Human rights at the heart of the social work curriculum

ABSTRACT

Social work policy and practice all over the world continue to face the impact of the neoliberal agenda. Similarly, social work education has been subject to the economic and political changes, with an increasing emphasis on a discourse of ‘evidence-based practice’. However, it is the core of social work programs in higher education to initiate students in the fundamental values of social work, as they are recognized in the global definition of social work. In order to prepare future social workers for their assignment, human rights should be given an explicit place in the social work curricula at Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences.

For human rights to gain more attention in social work programs in higher education, a Manifesto was written by lecturers’ social work in the Netherlands and Flanders, with a 5-point program to include human rights in the social work curricula. In this article, we elaborate on the five objectives that are presented in the Manifesto. Throughout the paper, we introduce small ‘case examples’ of how human rights can be integrated in education. These experiences show the importance of developing a particular social work perspective on human rights that is found in the idea of ‘human rights from below.’     

The Troubled Families Programme: Learning about policy impact through realist case study research

This article aims to critically explore how qualitative case study research that is founded on realist principles can fundamentally enhance social policy evaluation methodologies and, in turn, provide improved learning for policy makers and practitioners. We suggest that these methodological advantages are accrued through the careful construction of theory-based explanations of “how” policy programmes work thereby addressing the limitations of quasi-experimental methods—namely, a focus on and prioritisation of outcome measures. The paper situates this key argument within wider, long-standing debates about evidence-based policy making and what constitutes “evidence” of impact in social policy. It does so through reflection on the contentious and contradictory knowledge claims that surround the Troubled Families Programme and evaluative claims regarding its efficacy. In conclusion and looking forward, we suggest that there remains much scope to combine “intensive” qualitative case studies with “extensive” quantitative measures within local and national evaluations of complex, multidimensional social policies, such as the Troubled Families Programme.     

Conceptualising ‘The Relationship’ in Intensive Key Worker Support as a Therapeutic Medium

Across various welfare and justice systems, intensive key worker support is a model of working considered effective for individuals and families identified as having multiple and complex needs. The high profile ‘troubled families’ programme in England is the most recent prominent example of such a model. The key worker role is to assess an individual’s needs, carry out support planning, provide and/or co-ordinate the delivery of supportive interventions and complete care plan reviews. This requires the key worker to work on a one-to-one basis with individuals which, in turn, demands the ability to form effective relationships. In this paper and using evidence from a number of studies, I look at how the key worker-client relationship is developed and maintained. I examine the skills, processes and communication strategies that allow key workers to engage clients, build relationships and drive change. I also explore the notion that the key worker-service user relationship is itself a ‘therapeutic’ medium and is therefore a productive practice in its own right. The paper suggests that while key workers might not be trained therapists or counsellors, they might be equipped to address some emotional challenges that individuals with complex needs face and build therapeutic relationships with them.     

Design of a resilient shock absorber for disrupted supply chain networks: a shock-dampening fortification framework for mitigating excursion events

This article interweaves the widely published empirical frameworks with a new paradigm proposing stochastic dynamic decision-making tools that could be employed for capturing the trade-offs among multiple and conflicting-in-nature criteria so as to provide a design of a resilient shock absorber (RSA) for disrupted supply chain network (SCN). Modern SCNs encounter ‘excursion events’ of different kinds mainly due to uncertain and turbulent markets, catastrophes, accidents, industrial disputes/strikes in organisations, terrorism and asymmetric information. An ‘excursion event’ is an unpredictable event that effectively shuts down or has a relatively large negative impact on the performance of at least one member of a system for a relatively long amount of time. In this article, design of an analytical framework has been conceptualised that allows an SCN to avoid propagating the ill effects of the ‘excursion events’ further and maintains the network at a desired equilibrium level. A broad analytical view of econophysics has been conceptualised using the definition of a ‘system’ from physics. An example derived from the 9/11 case has been delineated in order to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed design. The devised RSA facilitates the assessment of resiliency strategies for SCNs prone to excursion events that are characterised by low probability of occurrence and high impact. The shock-dampening fortification framework also enables practitioners to identify and assess quantitatively the islands of the excursion events in SCN.     

Challenging Gerontophobia and Ageism Through a Collaborative Intergenerational Art Program

Prejudices against older adults have been shown to reduce effective care delivery and impact long-term health outcomes for older adults. In an effort to combat these prejudices, intergenerational—and often unidirectional—programs focus on challenging ageism. The PALETTE program takes this further to employ collaborative activities as a way to challenge the gerontophobia that often accompanies ageism. Promoting Art for Life Enrichment Through Transgenerational Engagement (PALETTE) is an innovative program for interprofessional undergraduate and graduate students that combines intergenerational arts activities with formal education on aging, ageism, and gerontophobia. Having demonstrated success in changing the attitudes of students, PALETTE serves as a model for an internationally replicable program that has the potential to improve person-centered care while educating future generations of older adults about positive, optimal aging.