is reflective motherhood in which the welfare worker struggles with her own stresses and conflicts as a mother and searches for an experience of meaningful, positive motherhood. The findings reinforce the need to raise the consciousness of child welfare officers regarding the impact of encountering distress and trauma on their own well‐being as parents. In this way, they can prevent secondary traumatization and enhance professional and maternal growth.     

Social work in a conflict context: Challenges facing social workers with indigenous inhabitants of unrecognised villages in Israel

This qualitative study presents the experiences of social workers whose clients are the inhabitants of unrecognised Bedouin Arab villages in Israel. It used in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with 25 participants, recruited by the snowball method. These social workers reported that they are caught between their personal and professional values, on the one hand, and employer regulations, government policy and government law, on the other – which greatly limits their ability to fulfil their professional role. The social workers also comment that they are working in a ‘grey area’ in which the government’s policy is unclear. This adds another layer of complexity to their work and reveals the differential implementation of critical social work principles by social workers with different cultural identities.     

关于专业社会工作本土化的构想和实践——以浙江省杭州市为例

专业社会工作本土化是一个迫切需要解决的课题。一般而言,推动专业社会工作的本土化,必须与社会转型期的政治、经济、文化以及社会的实际状况相适应。单就杭州市而言,其推进专业社会工作本土化的主要做法有：在政府的主导下,将专业社会工作融入城市社区建设;以社区管理体制改革为契机,在社区设立专业社会工作岗位;将社工人才的培养纳入＂党管人才,人才强市＂战略的总体部署,侧重以＂存量提升＂的方式解决社会工作队伍的专业化问题;以建立社会工作资格认证制度为突破口,逐步提高专业社会工作的职业化水平。概而言之,杭州市实行的是＂政府主导型＂的专业社会工作本土化策略。     

社会工作专业实习中的关系问题反思

建立和处理各种关系是社会工作专业实习中一项非常重要的工作。初次实习的学生因为个人经验、技能以及自我的局限,在建立和处理关系上反映出一些值得深入思考的问题。本文重点讨论了学生处理与实习机构和与服务对象的关系问题。最后提出处理一切关系的关键是学生的专业自我。     

实用专业主义:广州市家庭综合服务中心社会工作者“专业能力”的界定及其逻辑

本研究的目的是找出中国社会工作者专业能力体系及其背后的判定逻辑。本研究运用“模糊德尔菲法”的设计,让广东省高校教育界和实务界的专家参考英格兰、美国和中国香港地区的专业能力,选择其中他们认为对广州市家庭综合服务中心社会工作者重要的指标。结果显示,共有价值伦理、理论知识和实务技巧等3个层面,合计24项能力指标被纳入本地的能力体系。经过分析这些专家判定逻辑,本研究还发现该能力体系存在“实用专业主义”的倾向,包括“犬儒思想”“去政治化”和“技术化”等特征。     

Social workers' attitudes towards social welfare policy

As social workers are widely called upon to take an active role in influencing social welfare policy, a better understanding of their views on the welfare state is crucial. This study examines the attitudes of 422 Israeli social workers from diverse social welfare agencies regarding social welfare policy. The framework for understanding these attitudes includes the notions of professionalisation processes, social work values, and the class position of social workers. The study's findings indicate that support for the welfare state is quite moderate and these reflect more the class affiliation of social workers than their professional values and the professionalisation process.     

What social workers talk about when they talk about child care proceedings in the District Court in Ireland

Court proceedings are a fundamental and increasingly time‐consuming aspect of social work practice. However, to date, there is a relatively modest body of literature considering the experiences of social workers in instituting child care proceedings and giving evidence in court. This paper draws on data gathered as part of an in‐depth qualitative study of professional experiences of District Court child care proceedings in Ireland and presents findings regarding the experiences of social workers in bringing court applications for child protection orders. It seeks to answer 2 key questions: First, how do child protection and welfare social workers experience the adversarial nature of child care proceedings in the District Court? Second, what are the views of child protection and welfare social workers on the strengths and weaknesses of child care proceedings as a decision‐making model for children and young people? The main findings are that social workers expressed significant reservations about the predominantly adversarial model that currently operates in Irish child care proceedings and about the level of respect that social workers are afforded within the operation of the system.