Relationship-based practice and reflective practice: holistic approaches to contemporary child care social work

The renewed interest in relationship‐based practice can be understood in the child care social work context as a response to the call to re‐focus practice in this field. Relationship‐based practice challenges the prevailing trends which emphasize reductionist understandings of human behaviour and narrowly conceived bureaucratic responses to complex problems. In so doing practitioners engaged in relationship‐based practice need to be able to cope with the uniqueness of each individual's circumstances and the diverse knowledge sources required to make sense of complex, unpredictable problems. This paper argues that if relationship‐based practice is to become an established and effective approach to practice, practitioners need to develop their reflective capabilities. An outline of contemporary understandings of relationship‐based and reflective practice is offered and findings from doctoral research drawn on to identify how reflective practice complements relationship‐based practice. The product of this complementary relationship is enhanced understandings across four aspects of practice: the client, the professional self, the organizational context and the knowledges informing practice. The paper concludes by acknowledging the inextricably interconnected nature of relationship‐based and reflective practice and emphasizes the importance of practitioners being afforded opportunities to practise in relational and reflective ways.     

Growing Up Where ‘No One Looked Like Me’: Gender,Race, Hip Hop and Identity in Vancouver

This paper examines how youth whose parents came from sub-Saharan Africa negotiate racialized forms of masculinity and femininity in Vancouver, Canada. The study is based on interviews with second generation African-Canadian men and women, and explores gendered and racialized dimensions of growing up in neighbourhoods where they were usually the only African and Black children. In this context, the second generation engages with representations of Black masculinity and femininity widely circulated through American popular culture, especially through hip hop, constituting a dominant frame of reference among adolescents that contributes to the great popularity of African-Canadian teenage boys, while girls find it much harder to fit in.     

Modeling developmental data using U-shaped threshold dose-response curves

This paper develops threshold models for developmental toxicity data. The distinguishing feature of these threshold models is their flexibility in modeling data below threshold with a U-shaped function if the data warrants. The method is applied to actual data from a developmental study which exhibits U-shaped behavior in early dose groups. Results from a simulation study demonstrate the flexibility of the threshold model to pick up on U-shaped trends in the data. In addition, the simulation study reveals important considerations in design of developmental studies.     

A new look at the health and homeless experience of a cohort of five-year olds

Homelessness is increasing and health workers and others need to be ever vigilant about the risk that this has on children's health. What is that risk and what are children's experiences of homelessness? A retrospective case note study was carried out to compare the health of a group of five-year olds who had experienced homelessness and compare them with matched ‘non-homeless’ controls. A home interview questionnaire was used to give a profile of the children's housing experience and the health issues faced during their time in temporary accommodation. Fifty-three cases when compared with 41 controls showed a statistically greater prevalence of child protection issues and an increased number of health needs identified at the school nurse health appraisal. The housing profile identified that the case children moved homes many times (37 per cent more than five times), were homeless much longer than the officially registered period (67 per cent more than 12 months) and 61 per cent were made homeless through domestic violence. The study reinforces the need for us to acknowledge important environmental stress and to continue to advocate for this group of disadvantaged children.     

Short-term Migration and the Acquisition of a World Language

LA MIGRATION DE COURTED URÉE ET L'ACQUISITION D'UNE LANGUE D'ENVERGURE MONDIALE
L'anglais s'impose toujours plus comme langue de communication mondiale. Pourtant, on connaît mal les mécanismes par lesquels il s'impose de plus en plus comme seconde langue dans des populations en grande partie monolingues, et on en mesure mal également les conséquences immédiates. Dans cette étude, nous nous intéressons plus particulièrement à un cas particulier: l'acquisition de l'anglais seconde langue par les Coréens. Nous examinons brièvement la place qu'occupe la langue anglaise en Corée et le poids des mesures d'incitation déployées dans ce pays pour l'acquisition de l'anglais. Sur la base d'analyses empiriques, nous tirons la conclusion que les Coréens appliquent à l'acquisition d'une langue d'envergure mondiale une stratégie transnationale: la migration de courte durée dans des pays où la langue anglaise domine. Pour conclure, nous examinons encore quelques-unes des implications potentielles de ces mouvements et des nombreuses voies ouvertes à la recherche.     

Sustaining social work education in Ukraine: The second phase

A decade has passed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of communism. In partnership with countries from the west, many countries in eastern Europe, including Ukraine, have developed social work education courses as part of the process of establishing social democratic principles. This article has as its focus an innovative project being funded by the UK Department for International Development and managed by Hamlet Trust, a charitable body at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Ukraine. The project has been designed to develop and sustain earlier attempts to introduce social work into the country. Additionally, the intention is to extend training opportunities, and thereby to develop a new skills base in the workforce outside the capital city, Kyiv. Two new training courses are described and analysed, their unique features being on-site supervision and coaching of a group of experienced teachers and agency managers to take over teaching and training previously delivered by western consultants. Although the project does not end until 2002, it is possible to share some of the learning from this innovative approach with other eastern European countries in transition.