Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Critical social work'
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D'Amico, Melissa, and s2006851@student rmit edu au. "Critical postmodern social work and liberation spirituality." RMIT University. Global Studies, Social Science and Planning, 2008. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20080722.143340.
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This thesis explores the relationship between emancipatory politics and spirituality, and what this has to offer a critical postmodern approach to social work. At the centre of this thesis is a focus on forming a connection between critical postmodern social work theory and liberation spirituality. Liberation spirituality is a framework proposed by Joel Kovel which has at its heart connects emancipation and spirituality. My first chapter outlines my research approach. Chapter two explores the diversity and complexity of spiritual meanings, examines the influence of the western context on spirituality, analyses the relationship between language and spirituality, and outlines my assumptions in relation to spirituality. Chapter three examines the historical and social context influencing social workers' engagement with spiritual issues. It also explores the engagement of current social work literature with issues of spirituality. Chapters four and five consider distinctions between critical social work in the modernist tradition, and critical postmodern social work. This establishes why critical postmodern social work approaches are more suited to engage with spiritual issues. The conceptual connection between critical postmodern social work and liberation spirituality is explored in chapter six and chapter seven. The latter in particular includes a detailed examination of the relationship between emancipatory politics and spirituality. The thesis concludes in chapter eight by analysing implications of this conceptual connection.
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Granter, Edward. "Critical social theory and the end of work." Thesis, University of Salford, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.493516.
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This PhD research examines the development and sociological significance of the idea that work is being eliminated through the use of automated production technology. After examining historically, culturally and theoretically contested definitions of the concept of work, it looks at the idea of the abolition of work in Utopian writing, from More to Morris. Next, the argument that Karl Marx, perhaps surprisingly, can be seen as the quintessential end of work theorist, is presented.
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Choi, Moo Youl. "Korean Presbyterianism and social work: a critical analysis of the social work of four presbyterian denominations." Thesis, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.421115.
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Bay, Uschi Ursula, and uschi bay@deakin edu au. "The Politics of Empowerment in Australian Critical Social work." RMIT University. Global Studies, Social Science and Planning, 2008. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20080821.152656.
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Critical social workers seek to practice in empowering ways with marginal groups and to transform power relations in organisations and society generally. This thesis explores how Foucault's theorising has been used by Australian critical social workers to think about power and empowerment practice. However there are many authors who contest that Foucault's theorising is useful for any kind of liberatory thinking or practice. This makes the use of Foucault's insights on power to re-formulate empowerment practice contestable. In this study I aim to draw distinctions between aspects of Foucault's work that can make a contribution to empowerment practice and those aspects that do not or cannot assist critical social workers to think about empowerment. To draw these theoretical distinctions is particularly timely, as the term
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Parton, Nigel. "Social work, child protection and social theory : a critical review and analysis." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 2000. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/4879/.
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This PhD by publication consists of two single authored books, five single authored papers in refereed journals, five single authored papers and one joint authored paper in edited books and covers the period 1985-2000. Two central ongoing themes are identified in the work: (1) the analysis of changing policy and practice in relation to child abuse in the UK from the late 1960's onwards; and (2), the changing nature of social work, again mainly in the UK. The themes are overlapping and in relation to both a number of concepts and debates in social theory are drawn upon both to analyse the changes and to make a positive contribution to policy and practice, particularly in the area of child welfare social work.
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Carruthers, Jean Catherine. "Performance as a platform for critical pedagogy in social work education." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2020. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/205094/1/Jean_Carruthers_Thesis.pdf.
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The aim of this research is to discover whether and how 'critical performance pedagogy' (CPP) is a strategy for students to think critically about the ways they link theory and practice in social work using theatrical performance as a platform. Using critical thematic and critical discourse analysis of qualitative interviews, video recorded performances and corresponding texts, this research has uncovered the various ways CPP supports critical and collaborative engagement in social work. The research indicates, students initially develop social and political analysis, make relevant links between theory and practice (praxis) and foster skills in democratic leadership and social action.
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Ikebuchi, Johnathan Haruo. "A critical exploration into professional socialization in social work education." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/50744.
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A review of the literature on professional socialization in social work indicates that social work education produces inconsistent results in terms of assisting students to acquire values of the profession presented to them within their course of study, and in forming a professional social work identity. Values have been considered central to developing social work professionals. However, historic schisms and conflict within the profession surrounding its primary practice methods used to actualize its mission and goals, often characterized as a micro-macro practice debate, have led to divisions in the profession with respect to accepted identities and ambiguity about what social work values should be held in esteem. Social work values are prioritized differently and tend to cluster differently around various theoretical and practice methods. Thus, there is a range of value orientations presented to students by the profession. It is also argued that there is a field of internal and external influences on personal change and the socialization of students. Factors internal to students that they bring to their education, and factors external to students within the profession and in the teaching and practice environments where students learn make socialization challenging and problematic. Transformative adult learning theory, as conceptualized by Jack Mezirow, is presented as a theory to demonstrate the difficulty of transforming values in general, and a possible method to assist in socialization, if all messages from the profession surrounding values and identity were clear and unified. A review of the major reasons, motivations and personal histories that bring students to social work is undertaken. Social work education, specifically field education located within the context of a hostile neoliberal socio-economic and political climate and its effect on the socialization of students is critiqued. Non-conscious and unconscious psychological processes of students in learning and change have been overlooked within the study of professional socialization in social work. This omission is salient to this discussion. Suggestions for future research are discussed.Health and Social Development, Faculty of (Okanagan)
Social Work, School of (Okanagan)
Graduate
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Webster, Paul. "A critical analytic literature review of virtue ethics for social work : beyond codified conduct towards virtuous social work." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2011. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/7085/.
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This submission is based on a critical analytical literature review of the moral paradigm of virtue ethics and a specific application of this to social work value discourse in search of lost identity. It echoes the philosophical academy's paradigmatic wars between 'act' and 'agent' appraisals in moral theory. Act appraisal theories focus on a person's act as the primary source of moral value whereas agent appraisal theories - whether 'agentprior' or stricter 'agent-based' versions - focus on a person's disposition to act morally. This generates a philosophical debate about which type of appraisal should take precedence in making an overall evaluation of a person's moral performance. My starting point is that at core social work is an altruistic activity entailing a deep commitment, a 'moral impulse', towards the distressed 'other'. This should privilege dispositional models of value that stress character and good motivation correctly applied - in effect making for an ethical career built upon the requisite moral virtues. However, the neo-liberal and neo-conservative state hegemony has all but vanquished the moral impulse and its correct application. In virtue ethical language, we live in 'vicious' times. I claim that social work's adherence to act appraisal Kantian and Utilitarian models is implicated in this loss. Kantian 'deontic' theory stresses inviolable moral principle to be obeyed irrespective of outcome: Utilitarian 'consequentualist' theory calculates the best moral outcome measured against principle. The withering of social work as a morally active profession has culminated in the state regulator's Code of Practice. This makes for a conformity of behaviour which I call 'proto-ethical' to distinguish it from 'ethics proper'. The Code demands that de-moralised practitioners dutifully follow policy, rules, procedures and targets - ersatz, piecemeal and simplistic forms of deontic and consequentualist act appraisals. Numerous inquiries into social work failures indict practitioners for such behaviour. I draw upon mainstream virtue ethical theory and the emergent social work counter discourse to get beyond both code and the simplified under-theoretisation of social work value. I defend a thesis regarding an identity-defining cluster of social work specific virtues. I propose two modules: 'righteous indignation' to capture the heartfelt moral impulse, and 'just generosity' to mindfully delineate the scope and legitimacy of the former. Their operation generates an exchange relationship with the client whereby the social worker builds 'surplus value' to give back more than must be taken in the transaction. I construct a social work specific minimal-maximal 'stability standard' to anchor the morally correct expression of these two modules and the estimation of surplus value. In satisficing terms, the standard describes what is good enough but is also potentially expansive. A derivative social work practice of moral value is embedded in an historic 'care and control' dialectic. The uncomfortable landscape is one of moral ambiguity and paradoxicality, to be navigated well in virtue terms. I argue that it is incongruous to speak of charactereological social worker virtues and vices and then not to employ the same paradigm to the client's moral world. This invites a functional analysis of virtue. The telos of social work - our moral impulse at work - directs us to scrutiny of the unsafe household. Our mandate is the well-being of the putative client within, discoursed in terms of functional life-stage virtues and vicious circumstance. I employ the allegorical device of a personal ethical journey from interested lay person to committed social worker, tracking the character-building moral peregrinations. I focus on two criticisms of virtue ethics - a philosophical fork. It is said that virtue ethical theory cannot of itself generate any reliable, independently validated action guidance. In so far as it does, the theory will endorse an as-given, even reactionary, criterion of right action, making 'virtue and vice' talk the bastion of the establishment power holders who control knowledge. I seek to repudiate these claims. Given that this demands a new approach to moral pedagogy, the practical implications for the suitability and training of social workers are discussed.
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Combs-Orme, T., Donna J. Cherry, and T. Leffman. "Learning Through Writing: Critical Thinking Exercises." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2012. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/7656.
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Nipperess, Sharlene. "Human rights: a challenge to critical social work practice and education." Thesis, Curtin University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/479.
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This qualitative research explores how Australian social workers position human rights in practice and education and the implications of this for critical social work. It focuses on the experiences of social work practitioners working with refugees and asylum seekers and social work academics in Australian universities. The central thesis is that the concept of human rights, though highly contested and problematic, can make an important contribution to critical social work practice and social work education.
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de, Haymes Maria Vidal. ""Successful Minorities": A Critical Reexamination of the Cuban American Case." The Ohio State University, 1991. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1392059327.
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Vidal, de Haymes Maria. ""Successful minorities" : a critical reexamination of the Cuban American Case /." The Ohio State University, 1991. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487759436326509.
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Perriam, Christine. "Social work is what social workers do: A study of hospital social workers’ understanding of their work and their professional identity." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2015. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1674.
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Hospital social work in Australia appears to be undergoing a crisis of identity. The current socioeconomic context of economic rationalism and managerialism is not always compatible with social work values and social workers working in hospitals talk about feeling threatened, despite evidence of numerical growth comparable to other professions. In this study I interviewed five social workers who were practising in hospitals. The method used was the Long Interview which allows the responders freedom to express their thoughts while providing a common framework for all the interviews. Using grounded theory methodology I distilled their common understandings about what it meant to be a social worker and to do social work in a hospital. Using a theoretical framework of critical theory I also examined how the hospital setting influenced these social workers perception themselves and their work.
Overall the results were positive. The social workers were insightful and articulate and demonstrated good understanding of their context and how it influenced their practice. They all felt the hospital environment was not supportive of social work but believed they made a positive contribution both to the outcomes for individual patients and for the hospital as an organisation. They all drew strongly on their social work values to confirm their identity so there was a strong common understanding of what being a social worker meant.
The ‘doing’ of social work was illustrated by the social workers by the use of bridge metaphors. They identified that they built bridges between patients in the hospital and their lives outside the hospital. As patient advocates they also built bridges between the patient and other staff to help the other staff understand the patient’s perspective. A third bridge between discourses, the dominant discourse of economic rationalism and the quieter discourses about upholding rights was described but not named. The only problematic area for all the social workers was their difficulty in naming the skills and knowledge used in their practice. This is noted as an area for development.
Despite acknowledging the contextual difficulties confronting hospital social work, the results of this study showed the social workers interviewed to be confident in all their roles and optimistic about their future.
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Magnusson, Åsa, and Lina Nyqvist. "Girls' and boys' pathways to norm-breaking behavior: A critical review of an old issue." Thesis, Örebro University, Department of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-480.
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ÖREBRO UNIVERSITET
Institutionen för beteende-, social och rättsvetenskap
Socionomprogrammet, C-uppsats, socialt arbete 41-60 p
Höstterminen 2005
Åsa Magnusson & Lina Nyqvist
Flickors och pojkars vägar in i normbrytande beteende: En kritisk litteraturstudie av ett omdiskuterat fenomen
Sammanfattning
Ungdomar har i alla tider engagerat sig i normbrytande beteende och de har visat sig vara den mest kriminellt aktiva gruppen i samhället. Studiens syfte är att undersöka flickors och pojkars vägar in i ett normbrytande beteende med fokus på relationer, samt att utröna hur diskussionen om könsspecifik behandling gestaltas i forskning. Syftet innefattar även att kritiskt granska framkomna resultat utifrån feministisk teori. Studiens metod bygger på en litteraturstudie i form av tre genomgående teman: vägar in i normbrytande beteende, interpersonella relationer och könsspecifik behandling som i resultatet är redovisade var för sig. I diskussionen förs ett resonemang kring resultaten där de kopplas samman med feministisk teori och teorin om sociala band. Studiens viktigaste resultat är att vägen till ett normbrytande beteende är en komplex process där många olika faktorer påverkar huruvida ett normbrytande beteende utvecklas eller ej. Interpersonella relationer har stort inflytande på ungdomars utveckling. Relationerna verkar inte påverka flickor och pojkar på samma sätt, vilket är en följd av att flickor och pojkar uppfostras olika beroende på biologiskt kön. Dessa könsskillnader avspeglar sig även i könsspecifik behandling. Behandling tycks i allmänhet baseras på könsstereotypa föreställningar vilket ingetdera av könen verkar gynnas av.
Nyckelord: ungdom, genusteori, normbrytande beteende, interpersonella relationer
ÖREBRO UNIVERSITY
Department of Behavioral, Social and Legal Sciences
Education of Social Work, C-thesis in Social Work, 41-60p
Fall Semester 2005
Åsa Magnusson & Lina Nyqvist
Girls’ and boys’ pathways to norm-breaking behavior: A critical review of an old issue
ABSTRACT
Historically, youths have always been engaged in norm-breaking behavior (NBB), with adolescents being the most criminal active group in society. The behavior, however, seems to differ in aspects of gender. This study investigates the pathways to NBB, emphasizing the influence of interpersonal relationships. The aim is also to examine what characterizes gender-specific treatment in literature, and furthermore to bring a critical feminist view on reviewed research results. The study is based on a literature review design to enable a whole picture of the topic. In the review different pathways to NBB is described, followed by the role of interpersonal relationships and characteristics of gender specific treatment. In essence, evidence seems to show that the pathway to NBB is a process where several different factors contribute jointly in shaping such behavior. However, interpersonal relationships seem to play an important role in influencing the behavior of the adolescent, though the influence appears to differ in aspects of gender due to the socialization process where girls and boys are brought up differently, which in turn is reflected in gender-specific treatment. Research indicates that treatment in general is based on stereotyped gender assumptions, which might be disadvantageous for both girls and boys.
Keywords: juvenile, gender theory, norm-breaking behavior, interpersonal relationships
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Costello, Susan, and not supplied. "Crossing the borders: A critical approach to cross cultural social work education." RMIT University. Education, 2008. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20090501.102211.
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This PhD by project outlines research conducted in 2007 on the Thai Burma border, introducing social work education to Burmese health and community workers. In addition to experiencing physical and social upheaval, workers have little access to general education or training in relation to their work with refugees and displaced people. A request from the director of a Refugee Health Clinic to provide social work education for local workers led to my research question: How do I develop and teach a culturally relevant, cross cultural, sustainable social work curriculum for Burmese health and community workers on the Thai Burma border? The project consists of a product: three manuals of curriculum developed on the border and written for use by future visitors or locally trained workers, and an exegesis: an exploration of the research, methodology and a detailed analysis of my product in the context of the literature. The exegesis is organised around three main themes. First is the intersection of social work education and international social work, with a critique of colonialist impositions of Western social work in developing Asian countries. This section considers what constitutes relevant social work and social work education in this context. The second theme examines the researcher's attempts to suspend her assumptions and create a learning exchange through culturally sensitive social relationships that acknowledge and scrutinize power relations within the Burma border context. The final theme raises questions of critical pedagogy. Key differences in beliefs about educational purpose and approaches can be identified between Asia and the Western world. The project employed adult learning principles and explored the challenges of teaching critical thinking. Based on a participatory action research model, the curriculum design process attempted to be collaborative, inclusive and recursive. As a corollary, the project created a community of practice that continues to meet and work together towards social justice for migrants on the border, concepts that were not known to the participants prior to the training program. The project aimed to connect international social work education to social work's core missions of emancipation, human rights and activism on the Thai Burma border. The themes are transferable to other sites of social work in the Asia-Pacific region where social development precedes the practice and teaching of social work.
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Moss, Bernard. "Spirituality, social work education and workplace well-being : towards a critical framework." Thesis, Staffordshire University, 2011. http://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/1869/.
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Although social work as an international profession has begun to take spirituality seriously as part of its professional discourse and commitment to best practice, in the UK there has been considerable reluctance to regard it positively. This thesis argues for a comprehensive understanding of spirituality that relates to deep, human themes including meaning and purpose, mystery and awe, concepts which are by no means limited to, or restricted by, religious perspectives. Spirituality, it is argued, is ‘what we do to give expression to our chosen world-view’, and as such is an all-encompassing concept that helps us understand and appreciate the positive and negative aspects of humanity. The author builds upon and develops existing theoretical perspectives to demonstrate the relevance of spirituality to the professional social work discourse. A ‘co-creative’ /action research methodology was adopted to enable key ‘players’ in social work education and practice (students, academics, practitioners, service users and carers) to ‘co-create’ and own a theoretical framework that would enable spirituality fulfil a key role in the social work curriculum. The author’s new strap-line for social work -celebrating diversity with social justice - argues for an understanding of spirituality that is all-encompassing in its scope, and recognises the ways in which spirituality can be both a positive and negative influence at a wider level in society. His discussion of the key concept of authentic and inauthentic spirituality demonstrates its relevance to the core social work values of anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice. The discussion of workplace well-being in the thesis is a further distinctive development of the author’s understanding of spirituality and the contribution it can make to social work theory and practice.
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Ioakimidis, Vasilios. "A critical examination of the political construction and function of Greek social work." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.507183.
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Carlsson, Josefine. "Children’s Rights in International Social Work : A critical analysis of a campaign by UNICEF." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Avdelningen för socialt arbete, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-167899.
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Children’s rights and childhood are concepts that are a part of everyday discussions for many people around the world, but the understanding of the concepts shifts through time and space. The Convention on the Right of the Child, CRC, is supposed to protect children’s rights and relies upon the idea of childhood that describes children both as active agents and in need of protection. UNICEF, an organization within the UN, has the CRC as a guiding principle to achieve its mission to improve the lives of every child globally. However, previous research has criticized the CRC and UNICEF for ignoring particular children’s needs and having a western bias. Thus, even if an international social work program aims to protect children’s rights, it can end up excluding the needs of particular groups of children. This study aims to provide an understanding of how the problem of children’s rights discriminations is represented to be in UNICEF’s campaign #ENDviolence. The study fulfills the aim by using Carol Bacchi’s approach “What’s the problem represented to be?” WPR, and its six guiding questions. The empirical data is UNICEF’s campaign report, because the present study aims to investigate children’s rights discrimination, and the organization works with children and uses the CRC as a guiding principle. The study uses the WPR approach because it stresses that problems are created and given meanings through policies and programs. This study also uses the social constructionist theory and the two concepts, intersectionality and intertextuality, to provide a broader understanding. The results show that the campaign does only have a limited intersectional perspective, by not including children’s different identities, relating to such as race, nationality, alternative gender identification and sexuality, and abilities/disabilities, and it also does not acknowledge children’s multiple identities. Instead, the problem representation solely relies upon the concepts of sex (boy/girl) or age. Hence, the campaign leaves particular children and their needs unrecognized. An explanation for this approach is the campaign’s stable intertextual connection to the UN, and the writings, CRC and SDGs, Sustainable development goals. The campaign also tends to have a western bias, through silencing western countries, the data it uses and how it presents the data. The campaign ignores particular children and how institutional structures may affect them differently because of their identities. Thus, discrimination and violence against specific children can continue and suggested solutions would not necessarily help them.
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Peckover, Christopher Allen. "Iowa school finance equity: a value-critical policy analysis." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2010. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/571.
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Middleton, Winston William. "A Critical Inquiry Into Social services of· South African Local Authorities with specific reference to Social Work." University of the Western Cape, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/8454.
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Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW)The effective and efficient delivery of social services in South Africa has suffered as a result of the apartheid policies and practices. Now that we have legitimate political structures in our country, social workers in local authorities have the opportunity to take their rightful place in our social service delivery system. In order to enhance the quality of life in South Africa, we must ensure that people are not serviced at a distance. The broad intention of this study is to critically examine social work practice in local authorities in South Africa in order to identify the pertinent elements of a model of practice and to clarify the role of the local authority social worker. Five theoretical issues are identified within structural Marxism which was selected as the theoretical orientation for this study. These are the individual-society relationship, basic needs and services, social change, community participation and professionalism. The literature review of the h-uman services rendered by local authorities in the United Kingdom and the U.~nite-d-S-ta-tes of America, and in South Africa. of which there is a Raucity of research, sensi-ti-ze-d-the res-earcher to the-relevant issues and debates, and informed the empirical study.Ten (10) directors and fifty (50) social work practitioners of social services departments completed the mailed questionnaires. The response rate was, 24,39% and 27,47%, respectively. The empirical data has provided important information about the rationale and types of social services provided by local authorities in 1992-1993. To varying degrees, casework, group work, research and community work/development are practised. While the latter method was purported by many respondents to be their priority, casework was found to be the most popular method. These services were often provided because no other services existed in the area or were inaccessible. In most cases, the social services departments, unfortunately, did not have a mission statement nor terms of reference to guide their planning and interventions. As the majority of the South African population were excluded from the political process, local authority structures were discredited by many people and this caused anxiety among many practitioners and tensions with the communities. There was a high level of co-operation between social services departments and their respective health departments. The conclusions drawn from this study are that local authorities should provide social services through a comprehensive social services department which should include, among other, the health department; and that local government is an important site for the practice of developmental social work. Other researchers could build on this foundation so as to develop clearer policy and practice guidelines for this field of speciality.
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Lemlem, Tigest F. "The politics of social work research : a critical analysis of the stated reasons for the research gap /." The Ohio State University, 1999. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1488187049540981.
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Giannou, D. "The meaning of ethics and ethical dilemmas in social work practice : a qualitative study of Greek social workers." Thesis, Brunel University, 2009. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/4197.
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Social work struggles between the dichotomy of “individual” and “society” as it is characterized as enhancing both individual well-being and social justice. As these are not always easily balanced and social work has limited autonomy, social workers must develop their capacity for making moral judgments and defend these within their various roles and responsibilities. Studies which explore the role of ethics in social work practice enhance the potential for maintaining a common identity. This exploration permits a deeper understanding of social work ethics and reinforces a common framework inclusive of purpose and standards for the profession. These studies also capture the contextual factors impacting on the moral agency of social workers, and thus substantiate the role for social work in a world with structured oppression. The purpose of this study was to obtain an in-depth understanding of social work ethics in the practice context of public hospitals in Greece. Using a case study design, data was gathered to explore and understand the role of social work ethics in daily practice and the formation of what is perceived as “good” practice. The analysis followed Yin‟s (1993) descriptive strategy. Data collection included fifteen in-depth interviews with hospital social workers, a group interview with social work academics, and a thematic analysis of the social work journal of the Hellenic Association of Social Workers (HASW). The meaning of ethical dilemmas and problems appeared to be constructed by personally held values, a lack of attention in social work education and the HASW on social work ethics, a professional emphasis on individualism rather than collectivism, and insufficient social protection in Greece. Importantly, these factors led to a fairly consistent response to ethical problems. “Having a clear conscience”, character traits such as bravery and imaginativeness, as well as the use of psychotherapy emerged as characteristics of “good” social work practice. These findings are of value to those who try to restore the values and ethics as central in social work. Values and ethics as key elements of social work expertise can lead social workers to a more competent and effective practice in terms of their ethical engagements.
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Bott, Cynthia L. "A survey-based study of social workers' critical consciousness and practice with LGB clients." Thesis, State University of New York at Albany, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3563554.
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Social workers are responsible for providing the majority of mental health and substance abuse services in the United States in the role of direct service. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LBG) individuals utilize these services at rates that are believed to be higher than other populations. The field of social work embraces social justice as one of its core principles. This cross-sectional survey of 220 BSW and/or MSW social workers investigates two questions: what is the relationship among key aspects of social worker critical consciousness, i.e., attitudes about social justice, change agency, and awareness of heterosexism; and in what ways does critical consciousness influence practice (promising practices) with LGB clients in behavioral health programs. Findings suggest that social workers who have greater critical consciousness have greater self-reported skills and knowledge scores and engage in more LGB promising practices. Specifically, respondents with more consciousness as evidenced by awareness of heterosexism, positive attitudes towards LGB persons, and greater engagement in social justice activity in their personal and professional lives, including their encouragement of client engagement in social justice activity, have higher skills and knowledge scores and utilize more LGB promising practices. Implications for social work practice and education are discussed and areas for future research are presented.
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Frayne, David. "Critical social theory and the will to happiness : a study of anti-work subjectivities." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2011. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/18497/.
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It can be argued that we live in a ‘work-centred’ society, since not only has society witnessed a massive quantitative expansion of paid-work, but many also accept that, at this present historical moment, the tasks, relationships and time-structures of work occupy a central place in people’s sense of well-being. Critical social theorists have advanced an alternative perspective and undertaken a critique of work, responding to the interlinked social problems of mass unemployment, inequality, environmental degradation, and low well-being, by promoting an anti-productivist politics which calls for a decentralisation of work in everyday life. Theorists such as André Gorz have suggested that such proposals resonate with a cultural disenchantment with work, as well as growing desire for non-material goods such as autonomy, free-time, good-health and conviviality. Such claims, however, have rarely been explored on an empirical level. One of the central questions that remain unanswered is whether and how it is actually possible for people to live with significantly lower levels of work. In response to this gap in the literature, the present study undertakes a qualitative investigation into the lives of a diverse sample of people, each of whom has chosen to work less or to give up working altogether. In-depth interviews explore the work experiences and moral priorities that informed the participant’s lifestyle changes. Also explores are the trials of working less, including how participants coped with less money, and how they coped with the stigmas attached to working less, in the midst of a society that continues to attach moral significance to having a job. Are the participants deviants, malingerers, and failures, or might society learn something positive and inspiring from their actions and choices?
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Haug, Erika. "Writings in the margins, critical reflections on the emerging discourse of international social work." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/MQ65017.pdf.
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Leotti, Sandra Marie. "Interrogating the Construction and Representations of Criminalized Women in the Academic Social Work Literature: A Critical Discourse Analysis." PDXScholar, 2019. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/5117.
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In the United States today, there are 2.3 million people behind bars in jails and prisons. Mass incarceration has swept up the United States to such a degree that we are known globally for holding more people in correctional facilities than any other country in the world. Although women have always, and still do, reflect a smaller proportion of the correctional population, over the last 40 years, their rates of criminalization and imprisonment have far outpaced that of men's. Drastic increases in the criminalization of women are intimately connected to the entrenchment of social disadvantage enabled under neoliberal globalization. Neoliberal transformations in the economy have contributed to women's poverty across the globe and have brought an increasing number of women into contact with the criminal justice system. The rising incarceration rate of women, and the disproportionate rate of women of color in U.S. prisons is a timely and urgent issue and one that social work is poised to address. Indeed, some of our most prominent national organizations recognize mass incarceration as an urgent issue that merits the attention of social workers. As such, it is prudent to examine social work's engagement with this issue.
This study employed a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of social work scholarship in order to: 1) explore current constructions of criminalized women in social work; 2) understand the knowledge produced through such constructions; and 3) explore how that knowledge supports/shapes practice with criminalized women. Specifically, this study draws on Jäger and Maier's (2009) framework for performing a Foucauldian-inspired CDA. This approach centers Foucault's conceptualizations of discourse and the workings of power and builds on the work of Jurgen Link (1982) to examine the function of discourse in legitimizing and securing dominance.
Data include a sample of 49 articles published in social work high impact journals from 2000-2018. A keyword search was performed to locate articles with an explicit focus on incarcerated/criminalized women. Only articles dealing with a U.S. context were included. Analysis occurred on two levels consisting of a structural analysis to identify initial coding schema and a detailed analysis of select articles. Detailed analysis attended to: context of text; surface of text; rhetorical means; content and ideological statements. These two levels of analysis lead to an overall synoptic analysis, or final assessment of the overall discourse. Multi-racial feminism, discourse theory, and Foucault's concept of governmentality anchored the research and provided the theoretical framework for analysis.
The overarching finding is that social work high impact journals privilege a psychological discourse and that the assessment and management of risk has supplanted a holistic approach to meeting client needs and addressing mass incarceration. This, I conclude, reflects a neoliberal political climate and aligns social work with penal institutions in troubling ways. Criminalized women are overwhelmingly constructed as risky in the sample. Embedded in this construction is a strong neoliberal discourse on knowing and changing the "responsibilized" self. The implied knowledge claims that flow from these constructions rely on the use of "objective" and often depoliticized explanations for crime and criminal justice involvement. I show how this depoliticization is accomplished through a variety of neutralizing strategies, which ultimately serve to depoliticize social work itself. I highlight how, by primarily constituting criminalized women as risky, social work necessarily responds to her with individualized service delivery aimed at regulating and changing the behavior of individuals. I argue that in its reliance on practices of risk management and a preference toward micro-level service delivery, social work deploys regulatory practices that further neoliberal governance (Parton, 1998; Webb, 2003).
Further, I discovered a profound ethical dissonance between social work's engagement with criminalized women and social work values. Specifically, I found that social work discourse passively accepts the logic of punishment and supports dominant ideology surrounding gender and crime while concurrently attempting to redress the consequences of such constructions through social justice values. I conceptualize this as a discursive struggle over the meaning and purpose of social work; a struggle that embodies some of the most salient historical and contemporary tensions in our field related to our professional identity and an increasing drive toward professionalization (Reisch, 2013).
I argue that social work's growing dedication to practices that seek to adjust the psychological fortitude of criminalized women relies on broader cultural discourses of responsibilization, which reproduce, rather than interrupt criminalization, and divert attention away from the need for social and economic change. My analysis exposes how social work is implicated in processes of criminalization and propels a shift in emphasis from individualized service delivery, aimed at changing the behavior of individuals, to launching interventions that tackle structural injustice and inequity. Understanding the subtle and productive work of power to undermine our "good intentions" and aspirations for social justice requires us to rethink explanations for crime and our understandings regarding the purpose and necessity of the criminal justice system.
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Martinez-Herrero, Maria Ines. "Human rights and social justice in social work education : a critical realist comparative study of England and Spain." Thesis, Durham University, 2017. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11991/.
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Social work´s emergence and historical evolution has been intertwined with evolving notions of human rights (HR) and social justice (SJ). These two principles permeate definitions of social work and codes of ethics for social work across the world, and the Global Standards for social work education promote human rights and social justice as unifying themes of the profession. Yet there is little understanding of how these themes are represented and transmitted to social work students in specific national contexts. This thesis explores understandings of HR and SJ among social work educators and the mechanisms used to transmit HR and SJ to social work students in two contrasting European countries, England and Spain. Using a critical realist framework, a web survey of social work educators and students was followed by qualitative interviews with educators in each country to identify opportunities and challenges in engaging with theories and practice implications of this HR and SJ based profession. The findings show that neoliberal ideology, which increasingly pervades higher education institutions and social work agencies in both England and Spain, places pressure on social work educators to convey narrow understandings of HR and SJ and adopt increasingly bureaucratic and distant relationships with students. The thesis brings to the fore the challenges experienced by social work educators and students in each country engaging with HR and SJ in social work curricula. But it also identifies key spaces for the promotion of a HR and SJ based social work and examples of resistance to neoliberal ideology in social work education. The thesis concludes that social work education at university degree level remains a fertile site for the deconstruction of, and development of resistance to, neoliberal ideology that threatens the HR and SJ basis of the social work profession.
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Meleyal, Lel Francis. "Reframing conduct : a critical analysis of the statutory requirement for registration of the social work workforce." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2012. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/7665/.
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The relationship between the statutory registration of a workforce and impact upon practice and practitioners is unclear. Little empirical research in relation to the efficacy of existing professional registers has been undertaken. No research has so far been undertaken in relation to the impact of UK legislated registration upon social work practice. A number of high profile cases in health care such as the Bristol, Shipman, Ayling and Allit inquiries (DH, 1994; Crown Office, 2001 & 2005) have drawn attention to the inadequacies of workforce registration systems. Regulatory approaches to modifying the behaviours of the regulated are widely viewed as problematic in a broad range of theoretical literature from diverse disciplinary bases and methodologies. Literatures caution that just as ‘markets' may behave imperfectly, so may regulatory mechanisms such as workforce registration systems (Ayres & Braithwaite, 1992; Baldwin, Scott & Hood, 1998; Haines, 1999; Sparrow, 2000; Ashworth & Boyne, 2002; Johnstone & Sarre, 2004; Haines & Gurney, 2004; Walshe & Boyd, 2007). The UK Better Regulation Task Force cautions that some regulatory interventions can make a situation worse (2003b). The potential of professional registers generally and the social work register specifically to impact upon quality and improve protection has been questioned since 1982 when the first meetings about the development of a national social work regulatory council were held (Malherbe, 1982). The regulatory body for social work in England, the General Social Care Council (GSCC) came into being in 2002. The first UK register of social workers came into force in 2005 with protection of title implemented shortly after. The first three conduct cases applying sanctions to registrants were heard within a year of the social work register opening. Using a grounded theory approach, in the context of the first three conduct case outcomes, this study sought to elicit the perceptions of qualified social workers on the positive and negative impact(s) of the statutory requirement to register, for both the individuals and the organisations in which they work. This study finds that the first registration conduct case outcomes triggered a reframing of the concept of conduct and that as a consequence, respondents in this study re-positioned their allegiance to registration, and engagement with conduct matters in the workplace. The study considers the relevance of research findings in the context of a changing policy and political landscape.
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Björklund, Nathalie, and Hanna-Olivia Knuuttila. "Miljöterapi : En utvärdering enligt Critical incident-metoden." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Akademin för juridik, psykologi och socialt arbete, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-14643.
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Syftet med denna studie är att utvärdera ett HVB-hem vilket bedriver miljö- och individualte-rapeutisk behandling av ungdomar i åldrarna 16-19 år. Vidare syftar studien till att utvärdera verksamhetens arbetssätt vid kritiska händelser enligt critical incident-metoden. Således fin-ner författarna följande frågeställningar relevanta för utvärderingen: Vilka slags kritiska hän-delser uppstår i verksamheten enligt personalens upplevelser? Hur löses/slutar de kritiska händelserna i verksamheten? Är lösningarna av de kritiska händelserna förankrade i miljöte-rapeutisk teori? Utvärderingen grundas i uppgifter från nio respondenter, varav en av respondenterna är utvärderingens författare. Datainsamlingen utgörs i sin tur av observationer, frågeformulär och kompletterande intervjuer. Materialet består av 50 stycken kritiska händel-ser varav 47 händelser redovisas i tabeller under resultat och analys samt kopplas till miljöte-rapeutisk teori och tidigare forskning. I materialet framkommer sex stycken kärnproblem: hot och våld, yrkesroll och arbetsgrupp, alkohol och narkotika, bryter mot verksamhetens struk-tur, ungdomar mot arbetsgruppen samt förändring hos enskild ungdom. Analysen av resultatet visar på att samtliga lösningar i utvärderingen är förankrade i miljöterapeutisk teori.The purpose of this study is to evaluate an institution which carries out milieu and individual therapy regarding youth. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the way of working in critical situations according to critical incident-method. Therefore, the author found the following questions relevant to this evaluation: Which sort of critical situations arise according to employee’s experiences? How can we solve these critical situations within the operation? Are the solutions of these critical situations anchored to the milieu therapeutic theory? The evaluation is based upon information from 9 respondents, of which one of the respondents is the evaluator’s writer. The collected information represents observation, question formulas and supplementary interviews. The material consists of 50 critical situations in which 47 situations account for tables under the result of analysis plus connection to the milieu therapeutic theory and earlier research. In the material 6 core problems emerge: threats and violence, occupational roll, and work groups, alcohol and nar-cotics break towards the operational structure, youth towards work groups and shifts in indi-vidual youths. The result shows that all solutions are supportive of the milieu therapeutic theory.
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Clarke, Neil. "X-rays and blind spots : critical social science for health work, organisation and new technology." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.420644.
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Hakim, Budi Rahman. "Modernization of social work and the state : a critical survey of its historical development in Indonesia." Thesis, McGill University, 2004. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=81462.
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This thesis critically surveys the dynamics of social work modernization in the state of Indonesia. The study examines the polarization, characteristics and trends of social work throughout the history of Indonesia. The survey begins by reviewing the two contexts of the historical developments of social work in both the developed and developing countries of the Third World. This historical overview is pivotal to place the context of social work development in Indonesia. Tracing the origins and the nature of 'social work' in Indonesia under the pre- and colonial rule will further highlight the course of its development. The adoption of modern social work in the post-colonial is examined afterward. The historical examination of social work in Indonesia is particularly relevant in underscoring the roots of the present criticism leveled at Indonesian social policy and work.
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Bukari, Shaibu. "Parts unknown : a critical exploration of Fishers' social constructs of child labour in Ghana." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2016. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/61740/.
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This study from the onset sought to explore, through a postcolonial critique, the meaning ascribed to child labour by fishers in a fishing community in Ghana. The purpose was to inform practice in social work so that social justice might be achieved for working children and their parents. However the study expanded, methodologically and theoretically, to preliminarily include a psychoanalytically informed psychosocial and discursive approach, extending the postcolonial critique to develop a nuanced understandings of the fishers' lived experience of, and responses to, children's work. Distinct from the dominant reductionist and positivistic etiologic understandings of child labour, this approach neither derides child labour as morally reprehensible and unequivocally dangerous, nor romanticises its beneficial aspects and links to cultural and traditional beliefs and practices (see Klocker, 2012). Instead, enables understanding of the fishers as ‘defended subjects' who invest in certain discourses as a way of defending against their vulnerable selves. It also affords a critically reflexive understanding of myself as a ‘defended researcher', owing to my semi-insider position as a former child labourer, and of the impact of this on my research relationships and findings. The study is intended to inform social worker practices in order to deal with complex situations concerning the relationship among fishers and their children paying equal attention both to the inner and the social circumstances of the fishers (Wilson, Ruch, Lymbery, & Cooper, 2011). In this regard it is inspired by Mel Gray's (2005) contention that social work practice should be shaped by the extent to which local social, political, economic, historical and cultural factors, as well as local voices, mould and shape social work responses. The study is conducted using critical ethnographic design that draws on the lived experiences of 24 fishers. Attempts were made to explore the fishers' experiences using psychoanalytically informed method (FANI) in addition to other conventional methods. The study highlights the fishers' use of narratives of slavery to explicate child labour. It focuses on the relationships that the fishers' have developed with their children and with the laws surrounding the use of children in work. It gives an indication of how the fishers' violently and aggressively relate with their working children. It also highlights the fishers' rejection of the laws surrounding child labour as being foreign and an imposition which excludes customary laws. The study further examines the identities the fishers developed in relation to laws that regulate them and children's work. It suggests that others see the fishers as powerless subjects who don't matter. It also underscores my shame and worries as a researcher considered by the fishers as an ‘educated elite' who works for ‘white people'. It further highlights how I provided self-justifying explications to defend myself as a researcher. The findings imply that solutions to child labour need to be localised paying equal attention to both the psyche and the social life of the fishers. They speak to the imperative for critical review of social workers/NGOs practices taking into account the unconscious processes that go on between fishers as parents and social workers as service providers. This thesis introduces a psychosocial dimension and insight into debates on child labour in Ghana.
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Robinson, Tanya Marie. "A critical assessment of the experiences and perceptions of the couple in an unconsummated marriage." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1097.
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Thesis (PhD (Social Work))—University of Stellenbosch, 2005.It is generally accepted that the inability to consummate a marriage causes couples great distress, and can finally lead to divorce. Limited research has been done on the unconsummated marriage in South Africa. International studies have pointed out that the unconsummated marriage is a reality and a prevalent problem. While medical and therapeutic intervention is available, many people still suffer in silence and feel embarrassed about their condition. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the emotional and psycho-social experiences and perceptions of the couple in an unconsummated marriage. In order to achieve this goal, the objectives of the study were to explore the experiences of the couple in an unconsummated marriage in order to obtain the couple’s perception of their marriage; to present a literature overview on the subject of marriage within the context of the family life cycle; to describe the nature and causes of an unconsummated marriage; to critically describe approaches and models that may be used for the assessment of an unconsummated marriage; and to reflect on the implications of the emotional and psycho-social experiences and perceptions of the couple in an unconsummated marriage within a postmodern systemic framework. The purpose of the literature study was to provide a context for the research study. The researcher conducted an extensive literature review in order to establish and refine the research subject and to guide the empirical study. An exploratory study was executed and the purposive non-probability sampling method utilised. The sample for this study was obtained from Intercare Medical Centre, Johannesburg and The Square Medical Centre, Umhlanga between April 2004 and November 2004. Ten couples that have not consummated their marriage were included in the sample. An interview schedule with open-ended questions was used to conduct joint interviews with the couples. The empirical study enabled the researcher to draw certain conclusions. The main conclusion was that males and females in an unconsummated marriage experience and perceive control-related problems; negative feelings towards their own and their partner’s body; a fear of engaging in an intimate relationship and other phobias; a feeling of sin and moral dilemma; feelings of guilt and shame; the manifestation of depression and apathetic attitudes; personal distress and psychological problems; a feeling of serious regret and sadness; self-blame, self-destructive behaviour, mutilation and suicidal thoughts and episodes; and lastly, a lack of information on how to be sexually intimate with a partner. A number of recommendations flowed from the findings. The main recommendation was that healthcare professionals such as social workers should be better educated about the phenomenon of the unconsummated marriage in order to make a correct diagnosis and deliver high quality medical and therapeutic intervention.
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Papouli, Eleni. "The development of professional social work values and ethics in the workplace : a critical incident analysis from the students' perspective." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2014. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/48325/.
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This thesis explores Greek social work students' perceptions of the development of their professional values and ethics in the workplace during their professional practice placement. To accomplish its goals, the thesis includes a literature review and employs a qualitative exploratory research design with descriptive elements positioned within the constructivist paradigm. This research design allows the researcher to explore and describe a topic - social work values and ethics - that is generally under-researched in the existing literature, as well as being complex in nature and difficult to study. Data were collected using the critical incident technique (CIT). This method took the form of a written questionnaire (the CIT questionnaire) completed by 32 students between 11th and 25th October, 2010. The data were inductively analysed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. SPSS and SPAD software packages were also used to analyse the numerical and textual data respectively. The study findings underline the vital role of the workplace as a social space for students to learn and develop their professional social work values and ethics. They also highlight the complexity of implementing social work values and ethics in the different workplace environments that students, as trainees, are placed for their professional practice due to their situation-specific nature. Further, the study reveals a number of factors that, from the students' point of view, are important in applying and upholding professional ethical standards in social work practice. These factors are associated with: a) the need to practice social work values and ethics in the workplace on a daily basis in order to keep them alive and active; b) the students' own contribution to upholding ethical standards; c) the role practice instructors/supervisors play in the transmission of social work values to students during their placements; d) the importance of ethical collaboration inside and outside the workplace to achieve the best practices for clients; e) the client's behaviour as a determinant of the ethical practice of social workers in the workplace; and f) the importance of the ethics of management (including the political affiliation of the heads of organisations) in creating and sustaining an ethical work/learning environment. The study suggests that all the factors mentioned above-to a greater or lesser degree- should be considered important elements to take into account in the planning and development of values-based social work education programmes. Special attention should be paid to workplace conditions that can hinder or support the development of values-based social work practice. As the study clearly shows, daily ethical practice in social work, students as individuals, the role of practice instructors, ethical workplace collaboration, client behaviour, and the ethics of management are crucial components for building upon the ethical skills taught in the classroom and developing ethically informed professional identities in real-life workplace situations. The thesis concludes that the critical incidents experienced by students are a valuable source of knowledge and understanding of the development of social work values and ethics in professional practice. In this study, indeed, students gained valuable insights into their ethics development process in practice contexts, from both positive and negative critical incidents alike.
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Melin, Therese. "Timeout! : En Kritisk diskursanalys över kommunikationsprocesser på chatsidan familjeliv.se." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Institutionen för socialt arbete (SA), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-45578.
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Digital communication system for interaction is a part of the everyday life for the majority of people in the society. The Internet offers a space for counselling, support and/ or discussion. By using the Internet chat page familjeliv.se as a field research for a critical discourse analysis (CDA) following Norman Fairclough approach on the discussed and debated child fostering technique “timeout”, his theory and method enables a study on the construction of identity, roles and discourses. According to Fairclough, CDA does not stand on its own. It is depended on complementary theory(s) in the analysis of the social practice, for example theories on social interaction and power relations. Therefor Erving Goffmans theory on interaction and Anders Perssons comparative analysis of Goffman in the context of online interaction is applied with the company of Michele Foucault and Erich Fromm s theories on power relations. CDA origins from social constructionism and is therefor questioning the statement that there is an absolute objective truth. In that aspect, the theory of social constructionism is integrated and applied on the discussion of how and why certain constructions exist. The users of the forum position them selves for or against timeout and by using the method of CDA on the text and the discursive practice, ideologies can come to light in the social practice such as behaviourism. In certain senses, the discourse on Familejliv mirrors society’s disagreement on the effect and consequences of timeout and how to preserve children’s rights and not place the child at the risk of offensive abuse. The discourse of the child as in need of discipline also constitute and reflects the social learning theory aspects and behaviourism in society and social work through state parent support programs. On the topic of child fostering and the technique timeout, other discourses came to surface and when analysing the texts using the tools of CDA, an unequal power relation between mother and child became noticeable which shows how the parent use its natural power to supress the child verbally and physically which constructs discourses like “the damn child”. With the same method the construction of “the powerless and tired mother” is detected which can be explained by society’s anticipations on motherhood and can be traced to high expectation and therefor cause parental burnout.
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Ellis, Kathryn Ann. "Revisiting 'street-level bureaucracy' in post-managerialist welfare states : a critical evaluation of front-line discretion in adult social care in England." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/134370.
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The thesis set out in this submission is drawn from six of the candidate’s publications, based in turn on empirical findings from four research studies of adult social care in England spanning the period 1992 2006. As a body of work, it interrogates the validity of Lipsky’s (1980) conclusions about the origins and nature of ‘streetlevel bureaucracy’ in the wake of subsequent welfare restructuring. The earlier studies pay particular attention to the impact of managerialisation on frontline assessment practice amongst adult social work teams following implementation of the 1990 National Health Service and Community Care Act. Later studies tackle a further challenge to Lipsky’s thesis of street-level bureaucracy, that is, the potential for a change in the nature of the exchange relationship between street-level bureaucrat and client in the light of the insertion of service user involvement, empowerment and rights into governance arrangements after 1990, including adult social care. The candidate argues that the ethnomethodological approach adopted in three out of the four studies has yielded rich data on frontline practice of a type screened out by much contemporaneous research on the impact of social care reforms. Taken together with the span of the research studies over some fifteen years, this has supported not only a detailed analysis of the relationship between the micropolitics of assessment practice and key features of the differing environments within which they occur but also their articulation with changing modes of welfare governance. Discourse analysis of interview findings from the remaining study has permitted insights into the way social workers integrate thinking about human and social rights into their everyday assessment practice. The candidate summarises her threefold contribution to the literature in a taxonomy derived from the research findings which serves, firstly, to articulate the relationship between core dimensions of the policy and practice environment and the differing forms of frontline discretion to emerge after 1990; secondly, to explore the impact of user empowerment and rights on the distribution of resources; and, thirdly, to evaluate the continuing relevance of ‘streetlevel’ bureaucracy for understanding frontline social work practice. She concludes by sketching out possible future directions for her work.
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Watts, Lynelle. "Thinking differently about reflective practice in Australian social work education: A rhapsody." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2015. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1758.
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There are many different ways of thinking about reflective practice in social work education in Australia. This research utilises a musical metaphor to illustrate this diversity. Written as a piece of music with album notes, the study utilises a reflexive methodology with a qualitative mixed method approach. Three studies were conducted to explore how reflective practice is understood in social work education and practice in Australia. The first study examined my own learning and teaching of reflective practice through an autoethnographic process. The findings indicated a range of models of reflective practice potentially available to the educator. Also explored in this study were the kinds of reflection these models make possible and visible to educators and students. The second study traced the emergence of reflective practice within Australian social work education by conducting a Foucauldian inspired archaeology. This study demonstrated the emergence of specific models in social work education and how their adoption has transformed the language and discourse of problem-solving within the discipline through the use of specific kinds of social theory. In the final study qualitative interviews with social work students, practitioners and educators were undertaken. This study explored the beliefs, attitudes and values held by participants about reflective practice. The final study illustrated the social and oral nature of reflective practice within the discipline. Participant interviews also indicated that reflective practice is a significant means for solving problems and building understanding for learning and practice for social workers. Overall, the study establishes that current models of reflective practice could be enhanced if more attention was paid to instructing students in critical reflection skills such as deconstruction, evaluation, critique, problematisation and interpretation. This would contribute greatly to the ability of social workers to effectively test the limits of their knowledge and practice in the interests of the people they serve.
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Hsu, Kai-Shyang. "Information critical for social work practitioners in the decision making process an empirical study of implicit knowledge using naturalistic decision making perspective /." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1150473379.
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Gimenez, Julio Cesar. "Gender as a structural principle in social work and banking : a critical examination of non-interactional workplace talk." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.439451.
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Sultan, Aysel. "HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination issues from cross-cultural aspects of international social work." Master's thesis, Lithuanian Academic Libraries Network (LABT), 2013. http://vddb.laba.lt/obj/LT-eLABa-0001:E.02~2013~D_20130614_105504-21833.
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Stefan Elbe (2005) in his writing about international security dimensions calls HIV/AIDS as a “global security threat” and emphasizes the importance of the disease acknowledgement by the scholars and international policy-makers. Indeed, HIV/AIDS is already for a long time not considered solely as a health problem, on the contrary, the medicalisation of the disease, remains one of the biggest obstacles to the global prevention and holistic treatment approaches. This research highlights those particular obstructions in the essence of cross-cultural peculiarities, bringing more vividness into idea of how HIV/AIDS related challenges are seen in different communities, despite of being a globally actual issue for more than three decades. It is almost an undeniable reality that HIV/AIDS pandemic unites millions and millions of people throughout the world each year, and no matter how bitter might the fact of comprehension be, it still continues to take lives away, therefore, investigations and researchers must be going on, for making the survival a better experience.
This study provides case-studies of stigma and discriminatory challenges as a cultural systems (both internal and external) with its own symbols, rules, thinking models, approaches, norms, laws, values, beliefs, prejudices, taboos, goals, contexts, and political abutments through the exploration of cultural resources that specific societies adopt. Besides that, psychological and existential analysis are used to reveal... [to full text]ŽIV/AIDS jau ilgą laiką nėra laikoma tik kaip sveikatos problema, priešingai, medicininiu požiūriu išlieka viena iš didžiausių problemų taikant pasaulines prevencijos ir holistinį gydymą. Šis tyrimas pabrėžia problemos skirtingose kultūrose ypatumus, todėl dėmesys kreipiamas kaip su ŽIV/AIDS susijusios problemos vertinamos skirtingose bendruomenėse. todėl tyrimai ir tyrėjai turi būti vyksta, už išlikimo geresnį įspūdį. Šis tyrimas atskleidė diskriminacijos problemas, kurios atsiskleidė skirtingose kultūrose per tam tikrus simbolius, taisykles, mąstymo modelius, pagalbos metodus, įstatymus, vertybines nuostatas, tabu. Tyrimo duomenys analizuoti taikant psichologinį ir egzistencinį požiūrius. Bendras tyrimo dalyvių skaičius 13 (11 sergančių ŽIV ir 2 ekspertai). Duomenys rinkti Azerbaidžane, Lietuvoje ir Vokietijoje.
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Butler, Elaine, and n/a. "Curriculum work : post modern positions and problematics : a personal perspective." University of Canberra. Education, 1995. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060622.133222.
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This thesis presents an interrogation of curriculum practices and positionings, over
time, of a feminist educator and curriculum worker seeking to centre gender and
subjugated knowledges in a curriculum framework with the potential for
transformative outcomes. The interrogation offers an opportunity to consider
discourses in operation, to frame curriculum and pedagogy as sites of discursive
struggle around knowledges, gender and power.
The thesis, presented as a critical narrative, interweaves theories and theoretical ideas
from four key areas: post modernism and post structuralism; feminism/s; education
and curriculum, and critical social sciences, including critical theory. Interpretative
feminist praxis is employed as the methodological approach.
Central to the investigation is a curriculum project undertaken in Papua New Guinea
(the Goroka Curriculum Project). This Project which is positioned as a case study,
provides text for conceptual and contextual interrogation of a specific site of
curriculum work, and a corrective moment in which the limitations of the writer's
endeavours and position/s of advantage are acknowledged.
Curriculum positionings described as oppositional are challenged as a result of the
lack of attention to gender by radical and critical theorists. Further, the disjuncture
between such theorising, and the development of curriculum models to inform
oppositional work is made overt and problematic.
Curriculum models and practices associated with the work of traditional empiricist
approaches found to be dominant in Papua New Guinea, reify western intellectual
endeavours to the disadvantage of indigenous and women's knowledges and
knowledge practices. This naturalisation is framed as an example of a meta narrative
in education, whereby the discursive practices associated with traditional / rational
curriculum models both colonise the endeavours of curriculum workers, and position
learners as colonised subjects. A central outcome of the traditional/rational model is
the inherent positioning of such individuals and groups as marginalised, devalued
Other. Such curriculum work is framed as a technology of governance, privileging
attempts to establish order and homogeneity in an increasingly disorderly and
fragmented world.
The investigation by the curriculum writer of her theory/practice leads to recognition
of oppositional work as a site of power, that also has the potential to 'oppress',
extending the colonial project. Following this, the thesis investigates transformative
curriculum work as problematic potentiality, questioning what the work of a feminist
curriculum writer in a post modern world is to do and to be.
While acknowledging there are no innocent discourses of liberation, the potential of
the 'courage to know', to attend to pedagogical ethics and ethics of self, and
acknowledge the messy, contradictory and deeply political work of curriculum design
are posited. An emergent notion of curriculum work as textual practice, within a
multi-dimensional framework that conceptualises curriculum as representation is
advanced.
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Richardson, Annette. "Improving quality : assessment of risk, interventions and measuring improvement in critical care." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2018. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/36239/.
Full textAbstract:
Introduction: My ten published papers focus on two domains of the quality agenda, patient safety and patient experience, concentrating on how quality improvement can reduce the occurrence of serious consequences of patient harm and poor patient experience. Aims: My goal was to design, test and discover how to make improvements in clinical practice in four areas: sleep deprivation, infection prevention, falls prevention and pressure ulcer prevention. Literature Review: There was limited evidence of successful strategies for change to improve quality. Common quality improvement challenges were within the complex critical care environment and an urgency to act without the focus on well-designed methods. Design and Methodology: A broad range of research methods was applied to evaluate the implementation of improvement interventions in critical care. These included: observational designs to uncover understanding on patient experience, activities and processes; before and after design; stepped cluster design and longitudinal time series design, utilised to increase confidence with attributable effect from the interventions. Results: My appraisal of my ten publications showed quality varied. Process and outcome measures were used to determine the success, and I received national and local recognition for some of my work. Discussion My three main knowledge contributions were: · practical ways to help nurses assess and improve patients’ sleep · risk assessment approaches · translation and implementation of improvement methodology in critical care. I discovered four cross-cutting themes which add to quality improvement knowledge and I developed an enhanced model for improvement. The four themes are: · clinical leadership at a programme and local level · using a bundle of technical and non-technical interventions · undertaking patient risk assessment to guide interventions · the value of data measurement and feedback Conclusions & Recommendations: My work has improved patient experience and patient safety knowledge. With further testing this knowledge could greatly benefit other areas of healthcare.
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Willebrand, Pernilla. "Svenska forskares framställning av New Public Management i socialt arbete : En kritisk diskursanalys av samtiden sociala arbete." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Malmö högskola, Institutionen för socialt arbete (SA), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-43253.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this study is to investigate how Swedish researchers portray a counter-discourse of New Public management in contemporary social work thru a Swedish context. The selection of empirical material is limited to Manifest: för ett socialt arbete i tiden which is an anthology with different research grants. The empirical material is limited to two chapters in the book; ”Det sociala arbetets kontrollmaskineri” written by Marcus Herz and ”Privatisering av individ- och familjeomsorgen” written by Marie Sallnäs and Stefan Wiklund. For analysis of the empirical material a critical discourse analysis will be applied which also is a part of social constructivist theory. When analysing Winther-Jørgensen and Phillips (2000) interpretation of Norman Faircloughs three-dimensional model will be applied. The goal with the critical analysis is to expose linguistic constructions that has been dominated by society for analysis. In this way liberation from incorporated images and power relationships can be received by challenging them. A counter-discourse occurs when different meanings try to take place in the same domain. This means that different values collide in the same domain and therefore they can be challenged. NPM has a salience roll in social work but many researchers are questioning if it is the right way to go for the social work. The conclusions show that researchers highlight the consequences of the implementation of NPM and challenges the establishment by highlighting values they consider being elementary for the welfare system and social work. In this way a welfare discourse is portrayed as the counter-discourse against NPM.
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García, Micaela. "Female social workers perspectives on interventions in sexual and reproductive health in Argentina." Thesis, Ersta Sköndal högskola, Institutionen för socialvetenskap, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:esh:diva-4733.
Full textAbstract:
In this field study, female social workers perspectives have been collected, on interventions regarding sexual and reproductive health in the public sector in Argentina. The purpose was primary empirical and secondary to analyze empirical data using critical theory. The methodology was qualitative and the theoretical framework was created using an abductive approach. Thirteen female social workers were interviewed in the municipality of general Pueyrredón, in the province of Buenos Aires. Empirical data was categorized using the hermeneutic approach; described and analyzed using critical theory. Results presented challenges regarding lack of accessibility, continuity and accountability, from the nation, the province and the municipality. Moreover, results show challenges on how to target vulnerable groups, adolescents, people with low intellectual disability, people from neighboring countries, and from the north of Argentina. In addition, there were challenges on how to increase correct use and use of contraceptives. Suggestions were to make interventions more adaptable and creative. Stressed challenges were regarding male involvement in sexual and reproductive health decisions, gender violence, the patriarchal society, and the macho culture. Critical theory highlighted challenges created by Argentina’s societal structures, structures that contribute to oppression of service users, making them powerless and marginalized. By increasing the knowledge of critical social work theory in social work education, there would be more tools for social workers to use it in practice. When using critical social work theory all levels in a society shall be included. Specific policies and interventions are requested to battle female discrimination.
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Fröander, Rebecca, and Nelli Halkosaari. "The construction of women’s sexuality : A critical discourse analysis on consent research." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för socialt arbete - Socialhögskolan, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-166351.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of this study was to examine how women’s sexuality is constructed in consent research, and to discuss hypothetically how this construction could come to affect practical social work. We believe that the way that sexuality is defined and discussed can have an impact on how professionals treat women who have been subjected to sexual assaults and rape, and work with adolescents in the field of social work. We wanted to explore this further. By doing a critical discourse analysis on research articles about women’s sexuality and consent, we found that traditional sexual scripts were widely reproduced and the concept of women’s own desire was nonexistent. We then problematised this by discussing how it might be affecting practical social work in a negative matter, whilst trying to formulate possible reforms. Our conclusion was that it is possible that the discourses presented in the examined articles could contribute to retrogressive perspectives on women’s sexuality, which in turn could influence the practical social work and its approach to female clients.
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Winters, Katherine Elizabeth. "Physical and Emotional Sibling Violence and Child Welfare: a Critical Realist Exploratory Study." PDXScholar, 2019. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4808.
Full textAbstract:
Sibling violence is a pervasive, yet poorly understood and substantially underreported phenomenon. Currently recognized as the most common form of intra-familial abuse, various estimates suggest that 30 percent or more of children in the general population experience severe acts of violence inflicted by a sibling each year.
Given that many young people in the child welfare system experience the family conditions associated with abusive sibling violence, recent publications have implored child welfare to embrace the notion that it is a form of child maltreatment. Practitioners and policymakers have yet to reach agreement on what constitutes physical or emotional abuse between siblings, and the perspectives of young people with lived experience of abuse are largely absent from research and scholarship.
I designed the study, grounded in Critical Realism, to increase understanding of how sibling violence manifests in child welfare, contribute to theory development, and identify actions to protect children from harm. Based on in-depth interviews with eight foster care alumni, I offer a refined definition of sibling violence and four family conditions associated with sibling violence in child welfare. The findings also supported a systems-based theory reflecting four stable family member roles. My recommendations seek to leverage the infrastructure of the child welfare system while taking into consideration the limitations imposed by neoliberal social and economic policy.
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Ovington, Gary Keith. "Teaching and learning in higher education : nurturing critical reflection for bridging theory/practice links : a case study in social work education." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1999. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/497.
Full textAbstract:
The 1990s has witnessed two 'institutions' in 'crisis': higher education and social work. In higher education. government has brandished its quality sword and the long-neglected area of teaching is prominent in the war cry. In social work, major stakeholders have constructed the crisis as the 'theory/practice problematic' and the systemic intervention has been the prima facie increasing power of non-academic bodies to shape social work curriculum. This study is set within this context of quality teaching and theory/practice issues. It is an action research study of the teaching and learning dynamic of a first year social work subject which seeks to 'answer' the question: how do we best teach beginning social work students to grapple with theory/practice issues, or more specifically, how do we best teach them to think theoretically and critically about action?
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Viksten, Michal. "Human rights activism in Mexico City – A case study on young people’s strategies for enacting citizenship." Thesis, Ersta Sköndal Bräcke högskola, Institutionen för socialvetenskap, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:esh:diva-7156.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the strategies used by young people in Mexico City to exercise civic participation in the form of human rights activism. Mexican society is currently markedby an increased amount of human rights violations, together with high levels of corruption, violence and severe flaws within the democratic system. To claim and stand up for human rights in this context is not onlydifficult but also dangerous, which is a pattern that recurs in many context throughout the globe. The young activists who were interviewed share the experience of having attended the same human rights education, where human rights are taught through critical pedagogy. They manifest a perspective where human rights have to be enacted in all spheres of society, including interpersonal relationships. Human rights ideals also seem to represent something similar to an ideology that, when understood correctly, entails a transformative potential. The experience of undertaking human rights education formed new networks and bonds in civil society, as well as personal reflections on their own position in their surrounding. Although recognizing the importance of relating to the parliamentary structure and public institutions, the activists seem sceptical towards achieving human rights progress through that arena due to the large political and financial corruption. Instead, the result of this study highlights other strategies for exercising civic participation and defending human rights in Mexico, such as the creation and participation in autonomous, democratic structures within in the civil society and social movements, as well as actions executed within informal relationships and spheres.
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Hedenstein, Caroline. ""Cronulla riot" - En kritisk diskursanalys om representationer, makt och rasism utifrån tidningsartiklar publicerade om Cronulla riot i The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph samt The Sunday Telegraph." Thesis, Linnaeus University, School of Social Work, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-8452.
Full textAbstract:
This research paper aims to show how racism, power, social representations and identity are created and reproduced through the media. The research paper will analyse newspaper articles presented about Cronulla riot in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph using Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, CDA, as a theory and method. The research paper aims to demonstrate how inequality in the Australian society is reproduced by the media through the use stereotypes and certain social representations and how knowledge and awareness about this is relevant to social work of today.
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Curry, Neil. "Marxism, post-Marxism and the discourse of late capitalism : a critical evaluation of the work of Roy Bhaskar, Fredric Jameson and Ernesto Laclau." Thesis, University of Chichester, 2003. http://eprints.chi.ac.uk/854/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is a contribution towards negotiating a way through the terrain of contemporary Marxist theory in the conditions of late capitalism. A Marxism which is responsive to the prevailing conditions and open to reconfiguration. I have chosen to concentrate on the works of Bhaskar, Jameson and Laclau because they all have attempted to develop their own projects rather than reiterate an orthodox Marxist line. I begin the thesis through an examination of the contribution of Althusser. Althusser's theoretical work sets up the conceptual parameters of the thesis, and offers a way into negotiating a path beyond the Marxism/post-Marxism divide. In the first chapter I demonstrate the ongoing influence of Althusser on all three of the theorists in question. This inevitably has to include a historical contextualisation and a restaging of the events that gave rise to Althusser's Marxism. Althusser had an enormous impact on Marxist theory, and the rapid decline of structural Marxism left a void which has yet to be dealt with adequately. Althusser has thus provided the possibility of connecting all three thinkers and at the same time has enabled an overview of the distinctive approaches of them. A critical evaluation of Bhaskar, Jameson and Laclau will be the theme of chapters two, three and four. The approach I will take will be to argue that each of the protagonists offers something different for a reconfigured Marxism. I will orientate the chapters on Bhaskar, Jameson and Laclau around the following critical considerations: What does Marxism in the conditions of postmodernity entail? If one takes seriously the criticisms posed by postist thought, then what remains distinctively Marxist after this process? The issue of class has been central to any Marxist analysis, but is it possible to articulate a class transformative project alongside the new social movements? How have Bhaskar, Jameson and Laclau responded to these issues and others relating to contemporary Marxism? It is in trying to answer these questions as applied to these three theorists, that the originality of the thesis lies.