Social Work Knowledge Research Articles

Increasing Military Social Work Knowledge: An Evaluation of Learning Outcomes

Service members and veterans face a myriad of health, mental health, and social challenges stemming from the combat and operational stressors experienced during deployment and the challenges ofreintegration to civilian life. To intervene effectively with this population, social workers must be knowledgeable about these issues and the cultural context within which they occur. Although schools of social work across the country are developing course work in military social work, little is known about the learning outcomes of these courses. This article describes a military social work course that was developed to increase student preparedness to work with a military or veteran population and the learning outcomes achieved. Using a quasi-experimental pre-post design, this study compared the learning outcomes of students enrolled in the course with a group of students who had not taken the course. To measure this knowledge, the authors developed a 50-item Military Social Work Knowledge Scale for the study. Significant differences between pre- and posttest scores were found for the social work students enrolled in the course. Specific areas of knowledge that increased for the class participants included knowledge about cultural sensitivity to military populations and knowledge about service and advocacy frameworks.

Raoul Wallenberg: His Lessons for the Social Work Profession

With globalization and what Willem Blok (2012) has described as the development of a singular international identity and growing joint body of knowledge for social work, there is no better time to reexamine and reevaluate that identity and body of knowledge. Furthermore, there may be no better addition to this body of knowledge than the work of Raoul Wallenberg, as it presents us with invaluable opportunities to learn in the following contexts: Blok spoke of the difficulty of social work always having two faces, helping people on the one hand and supporting the established order and relations in society on the other, even when they are controversial. He concluded:

Professional 'imperialism' and resistance: Social Work in the Filippines

The sociology of professions has traditionally attempted to increase our understanding of categorisations of different occupations by reference to taxonomic hierarchies, as well as the identification and exploration of characteristics that warrant 'professional status'. In may cases, this explorations take the forms of historical accounts of professional activity. Rarely, however, has the literature on professions explored processes of professionalization in devoliping, post-colonial contexts. This article contributes to this body of literature in the study of professions in a number of ways. Firstly, it 'maps' the growth of social work in the Filippines, placing this account within a broader discussions of social work as an internationality activity (Harrison & Melville, 2010; Lyons, 2006) and identifying some of the key forms and features of social work in the Filippines. Consideration is given to the degree of professionalisation of social work within the country by exploring professional organisation, regulation and education. In doing this, the article offers a critical overview of the nature and preoccupations of social work in the Filippines and celebrates the invaluable contributions it makes to the country and its people. The article argue that the forms social work takes and the settings in wich it happens reflect both contemporay societal and environmental factors as well as the global development of social work. In this sense, the article considers the impact of Roman Catholicism as well as the orientation of social work in relation to some enduring tensions and debates around the profession's purpose and potential. Key to the professional forms that social work takes in the Filippines is the contribution of 'indigenous' social work knowledge base wich is explored, alongside a comentary on social work education and training in the country.

Lessons Learned from Experiential Group Work Learning

This study evaluated the efficacy of student-led support groups designed to increase students' perceived knowledge of social group work. The student groups described here were based on theories of experiential learning described by Kolb and colleagues. The mixed-method evaluation used Clements' 17-item scale to measure readiness for group practice and narrative journal entries submitted by students about their experiences in the class. This was part of a larger study to determine whether student-led support groups decreased levels of stress among BSW students. Although limited in scope, this research suggests that student-led groups may improve BSW students' knowledge, skills, and readiness for group work practice.

‘It's what gets through people's radars isn't it’: relationships in social work practice and knowledge exchange

This article draws on findings from a knowledge exchange (KE) project, which involved academics working with local authority social workers around a theme of engaging with involuntary clients. The user engagement agenda is actively promoted in social work but is not straightforward, reflecting a mish-mash of client rights and managerial and consumerist agendas. Engaging with involuntary clients, in particular, those whose involvement with social work is mandated by law, rarely fits into policy agendas and requires a range of conditions and practitioner skills for it to happen effectively. A parallel aim of our project was to explore what was seen to be effective in the KE and knowledge mobilisation (KM) processes when local authorities and university academics work together. Like client engagement, KE is also seen as ‘a good thing’ but in reality it is similarly problematic. In this article, we trace the growth of both client engagement and KE agendas, particularly in relation to social work. We describe our project and discuss its findings. A number of parallel processes might be identified in ‘what works’ with hard to reach social work clients and ‘what works’ in KE/KM. Neither are linear or necessarily rational processes. What does seem to hold both together, however, is the nature of relationships built up between, in the first instance, social workers and those they work with and, in the second, between academics and local authority practitioners. These findings suggest that personal qualities that might be associated with the concept of emotional intelligence play an important part in enabling both social work practice and KE/KM to happen effectively.

Social Workers as “Experts” in the Family Court System: Is Evidence-Based Practice a Missing Link or Host-Created Knowledge?

The graduate school curriculum for social workers requires that students learn to critically distinguish between opinion-based knowledge and evidence-based practices, or empirically-supported interventions. Once graduated, licensed social workers are often called upon to offer diagnostic and predictive opinions as experts in a variety of macro-environments. When the family courts are that “host” environment, social workers proffer expert opinions that may categorize and label parents or children for purposes of a judge's allocation of physical or legal custody. In this article, it is suggested that the social work profession, within all three domains of education, practice, and research, should more precisely link the design and fidelity of an evidence-based practice (EBP) with its potential misapplication or warping when proffered as science in “host” environments like family courts. As Foucault and other scholars warn, the failure to verify that an intervention is applied correctly may actually enhance the risk of social injustice by interpreting and translating EBP knowledge in the non-empirical form of authority-by-license. This article, therefore, proposes that the social work profession, from the classroom to the field, has an obligation to thoroughly understand and engage interdisciplinary practices that assure respect for the strengths and limits of social work knowledge.

Theoretical Support and Other Considerations in Using Simulated Clients to Educate Social Workers

This article builds on literature from many helping disciplines supporting the use of simulated clients (sometimes referred to as standardized patients) in training professional students, explaining why the use of simulated clients is more effective in developing clinical skills as compared with student-to-student role-plays. Psychodynamic and Bowen intergenerational family theory, critical to the development of social work knowledge, is used to support the use of simulated clients to portray clients with challenging and complex lives. Risks and benefits of using simulated clients is discussed, along with recommendations to educational programs regarding ways to effectively use this experiential learning method.

Policy Practice in Practice: The Inputs of Social Workers in Legislative Committees

This article presents findings of an empirical study of the involvement of social workers in the policy formulation process. Despite support for policy practice, there has been limited empirical study of social workers' involvement in policy practice, which leaves us with little systematic knowledge of social workers' role in the policy formulation process. This study expands the knowledge of social workers' role in this process by identifying their inputs into Israeli legislative committees. Based on a content analysis of the minutes of 85 parliamentary committee meetings held during the 15th and 16th Knesset sessions (1999 to 2006), the study reveals five main inputs: placing matters on the agenda, providing information, providing explanations, expressing opinions and making suggestions, and commenting on the manner of the discussion, and 23 subinputs. These inputs underscore three main functions that social workers perform, or may perform, with respect to policy: challenging policy, facilitating policy, and enriching policy.

Intersecting Deviance: Social Work, Difference and the Legacy of Eugenics

How do we understand human difference, and what should we do with it? These are central questions of social work knowledge, practice and pedagogy. In recent years, ‘intersectionality’ has emerged as a useful construct in theorising how difference operates in social hierarchies. Too often, however, ‘intersectional’ discussions have led to increasingly fine divisions that isolate individuals and reify categories of difference. This article argues that an active engagement with history can promote a more nuanced and helpful approach to intersectionality, as a greater understanding of the past shakes up static perceptions of identity categories. The legacy of eugenics visible in present-day notions of ‘desirable reproduction’ is explored using the example of ‘queer parents of disabled children’. Two ways of looking at such a grouping illustrate different possible applications of intersectionality theory.Atemporal, relational intersectionality isproposed—onethatcan be both historically responsive and situated in everyday narratives. The article concludes by addressing the social work implications of a historically aware, relational approach to

Social Work in the Engaged University

This article identifies the importance of educating social work students and enlisting social work faculty to embrace the university–community engagement arena as a critical subfield of community practice. Through the lens of social work knowledge, values, and skills, the authors present three case studies of social workers who are working in the university–community field. The authors offer some directions for social work education.

A "viagem de volta": significados da pesquisa na formação e prática profissional do Assistente Social

^lpt^len^aThe article discusses research on training and professional practice. At first, performs historical overview on the research and production of knowledge in social work, seeking to identify the changes ethical-political and theoretical and methodological experienced by research discipline. Then discusses the relationship of research to professional practice of social work today, identifying some of its main directions. Defend the meaning of knowledge production as a constitutive element of professional action (Nogueira, 2010, p. 1). Finally, it indicates the need to deepen this discussion from dive and current analytical regarding the main trends of capitalist society and its impact on research in the field of training and professional practice in Social Work.

Knowing what we know about knowledge in social work: The search for a comprehensive model of knowledge production

Influenced by its historical beginnings, the production and modelling of knowledge in social work has become a small but diverse field. Ten key models exploring the nature of knowledge and its production in social work are reviewed against significant ideas from the interdisciplinary knowledge production literature beyond social work. In so doing, the place of holistic approaches to modelling the knowledge production process within social work and the human services is highlighted. It is argued that despite the number of models that attempt to describe the knowledge production process, there is scope for a more comprehensive, holistic, complex approach to modelling knowledge production in social work and the human services.

Social Media for Professional Practice: Integrating Twitter With Social Work Pedagogy

As social media continue to influence information-seeking trends among digital-age learners, social work educators must develop their pedagogy apace and construct a curriculum that invites students to discover information on Twitter and related social networks. Organizing and sharing information via social media is rapidly becoming a fundamental literacy for professional practice, as government and nonprofit organizations use these platforms to circulate information about services. The authors suggest ways to integrate Twitter into classroom assignments across a social work program based in the liberal arts. They argue that Twitter is a professionally relevant tool that helps students develop knowledge and skills for social work as well as the digital literacies of metacognition, critical evaluation, and attention management demanded today. Furthermore, they assert that Twitter is particularly well-suited to cultivate the skills that align with the core values, competencies, and imperatives of the social work profession.

Approaching practice research in theory and practice

There is a growing interest in practice as a concept and as a focus of research in social work and within different sciences. This article examines different ways of producing knowledge in social work in relation to practice research. It is based on the research processes conducted in the institutes of practice research in social work in Finland and reflects on the different theoretical and methodological standpoints as well as illuminating the process of creating knowledge in practice research. Practice research calls for the development of concepts and approaches that allow transcendence of the division between theory and practice. The article argues the need for a supportive infrastructure and an open-ended approach to diverse practice research models.

Team Collaboration in Pediatric Palliative Care

This article explores themes related to team development in pediatric palliative care. A review of the literature, observations from the field, and an analysis of dynamics from the point of view of the social work knowledge base are included. Recommendations for team development and sustainability are shared.

Constructing Practitioner Research

The authors draw on a case study evaluation of two networked cohorts of practitioner-researchers in a children's services national social work agency in one of the home countries of the United Kingdom. The aim of the present study was to understand the meaning of practitioner for social work professionals through an exploration of how language, ascriptions of meaning, and interpretation provide a social environment through which the nature and meaning of practitioner emerge. The authors used a moderate symbolic interactionist approach to analyze diverse qualitative data. The findings suggest it is possible to trace a weft of analytic ideas regarding language, memory, moral accountability, ownership, meaning, value, and social work as they run horizontally across the experience of the practitioner-as-researcher. The elements of practitioner have to be understood as being interwoven and bringing together and containing different career and life concerns that otherwise might remain scattered. The implications of this suggest that practitioner should not be seen as a less or more comfortable add-on to everyday core practice, but as a multiform activity that challenges the taken-for-grantedness of practice, mainstream academic research, management and, in all likelihood, the experience of receiving services. KEY WORDS: practitioner research; and practice; cultures; gaze; social work ********** The aim of this article was to capture the experience and nature of practitioner in social work. Our own developing understanding through work with social work practitioners is that the nature of practitioner is something that emerges from the action, rather than something that prescribes the form of the experience in advance. It is only in the doing of practitioner that the significant recurring questions take shape. SHIFTING DEBATES SURROUNDING PRACTITIONER RESEARCH Literature on practitioner research, especially as it is more likely to be understood in Europe and Australasia rather than in the United States, is of fairly recent origin. In its development, it has understandably focused on three main themes. First, there was a small but useful literature on how to set about doing small-scale practitioner (for example, Cheetham, 1994; Edwards & Talbot, 1994; Fuller & Petch, 1995; Lang, 1994). Second, there were several efforts to develop a case for the special nature of practitioner compared with university-based academic (for example, Elks & Kirkhart, 1993; Hess & Mullen, 1995), which sometimes engaged with ideas regarding reflexivity and critical reflection (for example, Fook, 2001; Schon, 1983). Third, and finally, there was literature that sought to bring together examples of good in practitioner (for example, Broad & Fletcher, 1993). Practitioner has sometimes been seen within wider categories that capture the distinctive character of social work and research. In Finland, for example, the idea of practice research (Satka, Karvinen-Ninikoski, Nylund, & Hoikkala, 2005) has been adopted with some success to convey a coherent identity in dialogue with funders and government. Practice in social work knowledge production is practice-based and practice-oriented. The interest is on development, and more conscious use of social work methods and instruments. Practice was seen [as] neither an administrative inquiry nor an academic pursuit; it makes use of social theory and well-known and recognized methods, but its goal is to improve social work practice. The criterion of adequacy is its relevance for the field work. The ideas of pragmatism, action and ethnography are near to the concept. (Saurama & Tukiala, 2009) The concept has been found useful elsewhere in the Nordic countries (for example, by Uggerhoj, n. …

Recruiting, retaining and making the best use of social workers in adult social care

PurposeThis paper seeks to identify the most effective ways both to recruit and retain social workers. It aims to explore the roles and skills that social workers bring to the provision of social care for adults and to invite a more detailed debate on the particular responsibilities in the field of neurodisability.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on successful methods of recruitment and retention of social workers, from the experience of recruiting managers and the perspectives of social workers. It explores the current, in part inconclusive, debates on how best to utilise their practice skills and knowledge. It also invites the contribution of people working in this field to inform a second paper for the journal to address this in more detail in the field of neurodisability.FindingsDespite enduring problems in the supply of capable and skilled social workers and low levels of retention, strong leadership by managers of social work services can take positive steps to ensure the provision of sustainable services and avoid the use of agency staff. These leaders can positively identify and make best use of the specific practice skills and knowledge of social workers, which in itself supports higher levels of retention.Originality/valueThe paper is based on direct experience of achieving high levels of successful recruitment and retention of social workers in times of short supply and a positive analysis of the specific and positive contribution of social workers in adult social care.

Strategies for critical reflection in international contexts for social work students

International contexts provide social work students with the opportunity to develop knowledge of international social work, global citizenship and cultural competency. While these contexts are powerful sites of learning, there is a need to ensure that this occurs within a critical framework. The paradigm of critical reflection is used to facilitate this and has been popular in international programs. In this article, we develop this further by describing critically-reflective techniques and providing examples used in a pilot exchange program between a social work school in the UK and in India. The potential implications of these strategies for social work education are discussed.

Exploring the Unique Features of a First Nations Graduate-Level Social Work Program

Recently, a one-time cohort of graduate-level social work students completed a unique MSW program. The program was delivered in partnership between the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary and Blue Quills First Nations College and, of the twenty four graduates; twenty-one were of First Nations or Me´tis ancestry. The program honored traditional knowledge and ways of learning combined with a critical analysis of Western perspectives of social work knowledge. Strong fiscal resources enabled the program to establish a formal support network for the students and to support the development of Indigenous curriculum and programming that encouraged success for the students. The program was fundamentally different than urban on-campus programs while still maintaining graduate level accreditation requirements. This analysis of the program required the use of Indigenous Research Methodology to collect and create an understanding of the program. Instructors commented on the centered, empowered, balanced, and congruent students. The formal and informal, concrete and invisible supports to the students ensured the success of this program and this cohort of students. As one student commented, the program started in ceremony, ended in ceremony, and could not fail within the context ceremony.

Where Is Social Work in the Social Entrepreneurship Movement?

Although the business and public policy communities have ignited a national movement toward embracing social entrepreneurship as a laudable enterprise and a critical piece in addressing social problems, social work remains notably absent from the discussion and definition of this field. Though the values and practices of social entrepreneurship are closely aligned with social work, social work scholars and institutions have been less at the forefront of this movement than have representatives of other disciphnes. The Skoll Foundation, a leading agent for developing and promoting social entrepreneurship, listed three exemplary social entrepreneurs in their description of the concept (the document, Foundations of Entrepreneurship, has since the time of this writing been taken down; for general information, see http:// www.skollfoundation.org/). Among those listed is Jane Addams, founder of Hull House and one of the most influential figures in social work history. Yet social work has done little to align itself with the movement of social entrepreneurship. There remains an opportunity for the field of social work to avail itself of the resources and knowledge created by this movement and to infuse social work knowledge into the study of social entrepreneurship. Understanding the history and definition of social entrepreneurship helps to define potential roles and contributions for social work and provides an opportunity to explore their congruence and potential connections. DEFINITION OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Consideration of the role of social work in the social entrepreneurship movement requires an understanding of the concept. Although there has been some debate about the definition of social entrepreneurship (Christie & Honig, 2006; Mair & Marti, 2006), common to all definitions is the goal of creating social value or mission rather than personal gain or financial wealth (Peredo & McLean, 2006). Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka, a leading global organization that identifies and promotes social entrepreneurs, is generally credited with the term's origin. His famous statement embodies the concept: Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry (see http://usa.ashoka.org/social-entrepreneurs-are-not-content-just-givefish- or-teach-how-fish). Scholars have argued over whether social entrepreneurship has specific ingredients, including particular responses or specific characteristics of the entrepreneur. Dees (1998) defined social entrepreneurship as the combination of social mission with business discipline, innovation, and determination to respond to social needs. Martin and Osberg (2007) described social entrepreneurship as a response to an opportunity to create an out-of-the box solution to a novel problem. They described three components: (1) identification of a stable but unjust equilibrium; (2) creation of a transformational social response; and (3) the result being a new, stable equilibrium that alleviates suffering of the identified group. Their definition clarifies that social service provision, creation of local programs, and social activism that creates change through indirect action are not included. Some scholars have suggested that social entrepreneurs have certain characteristics like a willingness to accept above-average risk, being unusually resourceful (Peredo & McLean, 2006), or having a strong ability to seize presented opportunities (Thompson, 2002). In 2006, Light argued for a more inclusive definition. He defined social entrepreneurship as the effort of an individual, organization, network, or group of organizations to create large-scale, sustainable change by shifting an approach to solving social problems. He argued against the notion of a heroic, risk-taking individual, forwarding instead a concept that celebrates working together in novel ways to solve social problems. …