Blurring the Borders with Anzaldúa in Context-Informed, Anti-Oppressive Research: The Case of Bedouin Women

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibtisam Marey-Sarwan ◽  
Dorit Roer-Strier ◽  
Roni Strier
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Marginalized Populations ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
History Of ◽  
Negative Role ◽  
History Of Social Work

Abstract Studies show that context-blind, quasi-universalist professional discourses may engender oppressive social work practices with excluded populations. For example, research confirms that social work with children and families, overtly or covertly embedded in Eurocentric, binary discourse of risk and protection, has played a highly negative role in the history of social work with non-Western populations. Based on Gloria Anzaldúa’s theory of the border, the article proposes context-informed, anti-oppressive social work research as a strategy to deconstruct binary and essentialist social work discourses with marginalized populations. Exemplified by a research project conducted in partnership with thirty-three Bedouin women in the southern part of Israel, the article offers a platform for the examination of the border as a liminal arena in which change took place by blurring theoretical, methodological and practical borders.

scholarly journals Spirituality as a guiding construct in the development of Canadian social work

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Graham ◽  
Diana Coholic ◽  
John Coates
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Community Organizing ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Professional Discipline ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Social Work ◽  
Pedagogical Discourses

This manuscript is the first to consider the emergence of spirituality as a topic in Canadian social work scholarship and practice. A broad overview is provided of three time periods, beginning with the origins of the profession and ending with present-day considerations. These three periods are ones in which spirituality had/has strong influence in shaping practice, research and pedagogical discourses. First, we emphasize the overwhelming significance of spirituality to the early history of social work, prior to its emergence as a secular, professional discipline taught in university contexts. Second, we examine how spirituality continued to have a place within the writings of several major social work scholars in Canada, up to 1970 at which point spirituality seems to fade from scholarly social work literature. Third, spirituality re-emerged as a Canadian topic for research in the 1990s - at the beginning of the third millennium the spirituality and social work literature has emphasized three major themes: social justice work and community organizing; social work pedagogy; and social work practice. Finally, we briefly consider barriers to, and prospects for, the continued emergence of spiritually infused social work research and practice in Canada.

Calling Social Work to the Movement for Educational Justice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annahita Ball
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Educational Justice ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Conditions For Learning ◽  
History Of

Abstract The persistent and systemic inequities within the U.S. public education system have grave implications for children’s and youth’s outcomes, yet these inequities go far beyond academics. Marginalized and vulnerable students experience injustices across the educational system, including disproportionality in school discipline, unequal access to advanced courses, and poor conditions for learning. Social work has a solid history of addressing issues that intersect across families, schools, and communities, but the profession has had little engagement in the recent educational justice movement. As educational scholars advance a movement to address educational inequities, it will be increasingly important for social work researchers to provide valuable insight into the multiple components that make up youth development and support positive well-being for all individuals within a democratic society. This article encourages social work researchers to extend lines of inquiry that investigate educational justice issues by situating social work practice and research within educational justice and suggesting an agenda for future social work research that will advance equity for all students.

scholarly journals What do social work students think social work research is?

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
Anita Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Social Work Values

In New Zealand, social work students often undertake social work research training as part of their first qualification in social work. The focus of this article is to consider what social work students think social work research is and whether they think social work research should be part of normal, everyday practice or not. Forty-three social work students from Otago University participated in a small research project during 2009 aimed at exploring their constructions of social work research. They emphasised that social work research should be compatible with social work values like empowerment and social justice, and bring about positive change of benefit of service users. 

Qualitative Geographic Information Systems (GIS): An untapped research approach for social work

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Gis Technology ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Introductory Overview ◽  
History Of

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a digital technology that integrates hardware and software to analyze, store, and map spatial data. GIS allows users to visualize (i.e., map) geographic aspects of data including locations or spatial concentrations of phenomena of interest. Though public health and other social work related fields have embraced the use of GIS technology in research, social work lags behind. Recent technological advancements in the field of GIS have transformed what was once prohibitively expensive, “experts only” desktop software into a viable method for researchers with little prior GIS knowledge. Further, humanist and participatory geographers have developed critical, non-quantitative GIS approaches that bring to light new opportunities relevant to social workers. These tools could have particular utility for qualitative social workers because they can help us better understand the environmental context in which our clients reside and give credence to their assessments of strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for intervention. This article provides an introductory overview of the history of GIS in social work research and describes opportunities to use spatially informed approaches in qualitative social work research using a case study of a participatory photo mapping research study.

The Feminist Perspective and Social Work Education

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Isabel Rose ◽  
Daria Hanssen
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Feminist Perspective ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
History Of ◽  
Work Education ◽  
History Of Social Work

Although the feminist perspective has been significant throughout the history of social work, its presence in the contemporary profession seems less prominent. This qualitative pilot study explores the views of social work educators (N=56) on the role of the feminist perspective in social work education and their experience with student responses regarding the tenets of feminism as applied to social work education and practice. Although a majority of respondents expressed support for integrating feminism into the curriculum, some sought guidance on the presentation of the feminist perspective in social work education and practice. In addition, an analysis of social work scholarly periodicals for feminist topics and perspectives revealed an apparent fading of feminism in the literature.

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