Lena Dominelli Research Articles

‘Off topic in some places (global warming)’: a critical and radical response to connecting social work teaching to a global climate emergency

In 2012, Lena Dominelli brought us a timely and essential warning that it was time for the social work profession to recognise its role in examining how the environmental crisis will cause hardship and suffering to communities with whom the profession has traditionally worked. It is fair to say that progress has been slow; a search of published module descriptors for social work programmes delivered across Scotland indicates that there remain barriers to engagement with the climate crisis. This article will focus on the importance of incorporating a critical and radical perspective into social work teaching. This will be achieved by reflecting on, first, learning and teaching theory, and, second, psychological theory, such as the theory of normative conduct. Insight into the reasons for resistance to participation in discourse about the impact of the environmental crisis will be explored through reflecting on climate change theory, teaching theory and the curriculum, along with psychological barriers. This article argues that the critical and radical approach to social work teaching is ideally situated to lead on the inclusion of environmental challenges in social work education and practice.

The Contribution of Green Social Workers in Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change in Indonesia

Climate change is part of natural disasters accompanied by the process of environmental degradation and harms human life holistically. The impact of climate change has become a serious problem experienced by various society levels, without any exception. Numerous scientific studies explain that climate change triggers various environmental changes that threaten the survival and welfare of society. Climate change adaptation and mitigation become the preventive and repressive strategies for controlling climate change. A continously developed programis the Climate Village Program (Proklim). The main basis of the program is community empowerment to be able to run sustainably. The present research focused on the study of roles, referring to the theory of Green Social Work by Lena Dominelli. The data were analyzed descriptively regarding the role of Green Social Workers concerning the suitability between the theory and practice. The application of the qualitative approach employed in this research was in the form of a case study. The researchers decided to employ the case study method because the what was investigated in this study was considered unique regarding the role of Green Social Workers in the Climate Village Program, which has been developed and implemented by the government. The roles of Green Social Workers were, first, helping to analyze and solve problems and respond to opportunities and challenges faced by farmers in managing their businesses; second, facilitating the learning process of farmers or Forest Farmer Group (KTH) in implementing good and sustainable business governance; third, assisting farmers, Forest Farmer Group (KTH), or community groups in developing institutions to be competitive and productive; fourth, improving the leadership, managerial, and entrepreneurial skills of farmers, Forest Farmer Group (KTH), or community groups;fifth, ensuring farmers' access to information, technology, and other resources in business development, and assisting as well as supervising farmers in improving production and productivity; sixth, being a safeguard of state assets in the form of forests, inviting the community to know, want, and participate in maintaining and protecting forest resources from various forest; seventh, encouraging the community to sustainably adapt and mitigate climate change; eighth, initiating the establishment of the Climate Village Program. Green Social Workers were indispensable in community empowerment, especially in encouraging environmental improvement to remain sustainable for the community's prosperity.

Voluntarism and Citizenship: A Response to Lena Dominelli

This article responds to Dominelli’s contribution by mapping three lines of discussion. The first relates to the issue of how to understand voluntary work with regard to the realization of citizenship. The authors argue that this understanding depends on the way citizenship is conceived. Whereas a rights-based conception of citizenship focuses on issues of equal access to voluntary work, a duty-oriented notion of citizenship tends to see voluntarism as embedded in an educational strategy, alongside professionalized social work. The authors plead for an alternative understanding of voluntary work and social work as joined partners in practices of ‘learning democracy’. The second line of discussion revolves around the relation between social and political dimensions of citizenship. With Dominelli, the authors point out how the obscuring of the political dimension risks to nurture societal discourses that put pressure on the welfare state. The third point relates to the difficulties in positioning voluntary work with regard to professional social work. One of these difficulties is the tendency to over-romanticize voluntary work as warm, informal, generous, while giving an exclusively technical reading of social work professionalization.

Civic Meaningfulness: The Political Dimension—A Reply to Lena Dominelli

This article argues, firstly, that voluntary civic practices are not doomed to fall prey to a Big Society rhetoric and a cynical politics of cuts in social spending. It all depends on how these civic practices are promoted and what kind of civic discourse is communicated through the channels of social media and public opinion. Secondly, the author highlights the political importance of connecting meaningfulness with citizenship.

Green social work: From environmental crises to environmental justice, Lena Dominelli

Green social work: From environmental crises to environmental justice, <i>Lena Dominelli</i>

The Green Voluntarism of Lena Dominelli

The Green Voluntarism of Lena Dominelli

Book Review: Lena Dominelli (2012) Green Social Work – From Environmental Crises to Environmental Justice

Book Review: Lena Dominelli (2012) <i>Green Social Work – From Environmental Crises to Environmental Justice</i>

A comment on ‘Climate change: Social workers’ roles and contributions to policy debates and interventions'

Peeters J. A comment on ‘Climate change: Social workers’ roles and contributions to policy debates and interventions'In this commenting article, I present several critical remarks about Lena Dominelli's contribution to the issue of climate change and its implications for social work.1 In my view, her article lacks three important considerations. First, I argue that the issue of climate change should be addressed as part of a broader, fundamental challenge: the transition of the growth‐based economic system upon which our society is built. Second, within a context of social and ecological injustice, dealing with climate change inevitably requires a dimension of social struggle. Third and lastly, I emphasise social work's role in challenging the social, political and economic structures and processes that bring about climate change.

Portrait of a Pioneer

Lena Dominelli is a scholar, social justice activist, and public intellectual. A pioneer in the field, she has long put social work under the microscope, revealing its gaps and contributions. In her work she analyzes the complex nature of the interrelationships among various social structures, including social work, which result in social injustices. Always inclusive of the distinctive voices of other scholars and activists, she also aims to make social workers effective participants in eliminating injustices in society. Her presence leaves an indelible mark on the profession.

BOOK REVIEW: "Social Work: Theory and Practice for a Changing Profession", Lena Dominelli

BOOK REVIEW: "Social Work: Theory and Practice for a Changing Profession", Lena Dominelli

Branded with Infamy: Inscriptions of Poverty and Class in the United States

Previous articleNext article No AccessBranded with Infamy: Inscriptions of Poverty and Class in the United StatesVivyan C. AdairVivyan C. Adair Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 27, Number 2Winter, 2002 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/495693 Views: 349Total views on this site Citations: 36Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 2001 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Sameen Zafar Analysis of Destitution amid Floods: Evidence from Pakistan, Journal of Asian and African Studies 26 (Feb 2022): 002190962210761.https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096221076105Zhanar Sekerbayeva Theorizing Transgender Subjectivities, (Jan 2023): 55–71.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4563-2_4 Syed In Biomedicine, Thin Is Still In: Obesity Surveillance among Racialized, (Im)migrant, and Female Bodies, Societies 9, no.33 (Aug 2019): 59.https://doi.org/10.3390/soc9030059Lauren E. Cagle Surveilling Strangers: The Disciplinary Biopower of Digital Genre Assemblages, Computers and Composition 52 (Jun 2019): 67–78.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2019.01.006Megan Warin, Tanya Zivkovic Shades of Shame and Pride, (Mar 2019): 175–205.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01009-6_7Maggie Colleen Cobb Casualties of debate: A critique of the sociology of emotion, Sociology Compass 12, no.1212 (Oct 2018): e12643.https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12643Michelle M. Tokarczyk Imagining Cross-Racial Affiliation in Gran Torino and Frozen River, the minnesota review 2018, no.9090 (Jan 2018): 51–69.https://doi.org/10.1215/00265667-4391512Katherine Smith ‘You don’t own money, you’re just the one who’s holding it’: Borrowing, lending and the fair person in North Manchester, The Sociological Review 65, no.1_suppl1_suppl (Mar 2017): 121–136.https://doi.org/10.1177/0081176917693528Jessica Gerrard Working in Public: Value, Exchange and Performance, (Jul 2017): 153–177.https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59483-9_7Martin J. Power, Aileen Dillane, Eoin Devereux “I sing out to the youth of the slums”: Morrissey and Class Disgust, Popular Music and Society 39, no.55 (Aug 2015): 547–562.https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2015.1072871Nicole de Vette Blaming the Victim: How Global Journalism Fails Those in Poverty, European Journal of Communication 30, no.55 (Nov 2015): 615–617.https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323115600603cElena Frank Groomers and Consumers, Men and Masculinities 17, no.33 (Jun 2014): 278–298.https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X14539509Jaita Talukdar Rituals and Embodiment: Class Differences in Religious Fasting Practices of Bengali Hindu Women, Sociological Focus 47, no.33 (Jun 2014): 141–162.https://doi.org/10.1080/00380237.2014.916592Martin J Power, Patricia Neville, Eoin Devereux, Amanda Haynes, Cliona Barnes ‘Why bother seeing the world for real?’: Google Street View and the representation of a stigmatised neighbourhood, New Media & Society 15, no.77 (Nov 2013): 1022–1040.https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812465138 References, (Sep 2013): 159–191.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118378748.refsErynn Masi De Casanova Embodied Inequality, Gender & Society 27, no.44 (Aug 2013): 561–585.https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243213483895Martin J. Power, Aileen Dillane, Eoin Devereux A push and a shove and the land is ours: Morrissey's counter-hegemonic stance(s) on social class, Critical Discourse Studies 9, no.44 (Nov 2012): 375–392.https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2012.713207Nevin Solak, John T. Jost, Nebi Sümer, Gerald L. Clore Rage Against the Machine: The Case for System-Level Emotions, Social and Personality Psychology Compass 6, no.99 (Sep 2012): 674–690.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2012.00456.xEoin Devereux, Amanda Haynes, Martin J. Power At the edge: media constructions of a stigmatised Irish housing estate, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment 26, no.22 (Mar 2011): 123–142.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-011-9210-4Cathleen A. Power, Elizabeth R. Cole, Barbara L. Fredrickson Poor women and the expression of shame and anger: The price of breaking social class feeling rules, Feminism & Psychology 21, no.22 (May 2011): 179–197.https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353510384125Barbara Sutton Playful cards, serious talk: a qualitative research technique to elicit women’s embodied experiences, Qualitative Research 11, no.22 (Apr 2011): 177–196.https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794110394070Jane A. Van Galen Class, Identity, and Teacher Education, The Urban Review 42, no.44 (Jun 2010): 253–270.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-009-0136-zJulie L. Nagoshi, Stephan/ie Brzuzy Transgender Theory: Embodying Research and Practice, Affilia 25, no.44 (Oct 2010): 431–443.https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109910384068Jodi O'Brien Sociology as an Epistemology of Contradiction, Sociological Perspectives 52, no.11 (Mar 2009): 5–22.https://doi.org/10.1525/sop.2009.52.1.5Leslie Brown, Marilyn Callahan, Susan Strega, Christopher Walmsley, Lena Dominelli Manufacturing ghost fathers: the paradox of father presence and absence in child welfare, Child & Family Social Work 14, no.11 (Feb 2009): 25–34.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2206.2008.00578.xKerry Woodward The Multiple Meanings of Work for Welfare-Reliant Women, Qualitative Sociology 31, no.22 (Jan 2008): 149–168.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-008-9091-3Kris Paap Power and Embodiment, Gender & Society 22, no.11 (Feb 2008): 99–103.https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243207310716Julia Wrigley, Joanna Dreby Children and Inequality, (Nov 2007): 213–237.https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470996973.ch11Regina Canuso Guiding the Hands That Hold the Child: Supportive Strategies for Low-Income Depressed Mothers and Their Children, Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 13, no.55 (Sep 2016): 304–312.https://doi.org/10.1177/1078390307308311Maia Green Representing poverty and attacking representations: Perspectives on poverty from social anthropology, Journal of Development Studies 42, no.77 (Oct 2006): 1108–1129.https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380600884068John-Andrew Mcneish Stones on the Road: The Politics of Participation and the Generation of Crisis in Bolivia, Bulletin of Latin American Research 25, no.22 (Apr 2006): 220–240.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0261-3050.2006.00161.xVivyan C. Adair US Working-Class/Poverty-Class Divides, Sociology 39, no.55 (Dec 2005): 817–834.https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038505058367Maia Green, David Hulme From correlates and characteristics to causes: thinking about poverty from a chronic poverty perspective, World Development 33, no.66 (Jun 2005): 867–879.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.09.013Joan M. Ostrove, Elizabeth R. Cole Privileging Class: Toward a Critical Psychology of Social Class in the Context of Education, Journal of Social Issues 59, no.44 (Nov 2003): 677–692.https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0022-4537.2003.00084.xPAUL WILLIS Foot Soldiers of Modernity: The Dialectics of Cultural Consumption and the 21st-Century School, Harvard Educational Review 73, no.33 (Sep 2003): 390–415.https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.73.3.0w5086336u305184 Recent Scholarship, Journal of American History 89, no.22 (Sep 2002): 752–830.https://doi.org/10.1093/jahist/89.2.752

Book Reviews

Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Rethinking Domestic Violence: The Social Work and Probation Response, Audrey Mullender, 1996, London, Routledge, pp. 317, ISBN 0 415 08055X, £14.99. LENA DOMINELLI LENA DOMINELLI University of Southampton Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 27, Issue 6, December 1997, Pages 980–981, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjsw.a011293 Published: 01 December 1997

Book Reviews

Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Gender, Sex-offenders and Probation Practice, Lena Dominelli, Norwich, Novata, 1991, 136 pp. ISBN 1870202-05-8, £5.95. JAMES SANDHAM JAMES SANDHAM Senior Probation Officer Oxfordshire and Social Work Practice Co-Ordinator, Oxford University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 22, Issue 2, April 1992, Pages 220–222, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjsw.a055857 Published: 01 April 1992

Book Reviews : Feminist Social Work. By Lena Dominelli and Eileen McLeod. Chicago: Lyceum, 1989,177 pp., $16.95

Book Reviews : Feminist Social Work. By Lena Dominelli and Eileen McLeod. Chicago: Lyceum, 1989,177 pp., $16.95

Response to Lena Dominelli's 'Father-daughter incest: patriarchy's shameful secret' CSP, issue 16, Summer 1986

Response to Lena Dominelli's 'Father-daughter incest: patriarchy's shameful secret' CSP, issue 16, Summer 1986