Non-normative use of reflexivity in social work with families in the Czech Republic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kateřina Glumbíková
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Narrative Identity ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Personal Interest ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Normative Concept ◽  
Initial Interviews

Abstract Discourse on the normative use of reflexivity predominates in the professional literature. Expert articles on the topic of non-normative use of reflexivity, which is based on the presumption that social workers do not use reflexivity to improve their work quality, but rather its functions for themselves to fulfil specific purposes, is missing, with some exceptions in the literature. The presented article therefore aims to understand the use of reflexivity in the practice of social work with families in its non-normative concept and to determine the implications for social work. Using the abduction method (in which Schechtman’s narrative identity theory was applied to data analysis), the following four categories of the use of reflexivity in a non-normative way were saturated with data obtained from initial interviews, field observations and subsequent reflection of field observations with social workers: personal interest, survival, moral responsibility and compensation. The non-normative concept of reflexivity is further discussed in the context of specific implications for education and practice of social work.

scholarly journals Construction of Reflexivity in Social Workers Working with Vulnerable Children in the Czech Republic

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Kateřina Glumbíková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Situational Analysis ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
The Impact

Social work in the Czech Republic is confronted with the impact of global neoliberalism, which is manifested by privatisation of social services, individualisation of social risks and economisation. Reflexivity of social workers working with vulnerable children and their families has the potential to lead to a higher quality of social work, strengthening of social workers' identity, and empowering social workers to promote changes in everyday practice. Meeting this potential requires an understanding of constructing reflexivity by social workers, which is the objective of this paper. We used a qualitative research strategy, particularly group and individual interviews with social workers and their analysis using current approaches to grounded theory. Concerning data analysis, we found out that constructing reflexivity (nature and subject of reflexion) derives from the perceived roles of social workers (social worker as an ununderstood artist, social worker a as mediator between social and individual, social workers as an agent of a (society) change, social workers as an agent of normalisation and reflexive professional). The acquired data, within the situational analysis, was inserted into a position map on the scale of holistic and technical reflection. The conclusion discusses the implication for practice and education in social work.

Gendered practices of family social workers: The case of the Czech Republic

2020 ◽  
pp. 002087282091167
Author(s):  
Barbora Gřundělová ◽  
Alice Gojová
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Group Interviews

The aim of this article is, through a study of the construction of gender in social work, to identify gendered practices of family social workers in their interactions with clients and to consider the implications of these practices for gendered power relations. Using social constructionism and a critical and interpretive framework, we carried out repeated individual and group interviews, while observing interactions between social workers and parents. A qualitative research strategy was used. Analysis of Constructivist Grounded Theory identified the six gendered practices in interactions with clients.

THEORETICAL BASIS OF PROBLEM OF SHAPING CREATIVE COMPETENCE IN FUTURE SOCIAL WORKERS FOR WORK WITH GIFTED CHILDREN

2019 ◽  
pp. 34-45
Author(s):  
Halyna Mykhailyshyn ◽  
Oksana Protas
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Gifted Children ◽  
Educational Establishment ◽  
Higher Educational

For effective forming of creative competence in future social work experts, we suggested using the creative approach to organization of educational process in a higher educational establishment, using the potential of different disciplines in the process of professional training. We clarified the main aspects of shaping of creative competence in future social workers in classroom and outside classroom, as well as main forms of the methodology of such training. The use of the mentioned approaches will give an opportunity to shape creative competence in future social workers for work with gifted children.

Facilitating Injustice

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoosun Park
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Mass Removal ◽  
Professional Obligations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Private Charity ◽  
Political Alliances ◽  
Major Shift

Social workers were involved in all aspects of the removal, incarceration, and resettlement of the Nikkei, a history that has been forgotten by social work. This study is an effort to address this lacuna. Social work equivocated. While it did not fully endorse mass removal and incarceration, neither did it protest, oppose, or explicitly critique government actions. The past should not be judged by today’s standards; the actions and motivations described here occurred in a period rife with fear and propaganda. Undergoing a major shift from its private charity roots into its public sector future, social work bounded with the rest of society into “a patriotic fervor.” While policies of a government at war, intractable bureaucratic structures, tangled political alliances, and complex professional obligations all may have mandated compliance, it is, nevertheless, difficult to deny that social work and social workers were also willing participants in the events, informed about and aware of the implications of that compliance. In social work’s unwillingness to take a resolute stand against removal and incarceration, the well-intentioned profession, doing its conscious best to do good, enforced the existing social order and did its level best to keep the Nikkei from disrupting it.

scholarly journals Practice in a Pandemic: School Social Workers’ Adaptations and Experiences During the 2020 COVID-19 School Disruptions

2021 ◽  
pp. 104438942110098
Author(s):  
Michael S. Kelly ◽  
Rami Benbenishty ◽  
Gordon Capp ◽  
Kate Watson ◽  
Ron Astor
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Traditional Practice

In March 2020, as American PreK-12 schools shut down and moved into online learning in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, there was little information about how school social workers (SSWs) were responding to the crisis. This study used a national online survey to understand how SSWs ( N = 1,275) adapted their school practice during the initial 2020 COVID-19 crisis. Findings from this study indicate that SSWs made swift and (relatively) smooth adaptations of their traditional practice role to the new context, though not without reporting considerable professional stress and personal challenges doing so. SSWs reported significant concerns about their ability to deliver effective virtual school social work services given their students’ low motivation and lack of engagement with online learning, as well as significant worries about how their students were faring during the first months of the pandemic. Implications for school social work practice, policy, and research are discussed.

‘She Made You Feel like There’s Hope’: Gaining a Better Understanding of How Children Negotiate Their Relationships with Social Workers from Their Own Accounts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Gorin ◽  
Mary Baginsky ◽  
Jo Moriarty ◽  
Jill Manthorpe
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Signs Of Safety ◽  
Relational Resilience ◽  
Children’S Accounts ◽  
Care Innovation

Abstract Recent years have seen a re-emergence of international interest in relationship-based social work. This article uses children’s accounts of their relationships with social workers to build on previous research to promote children’s safety and well-being. Interviews were undertaken with 111 children aged six- to eighteen-years old across ten different local authorities in England, as part of the evaluation of Munro, Turnell and Murphy’s Signs of Safety pilots within the Department for Education’s Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme. The interviews reveal four key findings: that children look for care and reciprocity in their relationships with social workers and this can be achieved through listening and small acts of kindness; that they are adept at recognising aspects of social workers’ verbal and non-verbal communications which indicate to the child whether they are listening and interested in them; that there are times in which children are particularly vulnerable especially if parents are resistant to engagement or children’s trust is broken; and that children actively use their agency to control their communication and engagement. The article concludes by highlighting children’s relational resilience and the importance of ensuring opportunities for children to develop new relationships with social workers when previous relationships have broken down.

scholarly journals Death, dying and bereavement care during COVID-19: Creativity in hospital social work practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 131-137
Author(s):  
Mim Fox ◽  
Joanna McIlveen ◽  
Elisabeth Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Bereavement Support ◽  
Hospital System ◽  
Hospital Social Work ◽  
Complicating Factors ◽  
Bereavement Care

Bereavement support and conducting viewings for grieving family members are commonplace activities for social workers in the acute hospital setting, however the risks that COVID-19 has brought to the social work role in bereavement care has necessitated the exploration of creative alternatives. Social workers are acutely aware of the complicating factors when bereavement support is inadequately provided, let alone absent, and with the aid of technology and both individual advocacy, social workers have been able to continue to focus on the needs of the most vulnerable in the hospital system. By drawing on reflective journaling and verbal reflective discussions amongst the authors, this article discusses bereavement support and the facilitation of viewings as clinical areas in which hospital social work has been observed adapting practice creatively throughout the pandemic.

scholarly journals Emotional intelligence as a part of critical reflection in social work practice and research

2021 ◽  
pp. 147332502110247
Author(s):  
Mari D Herland
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Emotional Aspects

Social workers often experience higher levels of burnout compared with other healthcare professionals. The capacity to manage one’s own emotional reactions efficiently, frequently in complex care settings, is central to the role of social workers. This article highlights the complexity of emotions in social work research and practice by exploring the perspective of emotional intelligence. The article is both theoretical and empirical, based on reflections from a qualitative longitudinal study interviewing fathers with behavioural and criminal backgrounds, all in their 40 s. The analysis contains an exploration of the researcher position that illuminates the reflective, emotional aspects that took place within this interview process. Three overall themes emerged – first: Recognising emotional complexity; second: Reflecting on emotional themes; and third: Exploring my own prejudices and preconceptions. The findings apply to both theoretical and practical social work, addressing the need to understand emotions as a central part of critical reflection and reflexivity. The argument is that emotions have the potential to expand awareness of one’s own preconceptions, related to normative societal views. This form of analytical awareness entails identifying and paying attention to one’s own, sometimes embodied, emotional triggers.

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