‘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.     

Designing ‘older’ rather than denying ageing: Problematizing anti-ageing discourse in relation to cosmetic surgery undertaken by older people

This paper problematizes anti-ageing discourse and interpretations that cosmetic surgery is an ageist practice and older people who undergo cosmetic surgery are denying ageing. It argues that conceptions of cosmetic surgery as anti-ageing are premised on an essentialist conception of the ‘naturally ageing body’. Interview data and media texts are used to demonstrate how, through the notion of “re” suggested by terms such as rejuvenation, reversal and renewal, anti-ageing discourses inscribe ‘ageing’ in the practice of cosmetic surgery by older people. The oppressive interpretation that older people who undergo cosmetic surgery are ‘denying ageing,’ and associated subjection to moral critique, are effects of this discourse. To counter interpretations of cosmetic surgery as ‘anti-ageing’, the paper takes up the idea that cosmetic surgery is undertaken to look better not younger. To advance this argument, the paper suggests that the forms of rationality associated with cosmetic surgery constitute a contemporary regimen of ‘care of the self’ which enable ethical agency and creative self-stylisation. Through this framework cosmetic surgery can be re-imagined as a practice for designing ‘older’ rather than denying ageing.     

Elder Abuse in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

In recent years there has been an increased emphasis on violence and abuse within society generally. Following a focus in the United Kingdom (UK) on child abuse in the 1970s and domestic violence in the 1980s, in the 1990s the abuse and neglect of older people began to elicit concern. The initial focus of interest was of situations arising in the domestic setting. More recently, however, much needed attention has shifted to situations involving institutional settings. This paper will discuss abuse and neglect occurring in the UK. It aims to provide a brief overview of the status of current knowledge concerning abuse of older people followed by a discussion of some of the issues relating to the prevention of abuse and neglect from a UK perspective. An exploration of some of the issues involved will contribute to our understanding of abuse and neglect of older people in the UK.     

Applying Evidence-Based Practice in Group Work at an Alternative High School

Social workers often are reluctant to use evidence-based practice in group work. Part of this reluctance is because of the perceived rigidity of the process and its emphasis on research. However, social workers can rely on the four cornerstones of evidence-based practice—research, clinical experience, personal views, and client’s perspective—to provide an evidence-based group intervention. In this article, the authors illustrate how social workers used the four cornerstones at one alternative high school to provide an evidence-based group intervention. These cornerstones were used from the beginning of the process, which started with choosing the type of intervention, through the end of the process, which concluded with assessing the intervention. In this article, the authors show that it is possible for social workers to provide an evidence-based group intervention, while remaining flexible, thereby contributing to social workers’ knowledge of how to use evidence-based practice with groups.     

Care Proceedings under the 1989 Children Act: Rhetoric and Reality

Correspondence to Bridget McKeigue and Chris Beckett, School of Community Health and Social Studies, The Old Gym, Anglia Polytechnic University, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK. E-mail: b.m.mckeigue{at}apu.ac.uk Summary Among the most important changes that it was hoped would flowfrom the 1989 Children Act were, first, a reduction in delaysin care proceedings, since this was recognized to be harmfulto children and, second, a shift away from the use of compulsiontowards working in partnership. In this article, Bridget McKeigueand Chris Beckett demonstrate that, in both respects, the Acthas not only failed to deliver, but has been followed by rapidchange in the opposite direction to the one hoped for. However,many commentators, both within and outside of government, continueto speak of the Act as if it had been a success. The articleconsiders a series of characteristic rhetorical manoeuvres,which seem to allow the Act’s failings to be passed overin much of this discourse. They conclude that progress is morelikely to be made if the Act’s failure to deliver is franklyconfronted.     

How schools can do better: fostering stronger connections between teachers and students

Teachers are a centrally important yet often overlooked resource in the lives of youth. Teacher-student relationships, when properly harnessed, may emulate mentoring at its best. This chapter explores the teacher-student relationship and examines ways in which it can be enhanced to the benefit of youth and adults.     

Integrated logistics-call in the revolutionaries!

This paper argues that the ability of logistics to achieve its aim of efficient and effective interfunctional co-ordination is hindered by the particular paradigm to which it unwittingly adheres. We begin by defining and setting out the objectives of both ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ forms of logistics, and demonstrate that there is doubt about whether even the newer form can achieve proper interfunctional co-ordination or gain widespread acceptance in the practitioner community. In order to understand why, it is suggested that an analysis is required of the theoretical assumptions upon which contemporary logistics is based. Despite recent developments in logistics it may be that it is some unquestioned paradigm, upon which all logisticians hitherto have relied, which is preventing genuine progress being made. A paradigm analysis is conducted which reveals that both traditional and non-traditional logistics are ‘functionalist’ in nature. It is argued that the main problems faced by logistics derive from this. Logistics suffers from the failings of functionalist thinking and its ambitions will continue to be frustrated unless it is able to achieve an ‘epistemological break’ from functionalism. Logisticians must look towards other paradigms in order to progress. Logistics is in need of its own revolutionaries.     

Development of Shyness: Relations With Children's Fearfulness,Sex, and Maternal Behavior

The relations of childhood fearfulness (observed and adult reported) and adult‐reported shyness at 18 (n = 256) and 30 (n = 230) months of age were assessed. Fear was positively related to shyness concurrently and longitudinally, but slightly more consistently at 18 months. The moderating roles of observed maternal sensitivity and children's sex in the relation between 18‐month fearfulness and 30‐month shyness, and between 18‐ and 30‐month shyness, were tested. The positive relation between mother‐reported fearfulness and shyness was strongest for sons of insensitive mothers but was not significant for daughters of sensitive, average, or insensitive mothers. The positive relation between mother‐reported 18‐ and 30‐month shyness was strongest for sons of insensitive mothers and for daughters of sensitive mothers. Moreover, when using scores of fear or shyness that were independent of each other, 18‐month mother‐reported fearfulness continued to interact with sex and sensitivity to predict 30‐month shyness; however, the positive relation between Time 1 and Time 2 shyness was consistent across sex and levels of sensitivity.