Vertical Farming: Social Work and Sustainable Urban Agriculture in an Age of Global Food Crises

Abstract

Environmental concerns, including issues of ecological justice, attention to sustainability, and focus on issues of food security have gathered increased momentum in social work. This article will trace the background of sustainable urban agriculture as a partial solution to the issue of global food insecurity and its impact on marginalised urban populations. It will review the development of a sustainable agricultural initiative called vertical farming and suggest that it holds promise for communities struggling with chronic food security problems. It will outline some tentative steps social work may consider in order to become more fully involved in support of vertical farming initiatives.     

Environmental Social Work: Accounting for Gender in Climate Disasters

Abstract

The person-in-the-environment concept has largely been interpreted by social workers to indicate social networks and relationships, ignoring the physical environment and its complex impact on human health and wellbeing. This article examines the environmental domain, noting the critical role social workers can have in this field as a consequence of climate events and global warming. The article notes the significance of gender as a key factor in vulnerability to disasters and outlines the need for social workers to consider gender as a critical indicator in their work in this emerging area. Embodiment, connection to place, poverty, and cultural awareness are also significant, but often overlooked, factors in a social work response to environmental disasters. Ecological and ecofeminist theories give a direction for social work theory and practice in the postdisaster space. The article challenges social workers to reconsider the person-in-the-environment as a complex and critical emerging domain of social work theories and practice, a domain where gender awareness is fundamental.     

Water Insecurity: A Case for Social Policy Action by Social Workers

Abstract

This article discusses the nationally and internationally urgent water insecurity issue, and why it represents a highly relevant area for social policy action by social workers, both at local and global levels. Drawing on secondary data analysis, the paper explores the nature and scope of water insecurity as a global social work issue, discusses its social policy dimensions, and suggests a framework for social policy action by social workers. It argues that, due to the complex nature of the water insecurity issue and its consequences, particularly on the poor and disadvantaged groups, and on ecosystems, it is critical to analyse it from conservation, distribution, and access perspectives and to act. Social workers need to think creatively about the application of their knowledge, skills, and virtues to the water insecurity issue in order to bring about necessary changes in human and institutional behaviour relating to water.     

Accredited Mental Health Social Work in Australia: A Reality Check

Abstract

Accredited mental health social workers (AMHSWs) have a great deal to offer the clients they see in their private practices, many of whom have complex needs. However, they are constrained by the inflated expectations Government has about evidence-based psychological interventions. The restrictions placed on the professional private practice of AMHSWs by Federal Government Medicare funding of a narrow set of psychological interventions ultimately limits the services received by clients. In this article, the findings of a survey of AMHSWs are presented, highlighting the tensions between individualised responses promoted by Medicare payments, and those premised on principles of social justice and social inclusion.     

User and Carer Experiences of International Social Care Workers in England: Listening to their Accounts of Choice and Control

Abstract

This paper develops a typology of people using social care services’ preferences for care workers and satisfaction with social care services from a large multimethod study that explored international recruitment to the English social care sector (home and health care, including residential homes). We developed this typology with two questions in mind: (a) what led to satisfaction of care and (b) what led to preference and satisfaction with workers? Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with 35 people who were using social care services and carers (2007–2009) and these data were used to develop the typology. Using the theoretical concept of homophily, we explored contentions that people might prefer to receive care and support from individuals resembling themselves. We observed that preferences for care workers and satisfaction with social care services may be linked, but highlighted that the concept of meeting a preference is personal to the individual. The implications of users’ preferences for certain care workers at a time where policy is promoting greater consumer-led care or self-directed support are discussed.     

中国老年人自评健康影响因素分析

利用2008/2009年全国老年人口健康状况调查截面数据以及2002—2008/2009年纵向数据,应用有序Logit模型以及固定效果模型方法,分析中国老年人自评健康状况及其影响因素。研究发现,我国老年人的社会人口学特征、经济状况、健康状况、社会参与、生活满意度等因素与其自评健康显著相关,截面数据定序Logit模型和纵向数据固定效果模型均通过统计学显著性检验,而社会参与、生活满意度对自评健康的有益影响在两个模型中是一致的。     

从社会工作视角看我国临终关怀团队的建设路径

当前我国的临终关怀护理团队呈现以护理人员为主,社会工作者严重缺失的特点。通过借鉴美国卡罗莱那州临终关怀建设的先进经验,提出我国临终关怀团队建设的本土化路径,认为:应围绕医护专业和社会工作专业两条主线,在社会工作专业中增设临终护理课程,在护理专业中融入社会工作模块,培养交叉学科背景下的专业临终关怀人才。     

毒瘾艾滋病感染者的社会适应历程及影响因素

通过对毒瘾艾滋病感染者的深入访谈发现:他们的社会适应历程经历了权能激发、人际互动、问题解决以及评价反馈四个阶段,并受到个人特质、人际关系以及社会环境三方面的综合影响。建议通过优势视角肯定他们内在的智慧和蜕变能力,构建起"自我努力、家庭关爱、病友互助、社区接纳、社会支持、政府引导"的服务框架,最终促进他们的社会适应。     

Learning to Stay? Mobile Modernity and the Sociology of Choice

Abstract

Linking physical and social mobilities to a modernity typified by increased foci on individualization, consumption, workplace flexibilization and the need for further (and further) education, this paper argues the need for mobility scholars to pay greater attention to the role played by educational institutions in family formation and the decisions associated with where to locate oneself in relation to these institutions. The research project under consideration took place in a remote Australian resource boomtown, an epicentre of global capital concentration and a concomitant mobile modernity. It focuses on educational decision-making that absorbs increasing amounts of energy among middle-class families in various parts of the globe, exploring the sociological implications of this and the links with physical and social mobilities.     

Multiple Migration Flows of Romanians

Abstract

Most studies on international migration examine population movement between a country of origin and a destination. This article aims to show that migrants often change destinations, a less studied pattern of ‘multiple migrations’. This article explores how such migration occurs and analyses the variables accounting for it. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork research amongst Romanian migrants in Portugal, the article concludes that the growth in multiple migrations of Romanian migrants throughout Europe can be explained by a combination of migration policies and social networks, mediated by migrants’ level of education and type of occupation at the destination.