Social Work Studies at a Haredi Women's College: Difficulties and Dilemmas

This paper examines the challenges faced by female Ultra-Orthodox students in a social work program designed for the Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel. Findings were obtained from four focus groups with a total of 32 students. The participants reported being exposed to contents that were inconsistent with the perspectives of their community, fieldwork expectations and requirements that violated strict rules of gender separation, and inconvenient scheduling of exams and field trips that did not take their religious observances into consideration. Despite the considerable distress that these matters caused, most of the students made determined efforts to cope, to learn the course material, to carry out their fieldwork assignments, and to reconcile the discrepancies between some of the contents they learned and behaviors that were expected of them and their deeply held values and ways. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations made.     

“Which One Is Yours?”: Children and Ethnography

This paper explores roles that children play in ethnographic research. Based on the limited literature on children in the field, and drawing on examples from ethnographies across disciplines, I identify four roles for children: 1) as “wedges,” or as instrumentally important in helping adult ethnographers gain access in various ways; 2) as collaborators; 3) as objects of study; and 4) as subjects of study. I also discuss the ways in which these roles illuminate key methodological issues in ethnography, like reflexivity, ethics, and agency. The paper synthesizes and integrates previously disconnected research on the presence of children in the field with ethnographies in which children and childhood are the topics of research. I draw on my own fieldwork experiences for further illustration.

Nativity Seen in the Anthropocene: Contemporary Fieldwork and Subjective Challenges

Ongoing political changes, diasporic mobilities and new communication modalities present anthropologists with novel challenges for conducting ethnographic field work. As both configurations of and expectations for varied forms of social identity change, so too has the notion of the native, what Arjun Appadurai once called the technical preserve of anthropologists. Through reflection on contemporary field work experiences in Kazakhstan, the Philippines and South Korea, this set of papers considers how changing political and cultural regimes, diasporic mobilities and social media also tag the native anthropologist, a concept which can be to the advantage of the researcher, but also can create new problems and complexities for research.     

Mesede and the Limits of Reciprocity in Fieldwork at Kamusi,Western Province,Papua New Guinea

This paper outlines some of the ways I and my research were defined by Bamu speakers living at Kamusi, the headquarters of the Wawoi Guavi logging concession in the Western Province of PNG. These definitions often involved stories about Mesede and other great Bamu ancestors. The stories about Mesede outlined Bamu experiences of colonial and post-colonial development and suggested that Mesede had the power to transform the Bamu's current poverty and marginalisation. The possibility that Mesede could institute a new epoch of development was linked to the Bamu's ability to maintain inalienable ties with Mesede despite his removal overseas. Mesede's story also required me to acknowledge, and productively respond to, past appropriations by Australians, and others, of Mesede. His history placed me in a project of im/possible reciprocity that should have involved me in returning Mesede to his rightful place.     

Practising partnership--participative inquiry with older people

This paper examines the importance of approaching research with minority groups of older people in an inclusive way. For older people, ageism is a key feature of the discrimination and marginalisation they experience, but some are excluded and marginalised further on the basis of their ethnicity and sexuality. The 'invisibility' of these groups poses a challenge to social workers and social work educators, as assumptions about their experiences and needs may be made which do not reflect the subjective experiences of these older people. The use of Participatory Action Research as a method of including service users in knowledge and theory development will be analysed, and a research proposal undertaken in partnership with a local voluntary agency will be explored. The importance for social work education of pursuing 'inclusive' methods of research so that service users have more power over knowledge produced about their lives, will be discussed.     

Developing the social work researcher through a practitioner research training programme

As part of its core programme, the Centre for Child Care Research at Queen's University, Belfast, Department of Social Work is developing a Practitioner Research Training Programme for social workers interested in undertaking applied research. A survey was undertaken to assess the research literacy and competency of the social work profession as well as interest and desire to learn by undertaking research training. The findings produced useful insights into the value of such a programme and offered a contribution to the more global debate on the development of practitioner-researcher partnerships for creating a research base within the profession.     

Dual Role Transition among First Time Pregnant Social Work Student Trainees

Since most social work student trainees are women of child bearing age, every year at least some of them become pregnant in the course of their fieldwork. This study investigates the dual transitions of becoming a mother while becoming a professional among 10 married social work student trainees whose fieldwork training coincided with their first pregnancy. The findings obtained from a cross-case thematic analysis of the contents of semi-structured interviews show that these trainees come to their fieldwork preoccupied with their pregnancy, torn between that and their clients, and feeling guilty and, in some cases, professionally inadequate as a result. They also show that some of them cope with their pregnancies by pushing themselves to over-function in matters that do not involve direct client interaction. The paper ends with practical recommendations to help pregnant trainees free up room for their clients' needs by providing them with opportunities to talk about their own.     

田野工作与促进生命变革的乡村研究

田野工作是认识乡村和重新发现乡村的重要方法。 回首 23 年的乡村问询之旅,特别是近五年的乡村实践让我领悟到,扎根田野的工作策略不仅可以阐释文化特质,揭示社会问题,其深层的意义在于促进生命变革。 这种认识观念的转变和行动路径的选择,在拓展乡村研究深度的同时,也彰显了田野工作的现实价值。     

Postmodern feminism: a theoretical framework for a field unit with women in jail

This article presents a postmodern, feminist framework as a foundation for a social work student field unit with women inmates in the corrections system. Feminist pedagogical methods were developed and implemented for this field unit and, once trained, the students utilized feminist social work skills within the jail environment. The case study illustrates the field unit design, student learning processes, and examples of student interventions. In addition to becoming skillful clinicians, student interns became social change agents within the corrections system. Implications for micro, meso, and macro levels of social work practice are discussed.