Social Work and AJSI

AJSI had its genesis in the Department of Social Work at the University of Sydney in 1961. Since that time both social work and the AJSI have developed and drifted apart. This paper charts this journey and points to a future where social work and AJSI will function as partners in critiquing social policy and social issues.     

The Important Role of Binational Studies for Migration and Health Research: A Review of US‐Mexico Binational Studies and Design Considerations for Addressing Critical Issues in Migrant Health

The impact of migration on health is an important and growing concern worldwide. We conducted a literature review of published health literature in PubMed, between January 1999 and February 2015, representing studies including US and Mexico samples and the title word “binational”. Fifty‐nine studies representing three types of study designs were identified. The health issues examined included chronic conditions, mental health, substance abuse, reproductive health, infectious diseases, environmental health, and use of health‐care services. Binational research between the US and Mexico contributes to our understanding of migrant health and offers critical insights into the processes affecting health outcomes in the US and Mexico. Future studies of all designs can pay closer attention to the social determinants of health.     

Professor Petcock, or How the Academy Turns on Queer Studies

As an intellectually out lesbian faculty member, the author is keenly aware of her ornamental function vis-a-vis lesbian/gay and straight colleagues alike. Academically cast as a kind of regulating valve, she, through her work in gay and lesbian literature, ostensibly opens up the possibilities for diesel research throughout the university. Yet, her status as Professor Petcock—the dyke with intellectual and other equipment—belies institutional willingness to allow queer research, together with opportunities for political and social change within the university, to evaporate, evanesce.     

Home Care Workers’ Skills in the Context of Task Shifting: Complexities in Care Work

Task shifting, which involves the transfer of care work from regulated health‐care professionals to home care workers (HCWs), is a strategy to ensure the efficient delivery of home care services in Canada and internationally. Using a feminist political economy approach, this paper explores the effects of task shifting on HCWs’ skills. Task shifting may be understood as a form of downward substitution—and an effort to increase control over workers while minimizing costs—as some of health‐care professionals’ responsibilities are divided into simpler tasks and transferred to HCWs. Our interviews with 46 home health‐care providers in Ontario, which focused explicitly on HCWs’ role in care provision, problematize the belief that “low skilled” care workers have little control over their work. HCWs’ skills become more complex when they do transferred tasks, and HCWs sometimes gain greater control over their work. This results in increased autonomy and mastery for many HCWs. In turn, this serves to reinforce the intrinsic rewards of care work, despite the fact that it is low paid and undervalued work. Le transfert des tâches consiste à transférer certaines activités des professionnels de la santé aux travailleurs de soutien à domicile, et s'avère être une stratégie visant à assurer la prestation efficace des services de soutien à domicile au Canada et à l'étranger. En utilisant la théorie de l'économie politique féministe, cet article explore l'impact du transfert des tâches sur les compétences des travailleurs de soutien à domicile. Le transfert des tâches peut être interprété comme une forme de substitution à la baisse avec un contrôle accru des travailleurs et une minimisation des coûts des services. Ceci se produit lorsque certaines des responsabilités des professionnels de la santé sont fragmentées en tâches plus simples pour être ensuite transférées aux travailleurs de soutien à domicile. Pourtant, le contenu de 46 entrevues avec des travailleurs de soutien à domicile et professionnels de la santé vient ébranler l'hypothèse selon laquelle les travailleurs de soutien à domicile «peu qualifiés» auraient peu de contrôle sur leurs tâches de travail. Les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que les compétences des travailleurs de soutien à domicile se complexifient lorsqu'il s'agit de tâches transférées, et que ces travailleurs obtiennent parfois plus d'autonomie à l'emploi. Donc, les travailleurs de soutien à domicile acquièrent une plus grande autonomie et un contrôle plus significatif à l'emploi. Par conséquent, le transfert des tâches renforce les gratifications intrinsèques du travail en relation d'aide et ce, en dépit d'une piètre rémunération et de la sous‐valorisation du métier.     

Impact of Adult Sons’ Incarceration on African American Mothers’ Psychological Distress

This longitudinal study examines the effect of sons’ incarceration on their mothers’ psychological distress. Interviews were conducted over the life course with a community cohort of African American mothers who had children in first grade in 1966 – 1967 when the study began (N =615). Thirty years later, their sons had significant rates of incarceration (22.4%). Structural equation modeling showed that the more recent the incarceration, the greater the mothers’ psychological distress, even controlling for earlier socioeconomic status and psychological well‐being. Financial difficulties and greater burden of grandparenting are associated with having a son incarcerated and they mediate the relationship between the incarceration and a mother’s psychological distress. Results suggest that incarceration has important effects on family members’ well‐being.     

Reports of childhood sexual abuse by adolescents and young adults: Stability over time

The consistency of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) reporting was explored in this study. Two‐hundred seventeen adolescents and young adults (ages 14–24) enrolled in urban health care clinics completed self‐report questionnaires assessing CSA and other problem behaviors at enrollment and at 7 months. Results indicated that the stability of CSA self‐report at two time points was poor (58% consistent nonreporters of CSA, 20% consistent reporters, 22% inconsistent reporters). Consistent and inconsistent reporters were differentiated on risk measures. Adolescents who endorsed more items from the CSA scale were five times more likely to be consistent reporters. In sum, adolescent CSA reporting was quite inconsistent over time. Using multi‐item scales and assessing CSA at two time points enhances accuracy of reporting.     

Border crossings/translations: Resources of hope in community work with women in Greater Manchester

This article offers two case studies of community development work undertaken in Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, focusing on a Somali Women's Health Day and the work of a community arts project with Asian women, Black Issues in Community Arts/Karishma. The analysis of the operation of racialised borders and the role of women's work in mediating these definitions of community is taken as a critical aspect of community development. Theoretical development of ideas about community development across division and difference draws on recent feminist theory on themes of hybridity and community. In both the accounts of practice and the theoretical debates, translation is the central practice analysed. Este artículo ofrece estudios de dos trabajos de desarrollo comunitario que tuvieron lugar en Greater Manchester en el Reino Unido. Se centra en un Día de la Salud de Mujeres Somalias y en un proyecto artístico entre mujeres provenientes del subcontinente de India llamado ‘Temas de Raza Negra en Artes Comunitarias/Karishma’. Se considera que el análisis de la operación de fronteras racistas y del rol de las mujeres en mediar estas delimitaciones es un aspecto crítico de desarrollo comunitario. Se recurre a la teoría reciente femenista sobre temas de hibrididad y comunidad para el desarrollo teórico de ideas acerca del desarrollo comunitario a través de división y diferencia.