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.

Social work student in Slovenia experiences a week of growing old

Špela is a student at the Faculty for Social Work in Ljubljana in Slovenia, and she spent a week with an older person to get experience of how interesting it can be as an older person. This is the kind of experience every social work student should have.

See Špela’s blog about her experience here: Living with Veronika for a week

This is all part of the HelpAge International campaign ‘Make it Ageless’. It want older people’s voices to be heard everywhere in the world. If you want to, you can join a ‘virtual march’ to support them, from the same page, without leaving your computer.You can see the website here: The Make it Ageless campaign and signing up for the 'Virtual March'.

Studies of adult and child social care in Czech and Slovak republics: English edition of their journal

A newly published edition of the journal Czech and Slovak Social Work fully in English demonstrates what an interesting range of research is going in on countries that one hears little about, because they don't write in English. this one includes studies of domiciliary social care, how palliative care staff  cope with the fact that their patients die, an account of Czech and Slovak social care in the 1970s and '80s (just before the transition of Western-style democratic government) and Czech childcare policy.

The link: Czech and Slovak Social Work: English edition

Social workers struggle for justice, rights and equality

A poster that I originally got from a Facebook page: it says the 15th May is the day of the social worker, in the struggle for justice, rights and equality.

A Portuguese Facebook page for ASSISTENTE.SOCIAL.MARTA.LEME

Research video: how was Barack Obama implicated?

Not exactly social work, but I liked this video, which I got from @JWilliamson1234. It introduces to young people the idea of participating in a research project to find out about the lives of people like them who are being cared for by people who are not their parents. It's a good example of ways in which people are presenting participation in research to potential respondents. A young man introduces it and the researcher gives a very clear and reassuring presentation. It's a fun presentation, too. How was Barack Obama implicated? You have to watch the video to see.

Your family your voice video

Recognition for the social work profession in Borneo, Malaysia

Yet another country is moving towards regulating social work: an indication that social work continues to be seen as an important profession in many different cultures and nations. A statement from the government in the Malaysian part of Borneo reported in the Borneo Times recognises that the increasing complexity of social work means that accrediting social work professionals is important.

Borneo Times Report

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