scholarly journals Pandemic and Social Work: Exploring Finnish Social Workers’ Experiences through a SWOT Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Harrikari ◽  
Marjo Romakkaniemi ◽  
Laura Tiitinen ◽  
Sanna Ovaskainen
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Swot Analysis ◽  
Adaptive Governance ◽  
Thematic Content Analysis ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
New Type

Abstract This article addresses the experiences of Finnish frontline social workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. Two questions are addressed. First, ‘what types of challenges social work professionals faced’ in their everyday, ‘glocal’ pandemic setting and, second, what types of solutions they developed to meet these challenges. The data consist of 33 personal diaries that social work professionals created from mid-March to the end of May 2020. The diaries are analysed by a thematic content analysis and placed within the framework of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. The results suggest that the pandemic challenged social work at all levels, from face-to-face interactions to its global relations. The pandemic revealed not only the number of existing problems of social work, but also created new types of challenges. It demanded ultimate resilience from social workers and a new type of adaptive governance from social welfare institutions.

Social workers’ peculiar contribution to ethnographic research

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald de Montigny
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Ethic Of Care ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Ethical Orientation ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face

Over generations, social workers have borrowed theories from sociology. However, sociologists have generally avoided borrowing theory from social work. By beginning with social work practice wisdom, we can unfold the complex elements organizing social work practice and by extension ethnographic research. Complexity and resulting uncertainty are antidotes for theoretical purity. Practice as grounded in life, that of client’s and social workers is inherently “dirty”, i.e., messy, disorganized, confusing, unfolding, and uncertain. Understandings and practices are accomplished in a connection of self to a profession, agency/organization, mandate and purpose, and ethical orientation, in interaction with colleagues and clients. Social workers take sides as they are grounded in an ethic of care. The challenge of developing an ethical practice in the face of difference, disagreement, disjunction, and conflict lead social workers to bracket, and hence reflect on the putative coherence of a “life world.” Face-to-face work with individuals rather than being a liability provides a source of knowledge and wisdom to inform social science generally.

The sound of death rattle I: are relatives distressed by hearing this sound?

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bee L Wee ◽  
PG Coleman ◽  
R Hillier ◽  
SH Holgate
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Therapeutic Intervention ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Terminal Care ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Thematic Content Analysis ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
Death Rattle ◽  
Impending Death

Background: Death rattle is the noisy, rattling breathing that occurs in many dying patients. Health professionals intervene because the sound is said to distress attendant relatives. We found no formal study to confirm or refute relatives’ distress, so we decided to ask the relatives. Method: Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 27 bereaved relatives to investigate their experience of terminal care and what their response had been to the sound of death rattle if this had occurred. Interview transcripts were subjected to thematic content analysis. Results: We found that almost half of the 12 relatives who had heard the sound of death rattle had been distressed by it. The others were either neutral about the sound or found it a helpful signal of impending death. Conclusion: We confirmed that some relatives do find it distressing to hear the sound of death rattle. However, our expectation that relatives are universally disturbed by this sound was unfounded. There is no justification for a ‘blanket’ approach to therapeutic intervention when death rattle occurs. A better understanding is required of how relatives make sense of the sound of death rattle.

scholarly journals Ode’imin (Heart Berries): the experience of Indigenous academics in social work programs : engaging Indigenous identity and experience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Language Loss ◽  
Indigenous Identity ◽  
Canadian Association ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
Healing Journey ◽  
Cultural Erosion ◽  
Social Work Programs

[Para. 1 of Introduction] "Encourage people to learn their own indigeneity, whatever that is. And to be encouraged to go into that. That's part of their healing journey. And that is their responsibility in doing social work because they're doing that for their identity, for their space…" (Stacy). Social work has had a tenuous relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada. Looking at various periods historically and currently, social work has positioned itself as an alleged ally of Indigenous peoples and yet it is a perpetrator of the horrific conditions and strife that Indigenous peoples face. Issues like cultural erosion, the breakup of families and language loss are all traced in part to residential Schools, 60's scoop and the millennial scoop- which social workers have and continue to play a role in executing (Alston-O’Connor, 2010). On one hand, the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) has prioritized "developing stronger connections with Indigenous social workers and communities to better support their issues and pursue shared advocacy goals" (CASW Reconciliation Hub, n.d.). However, Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented in child welfare institutions (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2018).

scholarly journals Making clear what is fuzzy about community membership: A prototypic approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Reed ◽  
Ariel Jordan-Zamora ◽  
Crystal Nicole Steltenpohl ◽  
Christopher Keys
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Growth Mindset ◽  
Thematic Content Analysis ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Community Membership ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Equal Interest

Aims: The critical task of positively identifying membership of the communities with which we work prior to initiating programs of research purporting to represent said communities is often forgone and treated as self-evident. This study demonstrates undertaking this task at the outset of a program of research by gathering member self-definitions of a relational, online and face-to-face community- the Fighting Game Community.Methods: Borrowing from social identity theory in social psychology, this study uses a prototypic approach and thematic content analysis with 319 open-ended descriptions of “good players” and “bad player” deviants.Results: In general, having a growth mindset and winning games were the most crucial amongst divergent themes. Of equal interest, definitions were not consensual across the community; some directly conflicted with one another. These definitions represented a community with fuzzy boundaries, that exists more as a multi-layered tapestry than a black-and-white unit with sharply delineated boundaries.

scholarly journals Ode’imin (Heart Berries): the experience of Indigenous academics in social work programs : engaging Indigenous identity and experience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Language Loss ◽  
Indigenous Identity ◽  
Canadian Association ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
Healing Journey ◽  
Cultural Erosion ◽  
Social Work Programs

[Para. 1 of Introduction] "Encourage people to learn their own indigeneity, whatever that is. And to be encouraged to go into that. That's part of their healing journey. And that is their responsibility in doing social work because they're doing that for their identity, for their space…" (Stacy). Social work has had a tenuous relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada. Looking at various periods historically and currently, social work has positioned itself as an alleged ally of Indigenous peoples and yet it is a perpetrator of the horrific conditions and strife that Indigenous peoples face. Issues like cultural erosion, the breakup of families and language loss are all traced in part to residential Schools, 60's scoop and the millennial scoop- which social workers have and continue to play a role in executing (Alston-O’Connor, 2010). On one hand, the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) has prioritized "developing stronger connections with Indigenous social workers and communities to better support their issues and pursue shared advocacy goals" (CASW Reconciliation Hub, n.d.). However, Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented in child welfare institutions (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2018).

scholarly journals Networks of power and counterpower in social work with children and families in England

2021 ◽  
pp. 026101832110347
Author(s):  
Joe Hanley
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Network Society ◽  
Turn Of The Millennium ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Type ◽  
Manuel Castells

This article applies the work of Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells to contemporary children and families’ social work in England. Castells’ work suggests that the intractability of many of the issues facing the profession is the result of the new type of society that emerged around the turn of the millennium: the network society. Within this society, the interests and values of dominant networks are imposed upon those who are selectively excluded. Several challenges for the social work profession stemming from this analysis are posed, including in relation to challenging networks and promoting transparency. However, it is suggested that the most significant contribution Castells’ work has for social work lies in shifting the discussion from an analysis of dominant networks, as has been undertaken elsewhere, towards an understanding of how social workers can, and do, build networks of counterpower capable of effectively challenging dominant networks in the space they occupy.

scholarly journals Digital social work: Conceptualising a hybrid anticipatory practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 147332502110036
Author(s):  
Sarah Pink ◽  
Harry Ferguson ◽  
Laura Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
New Concepts

While the use of digital media and technologies has impacted social work for several years, the Covid-19 pandemic and need for physical distancing dramatically accelerated the systematic use of video calls and other digital practices to interact with service users. This article draws from our research into child protection to show how digital social work was used during the pandemic, critically analyse the policy responses, and make new concepts drawn from digital and design anthropology available to the profession to help it make sense of these developments. While policy responses downgraded digital practices to at best a last resort, we argue that the digital is now an inevitable and necessary element of social work practice, which must be understood as a hybrid practice that integrates digital practices such as video calls and face-to-face interactions. Moving forward, hybrid digital social work should be a future-ready element of practice, designed to accommodate uncertainties as they arise and sensitive to the improvisatory practice of social workers.

scholarly journals Mötet mellan klient och system - om forskning i socialt arbete

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaretha Järvinen
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Practical Reason ◽  
Scientific Field ◽  
Symbolic Power ◽  
Inaugural Lecture ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Welfare State

Margaretha Järvinen: The meeting between clients and the system: on research in social work This article is based on the inaugural lecture by the first professor of social work in Denmark. Although coming later than in many other countries, the professorship symbolizes the fact that the field of social work is about to develop into a scientific field of research. The article focuses on social work as a meeting between clients and social welfare institutions. Although it has become popular to describe citizens who come into contact with social welfare institutions as “comsumers” or “users”, this article argues for retention of the idea of client, since these are people with limited freedom of action. Social workers are described as representatives of the welfare state, not as representatives of, or advocates for clients, as they sometimes describe themselves. The article discusses three aspects of the meeting between the client and the system, and is inspired by the work of Pierre Bourdieu. The first is how the system creates the client. Social work is constructed as a field in which clients and their problems are constructed in accordance with the system and its doxa, rather than the other way around. The second aspect is the janus face of help. The article questions the idea that social workers “help” their clients. The traditional helping relation between social workers and their clients is described as a relationship of symbolic power that tends to underline rather than relieve the client’s ‘otherness’. Finally, the article discusses Bourdieu’s concept of practical reason. The field of social work represents rituals, routines and rationalities that may be difficult to put into a neat scientific formula. It argues though, that this concept should not be used (as some social workers have done) as a bulwark against scientific inquiries into the doxa and symbolic power mechanisms of the field.

scholarly journals The Integration of Disability Content into Social Work Education: An Examination of Infused and Dedicated Models

10.18060/2131 ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Faye Bean ◽  
Taylor E. Krcek
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Accreditation Standards ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Schools Of Social Work

Disability content has been slowly integrated into social work curricula despite the large proportion of social workers supporting people with disabilities and its requirement in social work education by the Council on Social Work Education Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Schools of social work offer disability content to their students in three ways: infused, dedicated (specialization), or a combination of both. A content analysis of 1620 course titles and descriptions from the top schools of social work was conducted to assess the integration of disability content into social work curricula. Eighty percent of the schools included disability content in their curriculum. Disability content was more likely to be integrated using the infused rather than the dedicated model.

Worker and Agency in Textbooks— Images of Which Reality?

1983 ◽  
Vol 64 (7) ◽  
pp. 394-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Reisch ◽  
Paul H. Ephross
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Comparative Content ◽  
The Relationship

A comparative content analysis of major social work texts shows significant variations in the ways in which they treat the relationship between social workers and employing agencies. The implications are relevant to the tensions among workers, agencies, and educators.

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