Social Work Year Research Articles

Autoethnography as a Tool for the Achievement of Deep Learning of University Students in Service-Learning Experiences

This exploratory study was carried out within the framework of a pilot learning and service experience in the subject of Qualitative Research Tools in Social Work, where the autoethnographic field journal was used as a tool for the development of deep learning competency in a group of third-year university students undertaking a degree in Social Work and fourth year students undertaking a double degree in Social Education and Social Work in the Social Work, at the University of Deusto. The authors hypothesized that this qualitative research tool could help students develop their ability to critically reflect on their experiences, identify their own strengths and weaknesses in relation to deep learning competency, and establish goals to improve their learning. The service-learning methodology experience proposed for the students involved to participate in a program aimed at the transition to adulthood of young people in situations of vulnerability, where they were required to record in a field journal the emotions, interpretations, and contradictions that the experience of meeting and living with unaccompanied migrant minors using the program could evoke. The results of the qualitative study showed that the autoethnographic field journal was an effective tool for developing deep learning competency in the students participating in the pilot service-learning methodology experience. The results concluded that the autoethnographic field journal could be a valuable tool for promoting reflection, self-awareness, and critical thinking.

Graça Machel: the First Lady – and Much More

The vast and diverse gallery of portraits of the First Ladies of African countries contains many bright personalities. Many of them remained socially active even after their spouses’ death or retirement. One of such positive examples is Mrs. Graça Machel, a well-known politician and stateswoman of Mozambique, the only woman in modern history who was the First Lady of two countries – Mozambique (1975–1986) and South Africa (1998–1999). A participant in the struggle for the independence of Mozambique and the first woman-minister after the proclamation of its independence, she became its First Lady but continued to work in the government, contributing to the development of the education system. After her husband’s tragic death Mrs. G. Machel continued her social activities and became a recognized activist in the struggle for the rights of women and children. She did not remain in the shadow of her second husband Mr. Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa. This African lady is an active advocate for gender equality. Her many years of active social work acknowledged with many international awards have given an additional impetus to the development of the activity of African women in their struggle for gender equality in all spheres of public and political life.

Factors Related to the Care Management Practice for Old Public Assistance Recipients in Osaka City of Japan

The research was conducted between January 22 and February 25, 2021. The data was collected by self-administered questionnaires mailed to the participants at 800 care management centers and comprehensive community support centers in Osaka City. The centers were randomly selected. The response rate was 19.1%. The independent variables were: obtaining the qualification of a Senior Care Manager (SCM), who was a qualified person that acquired advanced knowledge and skills in care management by advanced training; experience years in Social Work (SW); experience years in care management; experiences in training programs for team approach; and experiences in training programs for supporting Old Public Assistance Recipients (OPAR). The dependent variables were the categorized contents in the Care Management Practice for old public assistance recipients. They were: Care planning and Implementation (CI); Assessment; Financial Support and Evaluation (FSE); Contract and Explanations in care management; Coordinating Informal support and Formal services in Care planning; and Arrangements in Financial supports for Formal service costs. The Structural Equation Modeling was performed for the examinations of the relationships. As a result, the goodness of the fit indices was acceptable, and we retained the models. In correlational analyses, CI and Assessment were significantly correlated with SCM (p<.05). FSE was significantly correlated with SW (p<.001) and OPAR (p<.05). In conclusion, the results implied that advanced qualification of a Senior Care Manager and a specified training program for supporting old public assistance recipients were effective in providing appropriate care management services.

Professional Challenges of the Past 30 Years of Social Work in Romania (1990-2020). Interview with Social Workers(1990-2020). Interview with Social Workers

In the following interview, social workers talk about what this profession means to them and what challenges they have encountered, meet in everyday life. Their responses provide insight into the events of the past 30 years of social work. Keywords: professional challenges of social work, social wellfare system, progresses and deficit areas

Groundbreaking course paves way for 40 years in social work

In 1978, graduates from the University of Bradford applied social studies course set out on their careers. They went on to be leaders in children's services, inspectorates, NHS services and in developing international welfare systems. Four of the Class of ‘78 reflect on how their training prepared them for social work practice and whether what they learned is still relevant today

Biblijno-filozoficzne inspiracje dla pracy socjalnej

For years, there has been an ongoing discussion on social work in the perspective of it being “in-between the social services and the authorities.” The jubilees referred to in this article, 100 years of social work in the world and 50 years since the official introduction of the “social worker” profession into the list of professions in Poland, provide an opportunity to draw attention to the discussion on biblical and philosophical inspirations for what was historically known as charity or philanthropy and today is called social work.

Serviço Social: um enfant terrible na institucionalidade burguesa?

Resumo: Esta é uma reflexão que, aproveitando-se do ensejo comemorativo dos oitenta anos do Serviço Social no Brasil, faz um retrospecto da performance desta profissão na ordem burguesa, partindo dos países capitalistas que lhes serviram de berço. Esse périplo, no entanto, pretendeu realçar um denominador comum no Serviço Social mundializado, que é a sua propensão a remar, em qualquer contexto, contra os ditames do sistema que o engendrou. E com essa tendência - que não é unânime, mas historicamente persistente - ele tem sido um profícuo "ponto fora da curva" das profissões sucumbentes ao conservadorismo.

Двадцать пять лет социальной работы в России в контексте процессов десоветизации и постмодернистского познания

Двадцать пять лет социальной работы в России в контексте процессов десоветизации и постмодернистского познания

Editorial – Celebrating 50 years of professional social work

Editorial for issue 26(4).

Celebrating Forty Years of Clinical Social Work

This March 2013 issue marks the 40th anniversary of the Clinical Social Work Journal (CSWJ). The brainchild of Mary Gottesfeld, a clinical social worker at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in New York City, the CSWJ was established in 1973 as a publication forum for the National Federation of Societies for Clinical Social Work (NFSCSW). Mary served as the CSWJ’s Founding Editor until 1981, and during her tenure published numerous articles on ego psychology and its application, as well as the impact of deinstitutionalization on treatment, the efficacy of psychotherapy, and the emergence of behavioral therapies. As the NFSCSW grew in membership, the CSWJ enjoyed a substantial increase in its readership. Mary’s untimely illness necessitated her turning the reigns of the editorship to Jean Sanville, a nationally known psychoanalyst and scholar who presided skillfully over the CSWJ and its editorial board for 15 years. Jean viewed psychoanalytic treatment and clinical social work as kindred approaches, and the articles published during her tenure reflected this position. No longer was ego psychology the dominant paradigm. Object relations theory, especially applied to the understanding of borderline personality disorder and countertransference reactions, were major themes for nearly a decade. Social issues and diagnostic entities such as AIDS, sexual abuse, and substance abuse came to the fore in the CSWJ during the 1990s. Managed care intruded into the clinical hour, as did concerns regarding licensure, professionalism, and the relevance of long-term psychoanalytic treatment in a short-term, evidence-based practice (EBP) world. During Carolyn Saari’s ten-year tenure as Editor-inChief, she and the editorial board served as able stewards of clinical social work. Keeping loyal to the original intent of the journal, these issues were addressed and illustrated through a largely psychodynamic lens. The dissolving of the NFSCSW coincided with the change of Editors. Carolyn’s daunting charge to me in 2007 was to find creative ways to keep the CSWJ current with professional and world developments without abandoning its core psychoanalytic social work mission. While a crucial component of contemporary social work practice, the psychodynamic orientation has had to share the stage with EBPs and related manualized treatments, as well as shortterm integrative treatments for specialized populations. Proponents of psychoanalytic social work have also had to combat the general perception that psychodynamic treatment is anachronistic and suitable only for the worried well. Coupled with extrinsic factors as varied as HIPAA regulations and global terrorism, the CSWJ has responded by broadening the definition of clinical social work to encompass all contemporary models and treatment approaches that benefit clients, especially those populations most at-risk. Special issues on empirically supported attachment-based therapies for adults and children, emblematic of the current psychoanalytic zeitgeist, have been followed by issues devoted to integrative treatment, EBP research, international trauma, family therapy, and agency-based practice with vulnerable populations to name a few. It is therefore fitting that this March 2013 special issue is devoted to culture and creativity in contemporary psychoanalytic thought. A comparison to the first issue of the CSWJ in March 1973, this issue attests to the evolution of the psychoanalytic approach and its rightful place along side EBP in the clinical social work armamentarium. C. Tosone (&) New York University Silver School of Social Work, New York, NY, USA e-mail: ct2@nyu.edu

One Hundred Years of Social Work: A History of the Profession in English Canada, 1900–2000 (review)

Reviewed by: One Hundred Years of Social Work: A History of the Profession in English Canada, 1900–2000 James Struthers One Hundred Years of Social Work: A History of the Profession in English Canada, 1900–2000. Therese Jennissen and Colleen Lundy. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2011. Pp. 378, $38.95 Few occupations have been as dramatically shaped by the rise and restructuring of the welfare state as social work. Although a significant Canadian historical literature has developed over the past three decades exploring social workers’ role in the development of settlement houses, charities, public health, child welfare policies, immigrant services, and social assistance, this book provides us with the first comprehensive [End Page 679] history of the profession itself, concentrating specifically on the tension between its search for recognition as a self-governing profession and its commitment to the pursuit of social justice. As the authors, both faculty members in Carleton University’s School of Social Work, argue persuasively, over the past century the profession’s quest for enhanced status has consistently come at the expense of social activism, which might harm its deepening relationship with the state, its central partner and principal employer. The authors draw upon an impressive range of archival records pertaining to social work in the national archives as well as in provincial and university archives across the country, with the notable exception of French language materials in Quebec. This is explicitly a history of the profession in English Canada, although ironically a significant event in its narrative is the withdrawal of the Ordre professionnel des travailleurs sociaux du Québec from the profession’s national organization, the Canadian Association of Social Workers in 2004. As the authors note, ‘the departure was not unexpected. Over the years the Ordre had expressed the difficulties it faced as a member of an association that primarily represents English-speaking social workers’ (293). The central theme of the book, which focuses principally on the activities and role of the Canadian Association of Social Workers (casw), is the inherently ‘conservativizing’ effect of the drive for professionalization. The opposition of doctors to the development of medicare is by now a well-told story in the historiography of the Canadian welfare state. The reluctance of social workers to push harder for policies that widened the scope of social justice is less familiar. Yet time and again, Jennissen and Lundy argue, the casw and its provincial affiliates displayed timidity rather than assertiveness in challenging government policies and practices as well as economic and social structures that marginalized the jobless, Indigenous peoples, women, and minorities. Throughout the Great Depression ‘social workers in Canada . . . were generally absent from organized social action and maintained a focus on casework and the individual and on professionalism’ (59). During the ‘golden years’ of welfare state expansion in the 1940s, when governments sought the ear of the profession for policy advice and generously funded the expansion of schools for professional accreditation in universities across the country, the casw embraced a ‘comfortable . . . and co-operative relationship with the Canadian state’ and ‘tended to work within the parameters established by the government’ (74). At the height of the Cold War in the 1950s, it failed to come to the defence of members blacklisted as radicals for their ties with the peace movement or left-wing organizations. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the [End Page 680] determination of the casw to ‘work closely with governments . . . with the objective of promoting itself as a professional body’ ensured that its ‘capacity as a group to present more critical strategies and options for advancing social welfare was seriously compromised’ (246). The most egregious example was its failure to provide a brief to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada and its silence around the rcsw’s final report. Given that the majority of social workers were women, ‘this was a very serious oversight and a lost opportunity’ Jennissen and Lundy argue (251). Male domination of the lucrative teaching and administrative positions within the profession made this omission even more telling. During the past three decades of welfare state retrenchment, social workers have seen their occupational identities challenged as never before. Federal, provincial...

Public Stakes, Public Stories: Service Learning in Literary Studies

Discussions about academic work often tangle with the seemingly bifurcating demands of teaching and research. occasionally, they celebrate how the two endeavors nurture each other. These professional divisions, which George Levine a decade ago called a “combat” scenario between “two nations” (9), have not been reconciled since then. Despite that persistent tension, when I shifted my professional energies to the academy after several years of community-based social work with not-for-profit organizations serving Hispanic populations, the challenges of balancing teaching and research were not my only concerns. I also wondered how I could incorporate community service into the multiple demands of academic life. Would there be time to devote to the community? Would I find academic work in an area where I might have something to contribute beyond the campus? Aside from location and time constraints, would I find a way to integrate into my faculty identity an engagement with the wider society, or would those endeavors be relegated to a separate self, dissociated from my academic world? I anticipated that extensions of my teaching and scholarship might connect with realms outside the academy. Accepting the challenge, I patiently observed my campus and surrounding community, searching for opportunities for interaction.

Are Social Workers Ignoring the "Cornerstone of Science" by Failing to Replicate Their Research?

Aspirited debate is occurring in popular press on social science and scientific method. Jonah Lehrer (2010b) published an article in New Yorker whose primary topic was effect, where initial estimates of interventions' effectiveness weaken when replicated. Lehrer's examples came from pharmacology, medicine, psychology, zoology, and more. A debate was ignited, largely on Internet (for example, Neurological blog, Respectful Insolence, Science Based Medicine, Psychology Today, ABC News). In next issue of New Yorker, Lehrer (2011) responded to letters and e-mails in another article as well as an article in Wired (Lehrer, 2010a). Issues raised by debate deserve consideration by social work researchers. This editorial explains decline and presents comments on replications, failure to submit, publication bias, and fundamental cognitive flaw (Lehrer, 2010b). The term effect has not appeared in social work literature, nor have estimates of number of replications, extent of failing to report research, or evidence of journals' publication bias, with exception of Dickersin (1997). I base my comments on almost 30 years in academic social work at four universities, extensive reading of our research literature, teaching research, reviewing manuscripts, and publishing. THE DECLINE EFFECT The effect is a phrase attributed to Rhine (1938) in research on extrasensory perception describing situation in which a research participant guessed a hidden card at a rate beyond chance. Alter repeated testing, however, the dramatically diminished (Rhine, 1938). Lehrer (2010b) reported a similar pattern in research about antipsychotic medications. Early clinical trials documented medications' positive impact on psychiatric symptoms, but recent research indicates the therapeutic power of drugs appeared to be steadily waning (Lehrer, 2010b, para. 2). Another researcher, Jonathon Schooler, attempted to replicate Rhine's finding of a decline by studying precognition. At first, Schooler found higher than expected precognition, 'but then, as we kept on running subjects, size'--a standard statistical measure--'kept getting smaller and smaller' (Lehrer, 2010b, p. 6-7). Lehrer (2010b) described similar results in research on language and memory, zoology, biology, and epidemiology. He described a study in which researcher identified 49 most frequently cited clinical research studies and reviewed subsequent research literature to see if there might be a decline (Ioannidis, 2005).The sampled studies had to have 1,000 or more citations. In 45 of sampled studies intervention in question was found to be effective. (It is interesting to note four studies in sample showed no efficacy for intervention being studied were contradicting earlier claims of efficacy). Thirty-four of studies in sample had been replicated: 21% were contradicted by subsequent research, and 21% had weaker effects. One should not conclude, Ioannidis (2005) pointed out, that original studies were totally wrong and newer ones are correct simply because they are larger or better controlled (p. 224). To what degree has decline been observed in social work? A literature search reveals no reference to it as such. The prior question, however, and one of central concern here is this: How frequently are replication studies done in social work? Without replications, decline effects cannot be observed. Replication studies seem to be fairly rare in social work; if they occur, it is likely to happen with more heavily funded and broadly implemented interventions. Failure to replicate intervention studies is costly for reasons far beyond documenting decline effects: Replication, widely acknowledged as cornerstone of science, brings many benefits to discipline embraces it. …

Constructing a World Beyond Intimate Partner Abuse

Intimate partner abuse (IPA) is a societal issue that continues to devastate individuals, families, and communities worldwide. Historical and current attempts to identify and eradicate IPA provide clues about what is working and what is not. Reflecting on written sources and more than 30 years of professional social service work, the author surveys the major causal theories of IPA and the continued devastating impact of IPA on women, men, and children throughout the world. The author’s practice examples provide a commentary on the implications of IPA for citizens, human service practitioners, and policy makers. Building on the concepts of positive peace building through education and training, the author then challenges and provides suggestions for concrete changes that are necessary to move beyond attitudes and intervention/prevention strategies that continue to send the message that IPA is a personal rather than a societal issue.

An Examination of Organizational Commitment and Professional Commitment and the Relationship to Work Environment, Demographic and Organizational Factors

• Summary: This study examines organizational commitment and professional commitment among a sample of social workers. It empirically explores the relationship between social workers’ commitment and nine work environment variables (collegiality, promotional opportunity, job security, organization and profession-specific skills, autonomy, legitimacy of promotions, distributive justice and supervisor recognition), six demographic or background variables (gender, relationship status, age, employment status, years in social work (profession tenure) and years employed in the current organization (job tenure). It also includes 16 organizational variables (organizational auspices, organizational type, job position, yearly earnings and various types of job benefits, that is, medical, dental, vacation time, sick leave, flex-time, child care, maternity/paternity leave, disability insurance, life insurance, university education/degree programs, employer-paid professional development opportunities and other benefits. • Findings: Based on a sample of the members of the National Association of Social Workers, the findings suggest that work environment and organizational factors contribute to social workers’ organizational and professional commitment, though the results suggest that organizational commitment is noticeably easier to explain than professional commitment. • Applications: In today’s changing social service environment it is especially prudent for administrators to promote factors associated with employee commitment. This study suggests that social work managers ought to develop a greater understanding of organizational and professional commitment because of its link to organizational effectiveness and consequently how social workers work toward accomplishing their organizational or program mission.

Piecing Together Family Social Work in Mainland China

ABSTRACT As rapid economic and sociopolitical development brings about drastic changes in family structure and processes in China, many social concerns arise. Through a review of journal articles published over a period of 28 years (1979–2006) in social work and related disciplines in China, this article presents a glimpse of family social work using the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. The result is despairing, in that only a small number of articles on family social work were found. Given social work's traditionally strong belief in the family, as well as the strong emphasis on the family in China, the social work profession can contribute to China's social development through strengthening family social work and family policy. Nevertheless, this article argues for family social work to be sensitive to the cultural needs and characteristics of families in China, instead of imposing Western theories and interventions as if families come in just one size and shape.

Social Worker Hope and Perceived Burnout

A national sample of 1,200 social workers, categorized by the National Association of Social Workers as being in clinical practice, participated in a study to find out whether social work clinicians decline in hope or have increasing burnout over the course of their careers. In the final sample of 676 respondents, social workers' self-reported burnout was negatively associated with social worker age. Practice setting (i.e., either public or private practice) moderated the relation between perceived burnout and years in social work. Burnout seemed to decline with increasing years in private practice, but not in public practice. The results also suggest that social worker hope is higher in public practice than in private practice. However, for older social workers, hope in these two settings is about equal. Implications for social work managers and administrators are discussed.

Shining the Light on the ???800-lb Gorilla??? of Professional Rivalry in Case Management

Kim Schuetze, ACSW, CCM, is a Medical Social Worker with Floyd Memorial Home Health in New Albany, Indiana, and has 20 years experience in the healthcare arena, including more than 15 years in hospital social work. She is also the Chair of the Commission for Case Manager Certification, the first and largest nationally accredited organization that certifies case managers. For more information on the CCMC and its Certified Case Manager (CCM) credential, please see the Commission Web site at www.ccmcertification.org. Address correspondence to Kim Schuetze, ACSW, CCM, Chair, Commission for Case Manager Certification ([email protected]).

Skills, Bravery, Courage, and Foolhardiness

Summary The lessons from the history of health social work in Melbourne, Victoria can be extrapolated to social work in other parts of Australia and internationally. Based on consultation with social workers, archival material and personal reflections this article traces 75 years of health social work in Melbourne and Victoria within the context of the prevailing social influences. The profession, which was started by local opinion leaders and public demand, is now well established. Initially Australians looked to Britain to guide the new profession, but by the latter part of the twentieth century they increasingly looked to the USA. Many challenges still face health social work. Sharing of knowledge and experience will strengthen social work locally and internationally.

Professional Diversity Adds Richness to the Case Management Field

Kim Schuetze, ACSW, CCM, is a medical social worker with Floyd Memorial Home Health in New Albany, Indiana, and has 20 years experience in the healthcare arena, including more than 15 years in hospital social work. She is also the Chair of the Commission for Case Manager Certification, the first and largest nationally accredited organization that certifies case managers. (www.ccmcertification.org). Address correspondence to Kim Schuetze, ACSW, CCM, Commission for Case Manager Certification, 300 N. Martingale Road, Suite 460, Schaumburg, IL 60173. The CCMC has moved effective May 30, 2006. The contact information is: (mailing address) 300 N. Martingale Road, Suite 460, Schaumburg, IL 60173, and (phone) 847–944–1330.