Model Of Social Work Practice Research Articles

Social Work and Family Therapy: Interdisciplinary Roots of Family Intervention

Social work practice takes place between persons in families and other social institutions, such as schools, health systems, welfare systems or courts. Drawing from multi-disciplinary theoretical sources, the article brings together social work and family therapy to develop a contemporary model of social work practice with families. There are five generic principles of family systemic practice: 1) persons are inherently relational; 2) families have resilient strengths; 3) family life cycles proceed systemically generating relational tasks for family members; 4) repetitive family interaction generates relational structures; 5) cultures, as perceived by family members, are themselves in dynamic motion, necessitating a transcultural understanding of family interaction.

Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP): a bottom-up practice in workforce development for low-income jobseekers

This paper discusses an evidence-informed bottom-up transformative social work practice model that holistically encapsulates multi-system levels of practice. Based on 12 years of empirical evidence on psychological self-sufficiency (PSS), the Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP) program was developed to focuses on the ‘process’ of human agency development that leads to economic self-sufficiency (ESS) ‘outcomes’. It attempts to bring together various modalities of social work practice into a transformational leadership development framework that reflects a bottom-up, participant-centered approach to empowering individuals to impact larger systems. In workforce development practice, it is being regarded that constructs reflected in TIP improve both employment and retention outcomes.

The Afrocentric paradigm in social work: A historical perspective and future outlook

ABSTRACTThe Afrocentric paradigm in social work is an important professional development towards rendering social work practice more culturally competent. Grounded in a critique of Eurocentric models of social science and social work practice, the paradigm draws heavily on the shared cultural values and practices of traditional Africa that have been articulated most poignantly in Cheikh Anta Diop’s two cradle theory. The Afrocentric paradigm also relies on the shared experiences African-Americans have had with Eurocentric domination since the initiation of the transatlantic slave trade and their efforts to contest the inimical effects of this form of oppression. This article provides a historical overview of the Afrocentric paradigm and examines its relationship to social work. It also offers some ideas about the future viability of the paradigm within the new era of oppression by incorporation.

Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP): a bottom-up practice in workforce development for low-income jobseekers

This paper discusses an evidence-informed bottom-up transformative social work practice model that holistically encapsulates multi-system levels of practice. Based on 12 years of empirical evidence on psychological self-sufficiency (PSS), the Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP) program was developed to focuses on the ‘process’ of human agency development that leads to economic self-sufficiency (ESS) ‘outcomes’. It attempts to bring together various modalities of social work practice into a transformational leadership development framework that reflects a bottom-up, participant-centered approach to empowering individuals to impact larger systems. In workforce development practice, it is being regarded that constructs reflected in TIP improve both employment and retention outcomes.

Āta as an innovative method and practice tool in supervision

Building on the social work practice model of Pohatu (2004), who outlines a behavioural and theoretical strategy named Āta, this article discusses the method and introduces a reflective tool that supervisors are able to utilise in order to invoke reflection and self-assessment through a Māori lens at both a personal and professional level. Āta is then discussed as it relates to elements of supervision being taught at a postgraduate level which include reflection, acknowledgement of the process of supervision and learning styles.

A case study of a grassroots truth and reconciliation commission from a community practice perspective

Summary Truth and Reconciliation Commissions represent an innovative model for social work practice. The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a community-based intervention that sought to address lingering social trauma and tension from a 1979 incident of racial violence in North Carolina. This case study analyzes the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission from a community practice perspective by highlighting relevant aspects of the intervention for social work practice. The intervention is examined along the community practice dimensions of context, theoretical basis, practice model, framing, strategy, and tactics. Each dimension is presented and related to a specific aspect of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission case. Findings The historical context of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission includes legacies racism, labor exploitation, and violence that was pervasive in the U.S. south, as well as traditions of resistance to oppression. The theoretical underpinnings of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission include social constructionism and restorative justice. The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission falls within the community practice models of neighborhood and community organizing and community capacity development. The intervention was framed as a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and incorporated a strategy of inclusiveness. The community practice tactics of fundraising, outreach and recruitment, research and investigation, and public hearings were employed. Applications This article concludes with assessments of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s impact and implications for community practice, including current applications of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission model in the U.S. Social workers working in communities can apply the Truth and Reconciliation Commission model and the specific community practice dimensions identified in the case study to empower communities and work to overcome legacies of social injustice, violence, and oppression.

Migrating Qualifications: The Ethics of Recognition

As a contribution to theorising the field of international social work practice, this article explores the Australian approach to recognition of overseas qualifications for social workers. Recognition of qualifications across borders both enables and is constitutive of internationalised social work practice. Migration of social workers has previously been discussed with reference to portability of values, skills and knowledge across cultural contexts, and the ethical implications of social workers migrating from countries which need their services. Questions of professional recognition through skilled migration have received less scholarly attention, compounded by a lack of empirical data documenting trends and analysing international implications. In this article, information gathered from the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) provides a preliminary picture of recent migration of social workers to Australia. Critical analysis of the assumptions underlying the qualifications assessment process supports the conclusion that the current approach rests on an understanding of social work that risks excluding migrant social workers who ostensibly do not conform to the model of social work practice on which the assessment process is based, potentially excluding valuable contributions to internationalising practice through transnational migration.

Kultūriškai priešingų praktikos modelių lyginimas ir susiliejimas: struktūrinis ir naratyvu grįstas socialinis darbas

The structural and narrative models of social work practice are summarized and compared relative to the social worker’s role, the conceptualization of the problem, and the intervention techniques utilized. The two approaches are found to differ signifcantly in all areas and most specifcally in problem conceptualization. This difference is indicative of Kuhn’s (1962) observation that different conceptual paradigms are both structured and limited by their theoretical framework. Though both models vary by conceptualization and application, both are determined to be signifcantly different from the dominant medical model paradigm of “helping” and thus considered countercultural. Finally, it is pointed out that the challenge to the dominant paradigm by these two models allows them to be blended together in social work practice.

Assessing the National School Social Work Practice Model: Findings from the Second National School Social Work Survey.

The Second National School Social Work Survey in 2014 aimed to update knowledge of school social work practice by examining how practitioner characteristics, practice context, and practice choices have evolved since the last national survey in 2008. This second survey was also developed to assess how the new national school social work practice model created by the School Social Work Association of America aligns with early 21st century school social work practice realities. The second survey was conducted from February through April 2014 (3,769 total responses were collected) and represents the largest sample of American school social workers surveyed in two decades. Data from the Second National School Social Work Survey showed a field that still has not fully responded to calls to implement evidence-informed and data-driven practices. This article notes the need to better integrate pre- and postservice training in data-driven practices and provides recommendations for ways to overcome barriers that school social workers report facing.

The Integration of Multicultural Education, Multicultural Social Work Practice and Tao Complexity Tool Models in Inducing a Paradigm Shift in Public Policy-Making to Communities of Practice: A Postmodern Approach that Positively Impacts the Latino Students' Formal Education in the United States

In this paper, the author highlights the effects of the Tao Complexity Tool model in inducing paradigm shift (Fu & Bergeon, 2012) in policy-making in complementarity to Systems Thinking (Senge, 1990, 2006) in addressing and resolving global issues (Rothenberg, 2006) facing global systems. In this analysis, these global systems are classified as open systems (Fu & Kirk, 1999) in postmodern organizations as multicultural communities of practice (Wenger, 1998, 1999, 2008). In doing this, I define the Tao Complexity Tool model as an open system and explicate the use of this model in inducing paradigm shift in policy-making (Fu & Bergeon, 2012). Also, I emphasize and clarify the interrelatedness and complementarity of the Tao Complexity Tool model to Systems Thinking (Senge, 2006) in addressing and analyzing specific global issues. In this respect, I explain an open systems-thinking based on Fu and Kirk's (1999) perspective on open systems in conjunction with Senge's (2006) work on systems-thinking. Additionally, I analyze the significance of addressing the education of the immigrant children and families from South and Central America facing educators, policy-makers and community stakeholders in the United States. Finally, I explain and correlate the importance of designing effective policy-making strategies such as the implementation of multicultural education, multicultural social work practice as effective policies in the American education system to help those global children who are coming to the United States achieve academic and social success in their formal American education.

Towards a socially just social work practice: the liberation health model

This article discusses the ‘liberation health’ model for social work practice and explores how this model may be used to bring conversations about race and class into the therapy room. It begins with a review of mental health social work teaching in the United States and moves on to demonstrate differences between traditional and liberatory practice methodologies. The term ‘liberatory’ is used in this article to refer to a variety of anti-oppressive theoretical frameworks, with an emphasis on the work of Paulo Freire and Ignacio Martín-Baró. Additionally, the author demonstrates interviewing strategies for bringing conversations about intersectionality into the therapy context.

지역사회복지실천모델로서 사회적협동조합의 가능성 탐색

지역사회복지실천모델로서 사회적협동조합의 가능성 탐색

W(h)ither the academy? An exploration of the role of university social work in shaping the future of social work in Europe

A controversial proposal to pilot the training of child protection social workers through an intensive work-based route in England is being supported and funded by the UK Government. Frontline, the brainchild of a former teacher, locates social work training within local authorities (‘the agency’) rather than university social work departments (‘the academy’) and has stimulated debate amongst social work academics about their role in shaping the direction of the profession. As a contribution to this debate, this paper explores the duality of social work education, which derives its knowledge from both the academic social sciences and the experience of practice within social work agencies. While social work education has traditionally been delivered by the academy, this paper also explores whether the delivery of training in the allied professions of probation and nursing by ‘the agency’ is equally effective. Finally, this paper explores the Helsinki model which achieves a synergy of ‘academy’ and ‘agency’. It suggests that there are alternative models of social work education, practice and research which avoid dichotomies between the ‘academy’ and the ‘agency’ and enable the profession to be shaped by both social work academics and practitioners.

Science-Based Prevention through Communities That Care: A Model of Social Work Practice for Public Health

This article describes a public health orientation to drug and alcohol abuse prevention; reviews the state of the science underlying a risk and protective factor approach to alcohol and drug abuse prevention; describes Communities That Care, a community practice model that makes use of this evidence; and considers how this model reflects four important principles of social work practice. The intent of this article is to provide guidance to social workers who support the National Association of Social Work's intention to make prevention practice central to the provision of alcohol and drug abuse services by social workers.

Civic practice: A new professional paradigm for social work

• Summary: Economic rationalism has had an impact upon the position of many professions in Western society. Drawing on New Zealand material this article argues that neoliberal targeting of professions’ capacity to capture domains of service and their funding has fuelled deprofessionalization, but also created space for alternative domains of practice. A case for a civic model of social work practice is argued. • Findings: Debates about the nature of professions flourish in current literature. An exploration of the features of the social work profession suggests three types: heroic, altruistic and civic. The development of civic practice in social work is suggested, presupposing a reframing of the role and focus of the profession toward social inquiry applied to the rights and needs of citizens. • Application: The contribution of this article is to explore a move forward in the de-professionalization debates and to propose a civic social work grounded in advocacy and critical social inquiry.

The Three Portals: A Cross-Cultural Theory and Model for Social Work Practice

The Three Portals cross-cultural theory and model for social work practice was created, researched and synthesized by the author and spawned from her original published doctoral dissertation on ancient Basque spiritualism ([Author], 2009). Her doctoral research was a heuristic qualitative research study, situated within an ethnic paradigm (Stanfield, 1994; Moustakas, 1990: Colorado, 1988). The original study explored the author's own personal journey, related literature (translated from French sources), cultural shapes, symbols, stories and dialogues to describe the experience of Basque spiritualism. The author has extracted the universal elements from her research with the Basques to formulate an integrated cross-cultural theory and assessment and intervention model for social work practice. After a four-year research process writing her doctoral dissertation, the author applied this model for seven years in a variety of health and human services and social work practice settings to assess clients from the lens of a cross-cultural perspective. The author continued her research through a cultural immersion process in the Basque Country of southwestern France for two more years, resulting in a total of thirteen years of research.

Increasing Knowledge of Sexual Abuse

Objective: Child sexual abuse is a significant health problem with potential long-term consequences for victims. Therefore, prevention and education programs are critical. This preliminary study evaluates changes in children’s knowledge of sexual abuse using a school-based train-the-trainer curriculum. Emphasis was placed on developing a curriculum that considered the unique cultural context in Hawai‘i. Method: School staff who had been trained on how to implement the My Body, My Boundaries curriculum, which targets the third to fifth grade, were invited to participate in the study. Three schools agreed; students in third grade classrooms in two schools received the curriculum and students in the third school served as the comparison. Result: Children in intervention schools significantly increased their knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate touch and what to do if they experience sexual abuse. Conclusion: Findings suggest the utility of a train-the-trainer model in social work practice to address sensitive topics such as child sexual abuse.

New Ways of Thinking about the Influence of Cultural Identity, Place and Spirituality on Child Development within Child Placement Practice

The policy and practice of family placement within the UK can be understood as the archetypal separation of a person from their physical environment, yet the intersection of ‘person with place’ - both past and present - has been argued to be crucial for identity formation. Indeed, intersectional analysts have called for alternative frameworks which challenge western models centering on the individual person disconnected from his or her community. An emerging body of work has drawn on Maori social work literature to explore the intersection of ‘person (identity) with place’ through an application to the concept of spirituality within western social work practice models (Zapf, 2005a, b). According to this perspective, people can have deep spiritual connections with the physical environment in which they live, creating a sense of belonging and attachment to that place. Victoria Sharley considers this Maori spiritual analysis in the context of family placement practice in the UK. In so doing, she offers a new way of thinking about the inter-relationship of cultural identity, place and spirituality as it affects the development of children separated from their birth families.

The Development of a National School Social Work Practice Model

The Development of a National School Social Work Practice Model

Assessing an Interdisciplinary Health Care Model: The Governor's Wellmobile Program

This article assesses the applicability of Bronstein's (2003) generic model of interdisciplinary collaboration in the context of a newly created collaboration providing community-based health care services, the Governor's Wellmobile Program. An analysis of the program's quarterly reports and interviews with faculty and students involved in the collaboration offers an assessment of the model and implications for interdisciplinary social work practice in community health care delivery.