Abstract This article explores social workers’ perspectives on children and parents in child welfare services and discusses how these understandings may influence the participation of these actors in the casework process. Based on vignettes discussed in focus group interviews with thirty social workers in Denmark, the article employs a social constructionist framework to investigate how social workers construct children and parents in child welfare services. The findings reveal that children are often viewed as vulnerable and innocent, while parents are seen as responsible and accountable. The analysis demonstrates how these constructions can impact how social workers articulate engaging with children and parents in casework. While the social workers prioritize listening to children’s perspectives, there is a risk that children’s participation becomes symbolic if their views are not meaningfully integrated into the case. Further, the social workers prioritize ensuring parents understand their parental responsibility from the perspective of the social worker, which risks marginalizing parents’ perspectives and entails a focus on participation as governance rather than partnership. Thus, the perspectives on children as innocent and parents as accountable position them differently in the casework process and can result in divergent opportunities for and limitations to participation.

Abstract We examine young adults’ service disengagement in the context of welfare services including social, health care and employment services. By service disengagement we mean young adults’ refusal of help, with three manifestations: not applying for services, refusing to participate, or dropping out of the services available to them. This theme has rarely been addressed in social work research, but it is a common phenomenon in the field of social services. We discuss service disengagement from the perspective of young adults themselves. We interviewed twenty-four Finnish young adults with experiences of social services. The data were analysed using content analysis and the results were interpreted within Amartya Sen’s and Martha Nussbaum’s capability approach. Our results suggest that young adults’ service disengagement cannot be understood as a solely individual choice; there are many factors in their encounters with street-level bureaucrats and service arrangements deterring young people from accepting the help they need. Our findings help to comprehend this widely recognized, but poorly understood problem of young adults’ service disengagement in welfare services.

Abstract In October 2024, this journal published an article by Tarshish (2025) ‘revisiting’ the International Federation of Social Workers’ global definition of social work (GDSW). This critical commentary identifies substantial concerns with this contribution and aims to address some of its gaps and elisions. Having discussed methodological problems with the Tarshish article, the commentary explores its striking omission of the genocide occurring in Gaza and wider factors related to the evolution of apartheid in Israel. Whilst refraining from personally criticizing Tarshish, it is contended that their proposal to ‘reconstruct’ the GDSW needs to be comprehended within the more encompassing social totality shaping the profession in Israel. Dwelling on such realities, wholly omitted in the Tarshish article, illuminates the fact that Israel, as a designedly ethno-racial and expansionist state, is constituted in a way that runs entirely counter to the ethical values amplified by the IFSW definition of the profession.

Abstract Young fathers are marginalized by parenting discourses which focus on women and negative discourses about young people as parents. In this study, young fathers explored their discursive constructions of their own and social workers’ identities and considered their perceptions of social workers as professionals involved in their children’s lives, as well as their thoughts about how they felt social workers view their role as fathers. The study applied Butler’s performativity and gender performances with young fathers to explore how they think social workers perform social work and used critical discourse analysis to examine data from an online focus group of young fathers. While the fathers demonstrated capacity to recognize their own parenting and how this has evolved, they explained social workers expect them to reproduce negative parenting stereotypes and inhabit a role less deserving of support than mothers. This study highlights how young dads experience intersectional discrimination as young people and fathers and concludes by recommending that safe spaces are needed for relationships of trust to be developed between social workers and young dads where their own needs for support can be voiced. Meeting these needs is critical if fathers are to be encouraged and recognized as involved parents.

Abstract There are growing international concerns around the needs and status of intersex people in society. The medical trauma and bodily violations that people with variations of sex characteristics can endure has been outlined within legal, human rights, and social science literature, however at present there is a dearth of publications that examine what this means for social work practice. Using critical intersex studies to underpin the analysis, this commentary will explore how social workers can begin to think about the psychosocial needs of intersex people, whilst drawing upon the profession’s fundamental values concerning social justice. It will introduce wider terminology regarding variations of sex characteristics and discuss the primary challenges that intersex people face in terms of non-consensual medical interventions, discrimination, and erasure. It will also acknowledge human rights concerns raised by global bodies and set out the legal and policy contexts, with a focus on frameworks in the UK. Finally, it will explore the distinct approaches that social workers can bring to the field, in order to disrupt wider medicalized discourses which currently dominate professional practice.

Abstract There is little knowledge of how women who use and are in treatment for using drugs in the perinatal period experience multidisciplinary services prenatally. This study used qualitative longitudinal methods to explore women’s experiences of care in four sites in England and Scotland. Thirty-six women who used and were in treatment for drug use (opioid, stimulants, and benzodiazepines) were recruited via maternity services. Framework analysis was used to manage the data and data were coded thematically. The profile of research participants included experiences of a range of cooccurring physical and mental health problems. Most women for whom this was not their first maternity, had had previous children removed from their care. The findings focus on women’s experiences of surveillance and uncertainty surrounding referrals to social services, social work assessments and possible removal of babies. Research participants reported managing the conceptual entanglement of treatment for opioid use with illicit drug use. Participants described being subject to multi-agency monitoring and there were few examples of trauma-informed care at the point of delivery. Findings have implications for how multi agency services engage with women who use drugs and call for approaches that are responsive to their needs and those of their babies.

Abstract This article aims to contribute to understandings of empathic leadership, with the development of a framework, Em-Path, created in an empirical social work study. The relational study aimed to broaden understanding of empathic practice. Situated in the context of child protection social work in England (2021–2023), the study was supported by five project sponsors from three local authority organizations. Twelve social workers each participated in three relational interviews, with eleven of the twelve participants and four of the five project sponsors attending member reflection groups. Interpretive processes were guided by reflexive thematic analysis, integrating and developing the narrative I-Poem method. Elements of the national policy context restricted social workers’ empathic capacity and whilst elements of organizational contexts supported social workers’ empathic capacity, organizational leaders perceived enactment of empathy proved fragile. The Em-Path framework represents required leadership practices to protect and promote social workers’ capacity for empathic practice with people who engage with social work services. Em-Path contributes to understanding of relational, empathic leadership, with implications for policy and practice.

Abstract This study examines the impact of disparities in future confidence between parents and children on adolescent educational development, extending prior research. A total of 9,726 middle school students (48.8 percent girls) aged 14–16 years participated in the study. All participants are Chinese Han. The findings reveal that children future confidence is a pivotal mediator in their educational development, influenced by parents’ confidence in their children future. The results underscore the importance of parents’ future confidence on adolescent educational development, affecting outcomes both directly and indirectly through children future confidence. This study concludes that confidence is essential for adolescent educational development and suggests the need for interventions that strengthen parent–child communication and interaction to increase adolescent confidence.

Abstract Deinstitutionalization (DI) is a key concept in disability policy in Poland. Despite its dominant role in long-term care, DI is controversial in terms of its effectiveness and implementation. This article assesses the DI implementation process in Poland from the perspective of neo-institutionalism and institutional change. The article is based on qualitative research, conducted as part of the DI diagnosis project in Poland. The article identifies types of operational organizational structures at different stages of DI in Poland: hybrid, alternative, and partial. Hybrid entities emerge by recombining existing elements. Alternative organizations are less hierarchical and bureaucratic, more responsive to PwD and community needs, and have the potential to become systemic solutions. Partial organizations are defined through a comparison to an ideal holistic model, incorporate only some structural elements, such a as: nonhierarchical relationships based on trust, reciprocity, and social capital, dialogue and collaboration. The DI process in Poland is hampered by the lack of a coherent vision for the new support system towards disability in Poland, resulting in chaos and spontaneous exploration. However, organizational enclaves are emerging that can become models for systemic solutions. The future of DI requires a better understanding of these mechanisms and a more coherent public policy.

Abstract This study explores the push and pull factors influencing retention of Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs). A mixed methods design, using standardized measures were used alongside questions capturing demographic data, motivation, employment preferences, and satisfaction with supervision. A sample of 122 NQSWs who graduated from one of three participating universities consented to participate. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS. Well-being and resilience scores were analysed to examine the effects of participants’ age, sex, caring responsibilities, disability, and if they worked in children’s or adult services. Levels of motivation to be a social worker, satisfaction with supervision and support during their Assessed Year in Employment were examined. Findings demonstrate that 60 percent of participants had mild or probable clinical depression. Well-being scores were significantly higher for those working within adult services compared to those in children’s services. Whereas resilience scores were significantly higher for those working in children’s services. NQSWs are committed to their career but almost 40 percent reported decreased levels of motivation. Participants recommended pull factors (i.e., increased pay, better work-life balance, manageable workloads, access to specialist training) to stabilize the workforce to improve continuity of care, build stronger relationships with service users and develop expertise to navigate complex situations.