Raising expectations or dashing hopes?: Well-being and participation in disadvantaged areas

The idea of ‘well-being’ has emerged as a centrallens through which to understand people and places in socialpolicy terms. At the same time, ‘participation’has become central in debates and practices about communitylife in general and neighbourhood renewal in particular. Thisarticle explores the relationship between well-being and participationin disadvantaged areas. Drawing on primary research in two NewDeal for Communities (NDC) areas in the United Kingdom, I explorehow local people's expectations of participation in NDC aredisappointed and how that disappointment may pose a key riskto well-being. I propose, therefore, that experiences of participationin areas of neighbourhood renewal threaten levels of well-beingin the very disadvantaged areas where it is most needed.     

Empowered or over-powered? The real experiences of local participation in the UK's New Deal for Communities

The notion of ‘participation’ has growing currencyat many levels of social policy in the UK where the Labour governmentuses it to denote the engagement of ‘local people’in decision-making about the services and structures which affecttheir daily lives. In particular, local participation is givenas the distinctive feature of the UK government's flagship initiativefor neighbourhood renewal, the New Deal for Communities, butthere is little known about what this means in practice forthe ‘local’ people it affects.     

Do the regulatory standards require religious literacy of U.K. health and social care professionals?

Health and social care professionals need sufficient religious literacy in order to handle the complexities of religious beliefs and practices, including the growing numbers who identify with other belief systems and those who claim to identify with no religion. The extent to which the need for religious literacy has been formalized was examined in an analysis of regulatory frameworks for health and social care professionals in the United Kingdom. Although all but one of the regulators make some reference to religion and beliefs, they are silent on the question as to what is meant by religion and beliefs. Some standards include a requirement not to impose one's own beliefs on others, but there is very little requirement to develop a reflective and self‐critical awareness of one's own stance. Likewise, some standards refer to knowledge and skills required, but greater specificity is required for these to be meaningful.     

Are Codes of Ethics Promoting Religious Literacy for Social Work Practice?

ABSTRACT

As codes of ethics play at least a symbolic, if not educational, role in highlighting and informing professional priorities, 16 codes of ethics for social work practice were examined for references to religion and belief and analysed against the four domains of Dinham’s religious literacy framework. Although religion and belief are mentioned in all but two of the documents, approximately half the surveyed codes only mention religion and belief in respect of either knowledge or skills. Some recognise the need for social workers to be aware of their own biases, but few recognise the need to explain what is meant by religion and belief, despite these terms being in flux. While codes of ethics can contribute to the development of religious literacy among social workers, this requires social workers who already have some religious literacy to actively participate when codes of ethics are being revised.

IMPLICATIONS

• It is an ethical imperative that social workers are able to engage with religion and belief.

• Social workers require religious literacy, including skills and knowledge of different religions, recognition of the fluidity of the concepts, “religion” and “belief”, and understanding one’s own attitudes towards religion.

• Codes of ethics can contribute to the development of religious literacy among social workers, but this potential is often not realised as fully as it might be.

     

A Review of Practice of Teaching and Learning of Communication Skills in Social Work Education in England

There is a renewed focus on skills for practice in the new Social Work degree in the UK, expressed in the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Benchmarks for Social Work and the National Occupational Standards (NOS). Together these make specific a range of requirements for practice which set the terms for what students need to learn in order to work with users and carers most effectively. Of five key areas identified for the new degree, communication skills is the third. In this context, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) commissioned a review of practice in teaching and learning of communication skills in social work education in England. This article presents the findings from this review. It concludes that, whilst there is significant activity and much good practice, there is little clarity or consensus about meanings, definitions, content and methods between all the stakeholders, including users and carers. Through the lens of current teaching and learning of communication skills it is the contention of this article that social work education needs systematically to address its strategy for replying to the challenge of a greater focus on practice skills.