Parental acculturation and parenting in Chinese immigrant families: the mediating role of social support

This study provided updated evidence on how parental acculturation and social support were associated with parenting in a sample of Chinese immigrant families (n = 255). The results from multivariate regressions with a rich array of control variables showed that parents’ cultural preferences for friends, food and TV programmes of other cultures were significantly associated with more parental nurturance and less intergenerational conflict, but had no significant associations with the use of harsh discipline. Neither the length of parents’ residence in the U.S. nor their English proficiency was significantly associated with their parenting behaviours. Perceived social support played a significant mediating role in the relationships between parental acculturation and nurturance, but not in the relationships of parental acculturation with intergenerational conflict. The findings can help social service professionals to have a better understanding of the needs in supporting positive parenting behaviours and promoting intergenerational relationships in Chinese immigrant families.     

Parental stress and parenting in Chinese immigrant families: The mediating role of social support

As the population of Chinese immigrants has been growing rapidly in the United States, it has been understudied on the parenting behaviours as well as the roles parental stress and social support playing in parenting in this group. This study investigated whether parental stress was associated with parenting and whether this relationship was mediated by social support in a sample of 255 Chinese immigrant parents from the Survey of Asian American Families in New York City. Regression analyses with a rich array of control variables found that a higher level of parental stress and the presence of one or more stressors such as unemployment, low income, and low education were positively associated with the use of harsh discipline and parent–child conflicts and negatively associated with positive parenting practices. Social support functioned as a significant mediator in the relationships between parental stress and positive parenting practices but not in the relationships of parental stress with parent–child conflict or the use of harsh discipline.     

Helping the helpers: Post‐traumatic distress and need for help among Israeli social workers in foster care agencies following armed conflict

This study examined the associations between exposure to armed conflict, perceived support, work experience, needing help, and post‐traumatic distress among Israeli social workers in foster care agencies based on Conservation of Resources theory. The study used a mixed‐methods design. Six months after the end of an armed conflict, 82 social workers responded to a web‐based questionnaire with closed‐ and open‐ended questions. Results showed that exposure to the armed conflict was moderately associated with post‐traumatic stress symptoms and functional impairment. Only the workers' perceived need for personal help (but not help for professional matters) was positively associated with their psychological distress. The qualitative analysis suggests that social workers showed strengths and wanted help mainly to improve their professional skills. Yet they also elaborated on the complexities involved in conducting their professional work, especially home visits, because such visits put their own lives in danger and meant deserting their own families. Practice implications are as follows: Foster care agencies should make greater efforts to provide knowledge and skills, support, supervision, and a “safe haven” for their workers, in the context of armed conflict.     

Family engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic: Opportunities and challenges for school social work

The COVID-19 pandemic brought dramatic changes in schooling in the United States and across the world, including abrupt shifts to remote learning, immediate cessation of social contact, intensive family engagement in education and diminished school capacity for social–emotional supports. While the initial national lockdown was temporary, the long-lasting effects of the pandemic on society are still being revealed. This study contributes to a growing body of research exploring and documenting shifts in school social work practice in the United States during the COVID era. We used qualitative methods to explore how school social workers (SSWers) practised family engagement during the pandemic and their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of increased family engagement. Analysis of interviews with 20 SSWers from three US states (Colorado, Minnesota and Nevada) revealed five primary themes: reasons for family engagement, ways of engaging with families, frequency of family contact, challenges in engaging families and SSWers' attitudes and perceptions about family engagement. Results indicated a need for a comprehensive, organized and strategic family engagement plan in schools as we move into the post-acute phases of the pandemic. Future research should explore how SSWers may serve as leaders in the development of such plans and how interprofessional practice might advance this agenda further.     

Social protection systems and the future of work: Ensuring social security for digital platform workers

Digitalization is transforming societies and economies worldwide at an unprecedented scale and pace. In the wake of automation and digitalization, new forms of employment have been emerging in various occupations and sectors, such as the digital platform economy. The emergence of new forms of employment, such as work on digital platforms, requires that existing social protection systems adapt to the specific situation and needs of such workers, as to realize the human right to social security for all. Current social protection coverage for workers on digital crowdwork platforms reveals significant gaps in social security coverage. Where such coverage exists, it is often provided through the workers’ previous or additional jobs, or indirectly through their spouses or other family members. This raises questions about digital platforms free riding on the traditional economy with regard to the financing of social security. How can social protection systems adapt to changing forms of work to ensure full and effective coverage for workers in all forms of employment, including those in “new” forms of employment? How can workers in all types of employment, including those on digital platforms, be protected in an adequate and comprehensive way, combining contributory and non‐contributory mechanisms and based on equitable and sustainable financing mechanisms, so as to ensure adequate social protection to all?     

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.     

Child protection social workers in Italy and the Covid-19 challenges: Redefining services to support children and their families

During the Covid-19 pandemic, social workers played an essential role in helping people understand what was happening and cope with new unforeseen difficulties, even carrying out new tasks and activities. Social workers were asked to redefine their work methods to maintain aid relationships with families. This reorganization was complex and challenging for child protection services. The paper will discuss the results of a qualitative research project aimed to describe the Italian child protection social workers' functions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Three online focus groups were conducted with child protection social workers. These focus groups helped researchers explore the new organization of social workers' work in child protection services, which was aimed at maintaining their role and performing the new tasks they need to carry out to support families and children. Three main areas of discussion emerged from the qualitative analysis: (1) postponed and maintained activities; (2) remote work advantages and challenges; and (3) new professional learning.     

Job‐related stress,social support,and work–family conflict among Mexican workers in a multinational company: A case study of a Korean‐owned,US‐branded former “sweatshop” in Mexico

Due to globalization and outsourcing of commodity production, an estimated 60 million workers are employed in the garment industry by multinational corporations, yet relatively little is known about the work–family tensions experienced by these workers. Building on role stress and job demands–resources theories, this study employed mixed methods to examine job stressors, support, and work–family conflict (WFC) in a sample of 168 Mexican workers in a multinational factory, a rarely studied and underserved population. As hypothesized, results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that workers experienced high job stress and WFC. Social support from spouses, family, and friends increased the positive association between job stress and WFC, suggesting that culturally relevant obligations increased WFC. This study highlights the need for multinational corporations to implement culturally adaptive, family‐friendly policies. Implications for social workers in multinational work organizations and for future research are discussed.     

Global–regional interaction to extend access to social protection for migrant workers: Insights from ASEAN and MERCOSUR

Universal access to social protection for migrant workers is emerging as a problematic issue in the implementation of free movement regimes at a regional level. This article focuses on the concept of regional governance as a possible mechanism to address the unsolved challenges of social security regimes to extend coverage. To this end, the article looks at current legal developments in two regional projects (ASEAN and MERCOSUR) to identify a creative approach to strengthen the development of national floors of social protection. The interest of using these case studies lies in exploring whether the regional integration process can play a major role in the progressive extension of social protection rights to migrant workers by facilitating the adoption of social security agreements.     

Emotions, self-interest and support for social welfare in a Chinese society with reference to a Dutch study on welfare legitimacy

This article aims at contributing to a better understanding of welfare legitimacy in different institutional contexts. It examines whether or not emotions are important for welfare legitimacy by using survey findings from a representative sample of Chinese residents in Hong Kong. It follows a Dutch study of a similar nature, but finds that the Chinese exhibit a different response pattern towards the emotional motives of moral obligation and empathy and the non-emotional motives of self-interest, probably as a result of the perception of the residual nature of the Chinese welfare system. In the Chinese case, personal characteristics carry different effects compared with those found in the Dutch study. A further finding is that both emotional motives and self-interest motives are significant for hypothetical choices of welfare alternatives. But their effects are marginal, though striking in comparison with other determinant variables. In conclusion, the article argues that reciprocal self-interest is progressive, an idea that is unlikely to be honoured by many welfare state theorists such as Richard Titmuss.