Learning in Finnish Social Work Practice and Research
AbstractAccepting Bartlett ’s vision of social work’s evolution resulting from action research, the article argues that in Finland, extensive action research is occurring, and this is resulting in service innovations. However, little of this research is published in academic journals and has only limited dissemination. Dr awing on data from new interviews with experienced social workers in the City of Tampere, Finland, the article details the nature and extent of action research by social workers. A new framework with which to analyse action research from the logic-of-practice is used to show not only how extensive t h...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - August 4, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Exploring Carers ’ Experiences and Perceptions of Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) over Time, from the Point of Applying to Now
This study provides an insight into the experiences of carers-granted SGOs. The similarit ies and differences in these viewpoints are discussed. The findings suggest that more time and preparation is needed to ensure that carers are better prepared to manage any difficulties that may arise. (Source: British Journal of Social Work)
Source: British Journal of Social Work - August 4, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Gender, Parenting and Practices in Child Welfare Social Work? A Comparative Study from England, Ireland, Norway and Sweden
This article explores ways in which gender equality, family policy and child welfare social work intersect in four countries: England, Ireland, Norway and Sweden. Over time, conditions for gender equality in parenting have improved, partly due to family policy developments removing structural barriers. These changes, however, vary between countries; Sweden and Norway are considered more progressive as compared with the UK and Ireland. Here, we draw on focus group data collected from child welfare social workers in England, Ireland, Norway and Sweden to compare these different contextual changes and how these are reflected ...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - August 4, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Social Workers in Israel: Daily Stressors, Work Benefits, Burnout and Well-Being
We examined (i) the associations between social workers’ perceived exposure to daily stressors and their well-being; (ii) the mediating effect of burnout on these associations; and (iii) the moderating effect of extrinsic and intrinsic work benefits on the relationships between perceived exposure to daily stressors and burnout. Participants were 486 social workers, working in various organisations and with diverse populations in Israel. Of the various findings, two are of particular interest. One is that workers’ depersonalisation of their clients mediated the relationship between the workers’ exposure to daily stres...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - August 4, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Broadening the ‘Survivor Capsule’ of Intimate Partner Violence Services
This study responds to a need to expand current understandings of the ways in which counselling services for intimate partner violence (IPV) address trauma. From the perspectives of fifteen women who accessed IPV counselling services in Ontario, Canada, this feminist intersectional study used constructivist grounded theory methods to explore how services help women heal from trauma. Specifically, the study aimed to understand how counselling services meet the needs of survivors of IPV and respond to their complex identities and experiences of trauma and oppression. Findings exemplify the theoretical concept of a survivor c...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - August 2, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Making Sense of Social Work ’s Troubled Past: Professional Identity, Collective Memory and the Quest for Historical Justice
AbstractSocial work historiography has neglected to engage meaningfully with the most troubling aspects of the profession ’s past: the histories of complicity, or at least acquiescence, in acts of state violence and institutionalised oppression. Through the exploration of historical case studies, this article provides a tentative typology of social work’s ‘horrible histories’ focusing on the project of engineer ing the ideal-type family, in colonial and oppressive socio-political contexts. The authors argue that practices of oppression and complicity can neither be reduced to the ‘few bad apples’ approach nor j...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - August 2, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The Conspicuous Hidden Curriculum and Young Women ’s Daily Lives in Polish Crisis Accommodation
This article examines the daily routine in crisis accommodation for young women in Poland, investigating the hidden curriculum that includes highly gendered norms and expectations regarding residents. The article considers local crisis centres and state-funded Specialist Centres for Victims of Domestic Violence as well as Single Mothers ’ Homes, which provide long-term accommodation for mothers with dependent children. The analysed material has been gathered during fieldwork in Warsaw and the Podkarpackie province in the Years 2017–2018 and comprises diverse data types: interviews with managers and staff at crisis cent...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - July 29, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families and Signs of Safety: Competing or Complementary Frameworks?
AbstractSigns of Safety (SoS) is a comprehensive assessment framework (AF) used in some form in most English children ’s service departments as well as in many other countries. The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (AF) was introduced nearly twenty years ago to address identified failures to adopt a holistic approach to assessments of families where there were concerns that child ren were in need of protection or support. The AF is not only a statutory requirement in England but it has influenced the development of approaches to assessment globally. An evaluation of SoS in pilot local a...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - July 22, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The Controlled Arena of Contested Practices: Critical Practice in Israel ’s State Social Services
This study addresses this gap, exploring the process of implementing the critical professional ‘Poverty-Aware Social Work Paradigm’ (PAP) into the Israeli public welfare services. Based on twenty-five interviews with field-level social workers in the PAP programmes, the findings describe critical practices as operating simultaneously at the interpersonal and structural levels, mainly thro ugh covert actions. The discussion illustrates the significance of merging the interpersonal and structural levels of critical practice and describes the limited arena in which critical professionalism operates in public services. (So...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - July 16, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The Willingness of Social Work Students to Engage in Policy Practice: The Role of Personality Traits and Political Participation Predictors
AbstractThe current study aimed to expand our knowledge regarding social work students ’ willingness to engage in policy practice (EPP). A theoretical model integrating the Big Five personality framework with the ‘Civic Voluntarism Model’ (CVM) was examined, using a sample of 160 social work students in Israel. Findings revealed a moderate level of EPP willingness. Among the CVM predictors, political skills, political knowledge and political interest were significantly positively associated with social work students’ EPP willingness. Among the Big Five traits, extroversion, conscientiousness and openness to experie...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - July 15, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Response to Commentary on ‘Attaining Theoretical Coherence within Relationship-Based Practice in Child and Family Social Work: The Systemic Perspective’
We welcome the opportunity to respond this commentary on our article. As we read it, there seem to be three main points, and we will respond briefly to each in turn. (Source: British Journal of Social Work)
Source: British Journal of Social Work - July 15, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Commentary on Coulter et al. 2019 ‘Attaining Theoretical Coherence Within Relationship-Based Practice in Child and Family Social Work: The Systemic Perspective’
AbstractCoulteret al. (2019) argue that there is an urgent need for a theoretically coherent conceptualisation of contemporary relationship-based practice (RBP) models within child and family social work. They propose that a systemic and social constructionist ‘lens’ can provide this coherence. This reply draws attention to one particular difficulty with their argument and makes a partial case for maintaining clear distinctions between models, with distinct nomenclature. (Source: British Journal of Social Work)
Source: British Journal of Social Work - July 15, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Achieving MSW Students ’ Learning Success: A National Survey of All MSW Degree Programmes in China
This study involved MSW students (n = 1,201) from all 104 MSW degree programmes in China in 2017. The data analysis was based on theory-guided structural equation modelling. The results show that student engagement in academic learning is indirectly and positively related to professional competence and professional identity throu gh the full mediating role of field learning. In addition, students’ BSW background and university resources played moderating roles in the relationships between engagement in academic learning and professional identity and between engagement in field learning and professional competence. Fi...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - July 14, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The Role of Education in Developing Students ’ Professional Resilience for Social Work Practice: A Systematic Scoping Review
This study presents the results of a systematic scoping review aimed at understanding the role of social work education in developing students ’ professional resilience in preparation for their future social work practice. The application of a comprehensive search strategy resulted in the inclusion of thirty-two articles, published between 2008 and 2018. A descriptive thematic analysis highlighted the political and contextual influences on this recent and emerging body of literature, together with three key themes. These themes centred around education building resilience through screening social work applicants, targete...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - July 13, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Birth Sibling Relationships after Adoption: Experiences of Contact with Brothers and Sisters Living Elsewhere
We present adoptive parents’ views and experiences of the contact over four years, together with an analysis of factors that were thought to have prevented, hindered and/or enabled contact between adopted children and their birth siblings. The information shared by the adoptive families illustrates the challenges they faced in promoting sibling contact; in weighing up the complexities associated with managing contact in the short term against the anticipated benefit for their child in the longer term; of balancing a commitment to sibling contact with the psyc hological needs of their child; and of organising contact with...
Source: British Journal of Social Work - July 13, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
