Why Do Immigrants and Refugees Give Back to Their Communities and What can We Learn from Their Civic Engagement?

Each year thousands of immigrants and refugees begin their lives in new places, speaking new languages, and facing new challenges. Challenges include access to health/mental care, education, transportation, and employment. Researchers and practitioners frequently focus on challenges of newcomers and their deficits in meeting needs for self-sufficiency. This study explores newcomers’ giving back and emphasizes an untapped reservoir of strength and capacity. Based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 54 immigrants and refugees, themes identified include (1) a desire to maintain ethnic identity and connection; (2) ethnic community as an extension of family; (3) a sense of duty and obligation; and (4) measure of achieved success. Researchers and practitioners should shift their view to recognize the strengths and capacities of newcomers who give back to their communities.     

Everybody needs good neighbours: an evaluation of an intensive project for families facing eviction

This paper presents details of a largely qualitative evaluation of an intensive multi‐method Project, with a residential component, which aims to help families facing eviction to overcome their housing‐related difficulties. The families served by the Project had a host of other problems related to parenting, with child care and protection issues, addictions and mental health difficulties figuring prominently. Just over half the referrals came from the local authority housing services, with nearly all the remainder coming from the social work department. The majority of families made good progress, but in some cases it proved harder to have an impact on parenting than on tenancy‐related matters. Nevertheless, the Project was deemed to have helped some families stay together or be reunited, resulting in substantial financial savings for social work services. Crucial ingredients were good management, stable staff, shared ‘ownership’ by other agencies, a repertoire of challenging methods, and a holistic approach.     

女性之夜(英文)

"Ladies' Night"是一些酒吧和俱乐部举行的优惠活动,每周定期有一天为女性提供消费优惠。     

Reciprocal Influence of Couple Dynamics and Eating Disorders

Little research has focused on the ways that eating disorder processes and adult couple dynamics influence one another. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reciprocal influence of couple dynamics and eating disorder illness and recovery processes. We conducted 51 interviews with 17 couples where one member identified as currently suffering or having recovered from an eating disorder. Using grounded theory analytical methods, findings include the systemic interplay of the eating disorder and relationship, both partners' perspectives on the eating disorder and its role in the relationship, the noneating disorder partner's impact on the eating disorder, and coping strategies for recovery as a couple. Clinical implications for supporting couples experiencing eating disorder illness and recovery are discussed.     

Nexus analysis: Refocusing ethnography on action

Nexus analysis takes human action rather than language or culture as its unit of analysis. We take one specific case to illustrate the methodology as well as its continuity with the project of Hymes, and of Boas before him, to take action against racism. A nexus analysis takes the constitution of human social groups and languages as a problem to be examined, shifting the focus away from groups toward action as the prime unit of analysis. This shift disrupts power relations between ethnographer as participant and observer and those observed who are now participants and observers in partnership, with consequences concerning when, where, and with whom ethnography can be done, consequences for the security of subjects as well as national security. We begin where inequality is perceived and analyze the actions that bring that about, our analysis itself being a form of action.     

Young and Restless: Representing Male Adolescents with the Spirit of Reform in Hai Magazine

This article is about Hai, a magazine for boys in Indonesia. It looks into representations of male adolescents against the backdrop of post-Suharto (New Order) Indonesia. Political reform and media deregulation in 1998 transformed the Indonesian mediascape into a freer space for social and political expression. This article suggests that Hai's content represents male adolescents who adopt the spirit of Reform, which is associated with openness towards and engagement with issues that were seen as politically and socially taboo under the New Order. This magazine has become a site for male adolescents to exercise their freedom of speech, performing their role as young citizens by identifying and discussing problems that were previously silenced. Overall, the narratives of challenge and resistance create a microcosm of the nation-state within the magazine and project male adolescents as future leaders of the nation.     

Giving Back in an Asian American Community in the South: An Intergenerational Perspective

This paper explores the intergenerational dynamics of “giving back” among immigrants in an Asian American community in the southern region of the United States. The paper is guided by the intergenerational ambivalence paradigm to explore dynamics between first and second generations in their community involvement. The study used the qualitative method of phenomenological approach to identify emerging themes that include (a) importance of ethnic organizations; (b) defined roles and responsibilities within the ethnic organizations that exist between first and second generations; and (c) the second generation wanting to give back and manage ethnic organizations differently from the first generation.     

Race and Religion in Social Services

Members of non-dominant racial and religious groups may experience discrimination and inequalities in American society simply because of their race or religious affiliation. The experience may make recipients feel disempowered, humiliated, angry, and hopeless. Social service providers, including mental health counselors and social workers, are tasked with helping to improve individuals’ well-being in ways that range from basic needs to mental health. Given the growth in racial diversity and the role it plays in religion in the USA, it is important to understand social service providers’ experiences, thoughts, attitudes, or actions as they relate to the role of race and religion in service provision in order to better meet the needs of clients who may be marginalized and discriminated against. This qualitative study explored the research question of: What role do issues of race and religion play in social services. Themes identified included: (1) the marginalization of smaller racial and religious groups; (2) the existing assistance provided by religious organizations; and (3) the role of race and religion in social services. Findings from this study may contribute to a better understanding of the impact of race and religion on vulnerable populations in order to provide better social services.     

Working with Homeless Populations to Increase Access to Services: A Social Service Providers’ Perspective Through the Lens of Stereotyping and Stigma

Through the lens of stereotyping and stigma, this article examines discrimination and prejudice toward homeless families from the perspective of social service providers. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with practitioners. A critical social work practice perspective is used to provide a framework for understanding how social worker knowledge about discrimination and prejudice informs the ways in which the workers engage with clients, build capacities, and advocate for clients in an anti-oppressive manner. The themes found in this study include: a) providers’ awareness of bias, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination; b) providers’ use of a range of strategies to work with people experiencing homelessness; c) providers’ ideas about strategies that organizations can implement for service provision; and) providers’ belief that additional advocacy and policy are needed in relationship to people experiencing homelessness.     

Advancement in social work education: fostering a supportive environment for students of non-dominant racial and ethnic backgrounds

Doctoral students from non-dominant racial and ethnic backgrounds continue to be underrepresented in programs of social work despite efforts to increase student diversity. This paper highlights the unique challenges experienced by non-dominant racial and ethnic students and offers suggestions for addressing retention and attrition concerns among these students across systems within doctoral social work programs. The authors identify structural inequalities, marginalization, discrimination, minority stress, and lack of support as potential barriers to student success. Suggestions for increasing diversity and retention are rooted in critical multiculturalism and involvement theory, emphasizing institutional change, socialization, recruitment, and social support.