Indigenous Social Work Research Articles

Rural Community Engagement In Higher Education Institutions – Revisiting the Existing Literature

In India, Social work education has been mainly Western-centric and failed to address societal needs and their problems. There is a growing realization of limitations of the Western model in the Indian context that calls for Indigenous social work practice. It is because of the borrowed teaching content from Western literature, and there is hardly any relevance in the Indian context. We are living in the era of global research and innovation, where one could not underestimate scale and important of the HIEs. To achieve goals of socio-economic development, HIEs can contribute effectively, through community engagement program. In 2018, UGC launched an ambitious Quality Mandate that emphasis to improve the societal linkages of HEIs which could be pivotal for students to become socially productive. In addition, there is constant need in the Higher Institute to develop better understanding and incorporating the issues which are very happening in the society and it could be achievable by bring in social responsibility and community in their vision and mission itself, in result of this definitely there will be improvements in the standard of research as well teaching. This paper center on works on indigenous knowledge reflects how the criteria for involvement to rural community could be pivotal within the local context by exploring vivid literature on indigenization and their influence on the paradigm of social work and its curriculum specially which is related to rural community engagement in Higher Education Institution.

Indigenous Social Work Intervention Strategy for Sustainable Rural Community Development Initiative - A Case Study on Sri Vinayaka Self-Help-Group, Beechanahalli

Indigenous Social Work Intervention Strategy for Sustainable Rural Community Development Initiative - A Case Study on Sri Vinayaka Self-Help-Group, Beechanahalli

Challenges to theory-practice integration of social work education in China: theory learning

ABSTRACT Theory-practice integration is vital in social work education. This study examines China’s social work education system, focusing on challenges and solutions in theory-practice integration. Data from 90 participants (faculty, administrators, and students) across 7 schools in different regions were gathered via focus groups and individual interviews. Challenges include faculty lacking social work training and practice experience, limited teaching materials, systemic higher education constraints, and a lack of indigenous social work theory. Faculty overcome these challenges through dedication, acquiring relevant knowledge, and establishing new practice agencies. University-level recognition of social work’s practice-oriented nature and the development of indigenous theories are crucial.

Student voices within Indigenous social work practicum recommendations and the Seven Grandfather Teachings

This article examines the integration of Indigenous perspectives, particularly the Seven Grandfather Teachings, in Indigenous social work education and field practicum, focusing on student experiences. Colonization has had significant impacts on Indigenous communities, leading to intergenerational trauma, which calls for the need for culturally appropriate social services. Historically, mainstream social work has been complicit in the oppression and genocide of Indigenous peoples, leading to negative perceptions among Indigenous communities. Western theoretical hegemony in education has marginalized Indigenous perspectives, emphasizing the need for inclusivity. Indigenous social work, rooted in acknowledging colonialism and oppression, promotes self-determination and cultural revitalization, highlighting the importance of Indigenization in the profession. Field education is emphasized as crucial for students, encouraging self-reflection and cultural sensitivity. The Seven Grandfather Teachings—love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, wisdom, and truth—are introduced as guiding principles in ethical behaviour and relationships. The integration of these teachings into coursework and practicum experiences is highlighted, aiming to prepare students for culturally responsive social work practice. Student narratives are utilized to illustrate personal experiences and the application of the teachings in real-world settings. Overall, the article underscores the importance of cultural competency, self-reflection, and community engagement in addressing the unique needs of Indigenous peoples in social work practice.

Repositioning Power Relations in Indigenous Social Work Education

In this article, we present the history of social work education in Greenland, from a professional training school in 1985 to a university BA-level education in 2008 and onwards to the present day. Mainly, we discuss how the education of Greenlandic social workers continually reflects on the decolonising elements of the curriculum. The latest step in this process has been the development of a new curriculum, which came into effect in the summer of 2022 after approval from students, external boards and the academic university board. The article will discuss the repositioning of power in the new social work curriculum, aiming to gradually make education more student-centred through a higher degree of collective responsibility for learning and by engaging in problem-oriented group work with self-determined research questions at the core of Greenlandic, thematic, social worker projects.

Social work education in Vietnam: the development, challenges and ongoing effort to indigenization in the past two decades

ABSTRACT Social work education is considered essential in developing the social work profession in Vietnam to set a foundation for the profession in the late 1980s. Since officially given a training code in 2004 and recognition of the professional status in 2010, the development of social work education has been significantly expanded in the number of training institutions and programs provided at various levels with only two schools providing undergraduate programs in 2003 to 35 in 2024, including 10 MSW and two PhD programs. After two decades of fast development, there have been considerable issues and challenges in maintaining the quality and professionalization of social work education. As an imported discipline, social work education depends on programs and resources from other countries. Hence, indigenization has become an increasing issue and challenge in Vietnam and other countries in the Global South. This paper presents the result of a short survey of 30 training institutions and an online questionnaire of 116 social work educators, practitioners, policymakers and social service managers. The paper examines the process of development, challenges and how to promote indigenous social work training programs to appropriately meet local needs and context and ensure regional and global standards.

A Political Economy Analysis of Social Work’s Development in China: A Social Development Perspective

This paper examines the phenomenal growth of social work in China and the complexities and challenges faced by the profession and related stakeholders in the context of neoliberal economic practice within a hierarchical top-down political system. It proposes developmental social work as a viable indigenous social work practice mode. This analysis based on a collection of academic papers and relevant government reports sheds light on the interplay between welfare developmentalism, institutional dynamics, and professional challenges in the broader sociopolitical context, not least the neoliberal co-optation of social development aligned increasingly with economic goals to the detriment of broader social and structural issues. It shows how the political parameters of the Chinese Communist Party and its pursuit of community integration and social development shaped China’s approach to social work. It sees the necessity for a system of welfare services to address socio-structural issues and the indigenization and cultural adaption of social work in China as an expressly political process. Regarding the former, the government’s strategy of outsourcing public services to accord with its agenda has resulted in a contractual relationship between social organizations, including nongovernment and social work organizations, and the state. This has limited the independence and hindered the development of a strong civil society, and curtailed social workers’ autonomy, exacerbating professional challenges relating inter alia to the low number of qualified social work practitioners, limited job opportunities outside major urban centers, high staff turnover, and poor quality services provided by those without formal social work training. To enhance professional recognition in China, the paper suggests a holistic developmental approach that involves the resolution of individual problems through investing in people, helping them to build their capacity, drawing on social capital, and capitalizing on market opportunities to promote self-reliance, thereby contributing to community and social development.

Indigenous social work: Knowing, being and doing

Indigenous social work: Knowing, being and doing

Orienting social work to incorporate place-based principles: A practical guide to the use of place in social work practice

Social work has long history with practice in diverse places. Indigenous social work traditions have long been grounded in place and land. There has been little attention to the role of place in Western and Northern social work practices. Place-based theories attend to the fundamental role of place in social work practice and provide principles that social workers can use to recognize place in their practice. There has been little practical guidance on how social workers can apply these principles to identify and modify place-based levers for improving practice and outcomes within Western contexts. To address these gaps and advance the use of place in practice, principles of place-based power dynamics are described here in relation to the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of the key areas of social work practice: assessment, intervention, and evaluation. Place-based principles of form, function, location, time, threshold, and relations, provide a framework that social workers can incorporate into social work practices at all levels and throughout social work practice phases. Social workers can use these principles to examine how social work practice can better assess, intervene, and evaluate the role of place in the social environment and in the daily lives of the participants and populations they serve. Incorporating place-based principles can illuminate malleable place-based levers to fit the needs of service users. Attending to place in social work practice can also heighten practitioners’ awareness of power and decision-making to identify and intervene at the root causes of social problems.

Indigenous social work with older persons: An international perspective

As social work gains strength as a global profession, indigenous social work has emerged within the growing calls to decolonize the profession and offers an alternative worldview. This article uses a systematic literature review to engage with the application of this indigenous social work paradigm in practice with older persons from an international perspective. Using the knowledge mobilization perspective, it examines the current state of knowledge on indigenous social work and draws implications for practice with older persons. It concludes by advocating for a political stance to practice rooted in indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.

Latin American perspectives on Indigenous social work: in search of mind, body, and soul

Despite sharing different cultures, customs, and pasts, Indigenous peoples in Latin America often face similar problems such as eviction from their ancestral lands, persecution, cultural genocide, and loss of their livelihoods. Yet, their knowledges and socio-cultural practices persist and have a lot to contribute to social work theory and practice despite being largely overlooked in Eurocentric and western social work curricula and formal education. Even though Indigenous social work has become a more popularized topic, the mainstream literature on the subject has often ignored the experiences of Latin American countries. Considering that, the aims of this article are at exploring, mapping, and presenting a synthesis of main concepts, trends, and values that could orientate social workers in their practice with Indigenous people and communities in the region of Latin America.

Exploring the Social Representations of Social Work in the Sri Lankan Cultural Context: A Qualitative Study

This preliminary study examines the social representations of social work relevant to the Sri Lankan cultural context while considering indigenous social work discourses. Under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, six Sri Lankan social workers participated in online semistructured interviews. The interview data underwent thematic analysis, from which four main themes emerged: social work views and positionality; the relation between social work education and practice; contexts and distinctive practices; and issues and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviewees’ narratives detailed how social work is represented in sociocultural contexts, emphasising community work and comparing local practices with Western-rooted professional social work discourses. Some interviewees’ accounts also reported challenges surrounding social work education and the issues of social work practice in a multiethnic and multireligious society. The findings suggest the need for further research, with dialogue and reciprocal exchanges by stakeholders, to explore the diverse social representations of social work in the global and local contexts.

Field Instruction with Integration and Implementation of Indigenous Social Work Education

The purpose of field work is ... to clarify technical instruction. Just as the botanist goes into the fields to study plants and flowers to supplement his text book knowledge, and just as the geologist turns from a study of books to the study of rocks, so the social worker goes from the classroom to the appropriate field work activity, using the field work as a means of clarifying and adding point to the classroom instruction (Manshardt, 1985, p. 3).Field instruction, a crucial component of social work education, is recognised as an educational process to facilitate integrative and experiential learning. Though the pattern and organisation of social work practicum have some universality, the micro-based practice model adopted in the Indian context has led to inappropriately designed field education programmes producing students unsuited to meet the developmental need of the Indian society. Efforts made to restructure field instruction to prepare students for macro-based practice roles have been too slow to find their way into the educational programme of most of the schools of social work in India. Major problems such as scarcity of field placements, non-availability of qualified agency-based field instructors, inadequate linkage between classroom teaching and field realities, and poor faculty position still prevail. Crucial areas for change in field instruction are examined and alternative strategies are suggested in the light of the emerging socioeconomic concerns of the country and recent trends in the profession.

A review of Indigenous social work around the world: Concepts, debates and challenges

Indigenous social work is gaining significance in the social work profession to respond to Indigenous voices. However, there is still ambiguity on how Indigenous social work is conceptualised, and this ambiguity has resulted in reluctance in the social work profession to accept Indigenous perspectives and knowledge in education and practice. To clear this ambiguity, this article examines Indigenous social work as a concept and explores its diverse discourses work through a critical review of 40 articles. The review analyses four lines of thoughts that emerged on how Indigenous social work is conceptualised across the globe.

Professional development of social work education and practice in Pakistan within a global context

ABSTRACT Issues such as lack of licensure and registration, a dearth of standards, and lack of defined job descriptions and job titles are some obstacles that create challenges to the expansion of the field of social work internationally. The purpose of this article is to provide insight on the challenges of implementation and professional development of social work education and practice in Pakistan. This article is divided into five sections: the historical development and characteristics of social work education, the development of social work practice, the professional development of social workers, the need to improve social work education, and professionalizing social work practice and education using indigenous social work education and practice in Pakistan.

Latin American Perspectives on Indigenous Social Work: In Search of Mind, Body, and Soul

Latin American Perspectives on Indigenous Social Work: In Search of Mind, Body, and Soul

Contributing to indigenous social work practice in Africa: A look at the cultural conceptualisations of social problems in Ghana

This paper aims to contribute to the indigenisation discourse by illustrating how dominant discourses and cultural practices explain and perpetuate social problems. We argue that focussing on the fundamental issue of a cultural conceptualisation of social problems will contribute positively to the development of the indigenous social work practice framework. As social work education forms an important foundation for how future social work practices will be performed, we interviewed 15 social work practicum students in Ghana about the cultural underpinnings of social problems. Themes developed from the interview data suggest that culture plays a key role in conceptualising social problems in Ghana. Although not often, culture tends to underpin and perpetuate social problems, such as streetism, child marriage and child neglect. Social work practice within the indigenous framework should aim at addressing the negative impacts of the cultural undertones of social problems. Social work practitioners should increase advocacy and knowledge sharing on the cultural explanations of social problems and collaborate with community leaders to change cultural values and norms that have negative ripple effects on children, young people and women.

Education and training opportunities for local and indigenous social workers: case studies in disability-related fields from an international development perspective

ABSTRACT Many ‘non-professional’ and ‘non-certified’ social workers seem to conduct indigenous social work practices in low- and middle-income countries in Asia. From the perspective of international developmental social work, this case study explores the education and training opportunities for local and indigenous social workers in disability related fields. The data was mainly obtained through field work and practice conducted by the author, whose positionality was considered an international social worker in Sri Lanka and Mongolia. The field data was supplemented by literature. The findings reveal that some local workers in government and non-government sectors, who might not have received professional social work education, engage in practices that can be considered a part of social work using their indigenous and local knowledge and skills. In some cases, these workers also use their knowledge of international concepts and frameworks. Additionally, this study presents some instances of knowledge exchange between domestic and international stakeholders through dialogue-based practices and training in the field. The findings suggest that international social workers are required to explore reflective practice and collaborative knowledge creation with domestic stakeholders, including indigenous social workers and disabled people, through dialogue in the field.

The Significance of Indigenous Field Education: an Analysis of the Social Workers Advancing Through Grounded Education Program.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is predicated on the inherent sovereign rights that all Indigenous peoples have to their lands, cultural practices, and traditional resources prior to colonization and assimilation. However, Indigenous populations continue to be disproportionately affected by inequitable access to education, workforce development, and physical and mental health care. Opportunities for education and workforce development in the field of social work are essential to strengthening Indigenous communities. Indigenous students must often move outside of their communities to pursue master’s-level social work degrees, decreasing their opportunity to practice skills within these communities during required master’s-level practica. Universities must offer equitable opportunities to Indigenous students wishing to complete practica within Indigenous communities by providing financial support and curricular preparation. In 2014, the Social Workers Advancing through Grounded Education (SAGE) program was created by the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies to provide these opportunities to MSW students, particularly Indigenous students. SAGE consists of recruitment, classroom training, field training, and partnership development. The program has provided financial and educational support to 53 students and created 43 formal partnerships with Indigenous-serving institutions, with nearly 90% of SAGE recipients identifying as Indigenous. This article presents findings that suggest access to practica with Indigenous populations leads to Indigenous social work students feeling more confident about serving Indigenous communities as social work professionals upon graduation. These results add to literature regarding best practices for creating equitable field education programs suited to enhancing social work in Indigenous communities.

Indigenization without ‘Indigeneity’: Problematizing the Discourse of Indigenization of Social Work in China

Abstract While acknowledging mutual alignment in their critique of social work’s dominant Eurocentric lens, indigenous and indigenization of social work have thus far forged separate routes. Indigenous social work predominantly focuses on groups in the settler colonial states of North America and Australia where the term ‘indigenous’ as an official identity category is embraced by groups to signify their a priori territorial claims, traditional way of life, and distinct world views. Indigenization of social work, on the other hand, primarily deals with the effective transmission of praxis in non-western regions. Yet complex linkages between the two exist that impacts the trajectory of indigenization of social work. This article draws upon indigenous theorizing and transdisciplinary learning to examine the neglect of highly charged concepts such as ‘indigenous’ and relationally notions of indigeneity within the social work indigenization discourse in China. Further, grounding the analysis within the liminal sphere of China’s ethnic minorities, particularly the case of Tibet Autonomous Region, it presents a preliminary discussion on potential ways to conceptualize ways forward.