Academic literature on the topic 'Fields of Research – 370000 Studies in Human Society – 370200 Social Work'

“In what ways does the experience of caregiving for a terminally ill family member affect the experience and process of bereavement?” The identity of family caregivers in palliative care has been ambiguous: caregivers are often unaware they fit the description of ‘carer’. Previous research describes two contrasting constructs that shape the identity of the caregiver: burden and privilege. Research, including this study, suggests that the emergence of identity as a carer impacts on the course and experience of bereavement. Two semi – structured interviews were conducted with a small number of caregiving family members: during the caregiving role and in their subsequent bereavement. This exploratory study used phenomenological research to examine the experiences of those caregivers interviewed. The data were examined using the existential themes uncovered in analysis. This paper reports on those themes.

This thesis examines the spirituality and participation in faith-based activities of young Catholics in Whangarei, New Zealand. Six youth aged 16-17 years have shared their experiences in several areas of Catholicism such as religious attendance, Catholic identity and Catholic faith, morals and values, peer group socialisation and religious commitment. Using a qualitative mixed-methodological approach with the underlying philosophical stance of interpretivism, the intent of the study is to discover ways in which these young Catholics integrate their faith into their daily lives and make meaning out of it. It also compares the religious beliefs and values of Catholic youth in Whangarei to those reported worldwide. The findings reveal many similar themes to those from international studies. Although all of the participants in this study possessed a distinct sense of ‘spirituality’ and being ‘Catholic’ was a very important part of their identity, not all of them seemed to consider it practical to live out their Catholic beliefs. Similarly, although they did not face any insurmountable challenges in practicing their faith in daily life, only a few of them had strong convictions about their faith and, like their peers in other countries, only a few could concretely list the core Catholic beliefs. Concepts of moralistic therapeutic deism were found to affect half the participants while nuances of moralistic relativism were also prevalent. Results also showed a growing disinterest in attending Mass, participating in the sacrament of Confession, leading an active prayer life, being a part of church youth activities and some difficulty in finding similar peer group support. Overall, the findings presented in this thesis suggested that the participants involved in the study could be separated into two groups on the basis of their differing spiritual levels and commitment to the Catholic faith The findings suggest a need for Catholic youth in Whangarei to be supported in their spiritual development in order to help them grow in their Catholic faith. Accordingly, the main recommendations are for community-based services such as providing a variety of youth programmes/groups to engage young people and finding ways to facilitate the secure engagement of youth in a dialogue about their faith and religion, in order to spiritually encourage, nourish and sustain them at whatever stage they might be at.

Family Meetings occur frequently in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) yet little data existed to guide clinicians in the conduct of these meetings. The medical team is required to deliver complex medical information and navigate complex decision-making with a traumatised family during a meeting. The objectives of this study were to describe the content and process of 15 whanau/family meetings in the PICU, identify family meeting characteristics and patient and family attributes that influence family satisfaction and recommend guidelines for health professionals working in the PICU. The study was conducted in a PICU in a university-affiliated children’s hospital in New Zealand (NZ). The process and content of 15 family meetings were analysed using a coding framework previously developed through a qualitative study of family meetings in the adult intensive care unit (Curtis, 2002a). A questionnaire providing a quantitative assessment of family satisfaction drawn from the same study was administered to 30 family members. Demographic data for the study were collected from the patient’s hospital record and these were combined with data relating to the meeting recording and transcript to identify family meeting characteristics and attributes that might influence family satisfaction. The content and process of family meetings in the PICU were described using a framework detailing 28 codes from the six domains: introductions, informational exchange, discussions of the future, decisions, discussions about death and dying, and closings. A comparison of family meeting characteristics and patient and family attributes revealed that longer meetings (40 minutes plus) were associated with lower family satisfaction and should therefore prompt clinicians to consider whether there are unresolved conflicts, difficulties or misunderstandings between the medical team and the family. Recommendations are proposed to guide health professionals in family meetings in the PICU. This is the first study to record and code the content of family meetings in the PICU. The findings from this study will assist clinicians in their meetings with families. The description of the family meeting content will also provide a foundation for future communication training and research in the health environment.

When the New Zealand Government restructured the system of the public funding of research (1990-1992) it created Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) as companies operating in a global, market-led economy. One CRI, AgResearch, responded to this environment by corporatisation and instituted a normative system of control of workers which, through strategic plans, vision and mission statements, and performance appraisal processes, encouraged workers to adhere to company goals. This thesis, reporting on an ethnographic study of this CRI, shows how most scientific workers (technical workers and scientists alike) experienced insecurity through estrangement because the contributions they wished to make were less valued both in society and in their work organisation. They were excluded from participation in both organisational and Government policy-making, and felt they did not ‘belong’ anymore. Scientists in particular were also experiencing alienation (in the Marxist sense), as they were losing autonomy over the production of their work and its end use. Scientific workers developed tactics of compliance in order to resist these experiences and ostensibly comply with organisational goals while maintaining and protecting their self-identities, and making their work meaningful. Meanwhile, to outward appearances, the work of the CRI continued. This thesis adds to the sociology of work literature by extending the understanding of the concepts of compliance and resistance in white-collar work, particularly under normative control, by developing two models of resistance. It adds to the stories of the impact on public sector workers of the restructuring of this sector in New Zealand’s recent history, and develops implications for science policy and practice.

This study explores the reflective experiences of indigenous field researchers who were involved in conducting the first population representative research study on gender-based violence and child abuse in the Solomon Islands. The purpose of this thesis study was to gain an understanding and insight into the field researchers’ perceptions of the positive and negative impacts such involvement may have had on their lives. The term ‘impact’ was applied holistically and focus was given to whether negative impacts were mitigated by the positive benefits that may be present from being involved in such research. The research study design was exploratory and qualitative in nature, underpinned by a phenomenological approach. The participants were 29 Solomon Island women who had been employed in the role of ‘field researcher’ for the Solomon Island Family Health and Safety Study. Data collection methods included the use of both in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Eleven interviews were conducted using a semi-structured approach. Three focus group discussions were facilitated, with the assistance of an open-ended questionnaire guideline. The findings identified a number of themes that emerged from the data collected. The themes highlighted primary impacts that included an emotional, physical and life-changing dimension. There was a pattern where different themes were more prevalent, dependent on what phase of the ‘research journey’ that the researchers’ were reflecting on. A significant finding was that although field researchers’ primarily reported negative impacts, they all unanimously stated that they would be interested in being involved in conducting research on violence against women and children in the future. These findings not only suggest that the positive benefits from being involved in such research mitigated the many negative impacts as reported by the field researchers, but also suggest that through being involved with such research, they developed an increased commitment within their own communities to assist in reducing violence against women and children. Conducting research on violence against women and children in a developing post-conflict country brings with it many physical and emotional challenges for indigenous field researchers. It is essential that field researchers are provided with considerable support during all phases of the research study. The application of ethical and safety standards needs to reflect the unique characteristics of the country where the study is being conducted, taking into account the situational and ambient dangers that field researchers may be confronted with during their time in the field.

This study explores Tongan social work practice and examines how social and community work is constructed from a Tongan worldview. Tongan social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand participated in individual interviews and focus group meetings which explored the Tongan values, knowledge, skills and processes foundational to their practice. The participants' narratives contribute to an understanding of Tongan conceptions of wellbeing, personal and social change and to an identification of key components of a Tongan theoretical framework for social and community work practice. This exploratory study contributes to the growing literature articulating indigenous and non-western frameworks for social and community work practice. Seeking to draw on a Tongan interpretive framework, the thesis employs metaphors, in particular two fishing practices (pola and uku), to draw the findings together. Pola, a community fishing practice, illustrates a Tongan social welfare system comprised of core values, namely: fetokoni'aki (mutual helpfulness), tauhi vā (looking after relationships), faka'apa'apa (respect) and 'ofa (love). Maintaining this Tongan system in the diaspora is central to the purpose of Tongan social and community work and the values themselves are a basis for practice. Other key concepts are shown to define a Tongan practice framework and these are identified as: fakafekau'aki (connecting), a'u tonu (going in person), lotu (spirituality/prayer/religion), fakatōkilalo (humility), fie'aonga (wanting to be useful), matakāinga (behaving like family) and 'osikiavelenga (doing utmost). The uku metaphor draws parallels to specialised practices of fishing or diving under the reef, around pupu'a puhi (blowholes). Similarly, Tongan social and community work involves specific processes which draw on a constellation of skills and values. Fakatoukatea (skills in opposite directions) is important for bridging Tongan and pālangi contexts, for working across various fields of practice and for adopting family-like roles as a social worker. Lea fakatonga (Tongan language), hua (humour)and feongo'i'aki (intuitive use of feelings) are important aspects of a Tongan social work approach. Tongan social and community work is located primarily within kāinga (extended family) and community. This location of social work reconstructs conventional conceptions of professionalism and relationships become a key force for change within a Tongan framework. A balance between a directive and empowerment approach needs to be achieved and an advocacy emphasis is required given the position of Tongans in the diaspora. This thesis demonstrates that a framework for social and community work derived from a Tongan worldview: provides new discourses and thinking within the critical postmodern tradition; is negotiated alongside other discourses thus creating spaces of possibility; is characterised by layers of ethnic specific, indigenous and humanity level differences and commonalities; emphasises the moral-artistic nature of social and community work; and challenges social work to be more diverse in terms of practice competencies, supervision, cross-cultural practice, education and community development. The thesis argues that if social and community work is to be transformative, it must itself be transformed and its very foundations reshaped by Tongan and other indigenous, non-western voices.

This thesis presents the construction of social work supervision from the perspectives of social work practitioners and supervisors. In particular, the research explored how social work supervision was constructed, the influence of the Aotearoa New Zealand context upon its construction, and where and how social work supervision can most effectively be improved. In order to provide a background for informed analysis and discussion of the research findings, key themes within the international and Aoteaoroa New Zealand supervision literature were discussed. The thesis was a mixed methods study that was informed by a constructionist conceptual framework with regard to the framing and exploration of the research questions. The methodological approach used was derived from pragmatism and involved a combination of survey research with qualitative individual interviews, with the survey being used to recruit and purposefully select participants for the individual interviews. The key findings from the study were: a) social work supervision was predominantly constructed from a professional standpoint, with the social, organisational and interpersonal context influencing how supervision was produced in any setting at anytime; b) the Aotearoa New Zealand context influenced supervision through the discourses of biculturalism and indigenous development, with multiculturalism being a secondary influence; and c) that improvements were needed in the professional and organisational systems that support supervision as well as in the practice and provision of it. The implications and recommendations arising from these findings focus on social work supervision theory and practice, cultural competence and the further development of professional supervision. From these implications it is suggested that the future research and development agenda for social work supervision both internationally and within Aotearoa New Zealand concerns theory-building, responding to the dynamics of culture and difference within supervision and the professionalisation of supervision. The recommendations related to the professionalisation of supervision concern: formal education and training; the role of supervision within organisations and contribution to organisational development; and the need for a stronger evidence-base regarding supervision’s contribution to client practice and social worker well-being and development.

This thesis presents an ecological exploration of the experiences of mental health workers faced with critical incidents and traumatic events in the course of their work. A qualitative study, it takes the experiences of twenty workers from a range of disciplines and environments, and examines their preparation for exposure to extreme stress, their passage through the incidents that they chose to relate, and the organisational response to the events. The central research question explores the knowledge bases currently utilised within trauma and critical incident response, and the degree to which these provide adequate explanatory, practice and evaluation models for responses to workplace incidents. It is examined through the narratives of the mental health workers, who self-define and explore the nature of their preparation for, and experience of, critical incidents and traumatic events in their workplace. The question is contextualised through a review of the knowledge bases of trauma and extreme stress, and of the mental health environment in which the workers practice. A case study of the workplace support known as debriefing illustrates the tensions between current knowledge bases in the area. Informed by this, the key issues of what did or did not work for the participants are explored. The thesis argues that the paradigm shift signalled by the latest developments within conceptualisations of trauma is not yet complete, and that the ensuing tensions have created debate and confusion in the creation of adequate responses to workplace incidents. Whilst conceptualisations that attempt to address issues of complexity and context are evolving, it is argued that an ecological framework has the potential to both explain and respond to incidents that occur within the mental health environment. The findings of the research raise issues of complexity in the design and implementation of appropriate support systems, and lend a perspective to the critique of debriefing that has been missing from existing debates. Key principles for the development of safe and sound support systems, and their evaluation, are developed.

Since the profession of social work began, there has been debate about whether it should be involved in helping individuals make change, or in encouraging societal change. Towards gaining an understanding of how this debate has played out in Aotearoa New Zealand, this research explores the question “What are the past present and future perspectives on the role of counselling in social work in Aotearoa New Zealand?” A mixed methodology format was used in this research. Qualitative interviews with individuals who had helped create the professions of social work, counselling and psychology were conducted to help understand the historical development of counselling within social work, and the factors which had impacted upon it. Questionnaires were then sent out to 985 members of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers that asked about members’ current views on, and practice of, counselling within social work. The research shows that social work developed late in New Zealand within a welfare state where governments questioned the need for it. With social work education not widely available until the 1970s there was limited training in counselling type approaches. The drive for professionalism (often aligned with those doing counselling) was tempered by those mindful of community and bicultural commitments due to differing ideologies and lack of access to education. Tangata whenua have had a major impact on the development of social work, and counselling within it. Respondents in this research were clear that aspects of counselling fell within their definitions of social work and that counselling in Aotearoa New Zealand should hold a strengths-based, collaborative stance that recognised the importance of a bicultural perspective. Most respondents indicated that they did some amount of counselling within their practice, but only 34% of respondents felt that their basic social work qualification had prepared them adequately or really well for their counselling role. The majority of questionnaire respondents had undertaken additional training to help them with their counselling role and over two-thirds indicated a strong desire to engage in further study in counselling. Registration of the helping professions presents challenges that include the potential for unhelpful competition between them. The thesis concludes that there is a need for more counselling education options for social workers and that there is a need for the profession of social work to formally define its scopes of practice.