Negotiating everyday life in Australia: unpacking the parallel society inhabited by Asian international students through their social networks and entertainment media use

Work on the experiences of international students in Australia often point out that these students do not successfully integrate into Australian society with many international students counting very few or no Australians as friends by the time they complete their studies. Through in-depth interviews with 47 Melbourne-based higher education international students from Asia – the source of Australia's largest export education market – this study explores the ways in which international students navigate their everyday experiences in their host nation. The findings suggest that Asian international students live in a parallel society almost exclusively made up of fellow international students who primarily come from the home nation and the Asian region. This parallel society allows them to create both a sense of belonging in Australia yet not to Australia due to disengagement from local society and culture. By investigating their social networks (society) together with their consumption of entertainment media (culture), this study presents an indirect yet creative way of understanding how international students negotiate everyday life as transient migrants in the Australian city of Melbourne. Doing so, this research highlights the ways in which international students make use of social networks and entertainment media to feel a sense of belonging in a foreign country.     

Social Work Students' Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Their Knowledge and Attitudes toward Homosexual Parenting as an Alternative Family Unit: An Australian Study

Attitudes have become increasingly more accepting toward homosexuality, yet negative attitudes toward homosexual parents continue. There appears to be no research specifically examining Australian social work students' attitudes towards homosexuality and homosexual parenting. This article reports on a study of final year social work students in the undergraduate social work programme at one university in the State of Victoria. This study investigated student attitudes to homosexuality, and their knowledge and attitudes toward homosexual parenting as an alternative family unit via the administration of a questionnaire containing a number of scales and questions, some in response to a case vignette involving couples of different sexual orientations (lesbian, gay and heterosexual). It was found that most of the students had liberal attitudes toward homosexuality and homosexual parenting, and had high levels of knowledge about homosexual parenting. Students were generally favourable towards all three couples in the vignettes, but rated lesbian parents followed by gay parents most highly. It was found that the inclusion of the topic of homosexuality within the social work curriculum was extremely minimal. These findings are discussed within the context of previous research. The implications of the findings for curriculum development and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Teachers' Views of Students with Gay or Lesbian Parents

Eighty-three female and 24 male teachers responded to an anonymous questionnaire exploring four aspects of teachers' views of students who have gay or lesbian parents: (1) exposure to and general knowledge about homosexuality, (2) attitudes towards gays and lesbians, (3) interactions with gay or lesbian parents, including school practices and policies, and (4) beliefs about problems experienced by students with gay and lesbian parents. Most teachers knew some gay males and lesbians, had limited education and knowledge about homosexuality, and possessed moderately tolerant attitudes towards gays and lesbians. They believed that students with gay or lesbian parents had more problems in social interaction but were more mature, tolerant, and self-reliant than other students. Open-ended questions about gay and lesbian parents and their children revealed a wide range of answers, ranging from very supportive to noticeably hostile.     

Spirituality in Social Work: A Survey of Students at South African Universities

Academic discourse related to spirituality has proliferated globally. The rationale for its inclusion in social work education rests on the premise that spirituality is a critical strength in social work practice. This paper explores this aspect and highlights empirical research related to the inclusion of spirituality in training. It does this within the context of a SA study that was undertaken to explore the views of students with regard to the role of religion and spirituality in practice and the extent to which South African curricula considers religion and spirituality. The research was conducted by distributing questionnaires to final year social work students at schools of social work (N = 21); 342 completed surveys were returned yielding a response of 47%. The findings revealed high levels of religiosity or spirituality amongst students, a gap in the curriculum on spirituality and support for its inclusion in social work education.     

Tensions and paradoxes of humanitarianism. Dialogue with Lilie Chouliaraki

Lilie Chouliaraki is Professor of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has a background in Languages and Linguistics and her research has a strong interdisciplinary orientation, drawing on social and cultural theory, moral philosophy and sociology, visual communication and discourse theory. Her main interest lies in understanding how the media shape our ethical and political relationship to distant others; how they inform the ways we witness the vulnerability of these others and the ways we are invited to feel, think and act towards them. In 2006, she published The spectatorship of suffering, which is a seminal piece of work within the field of Media Studies, opening up the domain of mediated suffering studies. In 2013, Lilie published The ironic spectator: solidarity in the age of post-humanitarianism, which was awarded the Outstanding Book of the Year Prize by ICA 2015, and has been widely reviewed and acclaimed. In this recent work, Chouliaraki explores how digital media are today changing the traditional relationship between humanitarian practice and politics, focusing on the ways humanitarian agencies try to - and fail to - combine a dominant market logic with a political vision of justice and social change.     

Debunking macro myths: findings from recent graduates about jobs,salaries, and skills

Research suggests that interest in macro social work practice is declining, a trend that has been well documented in the United States. Studies find that social work educators and practitioners may foster beliefs among MSW students that discredit macro practice and associated skills while asserting macro graduates are likely to face poorer employment prospects and lower salaries than micro counterparts as they start their careers. This study builds on and extends this literature by examining 27 skills in their current job using a five-point Likert-type scale among the early career trajectory of MSW alumni (N = 182) who graduated between 2008 and 2012 from a public social work institution in the southeastern United States. The skills included in the survey, as well as decisions about how to group them into scales, were made based on theoretical links between the skills by macro faculty members. Findings highlight the use of macro practice skills regardless of concentration focus, no differences in salary, or the time it takes to find employment between micro and macro alumni. Implications for social work education are discussed.     

Beyond the Classroom: The Impact of a University-Based Civic Hackathon Addressing Homelessness

ABSTRACT

Stigma and prejudice are barriers to developing policies addressing homelessness. Awareness development, using civic hackathons, may be beneficial in reducing stigma and promoting policy while offering unique training to social work students. The current study explores the feasibility of hosting a university-based homelessness hackathon; associated changes in self-perceived knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and investment in addressing homelessness; and development of innovative solutions. Participants (N=32) attended a 7-hour event, involving expert panels, rapid iteration, and solution pitches. Pre- and postevent surveys demonstrate changes in knowledge and attitudes related to homelessness as well as civic responsibility. The event was less successful in generating deployable solutions. Findings suggest the benefit of university-based hackathons to train social work students and offer considerations for implementing hackathons in educational settings.     

Same-Sex Sexual Experience in Thailand

Abstract

In this paper I consider a number of studies of rates of same-sex sexual experience among young men and women in Thailand which have been conducted since the late 1980s. Interest in conducting these quantitative studies was prompted, first, by concerns among Thai educators and social commentators about a perceived increase in homosexual behavior among both male and female adolescents and, second, by the need to determine the prevalence of different sexual behaviors considered to be associated with the risk of transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Studies of rates of same-sex experience have a more recent history in Thailand than in the United States or other western countries, beginning in the second half of the 1980s. The first studies were undertaken by researchers working within a psychological framework which problematized homosexuality and which was motivated by a concern to reduce the incidence of homosexuality. This anti-homosexual research program is detailed in Jackson and Sullivan's introductory essay in this volume. The second, HIV/AIDS-influenced set of studies, have been undertaken by epidemiologists and demographers operating within a framework that has not problematized homoer-oticism. In reviewing the Thai research, I critically assess the methodologies of the various studies and point to possible biasing factors in data gathering techniques. I conclude by considering the implications of these studies for the provision of social services to homosexually active men and women in Thailand.     

A Tale of Two Programmes: Developing Communities of Learning with Practice Partners in Social Work and Humanitarian Studies at Charles Darwin University,Northern Territory,Australia

Online engagement is difficult when teaching complex clinical reasoning skills which are central to developing professionalism in the health and welfare workforce. This paper explores how our team has engaged students in online discussion by introducing research projects brought by our practice partners to the mix of activities completed by students. At Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory, Australia, the social work and humanitarian studies degree-level programmes are delivered in blended mode involving a combination of face-to-face and online learning. Within these modes of delivery students are presented with questions and activities drawn from our practice partners to bring ‘real world relevance’ to learning. Drawing from examples provided by the practice settings in which the students wish to work after they graduate, we have found that this relationship between the academy and practice agency effectively bridges the gap between the worlds of theory and practice for our students. In a community of learning model, students elect to work on local practice partners' projects throughout the semester. This mix of academia working in partnership with frontline social and humanitarian workers brings immediacy to the learning. Opportunities for ‘deep learning’ are facilitated by this partnership approach. The implications for using communities of learning models for engaging students from two professions in online activities are discussed.     

Who Am I? And What Makes Me Hot and Bothered? Notes on Identity,Sexuality, Enigma,and Desire

ABSTRACT

This article explores the links among identity, sexuality, enigma, and desire in my work with 22-year-old Andrew as he explores his homosexuality. Sexuality is discussed as a developmental and relational construction simultaneously biological and social, inventive and defensive. Elaborating these vertices of sexuality in the treatment opened space to discuss Andrew’s sexual experience and fantasy. In this vein, the article questions the tendency to put aside frank discussion of sex in analytic practice and proposes case vignettes useful for clinically elaborating intimate fantasies rooted in the shared narration of patient and analyst as between psychoanalyst/writer and reader. In doing so, we turn from concrete definitions and explanations of sexuality that risk getting bogged down in details and use narrative to facilitate the uncanny experience of “finding” sexuality in clinical work.     

Are you ready? Qualifying social work students’ perception of their preparedness to work competently with service users from sexual and gender minority communities

Social workers come into contact with lesbian, gay and bisexual and trans people in all areas of their practice and across all service user groups. In line with professional requirements, social work educators must ensure that students who complete qualifying programmes successfully meet the standards expected of them as registered social workers, including those around diversity. This study aims to explore the extent to which qualifying social work students feel prepared to practise competently with people from sexual and gender minority communities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with final-year social work students at one university in southern England and the results were analysed using thematic analysis. Whilst these students report feeling generally prepared to practise with sexual minority communities, they report feeling unprepared to practise competently with gender minority communities. Themes that emerged in relation to students’ perceived lack of preparedness included unfamiliarity, limited knowledge, fear and an absence of opportunities to consider relevant issues during their social work training. Whilst this research relates to a small-scale study at one university, these findings may have broader implications for social work educators in terms of course planning and delivery, particularly around ensuring that students feel ready for practise with all service users.     

SEXUALIZING THE SOCIALOGICAL: Queering and Querying the Intimate Substructure of Social Life

This presidential address explores the sexual substructure of everyday life.¹ I focus on the intimate connections among sexuality, race, and ethnicity. Masculinist heterosexuality is a central component of the bedrock upon which ethinic boundaries rest; and feminism, unruly female sexuality, and homosexuality are three cracks in that foundation. To illustrate the usefulness of understanding the sexualized dimensions of racial and ethnic relations, and social life in general, I provide four examples of the importance of considering sexuality in race, ethinicity, and nationalism: sex and nationalism, sex and urban residential segregation, sex and conquest , and sex and race . In all four sections, I attempt to reveal the sexual substructure of social life. Moreover, I urge sociologists to consider sexuality and the role of sexual systems in their own research.     

A (not so) simple dialogue activity

ABSTRACT

This article explores the research on peer-to-peer dialogue in higher education, including the innovative practice of intergroup dialogue and other practices such as nonviolent communication and contemplative listening. I then describe an activity I do with my community college students, in a context where lack of time and other resources do not allow a more resource-intensive dialogue practice. I ask them to experience dialogue with several free, easily available resources, including nonviolent communication, contemplative practice, and public radio podcasts from On Being, then have a conversation outside of class in which they mostly practice deeply listening to someone with different political beliefs than they have. They may make a brief attempt at dialogue or nonviolent communication. I discuss how my activity may accomplish some of the goals of intergroup dialogue and be useful where students are learning about diversity and inequality across social divides, including in social work education and sustainability education. I nest this activity in a course that involves some contemplative practice, to explore how both sustainability education and the social justice component of social work may benefit from contemplative practice. Finally, I detail some other resources about hope and despair that support this activity.     

‘It's About People and Their Environment’: Student Social Workers' Definitions of Social Work Research

This article considers constructions of social work research from the perspectives of student social workers in New Zealand. There have been many academic discussions of the unique epistemology that can be called social work research but little is known of students and/or practitioner views. Are they interested in social work research? Do they even care about debates on epistemology? Forty-three student social workers considered two questions while attending a social work research methods course: ‘What is social work research?’ and ‘What kind of social work researcher might I be?’. A subset of 18 distance students explored a third question: ‘Should social work research be part of everyday practice or not?’. To answer these questions students provided comments in a short survey, material from their written student assignments and comments from online discussion board activities. The results suggest that student social workers have a preference for social work research that is compatible with their clearly articulated social work value base, and that social work research primarily should benefit the client group with which a social worker is closely linked. Student social workers also recognise the importance of research for their everyday practice, yet at the same time feel there are organisational constraints to this happening.     

Changing Social Work Students’ Perceptions of the Role of Government in a Policy Class

Understanding student political attitudes—feelings about government and perceptions of its role—has long been of interest to social scientists. One factor that may influence political attitudes is belief in a just world, a complex psychological construct well established in the literature. Our study explores changes in social work students’ perception of a supportive role of government and their beliefs in a just world after one policy course using a pretest and posttest design. Student perceptions changed toward a more supportive government role, but there was no significant change for belief in a just world. The study contributes to empirical evaluation of the social work education policy class in terms of the Council on Social Work Education competencies.     

Vocational Rehabilitation: Profession and Process. American Lecture Series,John G. Cull,Richard E. Hardy,Publication 831. Charles C. Thomas,Publisher, Springfield,Illinois. 1972. 547 Pages. $18.50, Hardbound

As unionization of professional social workers increases, so will the demand to better prepare social work students for their roles as managers and employees in the collective bargaining process. This paper explores labor relations developments as they apply to the unionization of social work personnel. Current research is reviewed, and labor contracts representing personnel in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Michigan are examined in order to identify typical contract clauses. Areas of needed research are outlined. Suggestions are made for introducing labor relations studies into the social work curriculum and a course taught at the University of Illinois is offered as an example.     

Korean Social Work Students’ Attitudes Toward Homosexuals

For this article, the Hudson and Ricketts Index of Attitudes toward Homosexuality (IAH) was used to measure levels of homophobia in a convenience sample of 124 students enrolled in social work programs in two major universities in the Republic of South Korea. The results indicated that BSW and MSW Korean students had high levels of homophobia, particularly in comparison to U.S. samples. In-class discussion of homosexuality was found to be significantly associated with lower levels of homophobia. The authors review these and other research findings and discuss implications for social work education in South Korea and the United States.     

Homosexuality,Religion, and Science: Moral Authority and the Persistence of Negative Attitudes*

The liberalization of attitudes toward homosexuality in the United States over the past 30 years is well documented. Despite these changes, substantial resistance to equality for gay men and lesbians remains. Previous studies indicate that beliefs about the etiology of homosexuality are central to this discussion. Those who believe homosexuality is innate are more favorable, while those who believe it is the result of a choice are more negative. Moreover, experimental research indicates that those with negative views actually become more opposed when a natural explanation is proposed. This study highlights the importance of perceived sources of epistemic and moral authority for understanding views of homosexuality. Using stances on culturally controversial issues involving “science and religion” as indicators of where individuals place authority, we outline the connection between perceptions of moral authority and attributions about homosexuality. Analyses of a national survey of American adults show that, net of controls, one’s stance on moral authority is the strongest predictor of attributions about whether homosexuality is chosen or innate.     

Preparing social workers for practice with LGBT populations affected by substance use: perceptions from students,alumni, and service providers

Trends in the field of service among those with alcohol and other drug addictions highlight the urgent need for schools of social work to effectively train students to serve clients with substance use disorders, and have cultural humility to effectively serve disproportionately affected LGBT consumers. Online surveys and interviews examined perceptions of graduate social work students and alumni in a certified alcohol and drug counselor program, along with several service providers within an urban setting in the US. Results indicated that students and alumni did not feel adequately prepared through coursework to practice with LGBT populations affected by substance use, while feeling more clinically competent to practice with LGB individuals, than with transgender consumers. Similar findings related to unique differences associated with perceptions of faculty support, along with field preparedness to practice with LGB individuals when compared to transgender individuals. Service providers noted an overall commitment and to serve LGBT consumers as well as positive perceptions of students and alumni to do the same. Implications examine the role of faculty in addressing challenges related to preparation of social work students to practice with LGBT consumers affected by substance use disorders, along with suggestions for curricular changes, and ongoing field trainings.