Social Practice Research Articles

Expansion of Digital Technology Use in the Korean Social Work Field

This study aims to examine the status of digital technology utilization in diverse social work facilities and to understand practitioners’ perceptions of digitalization in the social work field in South Korea. To achieve this, focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 32 social work practitioners from various social welfare organizations in South Korea. The results of thematic analysis revealed that there are four main factors affecting the usage of digital technology, five main types of digital technologies, four principal outcomes, and five challenges. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the digital transformation that has occurred in social work, it is suggested that future in-depth studies should be conducted from the client’s perspective and that future quantitative research should include more cases. Altogether, this study contributes to establishing a foundation for future research to determine the directions of and challenges involved in social work practice in the digital age.

Communicative Competence in the Select Speech of Shri Narendra Modi: A Linguistic Analysis

The close connection between language and ideology has long been a recurring subject of study among linguists. Politicians often rely on language manipulation to convey specific messages, discussing topics that seem familiar but may not be fully understood by the audience. This study uses critical discourse analysis to identify the presuppositions and entailments, and thus the ideology, in a speech delivered by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi. The speech is an appeal from Modi to the people of India. A closer examination reveals that Prime Minister Modi employed various persuasive strategies to achieve political and ideological goals. The analysis of the selected speech of Shri Narendra Modi for Swachh Bharat mission on Independence Day establishes the social practises followed and the text that influences the people to bring changes in our society. The level of text and the level of context is analysed for linguistic analysis in six categories like phonology, syntax, semantics, conceptual, belief and para linguistics.

Public Awareness: Understanding Register Of First Information Report Through Critical Discourse Analysis

The purpose of this study is to explore the linguistic aspects of police FIR using Michael Halliday’s system of transitivity and three-dimensional model of CDA, encompassing the macro-sociological analysis of social practice. FIR is a genre of discourse, referring to a report prepared by the police, which reaches the police station first after the commission of a cognizable offence. FIR needs thorough and careful reading, and very difficult to understand by the people of a particular community. In this regard, the Transitivity system is a medley of six different processes realizing ideational meaning which is further strengthened by CDA, which also helps the people of a community to comprehend complex discourses. In accordance with this study, the researchers used the qualitative approach as a paradigm. They used close reading technique as a strategy and relying on purposive sampling in the selection of data. Further textual analysis is used as a method of analysis. The researcher took five FIRs which were analyzed with respect to the transitivity system. This study reveals that the FIRs conform to five processes out six processes of the transitivity system and the three-dimensional model of CDA. Moreover, this study can be extended to other police reports and common people may easily expand their awareness to understand the language and context of FIRs.

“I now see my toddler as a helper, not just somebody in need of help”: Raising Helpful Toddlers training

Helping other people benefits children and is fundamental to a functioning society. A novel training, Raising Helpful Toddlers (RHT), focuses on beneficial Indigenous heritage parent socialization practices previously described. RHT participants were thirty U.S. toddler parents/caregivers, aged 28–46, 26/4 female/male ratio; 73.3 % White, 13.3 % Asian, 6.7 % African or Black/African American, 3.3 % Asian and White, 3.3 % American Indian and Hispanic, and highly educated on average, with children aged 12 to 48 months. RHT consists of a 2-hour online training, followed up with daily logs and interviews to support the training while collecting qualitative data. Feasibility was indicated by high rates of parent recruitment, satisfaction, and use of RHT strategies. Average parenting self-efficacy increased at post-test, with a moderate to large effect size, according to a repeated-measures t-test, t(28)=3.792, p < .001, d = 0.58. Many parents reported improvements at post-test including less stress when doing chores and changed beliefs, actions, and speech. Results suggest that parenting practices described in Indigenous-heritage families can be beneficial across cultural contexts. Keywords: Indigenous, Parenting, Family, Intervention, Early Care, Early Education, Prosocial Behavior, Moral Development

Integrating human rights in social work education in Europe

ABSTRACT The engagement of social workers with human rights is deeply embedded in the history of the profession and discipline. Therefore, incorporating human rights into social work curricula is paramount. However, comparative research on the integration of human rights in Europe is largely missing. This article addresses the gap by analyzing curricula in eight European countries. It is based on a symposium organized by the Special Interest Group on Human Rights in Social Work within the European Association of Schools of Social Work in 2022. The article focuses on three questions: What explicit references to human rights can be found? How are human rights linked to political and structural aspects? In what form is the significance of human rights for social work practice considered? The analysis encompassed the curricula of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Finland. It shows that human rights are an integrated component within all degree programs in these countries, albeit in different forms and to different extents. However, the critical analysis also shows significant shortcomings, e.g. missing emphasis on human rights topics within the curriculum and insufficient consideration of the practical applicability of human rights.

Résister pour mieux savourer : forme de vie hors norme d’un fast-food de Las Vegas

Since the early 2000s, post-structural semiotics of the Greimasian tradition have gained considerable strength in the analysis of social practices. The objective of this contribution is to present and implement these new tools and proposals from contemporary semiotics through a case study: the analysis of the customer experience of a Las Vegas fast-food restaurant, where junk food and other nonconformist practices are set up as a system. The analysis will focus on both the activities performed in the restaurant and the intimate experience of food intake. Semiotics of practices, narrative semiotics, and tensive semiotics will be applied to this end, as well as to postulate that the customers of the restaurant unwillingly come to manifest an insolent and individualistic form of life. More generally, this article aims to show how contemporary post-Greimasian semiotics can serve as a methodological framework for the analysis of social practices of any kind.

Does corporate ESG, an essential factor for overcoming the climate crisis, affect sustainability: The effects of psychological distance and purchase intention

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices on consumer behavior, focusing on the role of psychological distance in shaping purchase intentions. Using construal level theory as the theoretical framework, primary survey data from South Korean consumers were analyzed. The findings reveal that social and governance activities within ESG positively influence consumers' psychological distance, enhancing purchase intentions. However, environmental activities do not show a similar effect. These results underscore the importance of clear and transparent communication regarding environmental efforts. This research expands the academic discourse on ESG by incorporating psychological distance and offers practical insights for businesses to develop effective ESG strategies tailored to consumer preferences.

Interrogating the Meagre Response of Social Work to the “Social Question” Exposed by the COVID-19 Pandemic

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in South Africa in March 2020 unleashed not only a health crisis, but also a “tsunami” that disrupted every aspect of human and social life. Social work practice and education were not spared. The aftermath of the pandemic saw various services declared essential while the conventional delivery of others, including social work, were brought to a complete halt. In response, social workers elsewhere explored innovative strategies to continue rendering services remotely. In South Africa, some social workers embarked on consultative engagements through various formations whilst, others either remained mum or lamented the exclusion of social work as an essential service. Notwithstanding the fact that the above were not the only responses, the consequences of the lack of a unified professional voice and leadership may have far-reaching and negative consequences. This article presents a critical interrogation of the South African social work response throughout the pandemic. The interrogation reveals three explanatory factors behind the ineptness of social work, namely: professional decadence; a perpetual struggle for recognition; and the need to improve the status of the profession in society. These factors explain the unsatisfactory responses of the social work profession. The author argues that this amounts to failure to engage the social question, which inadvertently leads to the erosion of the value, status and societal recognition of social work. The author proposes serious professional reorientation to a focus on the social question which translates into focusing primarily on societal rather than disciplinary issues and problematics.

The Impact of Social Responsibility on the Performance of European Listed Companies

This research aims to analyze the impact of social responsibility (SR) on the performance of 216 European companies from 2017 to 2021. The objective of this research is to determine how the operational, financial, and market performance of companies is influenced by social responsibility practices. The methodology adopted is quantitative in nature, using the estimation of models for panel data. To quantify corporate performance, this study uses the return on assets (ROA), the return on equity (ROE), and finally Tobin’s Q ratio. Additionally, environment, social, and governance (ESG) and United Nations Global Compact (GC) scores are used to quantify SR. Our findings indicate a complex relationship between SR and corporate performance. While SR positively impacts market performance, it negatively affects operational and financial performance. This disparity becomes more pronounced when comparing companies with the highest and lowest SR scores. Further analysis reveals that the environment, social, and governance dimensions of ESG negatively correlate with ROA and ROE, but positively correlate with Tobin’s Q. The GC’s anti-corruption and environment scores exhibit a negative relationship with Tobin’s Q, the human rights dimension negatively correlates with ROE and ROA, and the labor law dimension positively influences ROE. Notably, firm size amplifies these relationships, whereas firm age has a dampening effect. This research offers significant contributions to the literature by providing a comprehensive analysis of the impact of social responsibility on corporate performance based on ESG and GC scores.

The role of social support in the decision to migrate for childbirth: qualitative evidence from India.

Temporary Childbirth Migration (TCM) involves women returning to their natal homes during or after pregnancy, a common but understudied practice in India and South Asia. This study examines social support practices influencing TCM decisions among Indian women. Factors such as family support, especially from husband, in-laws and parents, play a crucial role in migration decisions during the perinatal period. Understanding these factors is essential for improving maternal and child health outcomes and for developing targeted policies and interventions. Cultural influences also contribute to TCM decisions, impacting the timing, duration, and motivations behind women's choices to migrate during or after delivery. Our study was conducted at the Vadu Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in Western Maharashtra, India. We conducted 41 in-depth interviews with triads of women, their husbands, and mothers-in-law from Vadu HDSS, focusing on perceptions, timing, reasons, decision-making, and support related to Temporary Childbirth Migration (TCM). Participants varied in age, education, occupation, marriage type, migration type, delivery method, and included women who recently delivered or had infants up to two years old. The qualitative data were analyzed using both rapid analysis and traditional analysis using coded transcripts, incorporating both predefined and emergent codes to capture a wide range of participant characteristics and experiences. We later categorized our findings in Social support domains. Social support, including emotional, financial, instrumental, and informational, is a critical factor in TCM. Emotional support from mothers is highly valued, providing a stress-free environment. Financial support from husbands, in-laws, or parents influences the decision, with financial responsibilities sometimes dictating the choice of residence. Instrumental support, such as help with household chores, is essential, with varying levels of support at different locations. Informational support from experienced family members also guides expectant mothers. Healthcare access, household status, and the role of husbands further impact TCM decisions. Women prioritize proximity to medical facilities, comfort, and freedom in their natal homes. The inclusive decision-making process often involves women, in-laws, parents, and husbands. The study's findings highlight the complex interplay of social support, cultural norms, and practical considerations in TCM decisions, underscoring the need for more research to understand and support women's choices during the perinatal period. In conclusion, social support is a key driver of TCM and women's status in their households affects their support needs. Recognizing the importance of emotional, financial, informational, and instrumental support will help healthcare providers and policymakers to better assist expectant mothers, promoting positive maternal and child health outcomes.

Mentors and sponsors: Making a difference for racially and culturally minoritised academics in Australian universities

AbstractMentorship and sponsorships play a significant role in faculty experiences, career trajectories, well‐being and academic success in higher education. In this study, 23 racially and culturally minoritised (RACM) academics were interviewed about their experiences working in Australian universities, and all spoke about the key importance of their mentoring experiences. Mentorship was understood as both enabling and constricting, with unspoken rules of conduct and an embedded hierarchical relationship that could perpetuate the exclusion of both marginalised scholars and scholarship. In this paper, the theory of practice architectures, part of a wider ‘practice turn’ within education and the social sciences, was used to conceptualise the qualitative analysis of how mentoring arrangements are experienced by RACM academics in Australian universities. Here, we view academic mentoring as a social architectural practice whose power is articulated in discursive, material‐economic and social‐political arrangements and enacted through language (sayings), actions (doings) and relationships (relatings). This study offers insight not only into the structural and experiential landscape of mentoring for RACM academics but also provides an opportunity to envision pathways for its transformation.

‘I do not know if I will have the energy to come to placement tomorrow’: Fast-Tracking Racially Minoritised Students to Failure in Social Work Education

Abstract We build upon previous work that explored the evidence base of ‘failure to fail’ on practice placements across professions. We found a lack of convincing evidence of ‘fail to fail’ within assessed practice learning placements and could not ascertain the extent of this issue. The literature was stronger about why it ‘might’ or ‘could’ be difficult to fail students on placement. We concluded that if there was a reluctance to fail students, that hesitancy was not shown when failing racially minoritised students. Using critical race theory, we noted instead, fast tacking to failure. Data were re-examined from two previous studies that focused on the experiences of Black African social work students in England. We identified two ways in which practice educators operationalised fast tracking to failure. Firstly, the speed at which negative judgments were made about students’ abilities, and related to this, asking personal and insensitive questions, and secondly, the speed of decision about placement failure. We argue that the debate needs to move away from fail to fail and instead, focus on who is being fast tracked to failure, and how racism and other discrimination is addressed forcefully in social work policy, practice and education.

Analisis Isi Konten Instagram @Prabowo dalam Membangun Citra pada Pemilihan Presiden 2024

This research aims to examine how the Instagram account @prabowo developed a strong character during the presidential era using character theory. A qualitative approach involving content analysis was used to evaluate the textual and visual elements in the analyzed Instagram posts. The findings of this study indicate that the main theme of the content is "strong leadership", which is conveyed through graphic and textual components. Textual elements, such as captions, highlight Prabowo's dedication to important issues such as national development and preventing corruption. The depiction of leadership integrity is achieved through the use of firm words and expressions. Analysis of visual elements shows that the use of beige and dark brown helps convey stability and trust. Prabowo is depicted as a patriotic leader who is close to the people, shown through backgrounds that display interactions with society and national symbols. Her confident and assertive demeanor, as well as her professional yet approachable demeanor, reduces feelings of peer pressure. Effective communication strategies involve emphasizing individuality, engagement with the community, incorporation of national symbols, and the use of striking imagery. This approach succeeds in building a strong and trustworthy image. This study highlights the important role of social media in political campaigns and the need for consistent textual and visual elements to convey key messages effectively. These findings are useful for social media practice, political campaign strategy, and political communication research.

“As a Muslim…”: on the importance of intercultural responsibility in transnational cultural exchanges

Abstract Cultural exchange is increasingly becoming an essential activity of higher education as the world continues to experience widespread ethnocentrism because of war, migration, political provocation, and nationalism. Research in areas related to cultural exchange have also increased with the rise of teacher and student mobility, leading to an exciting body of scholarship. Several aspects of intercultural communication, however, remain under-researched in the study of cultural exchange. One such example is intercultural responsibility. The current study adds to this body of work by investigating how Muslim students that were part of a cultural exchange program in Thailand used notions of intercultural responsibility to make sense of their encounters and identities. The findings show that national and religious identities are both barriers to, and resources for, intercultural communication in general, and the social practices of Muslim students in particular. Intercultural responsibility is important to scholars and educators, as it can empower students to become agentive in their participation in intercultural communication, allowing them to reflect on and utilize their linguistic, cultural, and historical repertoire when interacting with individuals and communities that do not share their same cultural traditions and practices.

Impacts of LMS Socio-Linguistic and Psychometric Factors on Students' English and Translation Proficiency and Communicative Competence: A Paradigm Shift During COVID-19 Pandemic

This quantitative study investigated the impacts of Learning Management Systems’ (LMS) socio-linguistic and psychometric factors on students' English and translation proficiency and communicative competence. The participants were enrolled at the College of Languages and Translation, Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The results highlighted the positive experiences students had with the LMS platforms, with a notable frequency of (79.6%). Additionally, a significant percentage (86.2%) affirmed the effectiveness of these platforms in aiding them in achieving academic objectives. However, (52%) indicated that students consistently or often faced challenges when using technology. The findings highlighted improvements in various areas, including linguistic abilities (71.7%), translation skills (73.7%), social skills (62.5%), and psychometric abilities (70.3%), emphasizing the role of online environments in fostering effective communicative skills. The study also revealed the benefits of language and translation technology for students, with (84.1%) using computer-assisted translation, (82.9%) engaging in dubbing and voice translation, and (75.6%) utilizing language audio/video resources. Positive impacts on proficiency and communicative competence were evident, with frequencies of (74.4%) and (69.1%), respectively. These findings underscore the positive influence of technology on language and translation learning, emphasizing communicative approaches that enable students to develop competencies based on language socialization and real-time translation practices. The study recommends ongoing technology training for students and advocates for the use of psychometric tools embedded in LMS to encourage self-assessment and independent learning. The study's significance lies in understanding the intricate relationship between cognition, educational technology, and language and translation learning, particularly in the context of higher education.

Defending Discomfort: A Critical Social Work Case Against Trigger Warnings

ABSTRACT Trigger warnings have become a hotly contested practice in higher education, including within the field of social work. Learning to become a social worker can be a demanding process that requires in-depth study about often socially taboo and traumatic topics. The learning process can, understandably, cause discomfort that may result in a disconcerting or anxiety-provoking experience for social work students. However, the inclusion of challenging topics in social work education, including human rights violations, domestic violence, sexual abuse, racism, sexism, and many other social injustices is essential in the development of competency in social work practice. What remains unclear is the role and responsibility of universities and subsequently educators, in how we include or exclude trigger warnings, their relevance to social work education, and how we manage the expectations of students and their responses to the exposure of sensitive material. This article argues that trigger warnings may contribute to the pathologization of the experience of discomfort while simultaneously silencing oppressed students who may not identify with the language or experience of being triggered. This article investigates trigger warnings from a critical social work perspective and considers if the use of trigger warnings may potentially be more harmful than helpful.

Developing University Students’ Assessment Literacy - Theory and Practice

Assessment literacy skills are increasingly recognized as being important for student success in higher education. However, as a field of study, it is not well-researched except in the context of language assessment. This paper delves into critical theoretical underpinnings and practical strategies that can be used to develop assessment literacy among university students. Based on a constructivist view, this paper discusses how social interactions and cultural practices interplay to shape students’ conceptual understanding of assessment. It argues that effective assessment literacy embodies understanding the purposes of assessment, interpreting criteria, and using feedback to improve constantly. This means integrating the development of assessment literacy into curriculum design using experiential learning and developing self-regulated learning strategies. The goal is to provide a primer for university educators and instigate reflection and debate on how best to support students when engaging with diverse assessment practices to enhance their academic achievement and skills for lifelong learning.

Utilizing the determinants of healthy aging to guide the choice of social prescriptions for older adults.

Executive summary: The age of Canada's population is increasing, necessitating innovative methods and tools for assessing the needs of older adults and identifying effective health and social prescriptions. In Alberta, a community-based, senior-serving organization undertook the development and piloting of the Healthy Aging Asset Index, an assessment tool and social prescribing guide for use by a variety of professionals within the community. Tool development was rooted in medical complexity assessment and social work practice, and adhered to the determinants of healthy aging established by Alberta's Healthy Aging Framework, which is based on the determinants of healthy aging published by the World Health Organization. Results from the pilot showed improvement in the functionality of older adults within the determinants over time, as they were supported in addressing areas of personal vulnerability. Adopting tools such as the Healthy Aging Asset Index can bring cohesiveness to the support that older adults receive across the care continuum and has the potential to shift the balance of care away from the health system and towards the community, thus improving the capacity of health systems and government to meet the needs of Canada's older adults.

Achieving the sustainable waste management of medical plastic packaging using a life cycle assessment approach

Hospital waste management often classifies all waste, including uncontaminated plastic packaging, as hazardous, leading to incineration as the primary treatment method. While effective for safe treatment, incineration incurs high costs and significant environmental impacts. This study explores an alternative approach through the segregation and sustainable management of plastic packaging waste derived from medical device use to mitigate these environmental consequences. Using a Life Cycle Assessment, this research evaluates and compares the environmental impacts of three waste disposal scenarios of plastic packaging: hazardous waste incineration, general waste landfill, and plastic recycling. The analysis focuses on 1 kg of plastic packaging waste generated from medical devices at the Limb Vascular Center, Konkuk University Hospital, South Korea. The results show that general waste landfill has an environmental impact of 79.7% and plastic recycling has an impact of just 11.8%, highlighting their significantly lower environmental impacts compared to hazardous waste incineration. These findings underscore the significant benefits of adopting more sustainable waste management practices in healthcare, offering valuable insights for enhancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices within hospitals.

Calling All Leaders

The U.S. Surgeon General recently published two reports highlighting the current public health crisis of unhealthy work environments that are contributing to mental health and physical, emotional, and psychological challenges for 161 million American workers (U.S. Surgeon General, 2022a, 2022b). He identifies leaders as a crucial partner in addressing this crisis. This editorial presents an approach to leadership assessment not often discussed in the human services sector; namely, using evidence-supported tools to assess a leader candidate’s qualifications prior to hire. Details of this approach, specific tools, as well as implications for social work practice, are reviewed.