Social work intervention with bereaved children

Abstract

Bereavement in childhood can seriously affect a child's development. There is a tendency to diminish the child's experience of loss because bereaved parents are often less sensitive to their children and because children express their grief in a more discreet manner than is typical of adult grief. This tendency leads to the child's needs being underestimated and under-reported. A model of social work intervention which advocates short-term involvement has been shown to have a significant effect upon the well-being of the child and his family. The paper begins with a brief review of the literature on mourning, which highlights various perspectives on the role and nature of the process. A model of mourning which embraces the differences between adult and child mourning will be proposed which is informed by the principles of attachment theory and defined as a continuing process of adjustment rather than a resolvable experience of loss. This model of mourning has implications for social work intervention and is the foundation of the practice model. The practice model involves six bereavement counselling sessions with the parent, six play sessions with the child and formal and informal involvement with the child's teacher. It has four aims: (I) to enhance sensitivity in the parent to the child's experience of loss and mode of mourning, (2) to develop an improved pattern of communication within the child-parent relationship, (3) to develop resources for the child in his personal environment and (4) to enhance the child's resourcefulness within his mourning thus enabling him to feel more competent in the longer term. The model is founded upon an awareness of the need for short-term intervention within the context of a long-term issue and seeks to address both perspectives simultaneously. Some of children's commoner responses to bereavement will be outlined within the context of the play sessions and methods for resolving the problems associated with them will be discussed. Finally the nature of reasonable outcomes for the work will be considered.     

Aloha and ambiguity: Social work with children in Hawaii

Hawaii's children grow up in a rich and multifaceted environment which shapes their growth in unique ways. Strong influences from Japanese, Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese, Korean and Samoan cultures join with a variety of European ethnic groups to enrich the cultural climate of Hawaii. Intermarriage is common and cultural diversity the norm. A strong military presence and a transient tourist population both represent jobs for many residents and influence the philosophy and behavior of the people. A high cost of living forces most families to have at least two wage earners in order to survive. Social work in Hawaii must recognize the usual stresses which all families face as well as some that are unique to this island state. The need to see life through the eyes of another is one of the basic social work values which presents a real challenge for social workers with the children and families of Hawaii.in full time private practice in Kailua, Hawaii.     

Social work with vulnerable families and children in 11 Russian regions

Purpose. The purpose of the study was to describe and analyse how key actors in the social sector in Russian regions identify problems, objectives and social work achievements in connection with vulnerable families and children.

Methods. University personnel conducted 209 interviews using semi-structured questionnaires.

Results. Family problems were reported to be related to poverty, parents’ alcohol abuse, the child's behaviour, the child's lack of social skills, domestic conflicts and problems getting adequate housing. The view of the majority of the respondents was that social orphanhood depends on poverty, alcohol abuse and the family's diminished role in society. Family incomes have improved but services have become more expensive. The social workers mostly put the child, not the family, in focus. Alcohol abuse was considered to be a greater problem in wealthier regions. Analyses between key groups showed that the respondents ranked problems differently, had similar ways of defining important objectives, but had divergent opinions on what social work could achieve concerning, for example, re-establishing the child's contacts with his/her biological parents.

Conclusions. The respondents seem to be highly ambivalent toward alcohol abuse as a social problem and toward biological parents in vulnerable families. Social work in the regions is a profession in the process of formation.     

Social work intervention with Bedouin-Arab children in the context of blood vengeance.

Blood vengeance is a culturally specific phenomenon that can place Bedouin-Arab children at high risk of neglect. This case study examines the psychological and social implications of vengeance on children, the children's coping strategies, and the role of social work. The social work function includes nonauthoritarianism, strategies for forming a positive helping alliance, and various forms of culturally sensitive assessment and intervention. The study therefore yields insight into bridging the emic-etic gap in conceptualizing and responding to child neglect in a non-Western society.     

Policy-practice in social work and social work education in Israel

Policy-practice is a form of social work intervention that is intended to influence social policy. It is linked to an understanding of the role of social workers which places the struggle for social justice at the forefront of social work activity. However, this form of social work intervention has remained on the sidelines of social work practice and education in most welfare states. This paper seeks to understand the role that policy-practice and social policy play, and have played, in social work and social work education in Israel. The findings indicate that, despite a growth in interest in the political role of social workers in Israel during the 1970s, policy-practice has remained a mode of practice adopted by a minority of members of the profession in Israel. An empirical study of the curriculums of the schools of social work in Israel indicates that this is the case for the study program in most of the schools. The reasons for this can be linked primarily to the overwhelming influence of American social work upon the development of the Israeli profession and to the process of liberalization and privatization of the Israeli welfare state in the last two decades.     

Social work ethics and children: Protection versus empowerment

Evidence indicates that a growing proportion of children and adolescents experience traditional child protective services as intrusive, oppressive, and even exploitive. Professionals tend to deny the reality that youngsters experience, project their own perceptions and vulnerabilities onto youngsters, and refuse to recognize the ability and right of youngsters to control their own lives. Empowerment of minors is an ethical obligation of the social work profession and the only true protection from abuse and neglect.     

Social work with Bosnian Muslim refugee children and families: a review of the literature

More than two million Bosnian Muslims were ethnically cleansed in the Balkan region; of these, 200,000 were killed while the others were forced to flee their homes and become refugees. This article focuses on the influence of societal and cultural values coupled with wartime experiences on the transition of Bosnian refugee families to their new countries. Consideration is given to culturally competent theoretical frameworks and practice principles social workers can use to assist Bosnian Muslim children and families in their adaptation process within their resettlement communities.     

Social work direct practice with women prisoners

Abstract

A general awareness of destructive cults is increasing with a number of groups self-destructing in recent years. What is generally less well known is the phenomenon of smaller, but no less destructive groups that are found in society. From the author's experience, few health professionals are knowledgable about cult dynamics and the variegated approach needed to address the therapeutic concerns of those who leave such groups. This paper will highlight some of the difficulties for the individual who leaves an abusive group, and will offer guidelines for the social worker who attempts to understand the needs of the ex-cultist. It will briefly outline some of the thought reforming processes that an individual can undergo in certain groups, and explore various facets of assessment and intervention.     

Ethnic-sensitive work with Hmong refugee children

This article examines three distinguishing characteristics of Hmong culture, and gives examples of the problems these differences can create in serving Hmong children and their families.     

Social work intervention to protect children: Aspects of research and practice

This paper seeks to bring together three issues about which I have felt a nagging, persistent sense of unease over the past 10 years or more. They can be formulated thus: (a) Why is there a great divide between the professional debate on child abuse and that about other aspects of child care policy and practice; (b) Why is accepted good practice so often not carried out; (c) Why are the related implications of research so hard to translate into effective practice? These questions become even more pressing in the present political climate and in the context of the Implementation of the Children Act 1989.     

Social work supervision in Germany

Social work supervision came to Germany from the USA after 1950. Since the 1970s it has developed very differently there from its Anglo-American origins. Supervision in the German-speaking countries has, in part, become a new profession; it offers its services to social work, the health system, pedagogical services, administration and even to the commercial field. This article describes the development of social work supervision as a discipline.     

Social work and resettlement

Summary

This paper describes counselling in a social work agency that provides hostel accommodation for single homeless women, and works to resettle them into permanent accommodation. Given that the Barclay Report described the practice of social work as made up of the two elements of counselling and social care planning, the paper explores the way counselling is influenced when carried on in an agency with a specific ‘social care’ function. This is contrasted with counselling in agencies that offer a counselling service alone. Examples will be given of people using an attachment to a hostel, and to a worker, as they cope with change and make psychological growth. The power of such workers can only be exercised if they are true to the agency function, and gear their interventions to the task of resettlement. If workers do this they may find that as well as resettling people into accommodation, they are resettling them into life.     

Social work training in Asian countries

The welfare of working mothers is a subject which has captured the attention many organizations and professional people who have examined the implications from their own particular points of view. For example, among Australian studies, Scott (1962) examined the personality development of pre-school children of working mothers, Bryson, et al. (1965), considered the effects on family life, and Nurcombe (1971) made a general assessment of some aspects of the welfare of infants and children under three years of age whose mothers are in full-time employment. The Women's Bureau of the Commonwealth Department of Labour and National Service has published booklets on various related topics under the general heading of “Women in the Workforce” and statements on policies related to the day care of children have been prepared by such bodies as the Australian Pre-school Association, the Australian Council of Social Service, the Queensland Creche and Kindergarten Association, the Victorian Council of Social Service and the Social Planning and Action Committee of the Australian Association of Social Workers.     

Social work and management in Germany

Within the context of social modernization, social work has increasingly moved towards the perspective of economics. This development is based on the realisation that social work can only be preserved through the appropriate management of its organizations as providers of social services. What are the reasons for this? This question will be approached from two different angles, first from that of political economy and second from a business managerial perspective. After this, implications for the improvement of the competences of leadership in social work organizations will be introduced.     

Social work intervention in adolescent-to-parent abuse

This article is exploratory qualitative research which highlights the importance of interventions in families when the elders in the family are abused. The findings suggest there is a misinterpretation of this form of abuse occurring in homes. Responses from participants clearly shows the nature of the abuse parents were experiencing. Dissemination of information through workshops and literature would benefit first respondents identifying cases of adolescent-to-parent abuse. Information shared would also benefit parents and the wider society in recognizing this form of abuse. The authors recommend mechanisms for coping strategies that can be implemented for families in crisis.