Social Work Process Research Articles

‘Relocating Adolescents’: The Costs of Out-of-Area Placements as a Response to Extra-Familial Risk/Harm

Abstract In the UK, there has been increased awareness of the harm adolescents face beyond their families. There is no national strategy for safeguarding adolescents. One intervention that comes with particularly high costs is relocation placements by children’s social care that move adolescents some distance from their communities. This research aims to contribute to the evidence about the relocation of adolescents exposed to, or at risk of extra-familial risk/harm. The research reported here sought to explore the costs associated with relocation placements. Data were gathered about the time taken to carry out the social work processes associated with relocation placements and about the costs associated with the placements. Two interviews and six focus groups were conducted with twenty-four participants. The findings highlight that each adolescent had a unique context, which was influenced by the type of extra-familial risk/harm. The service response therefore needed to be tailored, and unit costs are presented as a range from £22,000 to £170,000 for six months. There is substantial variability in the use and costs of relocation placements. The findings offer evidence for earlier intervention to avoid extra-familial risk/harm. The financial costs of relocation placements need to be considered within the context of the well-being of adolescents.

Discharging Care Orders in England and Wales: A New Typology of Applications and Outcomes

Abstract A care order represents one of the most significant state interventions in England and Wales. The end of a care order is equally important, often meaning a withdrawal of statutory support and monitoring, and children returning home to birth parent(s), living with kinship carers or living independently. Despite its importance, little is known about the discharge of care orders. This article reports on the findings of the first study of the discharge of care orders in England and Wales. Casefile data from 323 children’s records were analysed using descriptive and bivariate statistical analysis. Qualitative data from the same records were collected and analysed thematically. Interviews and focus groups were also held with forty-one professionals involved in discharge. Based on the findings, this article reports on a new typology of discharge applications. The typology represents six distinctly different types of application varying on: process and application outcome; length of proceedings; applicant motivation and age and views of the child. The typology developed indicates that differentiated legal and social work processes may be needed to better meet the needs of children and families. This article concludes by presenting recommendations for policy, practice and research in this field.

E-Upkruti-A Novel App to Attend Social Problems

Due to the fasting moving technical world all are busy in our routine life, without getting the time to pay heed on the social problems occurring in the society. These problems remain unaddressed by the public because of the lack of time coordination and lack of moral untechnical support. Hence our project aims at creating a platform for solving these issues. By taking the help of relevant departments and social workers into picture for help. This project aims at capturing the real-time photos of social problems and sending it to the relevant sectors to solve in the stipulated time. In an era of dynamic and innovative solutions, its designed to revolutionize the way social work is administered, executed, and experienced. This project addresses this demand by creating a seamless ecosystem that caters to the unique requirements of three distinct user groups: Administrators, Social Workers, and Users. For Administrators, the system provides a robust suite of tools that enables them to not only log in and oversee social work activities, but also to verify and manage user complaints. This Social Work Management System represents a significant step in optimizing the social work process, promoting collaboration, and ultimately improving the lives, who rely on social services

Analysis and Thinking on Ethical Issues in the Practice of Rural Social Work

In the context of the rural revitalization strategy, the government encourages social organizations to enter the countryside to help revitalization, and social work can play its professionalism to promote rural revitalization. On the other hand, because the social work ethics code is not consistent with the "human touch" in the countryside in some specific situations, social workers will more or less face a series of Ethical dilemma when working in rural areas, this not only puts workers in an ethical dilemma, but also hinders the development of rural social work. This article attempts to analyze the ethical issues in the practical process of rural social work from the perspective of social workers and propose corresponding countermeasures.

Improving Quality in Social Work: The Role of Peer Challenge

Abstract Network-based approaches to improvement and specifically, peer challenges have become an integral part of quality assurance in adult social work in England. Whilst the national regulation change in 2011 placed greater weight on local accountability, very few studies have examined the contribution of peer challenges towards improving the quality of adult social work practice. Peer challenge is a process of engaging a wide range of people and experienced peers in relevant service areas to offer a review from the perspective of a critical friend. This article considers how a regional peer challenge process in the West Midlands of England contributed to improving social work practice and processes, which supported this contribution. Drawing on data from fifteen interviews and forty-four survey responses, findings suggest that peer challenges in the short term can have positive impacts including, an understanding of the internal practice conditions and external context, strengths and limitations of social work practice, and the perspectives of local stakeholders and external peers on opportunities to improve practice. The design, commitment to transparency and trust by all parties enable honest reflection and a shared learning experience. To understand long-term impacts, we suggest establishing formal follow-up processes together with developing key baseline indicators to track impacts.

The Process of Social and Pedagogical Work with Individual Clients

The Process of Social and Pedagogical Work with Individual Clients

Developing and Evaluating a Social Work Assessment Model based on Co-production Methods

Abstract Building Better Futures (BBF) is a structured and systematic model developed in Northern Ireland for assessing parenting capacity when there are childcare concerns. This article focuses on the iterative development of the model, through a social work, practitioner–academic, research collaboration. BBF was developed using a mixed method, flexible and multi-modal, iterative design embracing a collaborative approach between social work academics and practitioners. Five senior practitioners (SPs) were appointed for a three-year period to work on the project. The formative implementation and evaluation of the model consisted of a series of co-produced, in-depth mixed-method evaluation studies across the region. The project outcomes confirmed the utility of the model for social work practitioners and the benefits to families. An evaluation of the co-production methodologies identified the importance of building an inclusive, collaborative team with shared trust. The importance of managing power between the groups was identified, and the absence of parents as part of the collaboration was acknowledged. Engagement in research can enhance professional identity and job satisfaction for social workers and develop social work tools and processes which are ‘fit for purpose’ because they have been influenced by the views of the end users.

Homeless immigrants ineligible for social welfare benefits: identification of sub-groups and their characteristics

ABSTRACT Although the number of immigrants stemming from EU countries increased within the last decade, they are widely excluded from social welfare benefits, also from the relevant support systems in case of homelessness. As a result, the daily concerns of homeless immigrants are largely unknown and studies understanding their situation are very scarce. The present study analysed data of homeless immigrants who turned to the only Upper Austrian donation-funded NGO that serves them within a period of one year. In total, 135 different persons visited this NGO and 88 persons agreed that their data can be used for further analyses. The vast majority of these 88 persons were EU citizens (97%), male (65%) and Romanian citizens (64%). They came to this NGO to ask for basic support, followed by support in finding regular work, and the storage of their personal belongings. Subgroup analyses showed that homeless immigrants are a heterogeneous group which need different services in the professional support processes of social work. Based on the empirical findings, this paper gives structured recommendations for social work practice with homeless immigrants.

The Review Process in Social Work: Is it Working for Service Users?

The Review Process in Social Work: Is it Working for Service Users?

Curriculum development for social work student placements in primary health care

ABSTRACT This paper reports on the curriculum development for social work student placements in primary health care. Social work in General Practice [GP] is an emerging area for social work practice, able to fill a gap in primary health. The inclusion of social work in GP practices can be complex. Social work placements offer an opportunity for students to become familiar with this practice setting and undertake social work relevant learning; however, they need to be well prepared for such placements and able to articulate and use social work knowledge and processes. They offer an opportunity for GPs to understand what social workers can do and offer to the GP community. We have used available research, support of an active reference group and two surveys to develop a curriculum for social work students in GP practices. We provide an overview of the literature and the methods of developing the curriculum. We describe how feedback and curriculum design principles were used. Core aspects of the curriculum and accompanying resources are outlined. The discussion highlights that the curriculum was a valuable tool in not only inducting students into a GP placement setting but as a meaningful reference guide throughout the entirety of placement.

Hidden in statistics? On the lived experience of poverty

ABSTRACT Poverty aware practice suggests that understanding poverty and its effects can, in turn, shape practice. Arguably, this understanding is something that should underpin social work processes from referral, to assessment, through to intervention. Yet just what it means to experience poverty with respect to the day to days lives of those who do often remains ‘hidden in statistics’. This article goes beyond statistics to relate understandings of poverty to lived experience. The method for doing so consists of taking up a definition of poverty developed as part of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy in Ireland in the 90s and juxtaposing this with an unblemished snapshot into the lives of persons experiencing poverty. In doing so, it is shown that those who experience poverty do so in an excluded social space which consists of material disadvantage but also instability, the inability to take part in society and experiences of social demotion.

Project-based Teaching Reform and Exploration of "Community Social Work"

Project-based teaching mode has been widely used in many disciplines in the teaching field. "Community social work" as a highly practical subject, but in the teaching process of many colleges and universities, there is a state of separation between theory and practice. In order to enhance college students' cognition of social problems and improve their ability to integrate theory with practice and serve the community, this paper explores the project-based teaching reform in the teaching process of Community Social Work. This paper puts forward a holistic and systematic teaching process of "community concept teaching-community visit-community work mode teaching-community problem demand analysis-community work method and skill teaching-community service plan formulation and implementation-community work process summary". It is believed that through the project-based teaching reform, the potential of teachers and students can be fully explored, and the "teaching" of teachers and the "learning" of students can be truly realized, both relying on the reality of the community.

World development of vocational training of social workers and system of social work and training at the regional level in Tatarstan

The purpose of our research work is to examine of social workers training in different foreign countries, in Russia and in the Republic of Tatarstan in the aspect of vocational activity on the basis of comparative-historical, systematic, processing and social-informative approaches. Historical method is well put down in the topic of effective training of social workers abroad and in the system of social work in different regions of RF as well as in Tatarstan. Great changes took place in the social life of the society during the ages of existence of social work, that is why this approach has the tendency to widen the sources of the research base and modern, more deep interpretation the processes of social work. The Social work nowadays is a kind of professional and independent activity though it is considered relatively young sphere it has a great diversity of social workers’ vocational training and quite remote traditions. In Russia in the 1990-2000 was slowing down the process of the social security and therefore the training of social workers, after that vocational training of social workers was renewed and the protection and support of the population is guaranteed by the state.

The ‘Powers of Horror’: Abjection, Critical Realism and Social Work

Abstract Assessment is a pivotal part of social work process and is meant, amongst other things, to identify the deep-seated causes of human behaviour and well-being. This search for causation, it is argued, can be illuminated through a critical realist understanding of the person in society. In line with this philosophical stance, this article introduces a little considered causative mechanism pertinent to social work assessment: that of psychological abjection. Formulated by the French psychoanalytical theorist, Julia Kristeva, abjection serves to differentiate the self from the ‘abject’ or what is viewed as atypical in presentation. This concept is then scrutinised leading to the enlarged notion of social abjection; that is, the ‘othering’ and shaming of social groups which are viewed as anomalous. The implications of both psychological and social abjection for social workers are subsequently considered. At this point, the countervailing causative mechanism of recognition is proposed to mitigate abjection, and an argument is made for applying it within narrative social work and emancipatory groupwork. Finally, it is contended that social workers must commit to abjection work. This effort involves professionals gaining insight into how the abjection mechanism affects their inner world of perception and emotion, assessment of situations, and approach to service users.

The situation to the progress of supporting early working children - case study in Vietnam

Early child labor has been and is a prominent issue that needs to be improved and pushed back all over the world. Currently, the situation of children working early, especially in heavy, dangerous, and hazardous jobs will significantly affect the physical, mental and cognitive development of children. The article deals with the current situation and outlines the individual social work process to support and prevent early child labor.

Baseline Needs Assessment for a Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program 1-Year Pilot

The objectives of the present study were to measure and describe the baseline participant needs of a hospital-based violence intervention 1-year pilot program, assess differences in expected hospital revenue based on changes in health insurance coverage resulting from program implementation and discuss the program’s limitations. Methods: Between September 2020 and September 2021 Encompass Omaha enrolled 36 participants. A content analysis of 1199 progress notes detailing points of contact with participants was performed to determine goal status. Goals were categorized and goal status was defined as met, in process, dropped, or participant refusal. Results: The most frequently identified needs were help obtaining short-term disability assistance or completing FMLA paperwork (86.11%), immediate financial aid (86.11%), legal aid (83.33%), access to food (83.3%), and navigating medical issues other than the primary reason for hospitalization (83.33%). Conclusions: Meeting the participants’ short-term needs is critical for maintaining their engagement in the long-term. Further, differences in expected hospital revenue for pilot participants compared with a control group were examined, and this analysis found a reduction in medical and facility costs for program participants. The pilot stage highlighted how complex the needs and treatment of victims of violence are. As the program grows and its staff become more knowledgeable about social work, treatment, and resource access processes, the program will continue to improve.

Biblical narratives and the planned change process in social work: assessment tool integration of faith and learning

ABSTRACT Assessment is an integral part of social work intervention with clients; however, a lack of mastery in the use of assessment can negate the goal of the intervention. Therefore, it becomes imperative that social workers and students are skilled in implementing assessment tools with a holistic view of the client. This includes a religious and spiritually responsive facet since the profession is practice-based. This study examined Biblical narratives in the teaching and learning of the planned change process, focusing on assessment. Since there are many assessment tools utilized in the social work profession, the author uses the genogram and applies it to case studies from the Bible to understand family dynamics and their influence on individuals. A model was designed for teaching assessment with genogram adaptation while focusing on the relationship between spirituality and religion in child welfare practice. Spirituality is an asset in strength-based perspective and social work practice, including the role of spirituality in the biopsychosocial assessment of clients. Finally, it is recommended that biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment is an essential concept in the classroom to initiate a robust client-centered intervention.

SOCIAL WORK CARRIED OUT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS WITH STUDENTS LEFT ORPHANS AND WITHOUT PARENTAL CARE

The level of development of society is usually determined by the level of attitude of the state to the layer of people in need of help, if we take a broader look at the condition and standard of living of children (orphans, people left without parental care) and the elderly. Assistance to the socially backward - the elderly, orphans, the disabled, lonely, low-income and other categories of the population indicates a high level of development and civilization of society. This article discusses the process of social work with orphans and students left without parental care in schools.

Conscientization on Techniques of the Social Audit towards the Implementation of the Village Development Program

Through the social audit, villagers can control, supervise, and evaluate certain development programs or activities that have been implemented by the village government, because social audit can be positioned as a variant of public participation oriented towards the realization of democratic governance. This critical learning facilitation was held in the context of social awareness to expand the understanding of villagers about social audit techniques based on principles, benefits, and ideal stages while at the same time fostering the commitment of the village government to apply the principles of transparency and accountability in development management, including providing access to information disclosure related to the village planning and budgeting documents so that it can be known by the citizens as a whole. This community service activity involved dozens of residents and the village government officials as participants and was carried out during March 2018 in the Rabakodo Village, Woha District, Bima Regency, West Nusa Tenggara Province by applying special learning methods in the form of various lectures to convey the conceptual substance of social audit that must be understood by program participants, as well as practices to demonstrate the social audit work process that can be directly observed and practised by them. These facilitation activities produce outputs in the form of recommendations from residents to the village government so that (1) public participation in the planning-budgeting process, including the activities in the field of village development, community building, and community empowerment must be provided in large portions by the village government for the sake of democratic and inclusive management of the village development; (2) The village government must act transparently and responsively to the needs of the residents, and prioritize a persuasive approach when facing their demands; and (3) villagers must always actively participate in all stages of the village development management, especially in planning, budgeting, implementing, and monitoring phases.

A Research on the Dilemmas of Faculty Founded Agencies

Faculty founded social work agency is something with “Chinese characteristics”, also a unique phenomenon appearing in the special development process of social work in China, moreover, such a phenomenon has been widely recognized, and it will sustain for a long time. However, faculty founded social work agencies face not only the dilemmas which are common for all social work agencies, but also a variety of unique dilemmas. This paper analyzed such dilemmas from several aspects including censure of the society, lack of resources, treatment dilemmas, time and energy dilemmas, it is a thorough summary and overview on the current dilemmas of faculty founded social work agencies. Based on the analysis over the dilemmas of faculty founded social work agencies, and the present situation of social work education, practice and sector development, this paper addressed the dilemmas of faculty founded social work agencies from three aspects. i.e.: thinking and orientation, understanding and mutual-aid, mission and persistence, in turn proposed their development direction for the future, which is also the conclusion of the paper.