Modern Social Work Theory, new edition published

I suppose this is international social work news: the new edition of my book, Modern Social Work Theory (it's the fourth) has just come out, bigger, better, easier to read, and heavily updated.

Link to the British publisher: Palgrave Macmillan.

Link to the American publisher: Lyceum.

the book is widely used internationally, and I hope that, as with previous editions, there will be translations of the latest version.

Healthcare and social work: no Mills and Boon please

Healthcare remains a crucial location for social work, as we see from this comprehensive new Portuguese book on social work in healthcare, published by Pactor in Lisbon and edited by Maria Irene de Carvalho. (And in which I have a chapter on palliative and end-of-life care.) There's also a chapter on social work and healthcare in Brazil, where a slightly different kind of Portuguese is spoken, but there's a lot of overlap.

Link to the publisher's website.

But healthcare is also a big anxiety for social workers, because they compare themselves with healthcare professionals and feel that social work does not get the same degree of recognition across the world.

There are three reasons for this: the class status of doctors, the sentiment attached to the caring role of nurses (and perhaps to some other ancillary healthcare professions) and the bureaucratic role of social workers in many of the European welfare states. Doctors are high-paid, upper-middle-class professionals with a lot of control of their profession and wide discretion in their work. But we all know that does not leave them free from criticism and political attack in our low-deference world. And do we want the kind of public regard that comes from the gendered view of nurses as 'idealised carer-servant-wives' instead of a full appreciation of the complex professional roles that nurses undertake? But we do have the problem that the public sees social workers in many countries as part of the government bureaucracy and knows about our official roles or child protection rather than our caring roles. It's the same limited perception of social work as the Mills and Boon view of nursing and medicine. At least we don't have people writing social work romances - or do we?

(Glossary: Mills and Boon are a large UK publisher of formula romantic novels, with a long line in handsome rich doctors and beauteous caring nurses falling in love and living happily ever after)

Info from the 2012 Stockholm world conference + my Guardian article on social justice

The British Guardian newspaper has a website dedicated to the World Social Work and Social Development Conference in Stockholm last month.
Guardian website on World Social work & Social Development conference in July

It includes an article by me on social work and social justice:
Link to Malcolm's article on social work and social justice.

There is also an Conference website, which contains a link to videos of the Plenary speeches, including mine, the Conference film and to interviews with some of the interesting particpants (among which I am not):
Link to the Conference website.

Social work ideas from India to the US showcases increasing cultural translation

Gurid Aga Askeland and I argue in our book on Globalisation and International Social Work that people should aim at 'cultural translation'. That is, they should write about ideas in ways that are can be used in other cultures. When you do this, you have to recognise that your ideas will be changed by the other culture. But this is enriching, because when they come back to you, they give another perspective on your original idea. Increasingly, we are beginning to see this, as people from other countries publish in Western countries about social work elsewhere: this can only enrich social work in Europe and the US where people think that they have nothing to learn from other cultures and 'poor' countries. I argued this in my recent speech at the Stockholm world conference on social work and social development.

I see Lyceum are publicising a book by Sweta Singh, an Indian social worker in the US, who is writing about how holistic practice and Hindu ideas taken from his Indian heritage can be used in his adopted country.

Link to the publisher's website.

China aiming for 1.45 million social workers

If you thought your country was not keen enough on developing social work, take a look at the Chinese government deciding it wants 1.45 million social workers, up from 200,000 now. This means training 75,000 a year, up from 20,000 a year. There's an ambitious plan to achieve this. Even if they don't, it signifies a confidence in and thoughtfulness about social work that a lot of other developed countries don't seem to have.

The news item here:
China Daily USA news item

Czech/Slovak social work journal

Here's a lot of titles from a journal. Look familiar; sort of thing social workers across the world are interested in? this lot come from the most recent volume of the Czech and Slovak Journal of Social Work, which I get as an international member of their editorial board. Parts of thejournal are magazine-like, with info about new legislation and news about personalities and projects. And, of course, if you don't read Czech and Slovak, you can't read the full content of the articles - neither can I. But there are English abstracts, and some articles in English on its website, which you can use to educate yourself about social work practice and thinking in those countries. What a pity language difference means that we can't read what all our colleagues are writing about their practice.

Knowledge creation in social work

Using sociological research methods in social work

Survey of approaches to social work education, especially in practice education

Self-help and support groups in the Czech Republic

Organisational identity and culture in staff working in a Czech charity

Theory and practice in working with families at risk

Case management using a postmodern collaborative approach

Complex needs assessment in problem- and solution-focused practice

Risk assessment with children in need

Citizen participation in working with families caring for disabled children

Social work with children experiencing domestic violence

Psychosocial effects of unemployment on families

Stereotypes of maternal and paternal roles in child protection practice

Rights of children with intellectual disabilities in the Czech Republic

Alternative approaches to data analysis in small samples in social work practice

Applying ethical theory in practice

Mediation in family conflicts

The key worker role in care homes for older people

Individual planning in domiciliary care services for older people

Experiences of staff as individual planning is introduced in residential care for older people

Teaching ethics in social work

Widows and widowers’ views of support from their environment

The approach to death of helping professionals in a hospice and their ways of managing stress

Volunteering and do-gooding

Volunteering to promote social inclusion

Volunteering in Slovakia – new trends

Psychological aspects of volunteering in social work

Youth volunteering as a framework to make social connections

Volunteering in hospices

 The journal English website here:  http://www.socialniprace.cz/english.php

More creativity and funding for children: aims in Australian debate

An Australian social worker who has built up a big family and child welfare organisation uses a congratulatory press interview to press for reform of the Victorian child welfare system : no it’s not that old – the state of Victoria. She aims for:

Getting rid of the adversarial legal processes through the Children's Court … 'Investment in early years; funding for out-of-home care that matches the demand — right now it's capped; an education allowance for kids in out-of-home care, and the transferring of case management from the Department of Human Services to the community sector.

These would be recognisable aims in many countries. Adversarial legal antics is not a good way of handling children’s lives. Adequate funding that prevents children from coming into state care, supports children’s education and if possible keeps them in a community setting is an important priority to many social workers. And too often hard-pressed state social work agencies focus on government priorities and political prejudices instead of the needs of children. Better to support planning and advocacy outside the state. Of course, social workers can be creative in government services, but over-bureaucratic controls and poor finance often hold creative practice back, for children and for adults.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/repairing-broken-young-lives-20110715-1hi75.html#ixzz1SSp5O7vI

Ugandan life experience contributes to UK social work career

A Ugandan website, describing the career of social worker, Dorothy Nababi Sebuliba, and her impresive academic qualifications and contribution to chkild and adolescent social work in the UK, draws attention to the importance of early life experience and family traditions in forming the skills and commitment of social workers, even when they move to another country to work. Because of her life histroy, Dorothy is a 'gift' from Uganda to the UK, and UK social work is richer because of it.

From the New Vision  website:

“MY late father used to often tell us that his contribution to our education was our inheritance and the rest of his possessions were for his brothers and sisters,” says Dorothy Nababi Sebuliba.

The senior mental health practitioner, who is based in Warwickshire in the UK, is a graduate of Makerere University, with a degree in social work and social administration. She also has a post-graduate diploma in psychiatric social work from Manchester University, funded by a scholarship from Save the Children Fund.

She has a masters’ degree in child and family mental health from the University of Leicester, UK.

Read more: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/744042

Valued social work expertise to influence government in Singapore talent development

A minister proposes a 'Talent Development Scheme' in the Singapore Government Monitor so that gound-level expertise of social work can be rotated into and out of ministry policy-making. What an opportunity for influencing government to the benefit of clients. You could wish all governments wanted some social work expertise in making decisions. Reading the speech also leads me to wish that social workers everywhere were so well-regarded. I also like the recognition that social work is not a business and has long-term objectives. Seeing that Singapore is such a successful economy, do you think our government would be prepared learn something from them?

Here are some excerpts from the speech:

...I want to underline the importance of the work you perform. There are still things we can do to upgrade our performance and standards...FSCs need to be proactive, anticipate needs, identify vulnerable families and collaborate with other local stakeholders...Families who approach the FSCs should be able to expect a certain level of standard and professionalism that encourages them to trust and rely on you. Similarly, for the Members of Parliament and other grassroots leaders who refer cases to you, they need to know you and your qualities, and they need to feel that they can trust and rely on you.  I know it is uncomfortable, but we have to find ways to measure and incentivise quality. This is of course not easy in social work. You are not running a business, and the impact of your work often takes a long time to be evident.  

...I am also acutely aware that within MCYS and NCSS, we do not have enough social workers with real ground experiences involved with policy formulation, professional supervision and setting standards.  I am therefore considering the establishment of a Talent Development Scheme. This scheme would directly employ some social workers. They would consist of people who are already in the profession, and through a process of peer review, are considered leaders and good mentors. In addition, we could offer scholarships to top students. We would then have a central pool of top notch social workers, who would be seconded to the ground and work on the frontlines. But in the course of their careers, they would be able to be rotated to ground work, policy work, supervisory duties and perhaps even academia. That would give leadership within the entire social service sector in Singapore, which will be beneficial to the ground, to the FSCs, to the ministry and NCSS. We will have people like you, with real experience, active in making policies and setting standards. 

But the key point that I want to leave with you is that everything that we do in social work rests in your hands, your conscience, your academic qualifications, and your experience and expertise and, ultimately, the strength and quality of your heart. 

On the web at: 

http://www.thegovmonitor.com/world_news/asia/singapore-outlines-scheme-to-grow-professional-social-workers-44821.html

Social work with an education focus helps with finance problems

A report in the St Louis American tells of an initiative by social work students from Washington University:

In remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr., the Society of Black Student Social Workers  at Washington University’s Brown School will host the fifth annual “Financial Freedom Seminar: Recovering From the Recession, Reaching for the Future.” 

The seminar, free and open to the public, is designed for St. Louis community youth and adults interested in building wealth, repairing and maintaining good credit, purchasing a home or starting and expanding a business.

The FDIC recently reported that St. Louis has the highest percentage of unbanked African-American households in the entire country. “This devastating statistic implies that many of our community members are not effectively being connected to quality, financial education resources,” said Jessica Eiland, the event’s co-chair, a society member and a Brown School graduate student.

My comment: This great initiative shows how students can use their knowledge to contribute to serving the community, but especially the importance of helping over managing finances. Some of the more esoteric psycho-type social work needs to keep their feet on the ground. At St Christopher's Hospice, evaluations have shown that seminar-format educational approaches are a good way of getting people to accept help with financial issues - it's non-stigmatising, compared with a problem-based approach, because you say in effect 'everyone need to learn about these issues' rather than 'you've got a problem that we need to sort out'.

On the web: http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_news/article_2e0ae0a4-1dca-11e0-9652-001cc4c03286.html