Historical development and characteristics of social work in today's China

Social work education has experienced three stages since its introduction to China in the 1920s: introduction, abolishment and reinstatement. Theoretically, there are four types of social work in China: official–educational, official–practical, voluntary–educational and voluntary–practical. In practice, all four types of social work have not necessarily been embodied in each developmental stage, and the order of their historical development is not the same as the order of their logical development; i.e. some types are lacking in some of the stages. Each type of social work has its own characteristics, which are integrated into each development stage. Today, Chinese social work faces two major interrelated tasks: the professionalisation and the institutionalisation of social work. The former refers to the development of standardisation in Chinese social work; the latter has to do with the development of the social welfare institution in general and the development of institutional welfare in particular. In general, the dramatic development in Chinese social work largely depends on the accomplishment of the two tasks.     

Factors affecting the development of social work and its professionalisation process: the case of Greece

This article discusses some of the factors that have shaped the development of social work in Greece and analyses its present level of professionalisation. There were four main factors: (i) the familialist-statist social care model in which social work operates in Greece; (ii) reluctant state support related to a complex set of specific political, social and economic conditions; (iii) the pressure of new needs in recent years as a result of the aging population, family changes and increasing numbers of immigrants; and (iv) the European Union's financial support and regulatory role in various social policy sectors. The present status of the profession indicates a satisfactory protection of professional rights, a slow but steady improvement in the educational process, but also limited occupational control.     

Building state capacity for welfare governance: The pathway and development of child welfare system and social work in China

ABSTRACT

China’s dramatic socioeconomic transformation after the reform and opening up, coincided with changes in state-family relationship, has resulted in a large number of children at risk of care. In the past three decades, child welfare has been highly concerned by the government and society, and the child welfare system has substantially developed in the direction of establishing a moderately universal system. In this process, the development of child welfare and social work has shown a mutually reinforcing trend. This includes the professionalisation of child welfare services, the professional training of child welfare workers and the advancement of child welfare policies. The governance of child welfare is an essential component of national social governance. Its future development should be oriented towards a developmental and holistic approach of governance, and social work as an important institutional actor plays a critical role in promoting good governance of child welfare and beyond.     

Social workers' attitudes towards social welfare policy

As social workers are widely called upon to take an active role in influencing social welfare policy, a better understanding of their views on the welfare state is crucial. This study examines the attitudes of 422 Israeli social workers from diverse social welfare agencies regarding social welfare policy. The framework for understanding these attitudes includes the notions of professionalisation processes, social work values, and the class position of social workers. The study's findings indicate that support for the welfare state is quite moderate and these reflect more the class affiliation of social workers than their professional values and the professionalisation process.     

The heroine and the capitalist: the profession's debate about privatisation of Swedish social work

Since the 1990s, as a consequence of economic crisis and ideological and political redirections, welfare provision in Sweden has undergone processes of decentralisation, market orientation and privatisation. Publicly financed services provided by subcontracted private enterprises have increased substantially in every welfare sector, including social work. Furthermore, numbers of self-employed social workers also appear to be increasing. The aim of the article is to describe and analyse the debate on privatisation in professional social work journals. More than 700 articles gleaned from 1100 issues of four professional journals spanning the period 1985–2003 have been analysed using a combination of quantitative content and qualitative discourse analysis. The results show that the debate has shifted from ideology to pragmatics in the two major social work unions, although, despite de-polarisation tendencies, ambivalence towards private social work is evident.     

Supervision reviewed: reflections on two different social work models in England and Sweden

This article draws on the findings of two independent research projects on supervision: one based in England and the second in Sweden. The findings cited illustrate predominantly the perspectives on supervision held by social workers and managers in the statutory services. In the process of contextualising, theorising and pulling together the threads from their respective findings, the authors reflect on the fabric and models of supervision in the two countries. The opportunities and disadvantages of the two contrasting models in current practice are discussed. This includes the steps that could be taken in either country to improve the quality of supervision within learning organisations.     

Frontline workers' competency in activation work

Frontline workers play a crucial role in implementing activation policies. Nevertheless, research on what competencies are required for activation work is limited. We explored activation competency based on a survey of 1,735 frontline workers in the Norwegian labour and welfare administration. Factor analysis revealed two distinct underlying dimensions in activation competency: market competency and user‐oriented competency. We found that the social workers in the study viewed themselves as having significantly less market competency and slightly more user‐oriented competency than non‐social workers have, but the differences were small. The results also indicate that these effects are partially mediated by attitudes towards conditionality. The results give reason to treat activation competencies as twofold and raise the question of whether social work education improves frontline workers' competency in activation work compared with frontline workers with other educational backgrounds.     

提高女大学生职业化素养路径

针对女大学生就业难问题,采用归纳分析的方法,分析了女大学生就业难的原因,提出了女大学生要尽可能缩短自己的职业适应期,树立正确的情感和心态,培养社会需要的职业能力等增强职业化素养的途径。研究结果对提高女大学生职业素养具有指导意义。     

Some considerations on the debate on social work in China: who speaks for whom?

In this article I persist with my argument that indigenous, local, culturally relevant practice ought to trump the external imposition of social work definitions, standards and professional models. The challenge, however, is not to fall prey to false dichotomies. Importantly, social work in China is not static but emergent, and no‐one is sure of the exact shape it will take. And the essential question is to what extent will Western knowledge and standards be uncritically appropriated into China? Most contributors to the debate thus far have taken the international definition of social work as their starting point, but far more significant are the political dimensions involved in this process of indigenisation. This article proposes that empirical evidence from within China regarding culturally appropriate, effective local responses – and some clear benchmarks for international engagement – should form the basis for dialogue between China and the broader social work community.     

Social development and the status quo: professionalisation and Third Way co‐optation

Gray M. Social development and the status quo: professionalisation and Third Way co‐optation Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 463–470 © 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. Social development is a massive undertaking that has spawned a multitude of organisational forms. It nevertheless remains an ambiguous term and ill‐defined area of work, though some social development practitioners have succeeded in making small‐scale local differences in particular situations. While largely a tool of the status quo, some believe that social development has transformative potential and provides valuable space to confront inequalities and deprivation. In this article, I argue that in contemporary neoliberal environments social development is being co‐opted by Third Way politics and professionalisation processes. As it professionalises through the creation of professional structures and educational systems, it is becoming increasingly like social work, despite arguments that it is as an alternative approach to poverty and social exclusion. In the process, it is losing its transformative, critical edge, and morphing into a neoliberal, social investment approach that absolves government of its responsibility for the welfare of citizens.