Social Work Research Research Articles

Use of Oral History Methods in Social Work: A Scoping Review

ABSTRACT Purpose Oral history as a method of understanding the lived experience spans multiple disciplines including education, women and gender studies, history, and disability studies. Oral histories can be a vehicle for people on the periphery to tell their stories, a method well suited to pursuits related to social justice and social work. The purpose of this manuscript is to report on a scoping review that was conducted to better understand how oral history methods have been used in social work. Material and Methods To answer our review question, we use an established scoping review framework. Based on eligibility criteria, 23 manuscripts were identified – all published in peer-reviewed English language journals between 2005 and 2023 and written by social work-credentialed authors. Results The authors identified three themes that reflect the uses of oral history studies in social work: oral history used as a teaching tool in social work education, oral history used to document the experiences and knowledge of social service trailblazers, and commentaries about using oral history and other biographical methods in social work. Discussion This review highlights how oral history, as a method, has contributed to social work research and scholarship. Conclusion Recommendations are made as to the usefulness of oral history to address social problems and practice issues important to the field of social work.

Enhancing critical social work practice: Using text-based vignettes in qualitative research

There exist ongoing calls among social work scholars and practitioners to cultivate applied knowledge of critical and emancipatory practice. In this paper, I explore the utility of text-based vignettes as instruments that can be used to elicit insight from marginalized service users on critical social work practice. To do this work, I draw on data from interviews with 20 transgender and gender diverse (TGD) social service users, along with 10 social workers, whose responses to a text-based vignette were originally used to build an understanding of the constituents of equitable social work practice with TGD people. Incorporating critical pragmatism as a conceptual framework and constructivist grounded theory as a methodological orientation, I analyze data from this study as an exemplar that substantiates the promise of using text-based vignettes in qualitative social work research to generate knowledge of critical social work practice. Specifically, I demonstrate how text-based vignettes in this study (1) contextualized the meaning, significance, and impact of oppression for service users, (2) built insight on practice that reflects solidarity and allyship, and (3) identified opportunities for social workers’ reflexive use of professional power to effect change. Accounting for the tensions between empiricism and critical praxis in social work, I consider the promise of incorporating text-based vignettes to develop empirical social work literature that is rooted in the voices of marginalized service users.

The Administrative Burden Framework: A New Horizon for Research and Practice in Social Work?

Social work is widely recognized as a human rights profession. The commitment to protect and advocate for social and economic rights has been incorporated into official definitions and codes of ethics of the profession globally, undergirding social work models and services. However, despite the overwhelming recognition of the importance of social work advocacy, a unified framework for research and practice has not been agreed upon, and new challenges to welfare states have somewhat contested the existing, primarily European advocacy framework built on the literature on take-up of social and economic rights. The purpose of this integrative context review is to introduce the administrative burden (AB) literature as a potential framework for meeting social work advocacy challenges by emphasizing a subjective viewpoint, a multifaceted understanding of the bureaucratic encounter, and the secondary effects of burden. The article concludes by identifying directions for future research and practice concerning the nexus between AB and social work.

Tracking Racialized Gentrification-Induced Displacement of Indigenous African American Residents

The disproportionate racial impact of gentrification-induced displacement is becoming more of a topic of debate because of the growing evidence and continued outcry of institutional and systemic racism from communities of color. The lack of research in tracking displacement requires new approaches to studying gentrification to address the challenges of investigating the impact on communities of color. In addition to studying the economic, political, and socially motivated reasons for gentrification, the application of a racism-centered framework can shed light on the role of white hegemony in community and urban development policies and practices. Social work researchers can significantly contribute to the body of literature regarding the impact of gentrification-induced displacement of African American residents by applying one of the many social work frameworks in research. Understanding the disproportionate racial impact of displacement on indigenous residents can inform social policies regarding community development strategies and propose interventions to mitigate the impact.

SOCIAL AND PEDAGOGICAL TECHNOLOGIES WORK IN COMMUNITIES

and social work. She investigates the role and significance of the use of technologies in socio-pedagogical practice, as well as their impact on the quality of personality of social work clients.The article also highlights important aspects of professional training of future social workers to use technologies in their work, as well as challenges and opportunities created due to their implementation. That is why the article is relevant for social workers in the community, students and researchers who are interested in the issues of the modern socio-pedagogical sphere.This article is devoted to the role and importance of social work in communities in modern society. It examines the main aspects of social work aimed at improving the quality of life and well-being of various social groups, including the vulnerable and the needy.The article analyzes the roles and functions of social workers in communities, their methods and tools, as well as the importance of cooperation with other services and organizations to achieve successful results. It also emphasizes ethical aspects and principles that guide social work in communities.This article is a useful source of information for social work professionals, students, researchers, and anyone interested in community social work and its importance for sustainable societal development. It was established that the main method of social work is work in the community. An important feature of social work in the community is the spontaneous combination of ordinary citizens as a moral obligation and the desire to do good work with the professional activity of social workers. All this is an important experience for social workers working in the community.
 Keywords: technologies; socio-pedagogical technologies; social worker; volunteering; community; counseling; training; social animation; disability; monitoring.

Partially Nested Designs in Social Work Research: Principles and Practices

Purpose: Group-administered and shared facilitator treatments can induce nested data in a treatment arm that is not present in the control arm. Failure to accommodate these partially nested data structures produces study design inefficiencies, biased parameter estimates, and inaccurate inferences. This work introduces partially nested data structures. Method: We began by describing the features of partially nested data then discuss best practices and guidelines for study planning and analysis through examples commonly found in social work research. Results: The totality of this work provides social work researchers with the knowledge and tools to accommodate partially nested data in study planning and analysis including integration of comprehensive effects (i.e., mediation and moderation). Discussion: Improved understanding of partially nested data structures help researchers avoid the detrimental effects associated with disregarding them. Broadly, these methodological advances increase the capacity and quality of research in the field of social work.

Reflections on the thoughts of Norman Denzin: His connections to the once and future social work qualitative research

Social work qualitative research and the work of Norman Denzin have much in common. Norman’s work was values-based, built on notions of justice, care, dignity, worth, equality, and self-determination with the purpose of identifying and describing problematic social conditions and, in turn, taking action to bring about social change and transformation. This statement fits social work perfectly. In this article, I describe the work of Norman Denzin, show how he promoted qualitative social work research, and how his suggestions for social work researchers to incorporate critical perspectives in our work was calling us back to ourselves. Most of all, he affirmed what we were already doing and want to do better.

Social Work Research in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Social Work Research in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Teaching Note—Working Toward an Inclusive, Antiracist, and Antioppressive Research Methods Pedagogy

ABSTRACT Social work research has adopted the scientific method rooted in the hard sciences as the gold standard for understanding human behavior and creating interventions and policies for both individual and systemic change. Current methodologies are rooted in White supremacy that lack the subjectivity needed to provide space for the effects of racism and oppression to be included in studies and evidence-based practice. Social work cannot be antiracist and anti-oppressive unless it creates an inclusive research methods class that is critical of what is considered scientific rigor. This teaching note presents the current evolution of a social work research methods class to promote critical thinking around what is believed to be the gold standard of scientific research.

Promoting the Well-Being of Older People in Ethiopia: Lost Opportunities Due to the Poverty of Policy.

The world's population is aging with the fastest growth in the older population projected to take place in Africa. In this article, we present the challenges of the growing older population in Ethiopia, outline some key changes that are needed to address those challenges, and consider the opportunities that can come about when older adults' basic needs are met and they are supported in contributing to their communities. Older adults in Ethiopia are faced with multidimensional challenges that call for collaborative efforts from different stakeholders at local, regional, and national levels. However, some measures should be given the utmost priority: combating negative attitudes toward older people, strengthening geriatric/gerontology and social work education and research, and developing aging-specific policies and services. Although the challenges faced by older adults in Ethiopia seem like a problem of aging compounded by poverty, the root source of the problem is a poverty of policy fueled by ageism. If income support and appropriate health care was provided to older adults throughout Ethiopia, health and well-being in late life would improve, food and housing insecurity among older adults would lessen, and all Ethiopians could anticipate a dignified late life.

Poverty metaphors: An autoethnography in three parts

This autoethnography seeks to open up for re-interpretation and debate three topics that feature within social work practice, research, and education: firstly the value and use of metaphor in understanding practice, secondly approaches to social work reflective writing, and thirdly the issue of poverty and its significance and impact in child and family social work. Metaphors can be valuable in framing understanding of issues within social work practice and advocating for change. Three metaphors have been particularly used in understanding the relationship between social work practice and poverty: The Invisibility of Poverty, The Elephant in the Room, and The Wallpaper of Practice. The three Parts of this autoethnography each adopt a different approach to autoethnographic writing and addresses and unsettles one of these metaphors. The first part adopts a narrative-reflective-analytical approach conventional to reflective writing in social work. The second and third parts adopt poetic and post-humanist approaches, respectively. It is proposed that adopting autoethnography as a methodology challenges the uncritical application of metaphor to situated practice and thereby prevents interpretive foreclosure. ‘Writing against’ objectified social work knowledge may assist in opening up practice to more challenging critical reflection and re-interpretation. Juxtaposing these three parts demonstrates the potential of non-conventional autoethnographic approaches to provide opportunities for deeper reflection on the experiences of doing social work within the context of poverty than conventional approaches to reflective writing. Furthermore, they indicate a need to reconsider how well these metaphors reflect social work practice experience with poverty.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Social Work: Evidence for Impact?

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereafter CRPD) has provided a radical imperative for the reform of mental health and capacity legislation around the world. The interpretation of the CRPD has been controversial, ranging from the complete abolition of detention, forcible treatment, and substitute decision-making to accepting that elements of these measures need to be retained based on non-discriminatory criteria, additional safeguards, and a comprehensive shift towards supported decision-making. While the potential effects of the CRPD on mental health social work and social work generally are considerable given their shared commitment towards social justice, to date there has been no review of research evidence exploring their relationship. In addressing this knowledge gap, this study held a preliminary discussion with practitioners and academics at the European Association of Social Work Mental Health Special Interest Group in Amsterdam 2022, followed by a scoping literature review on the question: What impact, if any, has the CRPD had on social work practice? The review produced four main findings: impact on legislation; positive impact on practice; limited impact on practice; and impact on social work education and research. In sum, while there were some positive indications of social work and mental health social work practice being influenced by the CRPD, these were scant. Barriers to change included tendencies among some social workers to practise substitute decision-making, in part related to resourcing and policy contexts, and understandings of disability aligned to individualised/medical rather than social perspectives. The results indicate that legal reform on its own is insufficient to impact social work practice, and that realising the potential of the CRPD will necessitate good quality training, as well as improving social workers' knowledge of the human rights of people with mental impairment.

Looking Back to Move Forward

This book review provides an overview of Roll Red Roll: Rape, Power, and Football in the American Heartland by Nancy Schwartzman and Nora Zelevansky (2022) and describes how this book can inform sport social work practice, education, research, and policy. Roll Red Roll describes the rape culture that existed in Steubenville, Ohio, and on the Steubenville High School football team that contributed to the assault of Jane Doe in 2012 by high school football players. Through power theory and feminist perspectives, sport social workers can examine the mechanisms that contribute to rape culture in sport contexts. With a greater understanding of the construction of rape culture, sport social work practice and interventions can aim to dismantle toxic masculinity and support victims of sexual violence.

Reflexive professionalisation in social work practice development, research, and education: the vital challenge of democratic citizen participation

ABSTRACT This paper examines how the renewed critical emphasis on reflexive professionalisation in the field of social work can take into account the challenges regarding the politics of democratic participation of service users as citizens while working towards social justice. Our contribution is based on the findings of a collaborative European research project involving researchers, students, public service organisations, service user organisations, and educators from various European countries. The aim of the project was to gain a differentiated and in-depth understanding of how reflexive professionalisation in social work may function as a concept and practice that stimulates social care that integrates a commitment to democratic citizen participation. Based on a qualitative content analysis of 21 transnational empirical case studies, we identify four vital dimensions of developing reflexive and democratic participatory approaches in social service contexts: (1) cultivating a historical awareness of how the professional identity and mandate of social workers has been and is currently (nationally) defined; (2) articulating the professional positions and normative value orientations that underpin (participatory) practice development; (3) reflecting on the constructions of problems, service user identities and related actions; and (4) creating space for ambiguity, risks and mistakes.

Understanding the incidence of street children in Accra, Ghana through the public opinion, mass media, recognition and judgement perspectives in social work

Introduction: Throughout the entire change process in social work practice, power plays a vital role. Social workers, organizations, governments, and service users exert some form of power in the process of addressing social problems and implementing interventions. The arguments in this article demonstrate how these various viewpoints affect the prevalence of children on the streets. Approach: Drawing from existing literature and diverse theories, this article critically examines the power dynamics and perspectives that emerge within the design and implementation of interventions for street children in Accra, Ghana, using the lens of social work, mass media, and public opinion, as well as the recognition and judgment in social work perspectives. When the predominance of street children in Ghana is examined through the lens of public opinion and mass media in social work, it becomes clear how Ghana's status as a liberal state influences the public and the media’s negative conception of street children. In addition, a critical analysis of the recognition and judgement theory in the Ghanaian context emphasizes how street children's fundamental rights are violated, which results in low self-esteem and confidence. Conclusions: By offering practical suggestions for social workers, the paper's conclusion contributes to social work research and practice. Social workers, governments, and organizations may help street children by creating and putting into action rescue plans, raising awareness through advertisements and social media campaigns, and allocating enough human and financial resources.

When support seekers encounter unsettling responses: A dual-factor approach

Summary Accumulating evidence indicates the multifaceted nature of social support. Although support seekers may receive help, they may also encounter upsetting responses. It remains unclear how seeking and receiving social support, when differentiated, are associated with individuals’ strengths and well-being. This study collected survey data from 357 adults recruited from the southeastern United States. We classified participants using the factors of support seeking and support received into four groups: Interconnected (high on support seeking and receiving), Tended (low on support seeking, high on support receiving), Rebuffed (high on support seeking, low on support receiving), and Isolated (low on support seeking and receiving). We then examined the differences among groups. Findings The study found significant differences among the four groups in measures of regulatory strengths, meaning-making strengths, interpersonal strengths, and perceived well-being. In general, the Interconnected group scored highest among the four groups, followed by the Tended group, the Rebuffed group, and lastly, the Isolated group. Applications The finding that the Rebuffed group did not score significantly lower than the Isolated group underscores the importance of support seeking. Individuals may benefit from the support seeking process even though they do not obtain the support needed. Social work practitioners should facilitate and optimize their clients’ support seeking, including removing clients’ barriers to support seeking and addressing clients’ negative experiences in the support seeking process. Social work researchers should measure multiple aspects of social support, including support received and support seeking.

From the Margins to the Center: Cultivating Collective Healing with Soulcial Work Praxis

ABSTRACTBlack, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) educators working in predominantly White institutions (PWIs) disproportionately experience violence rooted in historical, structural, and interpersonal oppressions that negatively impact mental and physical health which necessitates multi-level healing. In response, a BIWOC educators’ healing circle incorporated Critical Transformative Potential Development (CTPD) to create a collective and collaborative healing process from the harm of institutional gendered racism. The BIWOC circle integrated decolonial strategies, including storytelling and healing spaces, to encourage the cultivation of sustainable health and wellness practices. Through the reflective narratives of four BIWOC healing circle participants, we consider the ways CTPD can be a decolonizing force. Participant narratives support the introduction of Soulcial Work Praxis (SWP), and its evolution from CTPD, as a decolonizing theoretical framework for soul care, transformation, and healing, proclaiming that rebellion is our salvation, community is our protection, and healing is our liberation. The SWP dimensions within participants’ reflections highlight our pillars of humanity: space, grace, time, and opportunity. Considerations for broader application in social work education, research, and practice are also presented.

Using bottom-up evaluation to build community practice-based evidence and strengthen community-engaged research

ABSTRACT Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play a critical role in mitigating social problems by creating innovative interventions to address unmet community needs, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. These community-generated interventions are rarely evaluated or recognized within the prevention science lexicon that informs evidence-based practice, but bottom-up evaluation (BUE) offers researchers an approach to help reverse this trend. This paper illustrates BUE processes using evaluation of an NGO-created intervention for HIV-positive single mothers in Kenya as a case example. The participatory BUE study involved three phases: (1) viability assessment via qualitative participant interviews; (2) evaluation preparation and NGO capacity-building; and (3) effectiveness evaluation. Qualitative interview data revealed 24 intervention outcomes most impactful to participants’ lives and confirmed intervention viability. Participatory mapping identified key program outcomes for inclusion in the evaluation instrument, which was developed collaboratively with program staff. Effectiveness evaluation findings suggest that the intervention improved the health, psychosocial wellbeing, and economic security of single mothers facing the dual challenges of HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty. As illustrated in this study, bottom-up evaluation offers social work researchers an approach that can center voices of intervention participants, build community practice-based evidence, and strengthen community-engaged research in alignment with social work priorities and values.

It is all about social quality: how social work researchers can contribute to social innovation

Over recent decades, ‘social innovation’ has become a buzzword. The term breathes progress and promising improvements but often stays rather theoretical instead of bringing real social change. In this article, the meaning of social innovation in the context of social work and social work research is explored, as well as how social work research can contribute to social innovation. It is argued that if social innovation is defined properly and connected with the values expressed in the international definition of social work, it can strengthen the identity and impact of social work and social work research. Social quality is presented as a theoretical framework that fits well for positioning social work research aimed at innovation. Enhancing social quality can be done in many ways, such as revealing the causes and mechanisms of social exclusion, supporting change processes by monitoring and evaluation, or co-creating better solutions by using action and design research methods.

Carving a Professional Identity for Chinese Social Work Shaped by Universalisation, Indigenisation, and Culturalism

Abstract China provides an extremely interesting contemporary case study for the international social work research community, given its questioning of the pertinence of the international definition of social work and stance in relation to the debates surrounding universalisation, internationalisation and indigenisation. This article begins by examining the evolving identity of Chinese social work, grounded as it is in China’s political ideology and socio-cultural values. It then extends the debate on the paradoxical processes of universalisation, internationalisation and indigenisation within the international and Chinese social work discourse in light of the ascendance of Chinese culturalism. Finally, it addresses the impact of these interrelated processes on Chinese social work, as it struggled to adapt to the central government’s political control of the developing profession and social project to train 1.45 million social workers by 2020. It argues that, to avoid the Scylla of escaping into tradition (culturalism) and Charybdis of absorption into the West (universalisation), Chinese social work has become a blend of Western and indigenised knowledge still in search of a unique identity.