The DipSW admissions process: Laying the foundations for social work training

Recruitment and selection to DipSW is an essential, but largely ignored, activity. Here, we examine the ‘professional’ literature which emphasises setting standards for entry and the antiracist literature which explores discrimination in the selection process. The Manchester University DipSW selection process is then discussed as are some of the broader issues for selectors in balancing the competing interests of prospective students, course programmes, agencies and other interested parties. It is argued that recruitment and selection is not a simple administrative chore but is inextricably bound up with current debates about the nature of both social work practice and education.     

The Response of Schools of Social Work to the Return of Uniformed Service Members and Their Families

The following article is designed to provide an historical overview of the role that the Smith College School for Social Work has played in serving U.S. service members and their families throughout the past 91 years. Particular attention is paid to the building momentum of interest and activity at the School since 2005.     

The democratic challenges and potential of localism: insights from deliberative democracy

This article considers the democratic challenges and potential of localism by drawing on insights from the theory and practice of deliberative democracy. On a conceptual level, the ideas embedded in localism and deliberative democracy share much in common, particularly the democratic goal of engaging citizens in decisions that affect them. Despite such commonalities, however, there has been limited conversation between relevant literatures. The article considers four democratic challenges facing localism and offers a response from a systems perspective of deliberative democracy. It argues that, for localism to realise its democratic potential, new participatory spaces are required and the design of these spaces matters. Beyond structured participatory forums, local democracy also needs an active and vibrant public sphere that promotes multiple forms of democratic expression. This requires taking seriously the democratic contributions of local associations and social movements. Finally, the article argues that, to fulfil its democratic potential, localism needs to encourage greater democratic and political connectivity between participatory forums and the broader public sphere.     

Lessons Learned From the Supporting Father Involvement Study: A Cross-Cultural Preventive Intervention for Low-Income Families With Young Children

ABSTRACT

Despite the proliferation of fatherhood programs designed to promote paternal involvement and positive family outcomes, evaluations of these programs are scarce. The Supporting Father Involvement (SFI) study is a randomized clinical trial comprised of 289 low-income Spanish- and English-speaking families living in California. The evaluation design reflects a partnership stance that promotes empowerment of staff and social service agencies. This article examines lessons learned from the program's first 3 years (2002–2004) from the perspectives of both evaluators and program staff. The lessons cover a broad range of areas, including communication procedures, training, staffing, recruitment/retention, clinical needs, intervention content and process, and maintaining cultural sensitivity.     

Heterosexuals' attitudes toward hate crimes and hate speech against gays and lesbians: old-fashioned and modern heterosexism

Modern racism and sexism have been studied to examine the different ways that prejudice can be expressed; yet, little attention has been given to modern heterosexism. This study examined the extent to which modern heterosexism and old-fashioned heterosexism predict acceptance of hate crimes against gays and lesbians and perceptions of hate speech. Male (n = 74) and female (n = 95) heterosexual college students completed a survey consisting of scales that assessed modern and old-fashioned heterosexism, acceptance of violence against gays and lesbians, attitudes toward the harm of hate speech and its offensiveness, and the importance of freedom of speech. Results indicated strong negative relations between both modern and old-fashioned heterosexism and the perceived harm of hate speech. When old-fashioned heterosexism,modern heterosexism, and the importance of freedom of speech were combined to predict hate crime and hate speech attitudes, only old-fashioned heterosexism predicted acceptance of hate crimes. All three predictors contributed to the perception of the harm of hate speech. Gender differences in the role of the importance of freedom of speech in predicting attitudes toward hate crimes and hate speech are noted.     

Naming,blaming, and claiming in public disputes: the 1998 Maine referendum on civil rights protection for gay men and lesbians

On February 10, 1998, voters in Maine repealed a law providing civil rights protection for gay men and lesbians. This article provides an analysis of the argument strategies used by both parties to the dispute, shedding light on the particular tactics that contributed to the repeal. Felstiner, Abel, and Sarat's (1981) sociolegal theory of naming, blaming, and claiming is offered as a lens to examine conservatives' anti-gay rights arguments in the campaign. The theory helps demonstrate how conservatives' argument patterns created narratives that successfully appealed to disparate audiences in Maine, thus garnering sufficient voter support to pass the appeal referendum. I also define weaknesses in GLBT supporters' counter-arguments using this theoretical perspective. Finally, I offer suggestions for argument strategies in future campaigns that could strengthen uncommitted voters' support for gay civil rights initiatives.     

The Enduring Significance of Racism: Discrimination and Delinquency Among Black American Youth

Prominent explanations of the overrepresentation of Black Americans in criminal justice statistics focus on the effects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage, racial isolation, and social disorganization. We suggest that perceived personal discrimination is an important but frequently neglected complement to these factors. We test this hypothesis with longitudinal data on involvement in general and violent juvenile delinquency in a sample of Black youth from a variety of communities in 2 states. We examine the direct effects of concentrated disadvantage and racial isolation and the direct and mediating effects of social organization, support for violence, and personal discrimination. Consistent with our hypothesis, perceived personal discrimination has notable direct effects on both general and violent delinquency and is an important mediator between neighborhood structural conditions and offending; moreover, its effects exceed those associated with neighborhood conditions.     

Changing Less-Preferred Duties to More-Preferred: A Potential Strategy for Improving Supervisor Work Enjoyment

We evaluated a strategy for making highly nonpreferred work duties more preferred as a potential means of enhancing work enjoyment among supervisors in a human service setting. Repeated preference ratings and rankings were completed by 4 supervisors during baseline to identify their most disliked work tasks. These tasks were then altered by soliciting each supervisor's opinion regarding why the respective task was so disliked and what could be done to make the task more preferable, removing disliked stimuli associated with the tasks, and adding liked stimuli during completion of the tasks. Following the task alterations, ratings of task likeability increased for all 4 supervisors. Preference rankings of target tasks also increased, including from rankings as among the least preferred tasks to among the most preferred tasks. All supervisors rated the task-alteration process as making their quality of work life better, and all chose to continue the intervention. These results occurred without any observed decrease in work quality. Results are discussed regarding the potential contribution of behavioral interventions with subjective concepts, such as enjoyment, that are viewed as important by the general populace. However, qualifications with relying on verbal reports also are noted.