Inherent Requirements and Social Work Education

The aim of this chapter is to contribute to addressing issues of access and equity in social work education for people with mental health disabilities. The objective is to carefully consider the introduction of inherent requirements in universities, and particularly in relation to social work education, in Australia. A targeted review of relevant literature including legislation, policy, and practice standards frameworks identifies the parameters of inherent requirements and possible areas of discrimination. Consideration of the use of inherent requirements in social work education is from a human rights social justice perspective that acknowledges the strength and resources of people and communities and actively advocates for the protection of disability rights.

Social work is a human rights profession and assumes that human rights are embedded in social work practice and education. However, in Africa where human rights violations are rife, with severe implications for social work practice and education, thus far, a human rights focus in social work education has not yet received the attention it deserves. A critical analysis of human rights education in social work in Africa in the context of decolonisation and development shows the interrelatedness of human rights and human development, which, in turn, informs the learning content of the social work curriculum and pedagogy of human rights in social work. Social work educators in Africa are encouraged to take up the challenge of adopting and integrating a pedagogy that will fast-track the infusion of human rights values in the social work curriculum.

研究目的：本研究以人權與社會正義觀點來探討醫務社會工作人員在活體器官捐贈社會心理評估中的角色、任務以及工作內容，以確保捐贈者自主、自願及知情下同意器官捐贈的行為。<br />研究方法：本研究採立意取樣，訪談現職從事活體器官捐贈社會心理評估工作或曾任職衛生福利部核准之活體肝臟移植或活體腎臟移植醫院之醫務社會工作人員。<br />研究結果：訪談資料顯示，醫務社會工作人員在活體器官捐贈社會心理評估的工作內容是透過會談來確認捐贈者是權利主體，其捐贈決定是自主、自願以及知情下同意；同時，捐贈者的性別、身心障礙或族群等脆弱性特質形塑捐贈決策中的角色期待、家庭關係壓力與脅迫。<br />研究結論：醫務社會工作人員在捐贈者社會心理評估裡的角色既是知情同意倫理彰顯者，以捐贈者為中心，進行充權，使其具備權利意識來決定同意或拒絕器官捐贈；也是捐贈者權益維護者，協助捐贈者審視捐贈決策的情境與社會脈絡，保護捐贈者不因脆弱性特質，遭受不公對待，而進行捐贈決策。Research Purpose Liver and kidney transplants are the most common forms of living organ transplants in Taiwan. According to Article 8, item 1, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Human Organ Transplant Act, consent to organ donation should be given in a condition of“sound mental capacity”and“free will.”To avoid coercion or organ trafficking and selling in situations of living organ donation and transplantation, a thorough assessment and examination must be performed prior to the procedure. This study examined how medical social workers (MSWs) adopted human rights and social justice perspectives in the psychosocial assessment of living organ donors before surgery to ensure donors’autonomy and willingness. <br />Method A purposive sampling technique was adopted that involved interviewing 12 MSWs (three males and nine females) assigned to living-donor liver transplant hospitals approved by the Ministry of Health and Welfare or working in psychosocial assessment of living organ donation at the time of interviewing. Interviews were conducted between March 23 and April 10, 2021. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. <br />Results According to the research findings, the psychosocial assessment of living organ donation focuses on the donor’s demographic characteristics such as gender, age, marital status, and employment to ensure relationships between the donor and the recipient. It is also necessary to have information about the donor’s family system because potential donors are frequently under pressure to donate organs owing to role expectations. MSWs feel confident in their roles as professionals in the psychosocial evaluation of living organ donation since psychosocial evaluation is an essential skill to acquire in social work education. Furthermore, MSWs must ensure that potential donors’decisions are made freely and without any coercion, even though MSWs are not the only ones who respect and protect the donor’s rights to autonomy and self-determination during the psychosocial assessment process. Additionally, when donors are placed in oppressive situations during the donation decision-making process, MSWs must be aware of their vulnerability based on their gender, disability, or ethnicity to empower them to resist potential oppression or exploitation. In other words, the social work profession values the notion of social justice and emphasizes acknowledging service users’possible existence of the social injustice faced by disadvantaged groups. Psychosocial assessments of living donors help potential donors become aware of whether their characteristics, such as gender, ethnicity, or disability, cause them to be dominated and exploited. According to our findings, female family members, such as spouses, daughters, or daughters-in-law, are sometimes required to sacrifice themselves to donate living organs to other family members, especially when the female is financially reliant. <br />Conclusion The results suggest that MSWs are expected to maintain consciousness of rights to protect the free will, autonomy, and self-determination freedom of potential living organ donors. Moreover, based on social justice, MSWs are expected to protect living organ donors from the pressures caused by interpersonal relationships and social roles. Consequently, the role of medical social workers in the psychosocial evaluation of living organ donations may be viewed as an advocate for human rights and social justice practitioners.

Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) are central to communities in Africa. They shape, influence, and define the behaviour of societies. Most communities in Zimbabwe have consistently recognised the human rights of individuals. Understanding how IKS can influence social work theory and practice to uphold human rights is important. Human rights are an inherent part of the social work profession. The article explores the views of social work educators in Zimbabwe on the intersection of IKS and human rights in social work education and practice. Data were qualitatively collected from ten purposefully selected social work educators using an instrumental case study design. Evidence from the participants shows four essential aspects, which are, the relevance of indigenous knowledge systems in social work education and practice in Zimbabwe, the role of indigenous knowledge systems in the application of human rights in social work in Zimbabwe, ways to utilise IKS best to uphold human rights; the challenges faced by educators in utilising indigenous knowledge systems in social work in Zimbabwe. The article concludes that IKS upholds human rights perspectives in social work theory and practice. The article recommends that IKS, informed by a human rights perspective, be integrated into social work education and practice in Zimbabwe and practised at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.

Social work, with its commitment to social justice, knowledge about cultural diversity, and respect for the dignity and worth of the individual, has much to contribute to the modern-day human rights debate. Many international social work scholars have articulated the view of social work as a human rights profession. The profession’s presence in this arena, however, has not always been apparent. Amid increasing global tensions and domestic challenges, equipping social work students with human rights knowledge and skills is critical. The limited attention given to human rights in social work education, particularly in the United States, provides a unique opportunity to explore the human rights discourse occurring in academic circles. This paper presents a review of scholarly journal articles that explore the human rights discourse related to social work education in the United States. Upon reviewing the literature, the following categories emerged: (1) general articles on integrating human rights into social work education; (2) pedagogical frameworks, models, and examples of incorporating human rights into social work education; and (3) measures and perceptions related to assessing the integration of human rights in social work education. Findings indicate that the inclusion of human rights into social work education in the United States is in its infancy. It is recommended that social work programs in the United States be more intentional about integrating human rights content into the curricula to train culturally competent and globally minded social workers.

India is one of the signatories to the UDHR. Its written constitution provides a unique combination of justiciable and non-justiciable rights. In India, the human rights movement and its intellectual discourse have been put to the test due to the specific complexities of the political processes in the country as well as due to the distinct historical, social, and cultural situations in Indian states. The residual traditional norms of caste, class and gender inequality, poverty, lack of education, and awareness are major hindrances in popularizing and internalizing human rights and making it into a mass movement. There is growing demand for social workers to adopt the human rights approach, particularly with increasing social and economic inequalities, poverty, religious and civil conflicts, disasters, and displacements. In this paper, the authors present a brief history of India’s response to the human rights conventions and treaties and the current status of human rights practices. Social work education is a very important entry point for human rights practice and protection of the rights of the poor, marginalized, and the most disadvantaged people in the country. How Indian social work education has tailored its curricula, research, and field practice to embrace the human rights perspective is discussed and debated. While there are several challenges and differences in social work perspectives in the education of social workers in India, it is now well acknowledged that collective analysis and solidarity will facilitate the transformation of social work education in India into an effective discipline with a human rights perspective.

Social work practice not centered on human rights may unintentionally perpetuate human rights abuses, and these abuses can have global implications. US-based social work educators have made efforts to directly focus social work education on human rights since 2008, when the US-based Council on Social Work Education included a human rights competency. However, insufficient data exists regarding US-based social work students’ views on human rights, as well as the possible relationship between exposure to human rights content in social work education and student endorsement of human rights. The present research attempts to address both issues: Using McPherson and Abell’s (2012) 25-item Human Rights Engagement in Social Work scale (HRESW), the author assessed the overall endorsement of human rights perspectives by students in a social work program in the western United States, and examined differences between students at different levels in the program to evaluate the effectiveness of increased exposure to human rights content. Descriptive results from 171 BSW and MSW students showed overall endorsement of human rights. Ten of the 25 HRESW items showed stronger agreement among upper-division BSW and MSW students when compared with their lower-division BSW peers at statistically significant levels; these items were related to social and economic rights. When comparing online and face-to-face students, one HRESW item showed a statistically significant difference. Overall results indicate that social work students have a relatively high level of human rights endorsement, which has the potential to increase with continual exposure to human rights content in social work courses.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has identified education as one of five crucial issues relating to the settlement of African Australians into the Australian community from a human rights perspective (AHRC 2009:5). In this paper I advocate that social work and welfare work in Australia are placed in important and multi-dimensioned positions in relation to our complicities, responsibilities and potentialities with this educational human rights issue. As a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) welfare and University social work educator, I offer an outline of the ‘mutual respect inquiry approach’ that developed between myself and Southern Sudanese Australian students as a basis for discussion, reflection and change. I seek to stimulate thinking and action, particularly among those welfare work and social work educators, practitioners and students who identify as critical and anti-oppressive, to consider how these approaches can be realised and reshaped in practice to enhance not only Southern Sudanese Australians’ right to education that is ‘without discrimination’, but indeed all students in our diversity.

Interpersonal Social Work Skills for Community Practice

ABSTRACTThe history of social work as a profession and academic discipline is inextricably linked with principles of human rights (HR) and social justice (SJ). The Global Standards for social work education promote HR and SJ as unifying themes, yet there is little understanding of how these themes are embedded in social work education in specific national contexts. This article, based on empirical research in England and Spain, explores social work educators’ understandings of, and strategies used in learning and teaching about, HR and SJ. Using a critical realist framework, a web survey was followed by qualitative interviews with educators in each country to identify opportunities and challenges in stimulating students’ theoretical understanding of HR and SJ, and their application in practice. Findings show that prevailing neoliberal ideology has pervaded social work in both countries (more strongly in England) placing pressure on social work educators to convey narrow understandings of HR and SJ and to adopt increasingly bureaucratic and distant relationships with students. Identifying a range of factors informing educators’ understandings of HR and SJ, the research identifies spaces for strengthening the focus on HR and SJ in social work education. The article argues that while university-based social work education remains a fertile site for the deconstruction of neoliberal ideology that threatens the HR and SJ foundations of social work globally, social work and social work education require the development of a distinct, alternative, HR and SJ-based ideology.

The history of social work as a profession and academic discipline is inextricably linked with principles of human rights (HR) and social justice (SJ). The Global Standards for social work education promote HR and SJ as unifying themes, yet there is little understanding of how these themes are embedded in social work education in specific national contexts. This article, based on empirical research in England and Spain, explores social work educators’ understandings of, and strategies used in learning and teaching about, HR and SJ. Using a critical realist framework, a web survey was followed by qualitative interviews with educators in each country to identify opportunities and challenges in stimulating students’ theoretical understanding of HR and SJ, and their application in practice. Findings show that prevailing neoliberal ideology has pervaded social work in both countries (more strongly in England) placing pressure on social work educators to convey narrow understandings of HR and SJ and to adopt increasingly bureaucratic and distant relationships with students. Identifying a range of factors informing educators’ understandings of HR and SJ, the research identifies spaces for strengthening the focus on HR and SJ in social work education. The article argues that while university-based social work education remains a fertile site for the deconstruction of neoliberal ideology that threatens the HR and SJ foundations of social work globally, social work and social work education require the development of a distinct, alternative, HR and SJ-based ideology.

Just as social work in disability settings is often overlooked in the academic and professional literature, so too has disability been marginalised by social activists, and the disability perspective on social justice ignored by policymakers. In this chapter, we maintain that social work practice framed within a social justice perspective has a positive contribution to make to the lives of disabled people. We explore what social justice means in the context of disability, before considering two particular social justice concerns facing disabled people: the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the phenomena of hate and mate crime. We then offer three suggestions for practice in disability settings: adopting a critical perspective to practice, a focus on human rights, and being an ally to the Disability Rights Movement.

Climate change and the right to health of people with disabilities

The social work profession has evolved extensively since its inception in 1898. The profession began with a focus on helping others and recognizing social injustices as its core charges. The profession is now being called to view human rights as its professional responsibility, too. As driving forces behind this new charge, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) are taking concrete steps to ensure that the human rights perspective is being integrated into social work education and practice.

This article provides a critical overview of the history of the development of human rights education in Africa and the influence it has on social work education and human rights. The research is based on an in-depth integrative literature review and provides a context for an understanding of human rights education in social work in Africa. This history is part of the history and development of human rights on the continent. The discussion will indicate that Africa was at a disadvantage regarding human rights education from the beginning, as most African countries had adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) only by 2019. In Africa, human rights education has focused on curriculum initiatives, particularly ones incorporating human rights concepts into local schools; by contrast, human rights education for professional groups has been infrequent. As social workers interact with marginalized groups and populations, the profession is very well positioned to advance human rights in Africa, provided that social work education incorporates human rights in the curricula. This article will indicate how the history of human rights education in Africa creates the backdrop of understanding the need for advancing human rights education in social work in Africa.