The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education was established in 2004 by its namesake with the mission to advance global and local perspectives in social work for mutual understanding and advancement of human wellbeing.\ The proposed presentation is part of a group of three presentations that will highlight key strategic initiatives to promote diversity through collaborative global initiatives. They include one focused on the overall Institute, one about the Kendall Institute Grant Program, and the third about its Fulbright Partnerships.\ The Kendall Institute is a unique model for cultivating diversity through international social work initiatives. The Kendall mission is to promote strategic international collaboration to advance global initiatives and human diversity. All our activities seek to empower practitioners, researchers, students, and educators with relevant knowledge and skills to promote global diversity. The Kendall Institute Grant Program and the Fulbright Partnerships are two prime examples that demonstrate our commitment to human diversity. The workshop will discuss how the Kendall Institute is structured, its intentional and self-consciously global perspective, how we deliberate, and recently completed strategic plan.\ Members of the Kendall Institute constitute the Advisory Board who are established international social work scholars with expertise on assorted global social welfare issues.The workshop invites participants to dialogue with the Kendall presenters to deepen and disseminate ideas for pushing forward a diversity agenda for international social work.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
International Social Work Education, diversity, service learning
#1081 |
The Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education: Respecting Diversity through Fulbright Collaborative
Carol Cohen
1
;
Peter Szto
2
;
Cudore Snell3
1 - Adelphi University.2 - University of Nebraska at Omaha.3 - Howard University.
The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education was established in 2004 by its namesake with the mission to advance global and local perspectives in social work for mutual understanding and advancement of human wellbeing.\ The proposed presentation is part of a group of three presentations that will highlight key strategic initiatives to promote diversity through collaborative global initiatives. They include one focused on the overall Institute, one about the Kendall Institute Grant Program, and the third about its Fulbright Partnerships.\ This presentation focuses on the Kendall Institute’s partnerships with\ Fulbright Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State, and administered by Council for International Exchange of Scholars (https://cies.org/) and World Learning (https://fulbrightspecialist.worldlearning.org/). Fulbright awards are granted to US and non-US based students, faculty, and scholars from over 24 designated disciplines, including social work. Fulbright’s auspice, funding and mission provide a unique identity in fields of international cooperation and capacity building.\ The Kendall Institute’s partnership compliments existing mentorship and mutual support among social work educators, important factors in making successful applications to Fulbright programs. Our focus suggests a path to engagement in international collaboration, and a source for renewal of social work educators’ commitment to global social justice and international perspectives in professional education and practice.\ We welcome conference participants with wide ranging interests and experiences, both in\ existing international partnerships, and relatively new such perspectives and activities. Participants can anticipate positive outcomes, including gaining information, networking opportunities, and inspiration to begin or rekindle trajectories with Fulbright and similar international programs.\ This initiative is integrated with the Kendall Institute’s mission and portfolio, along with other activities including Kendall Institute’s Grants Program and integration of international, diverse practice in the education of future social workers in the United States.
Keywords (separate with commas)
international social work education, diversity
#1083 |
The Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education: The International Service Learning Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities Toolkit
Cudore Snell
1
;
Carol Cohen
2
;
Peter Szto3
1 - Howard University.2 - Adelphi University.3 - University of Nebraska at Omaha.
\ The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education was established in 2004 by its namesake with the mission to advance global and local perspectives in social work for mutual understanding and advancement of human wellbeing.\ The proposed presentation is part of a group of three presentations that will highlight key strategic initiatives to promote diversity through collaborative global initiatives. They include one focused on the overall Institute, one about the Kendall Institute Grant Program, and the third about its Fulbright Partnerships.\ At historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), slightly more than three percent of students study abroad as undergraduates, compared to a 10 percent participation rate for all students.\ \ A Kendall sponsored project, the\ International Service Learning Program for Historically Black Colleges and University Toolkit (ISL HBCU), will assist in closing this gap. This presentation will address the challenges and opportunities for faculty and students to engage in international service learning. It will illustrate a case study of a successful implementation of such an international service learning course. It will outline the foundations and essential components of such a toolkit to provide utility for other schools of social work interested in such an initiative.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
service learning
#1093 |
The Time for Group Work: Local and Global Experiences in Respecting Diversity through Joint Social Action
Carol Cohen1
;
Cudore Snell
2
;
Dwayne James
2
1 - Adelphi University School of Social Work.2 - Howard University School of Social Work.
Groups are central to human relationships, human rights, and the promotion of social justice. However, group work educators and partners rarely have opportunities to discuss their challenges and approaches. This session is unusual in focusing on a method of drawing participants from across geographic boundaries, fields of interest, and practice approaches to explore wide-ranging interests in group work in social work education.\\ Our purpose is to provide a forum to share experiences and engage in co-creating strategies to strengthen group work in social work.\\ \\ In previous sessions over the last 15 years, participants were engaged in vital aspects of group work education, practice, and research, including inclusion of service users and community members, equitable cross-cultural, cross-national, and interdisciplinary collaboration, and promotion of human rights and anti-oppressive practices within our institutions and communities. A foundational tenet of human rights is to promote the value of social support and solidarity within all communities.\\ An essential component of group work is to build connections and relationships that foster a sense of belonging, directly aligning with the concept of solidarity.\\ \\ Joining together with participants who bring diverse and unifying interests in group work in social work education, practice, and research has enhanced future work, influenced curriculum and policies, and encouraged partnerships to improve local and global conditions.\\ These sessions are conceptualized as incubators of essential advancements in group work, international collaboration, dissemination, and innovation.\\ \\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Groups, interdisciplinary collaboration, cross-culture, Human Rights, \\ anti-oppressive practices, experiences, narrative, community
14:45 - 15:45
Area_01
Democracy, Human Rights, Peace-building and Eco-social Justice
#0253 |
Integrating Human Rights into the Social Work Curriculum to reduce inequality and respect diversity
As a human rights profession (Mapp et al., 2019; United Nations Centre for Human Rights et al., 1994), social workers must learn ways to advance equity and justice to reduce inequality and oppression. Thus it is essential for social work programs to include this material in their curriculum since it is only by learning to practice these skills that social workers can realize human rights for individuals, regardless of their intersecting identities (Reynaert et el., 2022). However, research has found an emphasis on teaching the human rights instruments and principles rather than how to actualize a rights-based approach for justice in social work practice (Chen et al., 2015; Swigonski, 2011). To achieve human rights for increasingly diverse populations, the social work curriculum should educate social work students about using human rights principles (including anti-discrimination, equity, and inclusion) to promote equity and justice and prepare them to practice from this perspective. To accomplish this, this session will review strategies to assess the curriculum to achieve these goals, as well as potential methods programs can adapt. Based on previous research (Gatenio Gabel & Mapp, 2019), the presenters will share an exercise designed to help educators assess the extent to which a social work curriculum integrates a rights-based approach based on human rights principles of participation, inclusion, accountability, transparency, and equity. This tool assesses human rights content and skills training in social work curriculum to train social workers to reduce inequalities and increase hope for all peoples.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Human rights, social work education, curriculum
#0430 |
Human Rights, Enhancing Resilience, and Forced Migration
Background: Refugees, asylum seekers, and forced migrants are changing our geopolitical landscape. Climate disasters are increasing, amplifying the urgency to find sustainable immigration solutions. The Covid-19 virus and climate crises reveal our shared public health and global interdependence. This research sought to understand best practices for providing culturally effective health and behavioral health services to forced migrants during the time of Covid-19 and climate crises.Methods: The findings presented are from qualitative interviews of social workers collected from several countries (Iceland, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, and the United States). The participants were providers of social services to forced migrants who fled their homelands due to persecution, economic hardships, civil unrest, and climate disasters. The data was analyzed using content analysis. The interviews were coded, categorized, and these categories were further reviewed and organized to bring out the major themes.Findings: Differences in culture, countries, and economies determined many of the goals and services provided to forced migrants. Culture, history, economics and geopolitics were major factors in how each country managed the arrival of new residents as well as how a country handled the pandemic. Human rights and resilience were used to better understand the needs of stakeholders and possible best practices in helping forced migrants and host countries. The implications of this are discussed, with particular focus on the role of social work in meeting stakeholders' needs. Over 150 years ago in the United States, social work emerged at a time with similar conditions as today (massive immigration, epidemic, and income disparities). What have we learned? How do we navigate forward?
Keywords (separate with commas)
Forced Migration, Resilience-Enhancing Techniques, Human Rights, Health and behavioral health
#0471 |
Democratic processes in social work research
’The times they are a changing’ – all the time in social work. And so must research. While the world has changed several theories, research methods and research participants have remained the same. Somehow the basics of research are often understood as timeless. This is probably true in several studies and when talking about pure research. But it’s not possible in social work research. Research will and must be influenced by several participants and the diversity in social work. In participatory practice research approaches a negotiation between the stakeholders must take place. Negotiations about traditional scientific areas like: research question, research design, data analysis and publication. It is new for researchers that ‘outsiders’ interfere with their research. To support the interference new elements suddenly become part of the research process: the ability to support democratic processes and diversity among stakeholders, the skills to establish communicative and dialogical rooms and the awareness of power issues in the joint research processes. As research projects often are initiated by researchers and as the research processes often are headed by researchers, researchers need to face these new relational tasks. In other words: the researchers must be skilled to run the democratic, dialogical, diverse and communicative processes – besides being skilled to do research. The presentation will define and discuss participatory research and the new roles and tasks for the researchers – and hence one important part of the changing times in research.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Domocratic research processes, Diversity in research, Participation and negotiation in social work research
#0490 |
Towards an integral strategy to mitigate Energy Poverty in Europe: the potential role of social work
Karin Landsbergen1
;
Koen Dortmans
1
;
Erik Jansen
1
Energy Poverty (EP) has been recognized by the European Commission as a major challenge for the energy transition in Europe and lifting vulnerable citizens out of EP is prioritized as an urgent task for the EU. EU-surveys found that up to 125 million EU-citizens are dealing with circumstances of EP already, and that numbers are increasing (International Energy Agency and EU Energy Poverty Advisory Hub, 2021). Proven effective measures to alleviate EP are only applicable in local conditions, are difficult to transfer and are unable to reach a growing number of marginalized target groups. Particularly hard-to-reach vulnerable households require tailor-made approaches, as EP is often only one of the multi-social problems they are dealing with. Therefore, the problems of these households should be addressed integrally. The EU Interreg project SCEPA (Scaling up the Energy Poverty Approach) aims to contribute to a just and inclusive energy transition by better engaging more vulnerable households, reducing and alleviating EP. Within this project we conducted a literature study review, consisting of a literature search and expert interviews, to identify interventions to mitigate EP that are practiced within the European context. Instead of reinventing the wheel, in collaboration with a consortium of partners consisting of local and regional governments, their local networks and social impact organizations, we gather, integrate and enhance existing effective EP approaches to develop a Joint Action Strategy by sharing best practices and contextualizing intervention methods and procedures.The presentation will focus on the overarching conceptual model to mitigate EP, how this unfolds to a practical strategic model and suggests the selection of suitable interventions to mitigate EP in a more integral way. Furthermore, we will discuss the role of social workers and their organizations to foster a social perspective in the current emphasis on technological, financial and governance interventions.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Energy Poverty, Vulnerable Households, Integral Approach, Collaborative Learning and Sharing, Social Work
15:50 - 16:50
Area_01
Democracy, Human Rights, Peace-building and Eco-social Justice
#0709 |
Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) Program in Human Rights Leadership for Peace-building and Eco-Social Justice
Monmouth University launched its Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) Program in 2022. This cutting-edge DSW Program at Monmouth University focuses on the area of human rights leadership. This is an advanced practice social work degree program focusing on a professional area of practice. Social work as a profession is experiencing tremendous growth, even now during a global post pandemic. The US Department of Labor predicts a 13% growth in the profession between 2016 and 2026. The three areas in social work that will see the largest growth is health care, child welfare, and mental health.\ Educating and preparing students to realize their potential as leaders and to become engaged citizens in a diverse and increasingly interdependent world is a core component of Monmouth University's mission. This program envisions to offer practicing social workers a program where they can distinguish themselves in the profession as leaders by championing human rights and acting as agents of change across local, national, and global communities. There is a clear and pressing need for leadership development in the social work field. Students in the DSW program will be able to: develop expertise in an area of human rights leadership in social work that encompasses diversity, equity and inclusion; create and disseminate practice-relevant human rights leadership scholarship through multiple modalities and digital technologies; apply ethical decision making from a human rights and social justice perspective; use and critically evaluate scholarship in human rights evidence-based practices; and design, evaluate and implement effective human rights programs and policies. It also provides a very unique focus on human rights leadership that no other DSW program offers currently. This presentation will highlight how higher educational program could prepare graduates for professional social work practice that strives to secure Human Rights by advancing social, economic, and environmental justice for vulnerable populations.\ \
Keywords (separate with commas)
#0763 |
Justice for Hispanic adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system.
Hispanic adolescents are over involved in the juvenile justice system. In 2019, they had been 60% more involved in incarceration than white youth (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2019). The juvenile court of the United States is aware of the importance of the rehabilitation for delinquent youth (Grisso, 2013). Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is an evidence-based therapeutical technique and a combination of systemic and cognitive-behavioral theories that focus on both risk and protective factors to treat delinquency behaviors (Dehghani \& Bernards, 2022). The impact of the FFT on the Hispanic population has rarely been explored.\ \ A culturally appropriate intervention implemented to reduce adolescents’ maladaptive behaviors, empower them and their families to manage their emotions and behaviors and release the adolescents from the juvenile justice system.Edinburg, Juvenile Court referred 15 Hispanic adolescents, and their parents/guardians (P/G). Six adolescents and 12 P/G completed 10 sessions intervention. The adolescents completed a pre and post-test of The Sorensen Self-Esteem test and Grasmick Self-Control Scale. The P/G also completed the pre and post-test of the Interpersonal Relationship Family Questionnaire.The result indicated that all adolescents’ self-esteem increased. \ The result of the One-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank Test (OWT) showed no statistically significant changes in adolescents’ Self-control. The result of the OWT showed no statistically significant changes in the interpersonal relationship of the P/G. However, a follow-up interview with P/G three months after the intervention revealed that their interpersonal relationship improved. Four P/G reported that their adolescents returned to the system, two of which did not attend the training sessions.\ The results indicated that FFT intervention had positive impact on the family system of the delinquent Hispanic adolescents, improved the family interpersonal relationship and reduced the rate of recidivism\ in the juvenile justice system in the city of Edinburg and could have preventive outcomes.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Delinquent Hispanic adolescents, Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Family interpersonal relationship
#0816 |
Global Learning to Promote Immigrant and Refugee Integration, Tolerance, and Cultural Humility The Costa Rican Experience
Xan Boone
1
;
Carrie McCracken2
1 - University of Cincinnati.2 - Viva Nicaragua Abroad.
The University of Cincinnati School of Allied Health Sciences leads semiannual cross-cultural learning programs for Social Work and Health Science students in Costa Rica. \\\ The University began working with community partner Viva Nicaragua Abroad twelve years ago in Nicaragua and now sustains this partnership through study abroad programs that support the Nicaraguan asylum-seeking and refugee community in Costa Rica. This long-standing partnership is a model for ethical and sustainable study abroad programs that benefit both students and community partners. \ The University collaborates with Viva Nicaragua to facilitate needs-based activities that support the efforts of Nicaraguan asylum seekers and refugees to integrate into Costa Rica. \ This unique program brings together Nicaraguan immigrants and refugees, \ Costa Ricans, and international students to engage in cross-cultural activities that promote cultures of peace, tolerance, and acceptance. \ \ This tripartite global approach provides multiple benefits for Social Work and Health Science students and community members. Students and community partners collaborate on workshops that focus on topics including nonviolent conflict resolution, trauma-informed care, self-care, gender equity, health disparities, diversity, and inclusion. \ \ All participants engage in rich discussions about global topics including human displacement and social justice. \ \ Students work alongside community members to facilitate activities that promote cultural competence, inclusion, and tolerance and provide tangible products that support the needs of the Costa Rican and Nicaraguan communities.\\\ \ Students gain a greater understanding of global topics and facilitate activities that support integration efforts with Costa Rican and Nicaraguan immigrant communities. \ Similar efforts can be reproduced locally and internationally to incorporate global perspectives in social work and promote dialogue and action about social inequities, tolerance, and inclusion.
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work, cross-cultural learning, cross-cultural collaboration, experiential learning, interdisciplinary programs, immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, tolerance, inclusion, social integration, diversity, cultural competence, human rights, global social work, human displacement, ethical study abroad, sustainable study abroad, Costa Rica, Nicaragua.\\
#0883 |
Developing cross-national grassroots understanding on the role of social work and political conflict
Symposium overviewIn the backdrop of on-going political conflicts across the globe, it is important for social workers to explore and find ways to support individuals, families and communities who are affected by such extreme experiences. While there is a growing body of social work knowledge on complex emergencies such as natural disasters, less is known about the professional role in relation to different political conflicts. Furthermore, local activists, practitioners and scholars – particularly from countries which are labelled as developing - rarely have a chance to generate knowledge and shape social work interventions in such contexts. This is, in part, due to the perceived priority of aid and development interventions, funded and implemented by international efforts, with knowledge developed in other contexts.\ This Symposium aims to open the space for IFSW engagement in this field, by offering examples from three different contexts – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, and Cyprus. The Symposium will also be an announcement for the forthcoming IFSW book titled ‘Local Perspectives on Social Services and Social Work in the Context of War and Conflict – an International Rader’, which will be available as a free download via the IFSW website in mid 2024.\ Presentation 1: Towards a Social Work for Critical Peace: Insights from the Case Study of Cyprus (Ioakimidis)Presentation 2: Eurocentric standards, anti-colonial discourse, social work and political conflict – a case study of Burkina Faso (Ouedraogo)Presentation 3: Madness after the war – lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovina on supporting people who experience distress after political conflict (Maglajlic)\ \
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social work, political conflict, peace building, adult services, mental health
16:55 - 17:55
Area_01
Democracy, Human Rights, Peace Building and Ecosocial Justice
#1405 |
Independent police accountability mechanisms: a necessity for democratic relationships between the police and the minorities, or mostly cosmetic institutions?
Relationships between representatives of minorities and the police in democracies have been tainted by many events of un-just treatment, excessive and discriminative violence. In order, at least in principle, to overcome these problems, independent police complaint bodies (IPCBs) started to emerge in democratic settings by the end of the 1990’s as a necessary balance mechanism for the betterment of relationships between the police and the citizen in general, and representatives of minorities in particular. It seems then, logically, that the more these mechanisms are known to the public, the easier it is to get access to complaint procedures, the more efficient they are and the higher democratic control over coercion mechanisms such as the police are. But opinions of police representatives are somewhat deceiving in this regard: while no one ever really criticize the mere existence of IPCBs, they present on the other hand, too powerful outside police control mechanisms as potential infringements of police duties and mission efficiency. While it is highly debatable that this is really the case, there will always be two other important variables in this equation: first, to which extent does the public really know the existence of IPBCs, and, second, to which extent do they really trust these mechanisms when time comes to file a formal complaint against a police officer or a police organization? Our presentation will be devoted to results emanating from public surveys conducted in Canada, France, Germany and the U.K. After a short methodology section, we will present the main elements coming out of the results one country at a time, to get after that to those of these elements that might be compared within these three national contexts.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
police control - democracies - radicalized minorities - independent complaint mechanisms - public surveys
#1451 |
Strategies for Advancing Global Mindedness in Social Work Education
This presentation will describe course assignments within three graduate level macro social work courses, Community and Global Theory and Practice, Social Work Practice with Organizations, Communities and Societies, and Executive Leadership Practice and this author’s delivery of the courses through unique assignments aimed at helping students embrace community-based social work approaches to addressing global social work issues, social development approaches, human rights concepts and application and learning that advances inclusive practices. The assignments and overall course delivery are consistent with the themes of the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development Framework for 2020-2030.\ The MSW Program in Fort Wayne is situated in the midwestern part of the United States, in a politically conservative medium sized urban area that draws MSW students from the city as well as from its surrounding rural counties with varying degrees of diverse people groups. The majority of the MSW students attending this program have had limited international travel experiences and the geographic location of the program combined with the politically conservative mood of the state and the region, have influenced students’ awareness of and investment in global social issues impacting communities as well as exposure to diverse people groups. Though innovative course delivery and unique assignments, these three courses encourage students toward global mindedness, embracing diversity and culture, recognizing the value of community based social development approaches, enhanced understandings of international human rights instruments and their application, the need for global citizenship, and active use of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Workshop attendees will be provided with assignment details that can be tangibly replicated or modified for future use in social work education at undergraduate and graduate levels and adapted to individual country settings. The impact of the assignments on student learning will be shared with workshop attendees.
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work education; human rights; social development; global mindedness.
#1492 |
Democratic crisis and Social Work: A Focus on the professional practice of social workers.
This research seeks to understand the democratic crisis from a reflection on the capitalist system and the repercussion of this conception in the professional performance of social workers. The capitalist system causes obstacles to the practice of full citizenship; thus, the expressions of the social question condition and reduce political participation. Therefore, the objective is to study the current democratic crisis as a political expression of the class structure and to identify the reflexes in the professional practice. Thus, in line with the study, it is necessary to understand Democracy, interpreting it as something alien to capitalism, which does not correspond to the conditions of political life created in this system, reflecting on the cultural composition of a "false democracy". In addition, in recent years, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world and the advancement of neoconservadorism in Brazil, driven by the Bolsonaro government’s necropolitical project (2019-2022), the fragility of the democratic process becomes more evident, as well as precariousness, depoliticization and lack of criticality in the various fields of work of social workers. Having said that, it is fundamental to develop an investigation on the indicators that show the situation of the social workers' labor activity, contextualized in this framework of correlation of antagonistic forces, thus recognizing a culture of democracy fostered by liberalism as a structural impasse in the operationalization of the ethical-political project, aiming at overcoming the condition of the profession as an active part in maintaining the status quo.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Democracy, Capitalism, Citizenship, crisis, ethical-political project, social workers.
#1569 |
Disrupting Coloniality and White Supremacy in Social Work Spaces: Challenging The Social Work Complicity in Violence and Erasure
Social work spaces have maintained a steady commitment to conformity that uphold the hegemony of dominant practices of coloniality and white supremacy. These spaces serve to facilitate the normalization of colonial, racist, ableist and other oppressive discourses and practices that continue to construct the “Other” and facilitate their othering process under the gaze of help and care. Facilitated by the rhetoric of social justice and challenging oppression, social work spaces play a significant role in the operation of conformity to white supremacy and coloniality in ways that erase and silence voices of meaningful resistance. Neoliberal policies and practices have intensified the hegemonic role of social work and implicated the profession in the creation and maintaining process of conformity and intensified assimilation to whiteness while normalizing the erasure of the “Other” and their experiences. In this presentation, we outline hegemony in social work spaces that play out through extreme exoticization of the “Other” or through delegitimization of their calls for justice and inclusion that are preformed through “equity, diversity and inclusion” rhetoric. Utilizing coloniality and postcolonial thinking, we call out the weaponizing of competency discourses that manifest in upholding whiteness and white standards and trouble social work spaces as spaces of coloniality and white supremacy. \ We interrogate social work education, practice and research as professional spaces that \ perpetuate coloniality and conformity to white supremacy and highlight their role in silencing resistance and erasing calls for justice. We also demonstrate the gap between social justice-oriented theories knowledge bases and question how they are translated into performative practice in social work spaces. We end the presentation by calling on the profession to redeem itself and claim its role as a profession that has the potential to create spaces of justices and maintain social transformation.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
White Supremacy, Coloniality, Social Work spaces, Resistances, Decoloniziation\
19:30 - 19:45
Inauguration Dinner
SS - ENG 07
13:40 - 14:40
Area_01
Democracy, Human Rights, Peace-building and Eco-social Justice
#0945 |
Preparing Diverse Leaders for Global Social Work Practice through joint social action
Stephanie Nti
1
;
Yasoda Sharma2
1 - Monmouth University.2 - Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.
In recent years, a confluence of significant global events, including the far-reaching impact of a worldwide pandemic, heightened tensions related to race and ethnicity across the world, and a burgeoning focus on achieving sustainable development goals, has amplified the imperative for social workers to assume Human Rights leadership roles on both national and international platforms. This presentation comprehensively explores potent models designed to equip Human Rights leaders in global social work practice. We aim to furnish a blueprint for preparing these leaders, replete with illustrative examples drawn from diverse countries, thereby facilitating their application at local, national, or international levels as needed.Our presentation will prominently feature successful leadership practices that have demonstrated their efficacy in real-world contexts. Additionally, we will provide an insightful examination of international exchanges and novel initiatives, explicitly focusing on the North America, Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe context. It is paramount to underscore that at the core of these endeavors are the enduring values of social work, encompassing the principles of diversity through social action and self-determination.As we delve into these critical dimensions of global social work practice, we intend to impart knowledge and share invaluable lessons gleaned from practical experiences. Through this presentation, we aspire to contribute to the ongoing discourse on the role of social workers as Human Right leaders in a rapidly evolving global landscape, with the aspiration of fostering positive change and improving the well-being of individuals and communities worldwide.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Human rights, leadership, sustainable development goals, global social work practice, international exchanges
14:45 - 15:45
Area_01
Democracy, Human Rights, Peace-building and Eco-social Justice
#0822 |
Using Study Abroad to Facilitate Cross-Cultural Collaboration that Fosters Immigrant, Asylum Seeker, and Refugee Integration in Costa Rica
Xan Boone1
;
Carrie McCRacken
2
1 - University of Cincinatti.2 - Viva Nicaragua Abroad.
The University of Cincinnati School of Allied Health Sciences leads semiannual cross-cultural learning programs for Social Work and Health Science students in Costa Rica. \\\\ The University began working with community partner Viva Nicaragua Abroad twelve years ago in Nicaragua and now sustains this partnership through study abroad programs that support the Nicaraguan asylum-seeking and refugee community in Costa Rica. This long-standing partnership is a model for ethical and sustainable study abroad programs that benefit both students and community partners. \\ The University collaborates with Viva Nicaragua to provide students with a greater understanding of global topics while facilitating needs-based activities that support the efforts of Nicaraguan asylum seekers and refugees to integrate into Costa Rica. \\ This unique program brings together Nicaraguan immigrants and refugees, \\ Costa Ricans, and international students to engage in cross-cultural activities that promote cultures of peace, tolerance, and acceptance. \\ \\ This tripartite global approach provides multiple benefits for Social Work and Health Science students and community members. Students and community partners collaborate on workshops that focus on topics including nonviolent conflict resolution, trauma-informed care, self-care, gender equity, health disparities, diversity, and inclusion. \\ \\ All participants engage in rich discussions about global topics including human displacement and social justice. \\ \\ Students work alongside community members to facilitate activities that promote cultural competence, inclusion, and tolerance and provide tangible products that support the needs of the Costa Rican and Nicaraguan communities.\\\\ \\ Similar efforts can be reproduced locally and internationally to incorporate global perspectives in social work and promote dialogue and action about social inequities, tolerance, and inclusion.
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work, cross-cultural learning, cross-cultural collaboration, experiential learning, interdisciplinary programs, immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, tolerance, inclusion, social integration, diversity, cultural competence, human rights, global social work, human displacement, ethical study abroad, sustainable study abroad, Costa Rica, Nicaragua.\\\
#0955 |
Grace and Gratitude in Eco-Spiritual Social Work: Insights from Won Buddhism
The world has never been more visibly and viscerally connected as a global society, given increasing violence, shifting economies, and political disruptions. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified, fostering a greater collective awareness of ‘interconnectedness’ in various ways. In this presentation, we, as spiritually sensitive social work educators, acknowledge the fundamental importance of incorporating spirituality as a universal aspect of human experience and development to significantly advance social work practice and teaching for racial, economic, and environmental justice. The pursuit of meaning, purpose, morality, well-being, and connectedness has been central in spiritually sensitive social work (e.g., Canda et al., 2020; Dudley, 2016). The ‘eco-spiritual approach’ offers a fresh framework within social work, allowing the inclusion of spirituality, indigenous voices, and authentic cross-cultural exchange, thereby challenging the Western-centric imposed paradigm (e.g., dualism, determinism, extreme individualism, modern capitalism) (Besthorn \& Canda, 2002; Coates et al., 2006; Gray \& Coates, 2013). Building upon this understanding, we will elucidate the core concepts and values of the eco-spiritual approach, resonating with the core principle of ‘interconnectedness and interdependent relationships’ found in Won Buddhism, a modernized and integrated form of Buddhism originating from South Korea. To support both theoretical and practical development of the relatively new eco-spiritual approach in social work, we will delve deeply into the teachings and practices of ‘Fourfold Grace’ and ‘Gratitude’ in Won Buddhism. By integrating insights from Won Buddhist perspective, attendees will be guided towards a new framework, reinforcing eco-spiritual concepts and practices, and fostering more inclusive learning environments in social work education and practice. Ultimately, these efforts will propel social work towards an interdependent, interconnected, and sustainable society for well-being.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
#Eco-spiritual approach, #Eco-spiritual social work, #Interconnectedness, #Won Buddhism, #Grace, #Gratitdue, #Spiritually sensitive social work
#0957 |
Social development and socio-ecological transition. Can they go hand in hand?
The 2018 IPCC concluded that humanity has 12 years to give itself a 67% chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees by cutting CO2 emissions in half. The socio-ecological transition cannot be a matter for governments or the market alone. It has to include communities and local entities, in particular those concerned by territorial development approaches (TDA). We define TDAs as different forms of structured collective action that, by mobilizing the populations concerned and organizing local actors (institutional, communities, privates), target collective issues related to living conditions and quality of life by identifying priorities, mobilizing resources and carrying out concerted actions. These approaches take various forms and have acquired expertise in cross-sectoral action over the years that can be beneficial in managing the climate crisis and the socio-ecological transition.\ The aim of this paper is to present the preliminary results of a research about the experience of a group of organizations involved in territorial and social development in their community and who has decided to prioritize socio-ecological transition issues in their latest strategic planning. Three data collection methods were used to document the collective structure's process. 1) individual semi-directed interviews (n=11); 2) observation sessions of the TDAs (2); 3) analysis of the documentary sources produced by the TDAs (minutes, action plan, annual report, funding agreement with donors, etc.).\ The initial results show that territorial organizations wishing to make the socio-ecological transition face several obstacles. These include agreeing on a common definition of socio-ecological transition, maintaining priority on ecological objectives while the challenges of poverty and other social development issues are becoming increasingly worrying, the lack of expertise and experience of local actors in managing the socio-ecological transition and the difficulty of being recognized as a credible player in a new area of intervention.
Keywords (separate with commas)
socio-ecological transition, territorial development approach, Eco-Social Work,\
#1204 |
Constructing research emancipated from the hegemonic rationality of the social protection system: for a friendly dialogue of social workers with the whole of society
Intervening essentially with vulnerable groups (Molgat, 2016), so with the poorest individuals, families, groups and/or the least integrated in the primary networks of solidarity (families, local communities), social workers (SW) exercise a profession which, since its origin at the end of the 19th century, has been the first witness to the suffering caused by the oppressions of class, gender, race, age, among others. The social Workers are their voice in the public or private organizations that employ them. The transformation of national and transnational socio-political contexts impacts the form and level of inequalities (Piketty, 2020) as well as the institutional forms of solidarity (Esping-Andersen, 1990; Merrien, Parchet, Kernen, 2005). The identity malaise of social workers is often presented from this perspective of macro-social analysis or that emphasizing the transformation of social protection systems. This proposition is confirmed by numerous studies that have documented the suffering at work caused by the privatization of social services or new public management. Nevertheless, the disciplinary socialization of social workers in higher education networks is an explanation that has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Based on two studies analyzing written productions in social work academic reviews (SSHRC funding 2022-2024) and work on theorizing the discipline (Maugère, 2023) and critical research perspectives (Maugère et al., 2022), our communication will demonstrate the importance of producing and circulating research emancipated from the hegemonic rationalities in institutions (Boltanski, 2009 and Smith, 2005). They guarantee the pursuit of friendly mediation (Mascolo, 1958) of the profession with all the citizens of a society. They also contribute to solidifying a strong identity and the recognition of social work as a practical discipline (ISTW, 2014, Jaeger, 2020).
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social Protection System, Practical discipline, identity, institutions, research, critical perspectives
15:50 - 16:50
Area_01
Democracy, Human Rights, Peace-building and Eco-social Justice
#1185 |
Human Rights and Social Justice: Experience-Based Approaches in Global Social Work Education
At the University of Michigan School of Social Work (U-M SSW), the Global Social Work Pathway prepares Master of Social Work students to critically engage with local and global communities and institutions. Incorporating a global perspective is an essential component of social work education as forces of globalization continue to create new complexities for social workers to navigate locally and globally.To prepare students for this work, the UM-SSW is dedicated to moving global social work education beyond teaching cultural competence and providing “parachuting-in” experiences common in traditional Western education contexts. In the interest of providing future social workers the skills to engage in meaningful dialogue with global communities, the program has developed a two-part global engagement course on human rights and social justice. The course includes both a classroom-based component, An Introduction to Human Rights, and an experience-based travel component, Human Rights and Social Justice: Global Course Extension, where students have the opportunity to engage with organizations and leading professionals working in the field of human rights.\ For the past two years, the Global Course Extension has provided the opportunity for MSW students to travel to New York City to engage with professionals working in the global sphere regarding migrant rights, women’s and reproductive rights, climate justice, and children’s rights. \ The week-long course has been successful in transforming students’ experiences of global social work education by incorporating diverse voices into their learning and providing a platform to explore issues such as global power dynamics, culture, and social work values and ethics.This oral presentation will focus on sharing how this experience-based course emerged as a part of our global social work curriculum, the value for students entering the professional realm of global social work, and possibilities for replication and expansion of experience-based coursework in global social work education.
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work education, human rights, experiential learning, experience-based education, social justice education, global social work
#1205 |
The Nexus of Psychosocial Wellbeing and Peace Education in Post-Conflict Settings: Insights from Dadaab Refugee Camp
In post-conflict settings, the confluence of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) with peace education programs (PEP) is paramount for sustainable peace. In contexts like Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya, where prolonged refugee situations intersect with acute disasters and ongoing regional crises—evident with Somali refugees—this connection becomes vital. Using a cross-sectional study design, this paper examines PEP outcomes for youth in Dadaab, Kenya. This study employed semi-structured interviews and surveys to evaluate the peace education program, collecting data from 455 participants. Subsequently, a hybrid thematic analysis was conducted on focus group discussions with PE teachers and community facilitators. Findings reveals how peace education not only fosters a culture of peace and prosperity but also nurtures mental health. Emphasized findings include peace education's transformative role in bolstering social relations, problem-solving, and instilling hope. The study also delineates the synergy between individual mental health and communal peace, spotlighting the importance of grassroots and intermediary peacebuilding efforts. Yet, challenges abound, from cultural dissonances to systemic inequalities, which hamper the seamless integration of PEP and MHPSS. Amidst these challenges, communities often prioritize immediate survival over mental well-being. Insights gathered from PEP recipients and community leaders underscore the need for tailored strategies that address these unique challenges, aiming to enhance the impact of PE and MHPSS initiatives. The study also accentuates the importance of equipping social service professionals and front-line responders with skills in culturally-informed peacebuilding and psychosocial support, advocating for a comprehensive approach that champions long-term community resilience and growth. Ultimately, this research endeavors to craft a future where peace and mental well-being are harmoniously intertwined, paving the way for sustainable social development.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Peace Education, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, Somali Refugees, Post-Conflict Recovery, Psychosocial Support, Refugee Camps
#1231 |
Multifaceted integration of human rights in the curriculum: Applying the Four Schools Curricular Integration Inventory (FSCII)
The need for democracy, upholding human rights, engaging in peace-building and striving for eco-social justice, should more than ever be at the core of social work education and service delivery. Human rights can however be seen as the common denominator between these concepts. It is therefore imperative that social work curricula at schools of social work have a strong focus on human rights and how it links to democracy, peace-building and eco-social justice. After studying Dembour’s four schools of thought on human rights, I discovered that it can contribute toward the development of a stronger theoretical foundation for human rights education in social work, and related concepts. Although social work has always been seen as a human rights profession, research and writing on human rights in this field, are mainly practice-based, with theorizing centred in the natural and deliberative schools where human rights are perceived as a given, on account of being human. This view of human rights poses a dilemma for social work in the sense that it does not account for the views of the discourse school, which claims human rights only exist in as much as they are talked about. I argue that social work needs all four schools to enable a multifaceted, pluralistic view of human rights that allows for the acknowledgement that views on human rights are in essence deeply personal, but also multicultural and universal. This workshop offers attendees an opportunity to assess the extent to which their social work curriculum reflects the integration of different facets of human rights content and related concepts, by applying the Four Schools Curricular Integration Inventory (FSIC), that I have developed through my study of human rights literature.\ \
Keywords (separate with commas)
Human Rights, Human Rights Education, Social Work Education, Curriculum
16:55 - 17:55
Area_01
Democracy, Human Rights, Peace-building and Eco-social Justice
#0101 |
The Rise (and Fall?) of the Term Self-Determination in German Sexual Education since 1970
In 1973 German Sexual Crime Laws changed and used the term self-determination for the first time as a legal term. Since then the term increasingly prevails as a leading ideal in society as a whole, in educational philosophy and in jurisprudence. It corresponds to processes of individualization and human rights based approaches in all areas of society. For many marginalized groups, the focus on self-determination means an increasing acceptance of their lifestyles and the gain of elementary rights (e.g. in terms of sexual orientation and identity). At the same time, self-determination is full of prerequisites: the willingness to deal with oneself and to engage in a possibly ambivalent and lengthy process of decision making is necassary, but also exhausting and with an uncertain outcome. The example of sexuality illustrates not only the achievements, but also the ambivalences with regard to self-determination: ambivalent feelings (e.g. lust and shame), dependences, manipulation, peer pressure, power structures, consideration for others, respect and empathy – all topics that are suitable for questioning the concept of self-determination and raising the question of what degree of self-determination can be achieved and how. The paper explores how the term sexual self-determination was used, framed and dicussed in Germany from the 1970 to now. The leading question is how the ideal of self-determination is constituted, how theory and practice of sexual education deals with this ideal, transports it and makes it operational. For this paper I draw from literature research as well as from numerous training courses in the field of sexual education, which has been one of my main areas of work for about 15 years. The paper is also based on original reseach conducted in the archive of IPPF founding member „pro familia – German Society of Sexual Counceling, Sexual Education and Family Planning‟ in Munich.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Sexual Self-Determination, Sexual Education, Educational Ideal, German History
#0145 |
Reconnoitering Social Work as a Human Rights and Anti-Oppressive Profession in India
SANJOY ROY1
1 - Department of Social Work, Delhi University, India.
As long as there have been people in our earth, there has been an idea of human rights and anti-oppressive social work. United Nations was primarily responsible for addressing the idea of human rights in the middle of the 20th century. There were an astounding amount of deaths and psychological issues caused by the world wars even today namely Russia-Ukraine War. Social work in India taps in different settings to practice. There is a diversity of approaches to social work practice now, and the profession has grown considerably over the years to incorporate a wide range of different sub-fields even in India. In a variety of contexts, social workers are able to put their education and experience to use assisting individuals, families, and groups of people. The profession of social work has a tight association with human rights & anti-oppressive perspective due to its adherence to principles like respect, decency, and self-determination that are deeply ingrained in the code of ethics for all practitioners. The profession has earned a high level of respect for its efforts to combat inhumane treatment of vulnerable people, its dedication to combating repressive practices, and most significantly, its commitment to ensuring that vulnerable people are provided with a voice i.e anti-oppressive social work practice to make a positive contribution to the cause of social justice and human dignity.Methodology: The review is thematic in nature where in every theme is explained in depth using different sources from journals and articles relating to social work in Human Rights & Anti-Oppressive Social Work. Conclusion: The social work profession is thus convinced, based on historical and empirical evidence, that the achievement of human rights for the oppressed is a fundamental prerequisite for a caring world and for the survival of the human race.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social Work, Human Rights, Anti-Oppressive Practices
19:30 - 19:45
Inauguration Dinner
SS - ENG 08
13:40 - 14:40
Area_02
Ethics in Social Work and Social Development
#0080 |
Workforce perceptions of social work professionalism: What role for social justice?
Anne Marie McLaughlin
1
;
Erin Gray
2
;
Siu Ming Kwok1
This study examines\ perceptions of\ the social work profession among those who employ social workers.\ It investigates whether organizational or workplace\ perceptions\ of social work practice align with the profession’s articulated\ perception of itself, as\ stated by the code of ethics and standards of practice. Individuals receiving services from social workers\ expect fair and\ equitable access and delivery of services;\ yet organizations that employ social workers do not\ frequently acknowledge or value\ the social justice\ mandate of professional social work practice.\ Under investigation are\ perceptions and\ potential (in)congruency between organizational\ aims or\ outcomes and\ the\ professions ethical aims for social justice. Critical inquiry and constructivist grounded theory\ are used to locate and interrogate historical,\ social, and situational contexts to make visible power dynamics and discourses that may otherwise remain undetected. We\ employ situational maps in the analysis\ to clarify and elucidate relationships among concepts, dominant or marginalized discourses, and\ to contextualize complex practice environments that give rise to\ perceptions of social work professionalism in the workplace. \ This study\ identifies discrepancies or gaps in understanding of the value base, role,\ and scope of practice of professional social work among those who employ social workers. These discrepancies\ impact the ability of social workers to work to their full skill set and may hamper job satisfaction.\ The central social work value, the pursuit of social justice, does not appear in most social work job postings nor is it a job requirement\ identified by employers.\ This is of critical importance to the future development of the social work profession and for the relevance of their social justice mission. It is also critical to those clients who rely on social workers to advocate for their individual and collective needs.\ Vulnerable social work clients\ require professionals whose commitments to justice are clear and supported.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
workforce, advocacy, code of ethics, employers, social justice
#0169 |
Decolonized, Global Service-Learning in Social Work Field Education: A Case Study
Background/Rationale: In the last 2 decades, domestic and global service-learning have flourished in higher education. Although positive academic and personal outcomes have been demonstrated (Choo et al., 2018), critics point to evidence of negative outcomes that perpetuate existing systems of class, privilege, & norms of harmful disparities (Augustine et al., 2017). Experiential learning can reinforce deficit-based views of marginalized groups, stereotypes, and privileged perspectives. For example, global service-learning has a long history of volunteering in residential care institutions (“orphanages), primarily in lower resourced, developing countries, perpetuating inequitable and harmful systems of care (Rotabi et al., 2017). Sigmon’s (1970) reciprocal service-learning approach between student learner and host community and the influences of Paulo Freire (1973) aim to “overcome the usual power differentials established in the donor/recipient relationship” (Tapia, 2003, p. 145). As a pedagogical method, students develop solidarity through service to the real needs of the community, improve academic learning, and encourage the formation of personal values and responsible citizenship (Tapia, 2003). Fair Trade Learning’s reciprocity in goals and relationships (Prado et al., 2014) and justice-oriented service-learning’s community nurturing practices (Augustine et al., 2017) further inform decolonized global service-learning approaches. Methods/Methodology: Using a case study approach, this presentation identifies approaches to global service-learning applied to field education that integrates reciprocity (Tapia, 2003) and liberatory consciousness (Love, 2018) aimed to increase awareness and actions that challenge inequitable educational practices. Reflective practices, defined as the “intentional consideration of an experience in light of particular learning objectives,” are key for fostering moral development and strengthening critical thinking in service-learning. Results/Conclusions: Reflective practices that are regular, use multiple modalities, and structured toward student goals (engagement, empathy, communication, research-informed practice), critical for identifying discrepancies and barriers to justice-oriented learning goals (Hatcher et al., 2004; Clayton and Ash, 2009), will be explored.
Keywords (separate with commas)
field education, decolonizing global service-learning
#0191 |
Moral Imagination and Ethical Emancipation: Envisioning a “Radical Imaginary”
Recent calls have challenged us to critically examine our profession’s ethics (Koh, 2023; O’Leary & Tsui, 2023). Drawing a parallel to prison abolition, Stovall (2018) proposed a “radical imaginary” that challenged “us to think about the world as it is while committing to a process that systemically changes it” (p. 53). Invoking this “radical imaginary” paradigm, this presentation calls upon our moral imagination to radically reimagine the institution of social work ethics; this reimagination will be a movement toward ethical emancipation. The proposition to define social work ethics as an institution is supported by Foucault who made this prescient observation in a 1972 roundtable discussion: “…social work has become programmatic and institutionalized” (Chambon, Irving, & Epstein, 1999, p. 91).This presentation will consider one vision of a “radical imaginary” to incrementally build an epistemically just and emancipatory ethics infrastructure in the coming decade; this vision will center race, ethnicity, and culture. This centering seeks to align one’s moral lived experience of race, ethnicity, and culture with our ethical mandates. Existing barriers to including the dominance of moral absolutes and Eurocentric ethics curriculum will be discussed. Three change processes (i.e., praxis per Freire, 1970) will be proposed to help build a futuristic infrastructure for ethics praxis with a thicker, more equitable, and more inclusive moral social fabric. First, decentering ethnocentric and Eurocentric ethics curriculum. Second, integrating the neuroscience of bias in ethical deliberation. Third, utilizing heuristics informed by intersectionality (e.g., Koh, 2022) to conduct power analyses that invite probing, discovery, and critical reflection in deliberative processes.Collectively we must call upon our moral imaginations to envision this proposed “radical imaginary” that has the potential to transform (Johnson-Bailey, 2012) and liberate (Freire, 1970) social work ethics education within the next decade. This presentation presents an opportunity for long overdue action.
Keywords (separate with commas)
ethics, justice, social work education, liberation
#0228 |
Epistemic in/justice and cultural humility: why and how decolonising social work education might be needed
The marginalisation of minoritised theories, ways of knowing, being and doing and racially driven human rights violations have fuelled the campaign to decolonise social work education in the UK and internationally. However, whilst much have been written about decolonising the social work curriculum, limited research exists on decolonising social work practice. The paper reports the findings of an empirical study undertaken in England which explored stakeholders’ perspectives on decolonising social work curriculum and practice identifying challenges and opportunities. The study is situated in the qualitative research tradition consisting of semi-structured interviews with post-graduate social work students (n=5), undergraduate social work students (n=5) practice educators (n=5) and social work academics (n=5). The interview data were analysed focusing on identification of salient repeated themes relating to the research question and issues similar to those located in the literature review, drawing from the interfacing strengths of yarning, an Indigenous research method approach (Bessarab and Ng’andu, 2010), and the practical iterative framework developed by Srivastava and Hopwood (2018). Fricker’s (2007) concept of epistemic injustice and the concept of cultural humility (Foronda, 2020) were used to examine the data.Findings identified the silencing of other ways of knowing, being and doing and the centring of Eurocentric White middle-class values and ways of doing in social work practice. The paper concludes by arguing that the concepts of epistemic injustices and cultural humility are especially relevant for understanding why and how social work education might be decolonised.Although social work practice is underpinned by anti-oppressive practice theories, ways of knowing, being and doing are predominately shaped by Western White middle class epistemology. Decolonising social work practice offer a unique opportunity to explore other ways of knowing, being and doing.
Keywords (separate with commas)
decolonising the curriculum, decolonisation, social work, yarning, epistemic injustice, cultural humility
14:45 - 15:45
Area_02
Ethics in Social Work and Social Development
#0462 |
Disrupting Social Work Ethics
Patrick O'Leary1
;
Ming-Sum Tsui
2
1 - Disrupting Violence Beacon, Griffith University.2 - Caritas Institute of Higher Education.
Social work would not hold such status without an ethical framework and code to practice our purpose and functions. On the surface this all seems clear but social work ethics are a contested and dynamic area of scholarship and practice. The complexity of these issues has only increased in recent years both due to crises, as well as the rapid changes in factors such as digital and information technologies, climate change, health care, migration, displacement, and economic disparities. Critical thinkers and activists have challenged both structures and taken for granted positions that have been prefaced on the foundations of powerful constructs such as colonialism, patriarchy, racism, managerialism, and homophobia. This has disrupted established ethical practice. This challenges taken for granted concepts and contribute to the evolution of social work so that it can meet the challenges of a rapidly changing and diverse world. In this presentation we ask fundamental questions regarding whose interests are being served and what are the implicit biases in ethical assertions. We explore how social work operates within some of these very structures it clashes with. How do we keep a delicate balance of not being complicit but collaborating enough with systems to enable change? Social work cannot avoid these dilemmas as it attempts to respond to pressing issues such as gendered violence, discrimination, and inequality. What is clear is that we cannot do it alone, we cannot only rely on consensus but more on the collective courage of diversity and inclusion where no one can be left behind. This presentation by the two Co-Chief Editors of International Social Work asks these questions while exploring some of the challenges facing international social work. It places these issues within a ethical framework in the context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the future of social work.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Ethics, Disruption, Sustainable Development Goals, Critical Practice, International Social Work, Violence, Discrimination, Oppression
#1146 |
A Data Privacy Framework for Social and Human Services
This presentation will detail the crucial need for data privacy standards in social work services. The United States of America, with no national guidelines similar to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), serves as the backdrop for this discussion. With the rapid advancement of technology and the increasing reliance on digital platforms and data science in the field of social work, protecting clients' personal information and ensuring data privacy has become a pressing concern. Data breaches, unauthorized access, and unethical data sharing can have far-reaching consequences, jeopardizing the trust and well-being of individuals in need - or - unfairly eliminate the choice to share data among marginalized populations with limited resource options. To address these challenges, it is crucial for the social work profession to adopt comprehensive data privacy standards that protect the confidentiality of personal information and preserve the integrity of social and human services. This presentation will explore the potential risks associated with inadequate data privacy measures for vulnerable populations and will emphasize the significance of implementing robust standards to safeguard sensitive information. We will further discuss the ethical and legal considerations relevant to data privacy in social work and emphasize the importance of upholding clients' confidentiality and trust. Recommendations for developing and implementing effective data privacy standards will be provided.
Keywords (separate with commas)
data privacy, digital equity, technology, data science, data ethics
#1180 |
Teaching social work ethics and values in a world of cultural and political discourse and divisiveness
This workshop explores guiding principles, values and ethics of social work practice, their commonalities and uniqueness from an international perspective and the current political ideologies that impede ethical practice. The capacity to adhere to ethics and values in light of societal discourse and divisiveness across the globe challenges social workers in teaching and practice settings. Often adverse to the current political ideologies, social work ethics remain the foundation of our profession. However, social workers face divergent political and cultural views that can conflict with our capacity to fully engage in practice and education reflective of our ethical guidelines. Political ideology, legislation and policies that dictate content and delivery of curricula threaten the capacity of social work educators to teach from a diversity and equity lens. With social justice as a foundational principle of social work practice, it is imperative that we facilitate learning from a justice perspective. This includes curriculum that embraces antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion and reflects our values and ethics. The workshop explores conceptual considerations on how social workers stay true to our ethics in the wake of restrictions to academic and professional freedom within the context of education and practice. \ \
Keywords (separate with commas)
ethics, values, political ideology, culture
#1328 |
Effects of the Social Work Field Practicum on the Wellbeing of Non-traditional and Underserved Students
The National Association of Social Workers in the U.S. states as part of its mission that “the social work profession is to enhance human well-being.” Thus, using a mixed-methods approach, this study explored student well-being in relationship to the social work field practicum requirement to determine if this educational practice aligned with the ethics of the profession. The project was conducted by faculty at a medium sized university in the United States. Social work educators and field practicum instructors participated in interviews. Students and former students completed surveys on the topic. The data analyses revealed emotional burdens as well as threats to student well-being in association with the fieldwork required for those in pursuit of a social work degree. The study includes recommendations of anti-oppressive approaches for academic programs and implications for further research.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Emotional wellbeing, field practicum, mixed-methods, social justice, ethics, social work education
15:50 - 16:50
Area_02
Ethics in Social Work and Social Development
#0896 |
Ethical Conflicts, Moral Distress, and Moral Action in Social Work
In recent times, a growing recognition of ethical conflicts faced by social workers has highlighted the barriers impeding their adherence to moral and professional duties towards clients. These challenges can arise from rigid organizational policies, corporate interests within organizations, or the existence of unethical and discriminatory policies. The term 'moral distress', drawn from nursing literature, encompasses these ethical conflicts and their associated emotional distress. Despite an expanding discourse on moral distress within social work, uncertainties persist regarding the scope of conflicts it encompasses and the intricate interplay between personal and environmental factors. Furthermore, while theoretical models underscore connections between moral distress and subsequent moral action, empirical research on these relationships remains limited.This presentation seeks to chart the existing research landscape concerning ethical conflicts, moral action, and moral distress in social work. It also proposes novel qualitative and quantitative research trajectories aimed at deepening scholarly insights into these components and their intricate interrelationships. The advancement of research knowledge concerning ethical conduct within the realm of social work holds potential for interventions at both organizational and personal levels. These interventions might involve enhancing oversight mechanisms for welfare organizations and providing effective coping strategies. Feasible measures encompass the establishment of support groups, specialized training initiatives, and avenues for expert consultation. Moreover, the acquired insights could wield influence over the formulation of social work policies, particularly in the face of challenges such as neoliberalism. Ultimately, these collective efforts converge towards safeguarding the well-being of social workers, while upholding the safety and rights of their clients.
Keywords (separate with commas)
ethical conflicts; moral action; moral distress
#0897 |
Reflections on the ethics and implications of United States social work practice following a cross-cultural exchange between students from a colonial power and its colony
Graduate students from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work participated in a 2023 travel study program with the University of Puerto Rico where they explored themes of social work practice, theory, and social justice through Latin American and Puerto Rican (PR) lenses. This presentation will include reflections and analyses from two students whose social work practice were profoundly impacted by this experience; since returning from PR, the two have engaged in critical reflections and discussions to explore if it is possible for United States (US) social workers to participate in equitable and intentional joint action given the colonial relationship between the US and PR.The authors will expand on the ethics of US social work practice by discussing core concepts covered during the travel study–such as the ethical-political purpose of social work found in Brazilian frameworks and\ acompañamiento–and how incorporating them into their own practice may better support postcolonial and emancipatory efforts domestically and abroad. These and other learnings from their experience gave the authors new perspective on the differences in social work practice, which highlighted how US social workers often align themselves with a status quo that perpetuates harm and oppression; the authors propose a call to action by encouraging US social workers–and others in imperial/colonial countries–to shift the professional practice into one that more directly confronts oppressive systems. More intentional attempts at dismantling oppressive systems will have resounding effects considering the socio-economic and political influence the US has on PR and other countries. Lastly, the authors emphasize how Puerto Ricans expressed the importance of including their voices and perspectives in any efforts involving them, and the authors want to honor this by incorporating it into their practice and acknowledging that joint social action should always include those that are most impacted.
Keywords (separate with commas)
emancipatory social work, transformative travel study, critical reflections on social work practice, ethical social work practice
#0964 |
Exploring the Relationship Between Ethical Conflicts and Social Workers' Psychological Distress: The Role of Social and Economic Exchange, and Burnout
Social workers frequently encounter moral choices that involve ethical conflicts, particularly those related to their dual obligations to their clients and employing organizations. This study investigates how such ethical conflicts impact the psychological distress of social workers. It also examines the mediating effects of their perceptions of social and economic exchange on this association, and the moderating influence of burnout on the association between ethical conflicts and perceptions of economic and social exchange. The sample comprised 568 Israeli social workers, of whom 83.7% were women, with a mean age of 40 (SD=10.09). A moderated mediation model was tested using Model 7 of the PROCESS v4.0 macro for SPSS.Results indicate that ethical conflicts are positively associated with increased psychological distress, and negatively related to social exchange. Moreover, an increase in economic exchange intensifies this association. Burnout was found to moderate the association between ethical conflicts and social and economic exchange. Specifically, the negative effect of ethical conflicts on social exchange was more pronounced at higher levels of burnout, while the positive effect of ethical conflicts on economic exchange was also more pronounced at higher levels of burnout.The study recommends to policymakers and welfare organization managers to allocate resources to reduce burnout and ethical dilemmas through quality supervision, training programs, promoting teamwork and self-care activities and creating an ethical climate. The findings offer valuable insights into the intricate processes that social workers encounter when confronted with ethical conflicts, highlighting the importance of addressing burnout and promoting supportive organizational mechanisms.
Keywords (separate with commas)
burnout, ethical conflicts, psychological distress, economic and social exchange\ \
#0985 |
Heart of Allyship: Framework for building relationships for social justice.
Ally work involves transforming systems of oppression and challenging \ the status quo. Recent world events have called into question claims to allyship that are performative and do little to advance the pursuit of social justice (Ekpe \& Toutant, 2022; Gates et al., 2021). In this challenging time of division and global human rights violations, we must ask what is required of allyship? For the social work profession to move forward in respecting diversity through social action, it is necessary to prioritize research that informs allyship practice and aids \ in dismantling systemic injustice.The Canadian Association of Social Work Education (CASWE) standards for accreditation expect students to develop values and skills to advance social justice for all people. According to the profession’s code of ethics social workers have an ethical responsibility to be engaged in allyship (CASW, 2005). The pandemic exposed continuing \ injustice which exists within social service delivery systems around the world. Situated within these systems, social work as a profession must examine our complicity and be accountable for change (Gates et al., 2021).\ In collaboration with Indigenous Elder Mae Louise Campbell, Hedges and Milliken developed a framework for social work allyship that involves: heart, honesty, humility, and healing. Presenters will explore how allyship is defined and practiced by social workers and how social work education can prepare social work students to engage in allyship in practice. Preliminary findings from a qualitative research project exploring how participants understand allyship in their social work context and what this means at this moment in time will be discussed. Findings will describe the process of learning allyship skills and engaging in allyship practices.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Allyship, Social Work Education, Social Justice, Indigenous Knowledges
16:55 - 17:55
Area_02
Ethics in Social Work and Social Development
#0137 |
The Nature and Extent of Social Work Supervision in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa
Social work practice is extremely demanding on the practitioner. Social workers, especially in the public domain, handle high caseloads whilst simultaneously conducting group and community work amidst the demands of administration associated with their jobs. The ever-changing landscapes of social contexts, political contexts, local governments, and health aspects of countries brought forth by globalisation and technological ties exerts increased challenges on social work practice. To deal with these challenges, the profession has commissioned supportive social work supervision to help social workers deal with work-related pressure and stress coupled with their emotional, psychological, and familial problems. Consequently, the study was intended to explore and describe the nature and the extent of supportive supervision amongst social workers in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. A mixed methods research approach, i.e. the QUAN-qual sequential dominant status-design was adopted. To collect quantitative data a self-developed questionnaire was administered to social workers. Within the qualitative section of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with social work supervisors. The data was then analysed by means of univariate data analysis as well as thematically respectively. From the findings, it was established that although some social workers are supported, there are pockets of social workers who were not supported. It was also evident in this regard that of those social workers who were supported, the support was inadequate. The supervisors revealed that their most critical challenge was inadequate support for social workers principally because they are over worked. The study was significant because supervision has implications for social work practice. \
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social Work, Social work supervisor, social work supervisee, social work supervision, supportive supervision
#0260 |
What is known about decolonising social practice education (field education): A scoping review of international published research papers.
1 - University of South Australia.2 - Malmö University.3 - University of Sussex.4 - University of Birmingham.5 - Sapir College.6 - University of Helsinki.7 - Flinders University.8 - carmela.bastian@flinders.edu.au.9 - Tata Institute of Social Sciences.10 - University of East Anglia.
Background: Framed by the persistence of colonial epistemologies perpetuated in social work education which resulted in the trauma, dispossession and genocide of First Nation, Black, Asian and minority ethnic peoples, decolonisation scholar activists have called to decolonise social work education including practice learning placement. Yet whilst much has been written about decolonising the social work curriculum, limited research exists on decolonising social work practice learning placement. This paper reports on an ongoing international research study that explores the literature on decolonising social work practice learning placement. Methods: A scoping review of international published papers on decolonising social work practice learning (n=403) were imported for screening and (n=312) studies were screened. This included non-English language publications and hand searches from local countries such as Australia, England, Finland, India, Israel and Sweden. Scopus, PsycINFO (OVID), CINAHL (via EBSCO), Informit: Indigenous collections, Web of Science, ProQuest ERIC and ProQuest Central were searched for articles published prior to November 2022. Results: The emerging findings suggest social work practice learning placement is not immune to the centring of a dominant Eurocentric White epistemology and needs to change to embrace other ways of knowing, being and doing. Recommendations on decolonisation include creating safe spaces for students and practice educators (field instructors) to reflect on potential value conflicts, including Indigenous epistemology in practice learning. Examples include embedding cultural safety training as well as using Indigenous approaches such as yarning, storytelling, collaboration and respecting different perspectives. Implications for Social Work: Although social work practice learning placement is underpinned by anti-oppressive practice theories, ways of knowing, being and doing are predominately shaped by Eurocentric White epistemology. Decolonising social work practice learning placement provides a unique opportunity to explore other epistemologies.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Decolonisation, social work, practice learning, field education, conflict zones
#0459 |
Ethics in Social Work and Social Development:The “VAP” diaconal practice development framework – The role of faith ethics in local community development social work
Church and local faith-based social work practices are often first responders to emerging social needs in local communities. They are primarily motivated by faith ethics, such as love and relational attitudes rather than social work principles. As a result, these practices exist in a tension between a faith-based and professional ethos. Empirical findings from a doctoral project, “Soap-Soup-Salvation, he role of faith for practice development in a secular context”, Salvation Army (TSA) congregational practices in Norway is used as a case to describe knowledge and methods used in congregational social practices. The project also identified a need for increased competence and professionality. The case study reveals how practitioners navigate the tension between a faith-based and professional ethos by developing social practices with faith inspired methods similar to methods in professional social work, such as empowerment, inquiry-based methods and an asset-based approach but they still experience that they are not always recognised by the surrounding secular context. The parallel structures between faith-based concepts and professional social work key components and ethics, has motivated an exploration of professional development in congregational –based social practices.Combining faith and professional ethos's, “Vocatio” is translated as motivation and a divine calling and as a parallel to a professional vocation. “Advocatio” is connected to the Biblical concept of justice and the diaconal core value of working for the most marginalised in society and is related to advocacy and working towards structural change. “Provoactio” is reflecting how Jesus exposed situations of injustice and presented solutions based on faith ethics, similar to human rights. This paper proposes the diaconal “Vocatio- Advocatio- Provocatio", VAP framework as a way for informal and local faith-based social work practices to enhance professionality as they support people in vulnerable situations.
Keywords (separate with commas)
faithbased, diaconia, ethics, salvationarmy
#0920 |
Lessons learned: The procedural and relational ethics of social work and development research under a constitutional “state of exception”
In this presentation, I critically examine the procedural and relational ethics of conducting social justice-oriented, social work and development research in El Salvador, Central America during the country’s state of exception. As a partnership between academics and civil sector organizations, the purpose of the research was to explore the “resilience to trauma” of Salvadorans living in El Salvador, and of those living as members of the diaspora in Canada as a framework for addressing interpersonal and community violence, gender inequities, crisis-driven migration, and social and economic development.\ The “state of exception” was a declaration made by the Salvadoran government in March 2022 that suspended the constitutional rights of its citizens, including freedom of speech, protest rights, and the freedom of association and movement. I begin by describing the complexities and conditions of our work, next moving to an exploration of the unique relational and procedural ethics that had to be mitigated.\ As an active reassertion of my commitment to human rights and social justice, I conclude with “lessons learned” in an effort to support the work of others sharing similar commitments.
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work, community-based participatory action research, ethics, human rights, international research, peace-building,\
19:30 - 19:45
Inauguration Dinner
SS - ENG 09
13:40 - 14:40
Area_02
Ethics in Social Work and Social Development
#0116 |
Faith Seidenberg ‘s Legal Seminar and the Education of Community Organizers at Syracuse University’s Community Action Training Center.
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson declared a War on Poverty by signing the Economic Opportunity Act into law on 20 August 1964. Syracuse University Social Work professor Dr. Warren Haggstrom moved quickly and secured the very first Research, Training, and Demonstration Grant in the amount of US$314,329 from the fledgling Office of Economic Opportunity. The funds were used funds were used to form the Community Action Training Center, a “first-of-its-kind program to produce professional community development workers,” under the direction of Dr. Haggstrom. This presentation will focus on an essential component of the CATC curriculum – the Legal Seminar designed and taught by noted Syracuse civil rights and civil liberties attorney Faith Seidenberg – drawing lessons from the author’s findings in the archives of Syracuse University, Seidenberg’s personal documents, and interviews with living former participants of this innovative early effort to educate and train professional community organizers. This presentation will focus on the Legal Seminar, designed and taught in the mid-1960s as an essential component of the curriculum at the groundbreaking Community Action Training Center by noted Syracuse civil rights and civil liberties attorney Faith Seidenberg – drawing lessons from the author’s findings in the archives of Syracuse University, Seidenberg’s personal documents, and interviews with living former participants of this innovative early effort to educate and train professional community organizers. This historical case study is intended to provide context and insights from past practice that are useful in the training and education of contemporary community organizers.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Community organizing, Education and training, History of social work
#0515 |
The Ethics of Social Change: Imploying an Innovation Framework to Address Social Development
Social workers often hold themselves to a high stand of being able to rise above personal values, beliefs and biases when engaging in our work, but how valid is this standard we hold ourselves to? This presentation will explore the impact of understanding our ethical responsibility to the communities and clients we serve and how using an innovation framework can support us to put clients needs at the forefront. Confronting our personal privilege and morals at the door when we enter our work, this presentation will demonstrate how Sagesse, as an agency at the edge of innovation shone a light on our blind spots as service providers when designing, delivery and evaluating programs and care. Through this content and our personal reflection this presentation will create a safe place for people to understand the privilege and morals they bring into spaces with them, what the benefits and downfalls of these both are, and how to move forward from a place of awareness and recognition of impact. Participants will leave this workshop with increased understanding of the ethical implications of making decisions without understanding of our personal biases and the role of innovation to support our movement forward and away from personal restrictions. Leading with our innovation framework, participants will have the opportunity to understand the components of innovation that are engaged within our agency and community work and the impact that has on our ethical responsibility to work towards ending the social issues we are so deeply entrenched in.
Supervision plays a significant role in social work practice because the profession depends largely upon the organisation’s administrative structure, which includes supervisors to continue training new social workers and provide ongoing professional guidance. Despite the predominance of supervision within the profession, and the weight placed upon its function by policymakers, practitioners, and managers alike, it remains an under-researched area of enquiry when it comes to evidence-informed supervision policies. In South Africa, the Supervision Framework for the Social Work Profession seeks to contextualise, and provide norms and standards that guide the execution of supervision in the country. However, since its inception in 2012, no study has been conducted on how the Supervision Framework is implemented in various organisations. Hence, the aim of this paper is to report on the stories of social workers in a designated child protection organisation regarding the implementation of the Supervision Framework. An exploratory case study design was adopted. Using semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 28 social workers employed in a designated child protection organisation. Data were analysed through thematic content analysis. The findings revealed that the child protection organisation may be regarded as a best practice example of the implementation of the Supervision Framework based on the linear stories of social workers. The study found that, although the organisation under study has thrived in developing a supervision policy and implementing the policy in line with the Supervision Framework, there remains challenges related to the dominance of the administrative function of supervision within the organisation and, in some instances, lack of emotional support. Hence, the study advocates for clinical supervision which should not be combined with other middle management organisational tasks to reduce the administrative load of supervisors which has been the primarily hindrance to structured supervision in child protection organisations in South Africa and abroad.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social Work Supervision, Supervision Framework, Child Protection Organisation, South Africa,
#0791 |
Navigating the Dilemma: Use of ChatGPT in Social Work Education
Over the last few years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has developed rapidly (Karakose, 2023). Within AI development, innovative technologies like Open AI's ChatGPT are one of the most recent examples of this development. ChatGPT uses natural language processing techniques to respond to user-generated prompts and generate content that is increasingly hard to distinguish as having been written by a computer. In other words, you may ask ChatGPT, a chatbot, a question, or provide a prompt, and it replies with the answer.Since ChatGPT is 'here to stay' and is gradually becoming an integral tool in our personal and professional lives, developing guidelines for how social work students ethically use it is crucial. This mixed-method study explored the perceptions of social work educators about chatGPT. The main results from this study suggest the following:Social work instructors need and want consistent college/university guidelines related to students' use of ChatGPT, which include a consistent statement on the classes syllabus and appropriate language to have conversations with students;Since ChatGPT is not plagiarism, participants suggest adding plagiarism guidelines to account for the unethical use of ChatGPT;Find a new balance: regulate the use of ChatGPT by reshaping social work assignments to be more reflective and individualized.Finally, participants made some connections between the impact of Covid-19 on social work education and the use of ChatGPT. We conclude with an invitation to foster a discussion about how to integrate ChatGPT into social work pedagogy in a positive and empowering way.\\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social Work pedagogy, ChatGPT, Social Work Education
14:45 - 15:45
Area_02
Ethics in Social Work and Social Development
#0839 |
The Ethics of Radical Self-Care in the Post-Pandemic Era: A Trauma-Informed and Culturally Responsive Framework for Social Work Education
Ethical responsibility for professional social workers to engage in self-care has been enshrined in social work codes of ethics. Ongoing maintenance of self-care is considered the responsibility of individual social workers, with little consideration of how workplaces support or inhibit the practice of self-care.\ Radical self-care includes the consideration of the dynamics of power, privilege, and oppression.\ We explore how the climate and culture of the university workplace has been altered by the pandemic response in ways that are traumatizing to faculty and staff across the university. We critically reflect on the challenges of our current working conditions that thwart the ethical practice of self-care to mitigate the effects of trauma. We reconsider professional values and ethical responsibilities as social work educators in the context of the expanded corporatization of the university. In the post-pandemic era, unprecedented budget cuts, merging and restructuring of departments, reductions in the workforce, elimination of positions and programs, increases in workloads, and erosion of institutional support for faculty have become the norm. Taken together, more attention is needed within social work education to support faculty in neoliberal workplace environments that may not be trauma informed, culturally responsive, or supportive of individuals and communities of self-care. We contend that when market-based "ethics" are privileged over professional ethics, the capacity for caring is undermined. Tension exists between the individual self-care imperative and the ethical duty to challenge discrimination and institutional oppression. We offer a framework for social work departments seeking to become more trauma informed and culturally responsive, and recommendations for promoting an organizational culture of self and collective care.
Keywords (separate with commas)
pandemic, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, ethics, social work education, self-care\
#1331 |
Our Commonality of Hope as a Social Work Primordial Prevention Strategy in Racially Based Anti-Collegial Behaviors”
\ \ \ Since its inception, social work has operated from a premise of hope. All our practice, advocacy and interventions are founded on the belief or hope that our efforts, will, and can make a difference. Hope is the social workers common language that unites us despite our various backgrounds. It fuels our social justice movements and provides the required stamina to achieve victory in social policy changes across the globe. Yet, the power of hope seems to be consistently applied in all areas except for in the practice of collegiality.\ \ \ This workshop applies the commonality of hope to the one population that is often overlooked from our curriculum, conversations, and conferences; ourselves. It addresses the theme of ethics in social work and social development as it pertains to how we should also benefit from our own ethics and values. As racism has been formally acknowledged in many areas of social work and we have taken on the hard task of “righting” those wrongs against vulnerable populations, it is now time to address it amongst ourselves. This workshop will address how when speaking the common language of hope, we can address our curriculum and policy to ensure that future social workers are well equipped to support each other and hope again.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social work, Primordial Prevention, Curriculum, Racism, Common Language, Collegiality, Hope
15:50 - 16:50
Area_03
Social Movements, Social Activism and Advocacy
#0152 |
Electoral Knowledge: What do University Students Understand about Elections, Voting, and Voting Rights?
The social work profession with the United States (US) has seen laudable efforts to increase voter engagement (Abramovitz, et. al., 2019), including with university students (Hill, et. al., 2019; Hylton, et. al., 2018; Lane, et. al., 2019). This push reflects a commitment to promote political power through voter engagement (Lane, et. al., 2007). Civic knowledge has been shown to promote voter engagement (CIRCLE, 2013). Knowledge of the processes and policies that govern elections and voting in an important component of civic knowledge. This specific form of civic knowledge, which will be referred to as electoral knowledge, emphasizes the participatory ideals imperative to democracy, including the role of voting in a democracy, the exercise of political power, and the realization of social justice. While efforts to engage students in voting have increased, little is known regarding what these students understand about elections and voting. This study sought to explore the electoral knowledge of university students as well as how this knowledge influences voter engagement among these students. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design with students enrolled in a public university in the eastern US. Students were asked to complete a 32-item online survey measuring their knowledge of elections and voting rights, as well as their engagement in voting and perceptions of electoral integrity. Two hundred and sixty-three students completed the survey. Students evidenced moderate understanding of elections and voting rights. While they were likely to understand basic election facts, they were far less likely to understand the rights of specific vulnerable populations or where voter registration can legally happen. This finding supports increased coverage of voting rights and laws governing nonpartisan voter engagement. Furthermore, students in this study were concerned about threats to elections. Educators should explore these threats directly, with specific attention to how voter suppression impacts vulnerable populations.
In 2016 Colombia adopted the Final Peace Agreement between the government and the armed group FARC to end the world’s longest civil war. Although there is an emerging consensus that women have played different roles in the armed conflict, peace agreement, reparation, and reconciliation as victims and actors/agents, this has not been systematically explored. This paper uses Feminist Popular Education (FPE) principles and approaches to examine this proposition. It explores how women NGOs, movements and advocacy groups have used FPE to engage women in critical reflection of their memories, roles, resistance, and activism to challenge masculinities and transform gender inequalities around armed conflict, peace, and transitional justice. An environmental scan of tertiary data from seven women’s organizations during the last 30 years was used to analyze gender inequality and women’s transformation. We further built a timeline using the seven principles of FPE to systematize the data on gender educational inequalities and women’s involvement around four critical times of the armed conflict. These included the pre-constitutional reform (1991), women and transitional justice (2011), peace agreement (2016), and nowadays reparation and reconciliation. The timeline captured how FPE became an educational, political tool to create a space and a mechanism to articulate women’s concerns and demands to grow into active agents and get their transformation. The paper ends with a critical elaboration on women’s empowerment in different states of the armed conflict and how FPE could promote women’s agency to mitigate the political, social, and historical context of gender inequality.
Menstrual health has been described as integral to achieving global health, gender equity and the Sustainable \ Development\ Goals (SDGs), with increasing recognition of menstruation as a critical element in achieving social justice outcomes. Social work is a profession concerned with social justice, human rights, and gender equity, but the extent to which the profession has engaged with menstruation as a human rights issue remains unclear.\ This research\ systematically analysed published literature to examine social work engagement with the topic of menstruation and associated issues related to social justice and human rights, including issues around equity and stigma, hygiene, and access to sanitary products. A systematic and comprehensive literature search was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines for scoping literature reviews.\ This\ presentation explores findings of this review, which demonstrate that menstrual experience - despite being characterised by injustice - is an under-represented issue in social work discourse. These findings indicate a need for the profession to address this gap through holistic, transformative practice to achieve menstrual justice through the elimination of the stigma of menstruation, the prevention of discrimination, and the enhancement of gender equity. This research highlights opportunities for the profession to\ consider potential contributions social work could make to not only advance the SDGs but realise professional goals related to social justice, gender equity, and human rights.\ \
Keywords (separate with commas)
Menstruation, advocacy, gender equity, social justice, human rights
#0369 |
Strengthening Women Human Rights Advocacy, Legislative Action for Women In Conflict with the Law and Capacity-building for Feminist Paralegal Services
Women often relate to criminal justice systems as victims of crime. Trends indicate that a growing number are featured as suspects, accused and prisoners. The percentage of women in prison is growing globally and at a faster rate than the male prison population. While the global prison population grew by approximately 21 percent from 2000 to 2016, that of imprisoned women and girls grew by 53 percent during the same period (Walmsley, 2017). A dramatic increase in the number of women and girls in prison worldwide raises questions about criminal codes, the functioning of criminal justice systems, and socio-economic factors affecting crime rates.Locally, the common offenses for which they were imprisoned are drug-related cases, illegal recruitment, theft, robbery, and violation of Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act. Women are likewise detained in Police Stations for drugs, theft, quarantine violations, gambling, homicide, and violation of Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases. Cases were settled in the villages involving minor offenses.Women in conflict with the law have been suffering from gendered pathways primarily due to discriminatory laws and violence against women they were subjected to early years of their lives.Inadequate supply of hygiene kits, irregular psychosocial services, underutilized non-custodial measures, and lack of coordinated response on reintegration remain unattended.\ Hygiene kits provision, feminist counseling, and policy advocacy on non-custodial measures and follow through on the implementing guidelines of the Women In Detention provision of the Women Development Code of Davao City through legislative and executive actions are critical elements the social workers pursue in order to demonstrate amplification of the UN Bangkok Rules on Women Deprived of Liberty and those in conflict with the law. Inclusive social policy and legislation at the local level are explored.
Keywords (separate with commas)
women human rights, policy advocacy, social activism
16:55 - 17:55
Area_03
Social Movements, Social Activism and Advocacy
#0519 |
Social Determinants of Health for Irregular Migrants: the fight for human and social rights
The idea of irregular migration reflects a human imperative to move in search of better conditions but also state efforts to exercise sovereignty through border controls and delimitation of access to social rights. In this paper, I bring together the results of several empirical projects in Quebec, Canada, that document the ways in which the socio-political context puts irregular migrants' social determinants of health (health insurance, housing, labour rights) at risk. Using the concepts of Deportability and Bordering, I analyze the ways that migrant organizations and social work allies challenge these problematic conditions. In the first project, we explore access to healthcare for undocumented migrants. Second, the labour conditions of asylum seekers. Third, the housing conditions of migrant workers. In all three cases, it is clear that the state exclusion of these migrants from social rights serves to keep these migrants in a subordinate socio-political and economic position, and puts their health and wellbeing at risk. However, there are also examples of migrant resistance to these conditions, which will be analyzed for their feasibility in different contexts. Finally, we will discuss how social workers and researchers can be effective allies to these efforts and consider the transnational implications of the situation in Canada with that in both countries of origin and countries of destination.
Keywords (separate with commas)
international migration; undocumented; asylum seekers; migrant workers; health; housing; labour; collective action; social work; action research
#0688 |
Bayanihan ‘Spirit of Community’: Reconnecting to culture and fostering cultural wellbeing among the Filipino diaspora in Western Sydney, Australia
There are 89,445 people from the Filipino diaspora in Western Sydney, Australia (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2016). Acculturative stress and depression is prevalent among the Filipino community across generations despite their long stay in Australia. The author highlights the importance of fostering social support and discusses the Filipino term of ‘Bayanihan’ meaning ‘spirit in community’ and the development of new community-led initiative Bayanihan, a grassroots community group that was developed in 2022 to address these issues.
Keywords (separate with commas)
filipino diaspora, Western Sydney, Australia, Sydney, Community, Filipino community, filipinx, grassroots community development
#0737 |
Untold Stories of Aging: An Art- and Media-Based Community Action Project
Research indicates that individuals who can imagine their aging futures are better prepared for the aging process. However, stories of aging and later life often go untold, limiting public understanding of this rich and complex phase of life and limiting our ability to age well. Similarly, there are often only limited or homogenous aging scripts available to us to provide inspiration and insight into our own aging process. The Untold Stories of Aging project was developed to spread awareness of the diverse possibilities of aging futures, foster public conversation around aging and later life, and reduce internalized and external ageism through education and awareness. This presentation will share the process and products associated with the Untold Stories of Aging Project, an art- and media-based community action project intended to share the experiences of older adults and the professionals who serve them through conversation, collaboration, art, and advocacy. In 2022, we developed an art exhibition including the work of over 30 artists on aging-related themes, such as life trajectories, intergenerational trauma and healing, dementia, etc. Pieces span many mediums including sculpture, drawing, painting, poetry, music, textiles, mixed-media and more. These pieces were presented to the community in a live exhibition and continue to be hosted through a growing digital archive. In 2023, we filmed interviews with professionals working in aging services to share their stories from the field and promote aging-related practice. Through these joint art- and media-based projects, we aim to cultivate a space for older adults to share their stories, including aspects of their experience which are not typically discussed in legible spaces or terms so that we all might be better informed, prepared, and inspired for our own aging futures.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
creative aging, aging-related advocacy, gerontological education, community action
#1074 |
Understanding policy advocacy in grassroot organizations to strengthen social work curriculum: A qualitative study
This study delves into how social workers in India engage in policy practices aimed at enhancing the well-being of their clients and communities. Policy practice stands as a crucial skill for social workers, enabling them to champion social and economic justice for marginalized and oppressed populations. The Council for Social Work Education has recognized policy practice as a fundamental competency within the profession. Armed with a distinctive perspective and expertise concerning the daily struggles and needs of individuals, social workers possess the capacity to shape and influence social policies that effectively address these issues.The study's data was collected between May 2022 and August 2022 in India, utilizing key informant interviews and observational methods. Participants encompassed 12 social workers, including educators, practitioners with professional degrees such as Bachelor's and/or Master's, employed by non-profit organizations offering vital social services.Findings from the study highlight diverse strategies employed by social workers to amplify the capacity and empowerment of both their clients and the broader community. These strategies encompass leadership training, fostering awareness of oppressive structures, and establishing networks. However, the recent reduction in funding for network and organization building has adversely impacted grassroots movements in India. This underscores the critical importance of reinforcing local organizations through support and empowerment.The study further uncovers a pertinent need for improvement in the policy practice skills of social work educators. While they may adeptly impart the theoretical facets of policy practice, the absence of direct involvement in policy advocacy work hinders their ability to provide practical and experiential learning to students. Consequently, a recommendation surfaces, suggesting that educators in the field of social work should actively engage in policy practice, thereby infusing the classroom with valuable real-world experiences.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Policy advocacy, social work education, Policy practice, non profit organization
19:30 - 19:45
Inauguration Dinner
SS - ENG 10
13:40 - 14:40
Area_03
Social Movements, Social Activism and Advocacy
#0617 |
The Joint Social Action of Trans Latina Immigrants Generating Change in the Southern United States
Trans Latina immigrants experience violence and discrimination in their countries of origin and the United States. As a result, many trans Latina immigrants have utilized their individual and collective strengths to resist oppression and generate change in their local and global communities. However, there is limited research on the lived experiences of these generators of change. The current study aimed to explore the meaning that trans Latinas make of their lived experiences as they generate change in the Southern U.S. This study was guided by interpretive phenomenological qualitative analysis and was informed by Latina feminisms. Six trans Latina immigrants from Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas were part of the study. Their testimonios were gathered through multiple semi-structured interviews in Spanish, and data were triangulated using participants’ online posts and videos. Data were analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three thematic patterns were constructed: (1) “Mi comunidad transgénero tiene muchas necesidades”: Trans Latina immigrants’ struggles; (2) “Me llamo luchadora social”: Being and doing social change; and (3) “Juntas todas”: Strength in caring for each other. Overall, the participants’ lived experiences were linked to their experiences with intersectional violence, discrimination, and struggles at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. However, by building community and caring for each other, the participants overcame these challenges. Additionally, becoming luchadoras sociales and doing social change was informed by their trans, Latina, and immigrant identities. This presentation aims to encourage social work researchers, practitioners, and educators to engage in trans-informed research and practice, advocate for the human rights of this group, and support systemic change that addresses the needs and struggles of the community.
Keywords (separate with commas)
transgender, immigrants, social action, Southern United States, Chicana feminism, Latina feminism
#0775 |
Revisiting the Shadows: A Critical Reassessment of Social Work's Histories of Complicity and Resistance
Vasilios Ioakimidis1
;
Konstantinos Roussos
2
1 - University of Essex/ University of West Attica.2 - University of Essex.
This presentation showcases the findings of a groundbreaking book that scrutinizes the political histories of social work, challenging the often-assumed politically neutral and benevolent character of the profession. The presentation critically examines social work’s dual legacy of both resistance and complicity with oppressive and punitive practices, offering a fresh, global perspective that contrasts starkly with conventional narratives.\ Using an international comparative approach, we expose social work's role in politically fraught episodes of recent history. We delve into anti-racist struggles in the US, the impact of colonialism in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, and even the profession's involvement in apartheid and Nazi regimes. We critically interrogate whether social workers resisted or complied in these contexts, offering poignant examples such as the assimilation policies towards First Nation children in Australia and Canada, and institutionalization of women and children in Ireland.\ The presentation navigates social work's collective political past while contemplating its future. After three years of intense research, we present an international social work collection that uncovers social work's historical legacies of oppression and complicity, alongside its radicalism and resistance.\ Crucially, we explore how contemporary social work, social services, and state institutions remember and respond to these legacies. Proposals range from public apologies and transformative justice, to selective amnesia and outright denial. By posing and answering provocative questions, our symposium aims to challenge attendees to reflect deeply on the profession's past and consider its future, encouraging a critical re-evaluation of social work's political role and responsibilities.
At the School of Social Work at Lund University there is a strong tradition of involving service users in education. This tradition has several motives. It relates to a perspective on evidence based social work practice, where evidence-based practice is seen as consisting of three kinds of knowledge: research, professional expertise, and the perspective of the user. The involvement of service users in education also relates to a perspective on the developing of social work knowledge and practice as characterized by unequal power relations between professionals and service users, which means that we, from a democratic perspective and a perscpective on empowerment, must work actively to involve the service user’s perspective and knowledge in the social work education and practice.\ \ The transformation from experience to knowledge is a condition of service user involvement in social work education as well as in social work practice. When the experience of service users is transformed from experience to knowledge the service users become actors and part in the creation of knowledge within social work, with a voice in its own rights. When experience is transformed to knowledge it becomes a source to empowerment that can bridge the gap of power relations. Though it has been questioning whether service users become professionalized when they engage in developing in social work education and practice, and if the authenticity of the experience hold by service users is weakened.In the paper I will develop perspectives related to the transformation from experience to knowledge:What are the differences between experience and knowledge?What does it take to develop experience to knowledge?In which way can experienced knowledge be a part processes of empowerment and democracy.Does the transformation from experience to knowledge change the authenticity of service users experience or does it in fact become a strength.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Experince based knowledge, \ powerrelaltion, empowerment, democrathy, social work education and practice
#1440 |
Mycelium: Racialized migrants’ resistance to systemic discrimination and the promotion of cultural connection and knowledge
This study focuses on how racialized migrants build communities and cultivate collective well-being, using the Photovoice methodology as an anti-racist and decolonial practice. Particularly, this study focuses on the ways in which communities resist systems of oppression while promoting cultural identity and knowledge, which is fundamental in supporting the well-being of racialized migrants. This study repositions racialized migrants as productive disrupters of mainstream narratives, using participatory action research as a tool that can effectively intervene into hegemonic understandings and scholarly traditions. Three themes emerged from the images and stories created: 1) the importance of informal networks and collective action for belonging and resisting systemic discrimination, 2) food, stories, and art as conduits for physical and emotional connection within and between communities, and 3) the need for systemic changes to address language barriers, unemployment, limited access to services, and physical and mental well-being. The findings suggested that organizations that work with migrants should increase opportunities for cultivating social connections with each other in order to engage in collective healing and action. The women underscored the importance of these relationships as newcomers. Additionally, community building and well-being occur through engagement with food, stories, and art as the women expressed creating deep connections within their communities and other communities through sharing their culture. Lastly, there is a need for systemic changes to address barriers that prevented them from leading healthy lives, including the recognition of credentials, translation services, tailored employment services for women, and increasing access to services and mental health support.
Keywords (separate with commas)
racialized migrants, diaspora, community, cultural connection, anti-racism, systemic discrimination, social support, migration, participatory arts-based methods
14:45 - 15:45
Area_03
Social Movements, Social Activism and Advocacy
#0043 |
Glocal: global social phenomena in the local communities
Panagiotis Pentaris1
;
Janet Walker
2
1 - Goldsmiths, University of London.2 - Lincoln University.
Social work is a dynamic profession that requires the ability to adapt to complex and diverse circumstances. Its effectiveness is not only determined by its underlying principles and values but also by its application in different contexts. With changing societal, familial, and individual needs, social work must rethink its core knowledge and skills to better respond to these changes. This is why many higher education institutions offering social work programs are now internationalizing their curricula to integrate responsive, transformational, and socially just frameworks. The need for international social work as a specialized field that promotes comparative measures to address contemporary social problems is increasing. This paper reports on the learning from the online workshops held in March and June 2022, and February 2023 with over 500 social work attendees from over 18 countries. The workshops were supported by the European Association of Schools of Social Work and the University of Greenwich, London, UK. The aim of the workshops has been to facilitate an international dialogue about the need for international social work in social work education and research, and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper highlights the need and demand for international social work and examines how these specialized skills can be integrated into social work curricula and training. By doing so, social work can move towards more sustainable futures and better respond to the changing needs of society. International social work involves applying social work knowledge and skills across different countries, cultures, and contexts. It requires an understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities in different regions and an appreciation of diverse perspectives. This specialized field aims to promote social justice, human rights, and equality while addressing the unique needs of individuals, families, and communities.
Keywords (separate with commas)
glocal, international social work, policy practice, advocacy, human rights
#0824 |
A call for joint social action: Responding to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)
Hilary Weaver1
1 - Indigenous and Tribal Social Work Educators Association.
Thousands of Indigenous women are missing or murdered, constituting an international human rights crisis of gender-based, racialized violence. This crisis is perpetuated by indifference to the humanity of Indigenous women and inadequate law enforcement responses.\ Colonial values of heteronormative patriarchy and structures that create risks including marginalization, poverty, and racism, make Indigenous women particularly vulnerable to violence. Disproportionate policing, mental health challenges, and addiction further heighten vulnerabilities. “Man camps” that house workers for extractive industries near Indigenous territories are frequent sites of rape, violence, and sex trafficking where Indigenous women are targeted due to a belief that perpetrators will not be prosecuted. Intergenerational trauma is compounded by losing a mother, sister, or daughter, accompanied by dismissive, victim-blaming attitudes prevalent in settler societies. A strong activist movement is responding to this crisis, particularly in Canada. There, Indigenous communities, women’s associations, and human rights groups demanded an inquiry for years before Amnesty International issued a 2004 report calling for action. In 2012, the hashtag #MMIW was created with later versions expanding to include other Indigenous people. Only in 2021 did the US establish an awareness day and unit within the federal government. Most other nations have yet to respond. \ Devaluation, exploitation, violence, and murder of Indigenous women knows no borders. Unfortunately, social work as a profession has been largely absent from this movement. The Indigenous Commission of IFSW has called for action. Social workers must raise awareness and challenge societal conditions that perpetuate vulnerabilities experienced by Indigenous women. We are equipped to confront injustice and facilitate societal change, becoming stronger when we participate in joint social action. This presentation will provide information on the magnitude of the problem, describe how colonization has created vulnerabilities that enable violence, and how social workers can become informed and engaged in joint social action.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Indigenous, MMIW, women, violence
#0840 |
Transforming Communities: Pathways to Praxeological Consciousness in Haiti
The relationship between conscientization, consciousness, and advocacy is a sine qua non condition in all social movements (Deveaux, 2018; Diemer \\& Rapa, 2016; Freire, 1970; Glassman \\& Erdem, 2014). To critically understand the structuration of systemic injustices and power dynamics in motion, conscientization can drive a deeper and more informed consciousness that serves as a foundation for meaningful advocacy efforts. This process must empower communities as a catalyst for societal change that aligns with the principles of equity and social justice. Therefore, developing communities requires transformative influences that are both ontological and praxeological (Jost \\& Kay, 2010; Pascal \\& Bertram, 2012). Knowing that Haiti’s past and current conditions are marked by a legacy of resilience and resistance against oppression and adversity (Dupuy, 2005; Ferrer, 2012; Hammer \\& White, 2019), this project, grounded in cultural-historical-activity theory (CHAT), illuminates how communities in Haiti harness the power of consciousness-raising in social movements, activism, and advocacy to understand and challenge enduring social problems. In that respect, the presenter will begin by discussing the historical productions of collective consciousness in Haiti (i.e., foundations and phases). Second, the presenter will examine the core components of praxeological consciousness as a theoretical construct. Third, the presenter will explore the role of praxeological consciousness as a driving force in (re)defining the pathways to community development. Lastly, the presenter will outline the implications of historical formations of praxeological consciousness for research and practice for the Haitian communities and other related global spaces.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Praxeological Consciousness, Theory, Advocacy, Haiti
#1195 |
The role of National Associations in the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW): reflections from South Africa (ASASWEI)
This paper explores the role of national social work academic associations in the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and provides reflections from the Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions (ASASWEI).\ The constitution of IASSW states that its mission is “to represent and promote social work education around the globe in partnership with national, regional and international associations”. In the case of national representation, the IASSW constitution gives voting rights to “one member nominated by each national association that is, in principle, inclusive of all schools in the country and has at least five school members of IASSW”.\ In South Africa, the constitution of ASASWEI stipulates that “the Association will be managed by an Executive Committee which shall comprise a President, Vice-president, Secretary, Treasurer and a person elected to represent the Association on the IASSW”. It is critical to note that the IASSW representative is not the national association’s president or vice president (who serves for only two years). In South Africa one of the Committee members is elected to specifically represent ASASWEI on the IASSW Board for a minimum four-year term. Herein lies one of the keys to the disproportionally high level of historical involvement and service of South Africans. Many of the other IASSW Board Members are simultaneously also the presidents of their own national or regional organisations and some may only be in this position for a two-year term. Since ASASWEI’s formation in 1938, South Africans have been actively involved in the IASSW committees providing leadership in global activities such as the development of Global Standards for Social Work Education; the Social Work Definition, the Global Agenda, and the Global Census) and many others.\ A model of bulk membership that can encourage greater IASSW representation and involvement by academic associations will be discussed.
Keywords (separate with commas)
National Associations, South Africa, IASSW, ASASWEI, Global Social Work Education
15:50 - 16:50
Area_03
Social Movements, Social Activism and Advocacy
#0408 |
“No seminar taught us that, we teach it to ourselves” – civics education in Social Work study programmes in Germany
Matthias Kachel1
1 - BayWISS Promotionskolleg Sozialer Wandel / Graduate School "Social Change" at the Bavarian Academic Forum.
According to the political scientist Fritz Reheis, politicial education – civics education – is “the entirety of all processes by which a person is shaped for life in the community and shapes themselves” (Reheis, 2016). While Social Work is a profession that supports and educates people in all phases of their life in communities, the scientific discourse in Germany is unsure whether and how political the profession and its’ members can or should be. Nevertheless, Social Workers are working in civics education when they help to shape clients’ lives or communal endeavours (Schmidbauer, 2021). In order to fulfill this task and its’ political mandate, Social Workers need to be competent in politics and civics themselves – otherwise they would not be able to pass it along. For my doctoral thesis, I have compared ten different Social Work curricula at as many Schools of Social Work in Germany. My goal was to find out if and how future social workers are receiving – or are at least able to receive – training for political situations and political work and if the skills taught are the ones that are needed in practice. In addition to a content analysis of Social Work study programmes I held focus groups to let students of Social Work and Social Workers discuss my findings about “their” study programme. In additions, participants were asked if the skills taught on paper were also the ones that are taught in reality – and if they are the ones that are needed in practice. What transpired was that while civics education takes up a very small part of the, it is seen as a cross-sectional teaching task. Furthermore, it became visible that formal learning spaces are not the only aspect of university education where learning happens. I wish to present my full findings in the presentation.
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work, social workers, social policy, politics, social policy engagement, policy engagement, direct democracy, democracy, social activism, advocacy, politics as a job, profession, holding elected office, political mandate, biographies, civics education, political education, social work study programme, content analysis, learning,
#0830 |
Personal Narrative as Shaping Social Activism of Religious Woman in Israel
Ayelet Makaros1
;
Edith Blit-Cohen
2
1 - Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work in Bar – Ilan University.2 - Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare..
This study examines Jewish women’s activism in Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox society in Israel who are engaged in ongoing efforts to transform their community norms and conventions, which they find discriminatory and restrictive of all women in those religious communities.\ Informed by thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with fourteen activists about their life stories, the findings indicate\ that personal or social events perceived as significant in the women’s lives as children and adolescents acted as catalysts for activism. These events were central to their personal narratives and became embedded in the women’s activist identity, as they came to perceive activism as the most “natural” response to life challenges. Specifically, two types of events were identified: events in the individual-family-community sphere, and events in the public-national sphere. Both of them affected the interviewees and led them to act, whether out of antagonism and anger at a perceived injustice, or out of a sense of power and constructive thought. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the new and unique phenomenon of religious women who, despite being educated to accept and comply with the conventions of a patriarchal society, choose to make their voice heard and lead sociocultural changes in the public space. The findings emphasize the personal-political nexus and provide insight into the activists’ motives for fighting for their values and for committing to long-term activity in the public sphere – despite considerable personal costs.\ As social workers who work with activists from minority groups, it is important to understand the meaning of childhood experiences both as a motive for action and as a sensitive area that must be given a place in development and empowerment processes.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Women activists, Social activism, Personal narrative, Life story, Religious women in Israel
#1062 |
Exploring the Changing Role of Social Class in Social Work Scholarship and its Implications for Activism and Advocacy: A Relational Content Analysis
This paper, inspired by Strier et al. (2012), aims to understand the extent to which, and how, social class and related terms, are being represented and discussed in the social work academy. There has been increasing neglect of social class and issues related to social structure in the U.S., in favor of other types of identity and individualistic explanation for adverse social outcomes. The paper begins by reviewing the overall state of macro practice in the profession and relates it to the issue of social class and its importance for social movements and effective activism. Next, the paper explores how social justice is understood in social work, with particular reference to the relationship between distributive justice and recognition theory, within the larger context of intersectionality. The paper then discusses how social class has been approached in scholarship and how understanding of the concept has changed over time. Insights derived from a synthesis of the literature give rise to several research questions as well a conceptual framework that is used to undertake a content analysis of several leading social work journals. Finally, after presenting methods and findings, the article discusses the results and conclusions, summarizing trends in how social class is discussed in the social work academy. It suggests the need to more rigorously apply social work ideals with respect to understanding both subjective microscopic experiences of social class, especially those of the white working class, and the objective macroscopic factors that both give rise to the former and are key to structural and systemic reforms. Concerns are raised about the declining willingness of social work scholars, and ability of the wider profession, to confront the economic hegemony of neoliberalism.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social class, social structure, individualistic, social work, intersectionality, identity, activism, neoliberalism, content analysis\
#1120 |
Re-positioning Social Work Knowledge Construction for the Future
Jennifer Hedges1
;
Gianinna Muñoz Arce
2
;
Minna Zechner
3
1 - University of Manitoba.2 - Universidad de Chile.3 - University of Helsinki.
The global quest to construct social work knowledge is ongoing. Despite a commitment to research knowledge production, there is uncertainty about what constitutes social work knowledge (Jacobsson \& Meeuwisse, 2018) and how this may reproduce privileges and oppressions (Schmid \& Morgenshtern 2023). The geopolitics of knowledge production impacting how and by whom knowledge is produced in social work today requires examination for the pursuit of epistemic justice (Muñoz Arce, 2023). A responsibility of the International Association of Schools of Social Work research committee is encouraging research that builds knowledge in supporting the work of social workers. This presentation will describe a systematic review project initiated by the IASSW research committee that examines the production of social work knowledge around the world. Limited comparative studies exist and have focused on utilization of social work knowledge rather than construction of social work knowledge (Kreisler \& Marsh 2016). Respecting diversity through joint social action requires an understanding of what social dynamics and privileged ideologies influence knowledge production (Gray \& Schubert, 2013). Presenters will discuss re-positioning social work knowledge production for the future.
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work knowledge, epistemic justice, knowledge construction
16:55 - 17:55
Area_04
Poverty and social inequalities
#0332 |
Growing Inequality and Problems of Governance: Threats to Democracy and Human Security in Bangladesh
Bangladesh achieved its independence in 1971. The year 2021 marks its 50th anniversary. The country has come a long way since its birth and, in 2020, graduated as a member of the middle-income countries category by maintaining a steady economic growth of 6-7 percent over the years. It has been able to hold on to its democratic processes over the years, despite the numerous obstacles thrown at it periodically. However, currently there is a serious concern about fairness of national elections, freedom of speech, growing inequality, and gross violation of human rights.This paper will explore the multidimensional aspects of poverty, including social, political, environmental, economic, and psychological. It will examine factors that are contributing to inequality such as population, economy, politics, education, religiosity, inclusion and diversity, corruption, leadership, and disaster impacts. All these elements have severe consequences for the limited social safety net prevalent in the country. The residual approach of the social safety nets is a major impediment to human security in Bangladesh. Inequality caused by poverty will be analyzed based on population as well as several other indices: poverty line, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Human Development Indicator (HDI), and Human Poverty Index (HPI). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are further deteriorating the socioeconomic and political condition of Bangladesh and widening the inequality that threatens its democracy and human security.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Inequality, Democracy, Human Security, Governance, Human Rights
#0845 |
Presentation of Book Chapter Titled:Searching for Liberation in Higher Education: Testimonio from Miami-Dade County
Dr. Ivania Delgado1
1 - Social Work Core Faculty at Pacific Oaks College.
Book Chapter-Those of us who live in the imperial core and embrace political praxis know that the United States has been in decline for a while. A country in decline will undoubtedly find some of the most significant battles within its educational institutions. This chapter offers a combination of lived experience and political and professional insights into the hurt done not only to an individual in the classroom but to entire communities. One wonders where it will all end between censorship, erasure, student loan debt, meritocracy, the centering of industry needs, and the urgent desire to suppress critical thinking in the classroom. This chapter is a call to action for educators within the helping professions to leverage their power in the classroom and co-construct learning spaces with students that invite criticality and history, including the social, economic, political, and power dynamics that shape the students’ lives. An empowered community of learners can co-create a space where problem-solving happens, tensions are held, contradictions are thought through, and solutions that can transform our social conditions are born.\ \
Homelessness continues to grow as a significant social issue facing individuals and families in England and beyond. Social work is well placed to respond to the multiple sources of exclusion that homelessness intersects with, including mental distress, substance use, experiences of trauma and poverty. At present, homelessness is not a well developed specialism for social work in England and there is evidence that social workers are ill-prepared for work with people facing homelessness when encountering such issues in their practice. No previous studies have considered the extent of homelessness being embedded on social work curricula in England. This presentation will outline the results of a call for evidence survey which was sent to all social work education providers in England. Responses were from 42 higher education institutions across England, which represents approximately 50% response rate. All responses indicated that homelessness was incorporated in their social work qualifying programme curricula but the strategies adopted ranged from limited, passing reference up to a minority of institutions offering more than a single lecture on the topic. However, most responses indicated that they offered placements in homelessness settings. Follow up interviews with 10 academics, 10 students and 5 placement providers provided further insights. Academics emphasised the pressure of time in tight curricula and the lack of staff specialism. Students and placement providers discussed the lack of preparation for placement and the complexity of homelessness. The presentation will outline recommendations for social work education, drawing on the most innovative practices we encountered, to enable students to prepare appropriately for this complex work. The presentation particularly corresponds to conference theme 17b - Social Work and Homelessness and conference theme 4 - Poverty and Social Inequalities.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Homelessness, Social work education, Social Inequalities
#1170 |
Domestic slavery in Brazil: an analysis of infraction notices on the subject formalized between 2020 and 2022
Historically, domestic slavery has been made invisible (PEREIRA, 2021, p. 168), which is related to the fact that the majority of victims are women (HADDAD; MIRAGLIA, 2020, p. 16). Thus, data on this type of exploitation is still scarce. This paper aims to analyze the infraction notices relating to domestic slave labor formalized in Brazilian states between 2020 and 2022. The purpose of this analysis is to trace the profile of the victims of this crime, considering age, gender, race, education and the period in which they were subjected to slave labor conditions, as well as the profile of those responsible.Using a data collection methodology, the research is carried out through the investigation of Notices of Infraction in Brazil, from the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, provided by DETRAE (Inspection Division for the Eradication of Slave Labor). Based on these reports, the profiles of the victims and employers are drawn up, as well as information about the post-rescue period and the prospects for the effective reintegration of the rescued people invto society. The profiling takes into account the race, social class, gender and schooling of those involved.Based on the readings already made and the infraction reports analyzed so far, it is possible to outline a profile marked by central issues of gender, race and class. So far, most of the victims can be identified as black women with low levels of income and education.The second partial conclusion is the possibility of underreporting. Considering the circumstances in which these people were rescued - often after years of forced labor; without known relatives; at risk of social and state abandonment after the rescue - it is likely, or at least possible, that the number of complaints is derisory in relation to the number of workers in this type of situation.\\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Domestic slavery; modern slavery; work fiscalization.
19:30 - 19:45
Inauguration Dinner
SS - ENG 11
13:40 - 14:40
Area_04
Poverty and social inequalities
#0110 |
Life prospects of young people from precarious social milieus in Berlin (Germany). Hopes and wishes between tradition, insecurity and unrealistic expectations
Thomas Wilke1
1 - IU International University of Applied Sciences.
During adolescence, comprehensive changes take place, which are accompanied by demands that the social environment places on the adolescent. In the course of this process, the various socialization instances confront adolescents with diverse ideas about which values, interests, and competencies they should have developed at which point in time in order to successfully manage the transition to adulthood. How do young people, whose social situation is precarious look to the future? What wishes and hopes do they have? The data basis is formed by 16 guideline-based interviews with young people aged 15 to 21 years. The data collection took place in the youth detention center Berlin-Brandenburg, the youth probation center Berlin and in the context of the "street". The data analysis was multimethod and based on the documentary method and grounded theory. The boys and girls represent traditional values that are reflected in their desires and hopes. In view of their fragile biographies and family histories, most of the young people interviewed wish for an typical, "ideal" family in which they and their partners each take on the classic, gender-specific roles and raise several children. Their parents serve the young people as a negative foil to their own life desires and dreams. They not only want to do better than their parents in raising their children, but they also want to have a "good job" one day and to be financially independent of state benefits. Many of the young people, especially the boys, would like to be "rich" and flaunt the associated status symbols. Since almost all the young people left school without a diploma, many of the plans can be described as unrealistic and unreflective. In order to ensure the well-being of young people in precarious living situations, social work must integrate the young people's vision of the future.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Youth, poverty, prospects
#0315 |
Mobilizing Community Inclusiveness to Promote the Dignity of People and Communities Affected by FASD
Poverty, inequalities, and intergenerational trauma are, among several other factors, the causes of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). These can lead individuals, families, and communities to experience multiple intersecting layers of stigmatization, discrimination, and exclusion. Through collaborative, participatory research (e.g., photovoice, community cafes), we generated conversations with lived experience people, family members, cross-sectoral service providers, and communities. The knowledge and experiences shared through this method helped us understand how community-inclusive-mobilization approaches can overcome stigma and promote dignity. We approached this topic through a reflective narrative format that creatively weaves together critical, feminist, intersectionality, anti-colonial, anti-oppressive and social justice frameworks to co-create knowledge and explore possibilities for future actions. As a result, we identified and named essentialized narratives and stigmatizing labels often imposed on lived experienced and communities affected by FASD. These findings helped to build the connection between social inequalities and FASD while proposing a community mobilization and inclusion approach to promote dignity, the 'Reverse Co-construction Framework to promote dignity' that challenges the 'dominant Biomedical Perspective' of FASD. The methods became participants' tools to amplify their voices to shift public perspectives away from stigmatizing to attitudes and actions that support the dignity of people with FASD. These tools provide relationship-building opportunities for caregivers and service providers working with people with FASD in different capacities to include, connect and share knowledge and resources. They invite reflection, reimagining and redefining what FASD means to lived experienced people, their significant others, service providers and the community. This presentation will share this research project's process, stories and findings. It will also provide our perspective on community mobilization and inclusion to promote dignity. We conclude by identifying ongoing tensions and suggest shifts of paradigms to expand a dignity community of practice (CoP) beyond the traditional practices labelled just for FASD.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Poverty, Inequality, Intergenerational Trauma, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Stigma, Dignity, Community Mobilizing Inclusion, Photovoice, Community Cafe, Participatory Research
#0759 |
Investigating Women's Perspectives on Blesser Relationships: The Impact on Mental Health and Close Relationships through Lived Experiences and Virtual Ethnography
The rise in urban migration across Sub-Saharan African countries has given rise to a unique phenomenon known as the Blesser/Slay Queen Phenomenon, driven by factors such as the high cost of living, materialistic expectations, and limited employment opportunities. Blesser relationships have emerged as transactional relationships where young women, referred to as "Slay Queens," engage in sexual relationships with older men known as Blessers in exchange for financial benefits and lavish gifts. Poverty and the pursuit of survival needs have been identified as root causes, leading adolescents to engage in transactional sex and participate in Blesser relationships. However, girls and young women in Blesser/Slay Queen relationships remain a vulnerable and understudied group. Existing research has focused primarily on health outcomes, such as HIV/AIDS, or motivations for becoming a Slay Queen, without a comprehensive understanding of their subjective experiences, including trauma, psychological adversity, and the impact on social and familial relationships. By employing qualitative methods, this study aims to address the gaps in research by exploring the prevalence of Blesser relationships in Malawi, examining the mental health impacts on Slay Queens, and understanding their perceptions of these relationships and their effects on their mental well-being and close relationships. This study holds particular relevance for the social work profession in Africa, as it advocates for social justice and gender equity. The research findings will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the women's perceptions, support networks, and facilitation of interventions that can effectively support the mental well-being and autonomy of young Malawian Slay Queens. Additionally, by increasing transparency on the severity of marginalization and mental health problems among young women/girls in Malawi, this study aims to raise awareness and advocate for policies that will promote gender equality and equal economic opportunities to improve the livelihoods and mental well-being of vulnerable women.
Research in Canada has documented the ways in which race, income, gender and lack of cultural knowledge by educators and service providers intersect to influence the experiences of Black children in the child welfare system. The role of child welfare needs to be understood through the structural and institutional forces that target and increase the likelihood that Black families will come to the attention to child welfare. This must be done jurisdictionally to allow for the appropriate development of responses. This research uses a qualitative case study design to examine the ways that culturally adapted services are provided to Black children and their families. We compare three different service models in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. The Alberta model consisted of a third-party collaboration between the child welfare agency, a multicultural health broker and a Black-led community organization. The Ontario model involved the creation of a Black worker team within the child welfare agency. The Quebec model included a formalized partnership between the child welfare agency and a Black community organization. \ Our findings raise important considerations for how best to provide culturally relevant responses to Black children and their families. Based on these findings, we identify gaps for addressing racial disparity and consider shortcomings to Black community agency under current child welfare policy and practice.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Child welfare, racial disparity, community response, community-based, policy
14:45 - 15:45
Area_04
Poverty and social inequalities
#0147 |
Experiences of a Group of Elderly Women Ageing with HIV in Trinidad.
The world is experiencing a rapid growth of its ageing population. As persons age, specific needs must be prioritized, thus, ensuring they are treated fairly, and their human rights and dignity are honoured. This paper will pay attention to women ageing with HIV in a Trinidadian society with the aim of understanding their lived experiences, and ways they face double or sometimes triple jeopardy.\ \ Theoretically, this work was guided by a critical approach that leads to social justice which can be implemented in service provision for women ageing with HIV. A critical approach confirms social structures that perpetuate oppressive practices can be challenged and power regained.\ \ Feminist participatory action research methodology was used in this work, with methods of face to face semi structured interviews, one telephone interview, and talking circles.The findings revealed that women ageing with HIV possess the ability to negotiate their challenges, build strength and resilience through consciousness raising and support.\ \ Women ageing with HIV comprise a population that must be prioritized for inclusion at all levels of society. Social workers play an integral role in challenging structural inefficiencies that causes and perpetuate social injustices in their lives.\ This work highlights a social justice approach can be used in intervention with the population as well as creates new knowledge for further research efforts.\ Recommendations for future practice lies in an intergenerational approach, creation of safe spaces, restructuring social service delivery and inclusion of a gendered perspective from policy stand point.\ \ \ \
Keywords (separate with commas)
Inequality, \ elderly women, ageing with HIV, poverty
#0379 |
Poverty and the Influences of Social Assistance Policies on Financially Disadvantaged People in Taiwan
Pei-Yuen Tsai1
1 - Graduate Institute of Social Work, National Chengchi University.
Social assistance policies are important policy tools to address the problem of poverty. In Taiwan, these policies have evolved in the last few decades to adapt to the changes of the socio-economic environment and the needs of financially disadvantaged people. The aims of this study are to demonstrate the level of poverty problem and show the extent to which social assistance policies can respond to the needs of financially disadvantaged people in Taiwan. It firstly adopts secondary data analysis and uses government survey datasets to analyze the problem of poverty in Taiwan and demonstrates how it compares to OECD countries. Second, this study uses the method of documentary analysis to review the development and main characteristics of social assistance policies in Taiwan such as family ethics, fictitious income, employment promotion measures and so on to discuss important issues and debates regarding the design and implementation of these policies. Moreover, this study examines the recent development of Child Development Account and its implementation in Taiwan. Finally, this study shows whether and the extent to which these social assistance policies can meet the needs of financially disadvantaged people and how these policies can be improved by interviewing government officials (including social assistance and employment service staffs), social group workers that provide services to support financially disadvantaged people and those who are financially disadvantaged. The findings of this study can provide the experiences of implementing social assistance policies in Taiwan and help to understand the advantages and disadvantages of some social assistance measures and their influences on financially disadvantaged people.
Keywords (separate with commas)
poverty, social assistance, Child Development Account, fictitious income, Taiwan
#0493 |
Resilient Communities by Sustainable Welfare Transformation
Marcus Knutagård1
;
Cecilia Heule
1
;
Arne Kristiansen
1
Homelessness is an extensive societal problem in Sweden which poses major challenges for the social services in developing sustainable and effective methods that can meet the service user’s needs. The RECO project is based on practice research and has mutual learning at its core. The aim is to investigate and analyse how evidence-based methods like Housing First can be sustained within the social services and how implemented methods can become resilient towards external pressures. The research questions are:What factors facilitate or hinders high programme fidelity and what are the Housing First tenants’ experiences of the programme?What conditions are beneficial when trying to work knowledge-based in the social services efforts to combat homelessness?What methods enables participation and involvement with service users?What impacts and consequences do the participation have on the involved social workers and service users? Our ambition is to present the ongoing research project and also briefly present the new homelessness strategy in Sweden.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Resilient Communities, Housing First, Service user participation, Co-production, Welfare transformation
#1190 |
Kinship Foster Care in Finnish context, family diversities and social workers decision-making process
In Finland child´s family is the primary way to take care of a child. Finland is part of Nordic Welfare System that influences also child protection services. Supporting a child and the family as early as possible is considered important. Removing a child from birth parents should be the last intervention option. Taking a child into care means that the child is placed in a foster home, professional family home, or institutional care. Family foster care placement is a primary choice of foster care and in Finland child should be placed in a kin family if it is a child best interest. Social worker has a great responsibility as a determiner of the child´s best interest.My PhD research shows that\ social workers are looking for factors that favor placing the child in a kinship family. For that purpose they\ collect different kind of information for their assessment and decision-making processes. One of the interest is to understand different kind of complex family relationships and systems what can support child welfare or also challenge it. There\ are different alliances and sticking forces between different people in the family\ and kin.\ People are attached to each other. That is why kinship foster care is a unique context as a child protection service but also as a social workers work. Kinship foster care needs special expertise to understand multidimension relationships and family systems. Kinship care\ also makes the diversity of families visible and challenges social worker define child´s best interest when there isn´t only one right answer and a kin can take care of a child sufficiently.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Child protection, kinship foster care, assesment and decision-making process
15:50 - 16:50
Area_04
Poverty and social inequalities
#0162 |
“I’m Not Old, Just Aging”: Perceptions of Subjective Age and Aging among Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Barbra Teater
1
;
Jill Chonody2
1 - The College of Staten Island.2 - Boise State University.
The concept and act of “aging” can often carry a negative connotation in many Western societies; however,research suggests collective perceptions may be shifting as people are living longer lives. This cross-sectional studyusing survey methodology sought to understand how older people (N = 477) perceive their age by analyzing theresponses of closed- and open-ended questions through summative content analysis. The mean age of participants was63 years, and the average age that they felt was approximately 10 years younger. The seven themes for why individualsdid not feel old ranged from maintaining an active and engaged lifestyle to “I don’t act or look old,” and the seventhemes for why individuals felt old ranged from stopped or changed activities to nearing death. The findings illuminatehow subjective age is shaped by perceptions of what it means to be old, and the ways in which these micronarrativesare reflective of larger macronarratives surrounding age and aging.
This presentation will teach the impact of ableism (discrimination toward people with disabilities), audism (discrimination toward people who are deaf), and linguicism (discrimination of people who speak differently), toward people with differing abilities. The presentation will explain these forms of discrimination and their impact on individual service provision and self-esteem. Presentation participants will learn to be anti-ableist, anti-audist, and anti-linguist. There will be a focus on issues of accessibility, equity, and respect for all clients/patients who have differing physical, mental, cognitive, and health-related abilities/disabilities.
This presentation explores the use of the therapeutic relationship in complex discharge planning inan Australian hospital setting. Australian hospitals mostly employ social workers to provide boththerapeutic support to patients and families while also providing case management and dischargeplanning. The skills needed for these aspects of the role are often spoken about separately, howeverthe author argues that case management can be a therapeutic practice in itself and meaningfuldischarge planning occurs within a therapeutic relationship. Many marginalized clients do not havethe stability in their lives to engage in traditional one on one counselling, social workers howeverhave the opportunity to provide therapeutic support while also working alongside clients to addresstheir priorities, whether that be housing, income or support services in the community. Whenworking with this model social workers see case management tasks such as filling out forms, makingphone calls or attending appointments as windows of opportunity to provide to invite a therapeuticconversation and demonstrate care and compassion. This presentation will highlight three casestudies to demonstrate how the therapeutic relationship can aid in complex discharge planning formarginalized clients leaving hospital. Many of the clients had experienced significant social isolation,long periods of homelessness and complex trauma.
Keywords (separate with commas)
therapeutic relationship, complex discharge planning, hospital social work\\
#1037 |
Engaging Graduate Students in Social Work and Nonprofit Leadership in Delivering Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Services for Low-Resourced Communities.
Anthony Mallon1
1 - University of Georgia Institute for Nonprofit Organizations.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs are consistent with the mission of social work; indeed the very first line in the preamble of the National Association of Social Workers code of ethics reads as follows: “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.” However, social workers and students have only been recently been actively engaged in delivering VITA services, despite the fact that such services help low-income workers access the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is one of the largest anti-poverty policies in the United States funneling more than $60 billion back to low-income taxpayers each year. Launched in 2020, and now entering its third year of operation, the Institute for Nonprofit Organizations VITA Program has engaged more than 25 MSW and MA in Nonprofit Management and Leadership program students in the delivery of VITA services while also working toward the development of comprehensive assessments of clients’ financial needs beyond tax preparation such as job training, eviction prevention, student financial aid, and other related issues.\ While these benefits accrue to VITA clients, we also have documented the value of the program for the students themselves in that they have gained knowledge regarding the impact of VITA on the financial well-being of individuals and families as well as how the influx of federal tax refund dollars affects the local economy.\ Initially, students have questioned how tax preparation is relevant to their social work education however by the end of each tax season, they report a heightened awareness of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of the VITA program to the broader issue of poverty.\ \ \
Youth unemployment remains an intractable problem in the Caribbean with an average rate of 21.4 percent compared to 9.6 percent in the general population (ILO,2021). While commentators highlight the inappropriateness of education and training, or poor work ethic as some of the factors which prevent youths from finding jobs, this paper points to structural factors within the labour market as the main causes of youth unemployment. Some of the main factors include the size of the youth cohort, the weak aggregate demand for labour, the industrial structure of the country and high retention rates of older workers who have passed the age of retirement. Using data from the Jamaica Labour Force Surveys 2018 and 2021, we demonstrated that unemployed youths are no different in their qualifications when compared to employed youths. However, females although better qualified than their male counterparts experience higher rates of unemployment. Similarly, youths from disadvantaged social backgrounds also face greater challenges in finding work. The paper challenges policy makers and employers to act decisively so that the growing number of young people in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean can realizing their true economic potential.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Youth, Unemployment, Labour market participation , Jamaica
Write here the title of the Symposium and the name of who coordinates it:
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#1395 |
EXPLORING RECIPROCITY IN GRANDPARENT-GRANDCHILDREN CARE: THE CASE OF MDLANKOMO LOCATION, LIBODE IN THE EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA
In South Africa, there appears to be a paradigm shift where the majority of the country’s children are taken care of by their grandparents. This article explores the states of reciprocity existing in grandparent-grandchildren care in Mdlankomo location, Libode of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The study utilised a qualitative approach to explore the perceptions of grandparents on reciprocity between them and their grandchildren. Nine grandparents were interviewed. The findings revealed that grandparents manifested love for their grandchildren, who also reciprocated the gesture; delinquent behaviours of grandchildren exasperated their grandparents; the conflict between grandparents and grandchildren ensued when children suspected the abuse of their children’s welfare grant by their grandparents. The researchers urge the Department of Social Development and NGOs working in the children’s domain to strengthen the programmes for the well-being of older persons and children
Keywords (separate with commas)
Reciprocity; Best interests of children; Aging and older persons; Child delinquency; Child welfare grants
19:30 - 19:45
Inauguration Dinner
SS - ENG 12
13:40 - 14:40
Area_05
Inclusive Social Policies And Legislation
#0447 |
Disaster and Social Work in Nepal: A Diverse Multi-stakeholders Approach
Nepal is a landlocked country prone to range of disaster due to its varied geographical altitude, diverse climate, and active seismic zone. Globally, Nepal is the most disaster-prone nation and has experienced multiple natural disaster, which have had an enormous adverse effect on the national economy and standard of living. Despite social works about three decades of history and majority of populations being at the risk of multiple natural disasters, up until now, there is no any specific, tangible, and comprehensive social work framework related to disaster context. Thus, this presentation will explore about disaster in Nepal; and subsequently, discuss why there is urgent need to integrate disaster into Nepali social work pedagogy and praxes. Through such efforts, Nepal's social work education will be improved and strengthened, and social workers will be better equipped to contribute in the field of disaster risk, and vulnerability management. This presentation will also discuss why Nepali social workers need to network and partner with diverse stakeholders such as civil society, community development workers, and policy makers to effectively respond to disaster in Nepal.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Disaster, disaster governance, disaster partnership, disaster and social work, Nepali social work, Nepal
#0450 |
Role of Social Worker for Strengthening Disaster Policy Framework in Nepal
Nepal is in a threat of multiple natural disasters due to its fragile landscape, geoclimatic conditions, and active seismic zone leading to significant economic and human losses and hinder the country's overall development. Despite the fact that social work has a three decades of history and that the majority of Nepali populations are vulnerable to multiple natural disasters, up until now, there has been no systematic efforts to understand disaster related policy from a social work perspective. Given this, this presentation will first discuss about the disaster situations in Nepal. Then, it will critically explore about relevant plans, policies, and programs relating to disaster preparedness, mitigation, and recovery. And finally, this presentation will entail how Nepali social workers can participate; and simultaneously, can promote and strengthen better policy frameworks to deal with disasters in Nepal. In essence, this presentation will not only provide guidelines to Nepali social workers about how they can engage with disaster and policy but also it will help social workers elsewhere with similar contexts to better think and link disaster, policy, and social work.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Disaster, disaster governance and policies, disaster and social work, Nepali social work, Nepal
#0694 |
A qualitative inquiry on Social Work students' opinions about sex education as part of Social Work training at the University of Nigeria
Prince Chiagozie Ekoh1
;
Tochukwu Jonathan Okolie
2
;
Samuel Chinedu Onuh
2
;
Emmanuel Onyemaechi Ugwu
2
;
Fidel Bethel Nnadi
2
;
Ifechukwu Hope Nwabineli
2
;
Cecilia Sochima Odoh
2
1 - University of Calgary, Faculty of Social Work.2 - University of Nigeria Nsukka.
Sex education is lacking in Nigeria’s social work education curriculum and course contents because of aversion to sex discourse in Nigeria and other African countries. This may leave social work students underprepared for sexual and reproductive health practice. Our study investigated social work students’ opinions on learning about sex education and the uncharted territories of contemporary sex-related issues such as abortion, sex work, pornography and sex toys as part of social work training. Data were collected from 28 students using semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed thematically with the aid of NVivo 12. Findings revealed that students were interested in general sex education because of its impact on reproductive health. However, irrespective of growing social work interest in contemporary sex-related issues, the country’s prevalent conservative culture led to many students displaying resistance to learning about abortion rights, the protection of sex workers, and the destigmatization of pornography and sex toys. Given the growing importance of these issues, we recommend the inclusion of sex education in the social work curriculum and course contents and (re)training of social work students on current standards of practice in sexual and reproductive health.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social Work education, Social Work education, sex education, curriculum
#1147 |
Citizen’s participation and social services´responsiveness in Portugal. Preliminary results and reflexions from a European Project
Fernando Serra1
;
Elvira Pereira
1
;
Ana Esgaio
1
;
Carla Pinto
1
1 - Universidade de Lisboa, Institute of Social and Political Sciences, Centre for Public Administration and Public Policies, Rua Almerindo Lessa, 1300-663, Lisbon, PortugalThis work was funded by the Εuropean Union under the Horizon Europe grant 101095200..
Social services are strongly linked to the core of democracy, and have a significant impact on the rights and wellbeing of citizens facing structural disadvantage. However, support from social services does not always fully meet complex needs and may even be directly unhelpful.Challenges arise when citizens are not involved in the definition and assessment of the social problems they face and on possible actions to address them. People who are voiceless due to multiple discrimination are often excluded from the public space where democracy takes place and collective action is decided.\ Therefore, we may raise questions on whether democracy really exist in social services, and on how citizens can shape the work of services that should support social rights.\ Based on the ongoing European Project RESPONSIVE (HORIZON-CL2-2022-DEMOCRACY-01-02), this paper aims to explore the normative construction of participation and responsiveness to citizens’ voice in policy discourses in the Portuguese context.Preliminary results, collected through a documental-based approach in four social sectors (mental health, disability, child protection, and youth at risk), reveal that opportunities for citizen’s input are generally more focused on indirect representation. Even in this form of participation, there seems to be an incoherence between policy ambitions and practical outcomes. This gap may suggest an institutionalized pattern of tokenistic or just inconsequent participation, whose likely inducing factors will be discussed.\ Based on the results, and on the RESPONSIVE project design, we propose an analytical scheme that contemplates different levels of participation and responsiveness and how they interconnect. This will pave the way to clarify how the research will proceed towards an action-research approach aiming to promote citizen’s knowledge and agency in social services.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Participation, \ Responsiveness, Voice, Social Services, Portugal
14:45 - 15:45
Area_05
Inclusive Social Policies And Legislation
#0108 |
Reproductive rights and female sterilization in Brazil
Leila Menandro
1
;
Maria Lúcia Teixeira Garcia2
1 - Federal University of Espirito Santo (UFES).2 - Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES).
In Brazil, reproductive rights are limited, despite the incessant struggle of women’s movements. With one of the strictest legislations on abortion in the world, Brazil is among those with the highest use of modern contraceptive methods among women, being the highest in Latin America. The most widely used methods are birth control pills (29.7%) and tubal ligations (14%), according to a 2019 UN report. This paper aims to problematize, after quantitative data, the high use of sterilization in women, in a context of weak reproductive rights, including the illegality of abortion, in Brazil. According to the family planning law, sterilization must obey a regulation that foresees a series of criteria. Among them, it is stipulated that the woman must be attended by a multidisciplinary team that includes social workers. In this sense, the actions of these professionals are questioned, since data collected from official websites of the Health Ministry point out that black and indigenous women, from poorer regions of the country, have been the most sterilized since 2008, with an increase between 2016 and 2019. In a scenario of economic and political crisis, with reduced funding for social policies, it is relevant to address the issue, since the demand for sterilizations tends to grow, even more if pregnancy termination is not a possibility. However, the discussion about abortion is avoided by social workers, with the justification of the limit placed by the 1940 legislation. It is necessary that social workers begin to debate the legalization of abortion as a women’s health and life issue, not only because abortion is among the four greatest causes of maternal mortality in the country, but because all women should have the right to decide when to have children and should be able to change their minds at any time during their reproductive age.
Keywords (separate with commas)
reproductive rights, sterilization of women, abortion.\
#0333 |
Comparative Overview of Immigrant Experiences Under the Biden and Trump Administrations
Abha Rai1
;
Mary Held
2
;
Ishita Kapur
3
;
Emmalee Osborne
1
1 - Loyola University Chicago.2 - The University of Tennessee Knoxville-Nashville campus.3 - The University of Tennessee Knoxville.
Immigrants constitute 15% of the U.S. population. Immigrant experiences are influenced by a multitude of factors, including federal policies, which shift with changing administrations. Yet, little is known about the comparative experiences of immigrants under the two most recent presidents, both of whom maintained a heavy focus on immigration. The study we present is the first one to make this comparison. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 1st and 2nd generation immigrants under both the Trump (n=490) and Biden (n=306) administrations. Sampling for each survey included non-probability quota and convenience techniques. Survey questions inquired about immigration-policy stress, discrimination, resilience and border stress. For policy-related stress, race/ethnicity significantly correlated with policy-related stress under Trump, with White participants having lower scores compared to Black. Women were also found to have less policy-related stress under Trump. For discrimination, White participants reported less perceived discrimination compared to Black/African American participants. Women reported lower perceived discrimination compared to men under both Trump and Biden though race/ethnicity was not significant under Biden. In terms of resilience, White participants had higher scores compared to Black/African American participants, though race/ethnicity was not significant under Biden. Finally, border stress was lower among women than men under both Trump and Biden. For race/ethnicity, White participants had lower border stress than Black/African American participants under Trump. Findings expand upon previous literature that highlights stress associated with exclusionary immigration policies, which were more prevalent under the Trump administration. Social workers should engage in policy advocacy to reduce the burden placed on immigrants of color in exclusionary policy contexts. They can influence positive attitudes among Americans to allow for more social harmony and acceptance of immigrants in the U.S. To support immigrant integration, the study team intends to develop an awareness intervention for social workers engaging with immigrants.
Keywords (separate with commas)
immigrants, policy, exclusionary, social workers
#0456 |
Mental Health and Well-Being of New Immigrant Workers
Background: New immigrants are one of most vulnerable sections of the Canadian society. Unable to enter Canada’s strictly regulated professions and trades, several skilled and qualified immigrants take up precarious jobs without adequate occupational health and safety training. When they sustain workplace injury, many of these workers experience challenges getting timely post injury support to recover and return to work. While the incidence of common mental disorders like depression and anxiety is known to be high among migrant workers, across the globe, there is limited Canadian research that has examined the mental health challenges experienced by new immigrant workers who take up precarious employment and sustain injury. Objectives: The purpose of this research was to examine specific work challenges faced by new immigrant workers and the impact of these on their mental health and well being. Methods: Using an interpretive research approach and semi-structured face to face interviews, 42 new immigrant workers engaged in precarious work and from a range of industries operating in Alberta, Canada, were interviewed. A constant comparative approach was used to identify key themes across the workers’ experiences.Results: The findings reveal several work conditions, that adversely affected the mental health of these workers, before and after sustaining a work injury. Conclusion: Based on the insights of study participants, inclusive policies, practices, and interventions informed by their needs and preferences are proposed that can improve the overall health and well-being of new immigrant workers in Canada.
Keywords (separate with commas)
new immigrant workers, precarious work, mental health
#1360 |
Disaster Experiences and Perspectives through Immigration Themes and Storytelling
Data from the 2020 census reports that Texas (USA) has added almost four million people to the total population in the last decade. While people of color drove approximately 95% of the population growth, Hispanic/Latino Texans are responsible for almost half of that growth. As Southeast Texas continues to promote disaster preparedness and works to strengthen community resiliency due to the common occurrence of natural disasters, it is imperative that we understand the experiences and perspectives of the Hispanic/Latino immigrant population as it relates to disaster and practice with this population. With literature explaining that culture influences perception of disaster preparedness, how people react during a crisis, coping mechanisms, natural support networks, trust for community authority figures, and knowledge of emergency procedures, professionals can infer that cultural factors play a direct role in a person’s capacity for resiliency in the face of disaster.\ This presentation will share the results of a qualitative research study that seeks to better understand the experiences and perspectives of self-identified Hispanic/Latino immigrants as they have endured and recovered from disaster in Southeast Texas. Using Photovoice and journaling samples, the data provided will give a visual representation of the ways in which immigrant populations are uniquely affected by disaster and can therefore impact and strengthen both practice and policy for professionals working within disaster management in our communities.\
Increasingly post-secondary institutions are being called upon by governments and the public at large to demonstrate their contribution to positive social impact in communities, whether it be local, regional, national, or international. Schools of Social Work can contribute unique values, perspectives, strategies and experiences to this institution wide process. In 2021, Carleton University deepened this commitment launching their first university-wide Centre for Community Engagement, followed by the design and launch of a Strategic Plan for Community Engagement (SP4CE). Despite a long and expansive history of engaging communities rooted in its inception in 1942, the university was now poised to take stock of its past contributions, current state, and future responsibilities towards community members through the development of the Centre and plan. What does it take to develop such a Centre and plan? Who should be involved, when, and how to ensure inclusivity and representation of all aspects of our community? What can we learn from the experience, in and of itself, as a means of inclusivity and engagement? What stages were involved in developing a strategic plan, what worked well and not so well, and what might we do differently in looking back? What happens once the plan is released, what do next steps look like? Social work’s extensive community experience through field placements and establishing Memorandum of Understandings with community partners adds an important component to this collaborative methodology, which is not always full recognized in community-to-university impact.
Keywords (separate with commas)
institution-wide planning for community-campus engagement, inclusivity in university strategic planning and policy, dialogue and co-creation strategies in planning, planning implementation strategies, social work values in strategic planning
#0248 |
Deconstructing resilience: Implications of neoliberal-ableism and structural trauma on (dis)Abled people and communities
Judy MacDonald
1
;
Rose Singh
1
;
Sarah Norris
1
;
Ami Goulden2
Historical and contemporary neoliberal contexts have resulted in (dis)Abled people across (dis)Ability communities encountering vast arrays of inequitable and oppressive experiences. Society is entrenched with barriers and inaccessible infrastructures, as evident through the lack of accessible housing and transportation, extensive wait times for health and human services, and complicated and convoluted (dis)Ability policies. These inequities perpetuate isolation and alienation for (dis)Abled people. Notwithstanding, biomedical health systems position medical professionals as experts, minimizing the voices and experiences of (dis)Abled people. In so doing, the biomedical model forgoes the structural elements of compounded trauma experienced through repeated ableist encounters within health care and human services systems. Furthermore, resiliency in its individualistic form, as constructed through traditional trauma-informed care approaches and neoliberal policies, can assert self-blame and additional internalized ableism upon (dis)Abled persons while negating societal responsibility pertaining to accessibility and inclusion. In this presentation, we unpack neoliberal-ableism and deconstruct resiliency and the biomedical model, while acknowledging the structural impacts of ableism experienced by (dis)Abled persons as we explore trauma experienced through (dis)Abled bodies. Practices that deconstruct resiliency and structural and neoliberal-ableism will be envisioned as the authors shed light on implications for social justice social work and (dis)Ability informed trauma practices.
Ensuring fairness and justice between different generations, both in terms of their rights and opportunities is an important public policy goal. Support of the civil society organizations and other stakeholders is crucial in this regard. It involves assessment of present actions on future generations and making decisions that are sustainable and beneficial in the long run. By educating communities and individuals about intergenerational equity and its importance, social workers can raise awareness about the impact of social, economic, and environmental factors on different generations, promote dialogue and understanding between generations, engage in pertinent community development initiatives, advocate for groups in vulnerable situations, and promote solidarity between generations.Organizing intergenerational dialogue involves creating spaces and opportunities for individuals from different age groups to come together and engage in meaningful interactions. Creating a diverse group of stakeholders in terms of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives is essential in this regard, enriching the dialogue, and promoting intergenerational solidarity. Intergenerational “lens” is important in conceptualizing the programs that aim at creating opportunities for different age groups to interact and engage with one another. Mentoring initiatives, community service projects are useful in promoting the shared learning experiences, building opportunities for individuals from different generations to share experiences and understanding, while enhancing mutual collaboration.Given that population ageing can affect social cohesion and intergenerational solidarity, it is vital to avoid generational tensions by promoting understanding, empathy, and cooperation between different generations. Development of comprehensive strategies and programs that involve a range of policy options important for all generations, and bringing together people from various age groups, could be facilitated through adoption of forward-looking legal frameworks and intergenerationally- sensitive legislation.
Keywords (separate with commas)
intergenerational equity, solidarity between generations, intergenerational dialogue, policy options
#0284 |
Social Inclusion: Immigrant Workers Coming Out of the Shadows after the COVID-19 Pandemic
Immigration policy is complicated, especially in regard to undocumented immigrants in the United States. For decades, the Statute of Liberty has represented a beacon of hope for the global community, and a symbol of inclusion in the land of opportunity. Yet, immigrant groups are often pushed to the margins of society by a social exclusion process, which promotes a lack of opportunities, choice and not being part of the democratic process of social inclusion. The experience of social exclusion can be defined as a process that involves the lack or denial of resources, rights, goods and services, and the immigrant groups’ inability to participate in broad social relationships and activities (United Nations, 2016).This paper addresses the COVID-19 pandemic, a relational conceptualization of social exclusion and essential workers, and the significance of undocumented immigrant contributions during the pandemic in the U.S. and Europe. Presenters address the continuous divestment of “categorical” immigrant populations by the Trump administration, the lack of responsiveness by the U.S. Senate and other global countries to the needs of undocumented immigrant essential workers. Future directions include social inclusion policies and measures that respect the human rights and dignity of diverse immigrants. A partnership among government, employers and essential workers is necessary for the undocumented to come out of the shadows and become part of the social fabric. In global societies, undocumented immigrants work at higher rates in essential critical infrastructure sectors than native born citizens. COVID-19 exposed the systemic undervaluing of work that is now clearly understood to be essential for societal survival. As essential workers, immigrants fill gaps in the world economy and workforce, improve labor market efficiency and support the aging population. A social work call to action is needed to promote social inclusion measures for immigrants working in essential services is a global concern.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Immigration policy, undocumented essential workers, COVID 19 pandemic, social exclusion, human rights.
While the WHO considers climate change the greatest challenge facing humanity in the 21st century, the Global Agenda of Social Work and Social Development highlights the importance of social work’s role in the promotion of sustainable communities and environments. Increasingly, social work educational resources are expanding, and educational standards concerned with the environment-ecology are becoming more explicit. However, in francophone Quebec (Canada), the shift required is seismic, as environmental degradation and the climate crisis are rarely evoked in relation to social work education or practice. Furthermore, these crises are not necessarily understood in relation to the devastation and exploitation of indigenous territories, as well as the disproportionate effects on racialized and marginalized communities. Our presentation will present the findings from an exploratory study conducted in Québec to unearth what is known and being done in relation to “green” (signifying the broad umbrella of environmental-ecological considerations) social work. This study was guided by the following research question: How are “green” notions and issues taken up within social work education and practice in Quebec? Further, what are the most relevant and promising concepts and practices related to climate/environmental justice, social inequality/justice, decolonization, and environmental sustainability to promote a “green” paradigm shift in social work theory, education, and practice in Quebec? Conducting focus groups with social work practitioners, educators and students, the research objectives explored :1) what is known about the intersections of environmental-ecological notions and social work theory, education, and practice; 2) what is being done to “green” social work education and practice; and 3) what perspectives encourage the development of a “green” shift within social work theory, education, and practice, in Quebec. This project adopted an anti-oppressive lens to explore “greening” social work, fundamentally upending social work's modernist thinking to inspire a paradigm shift.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Ecosocial, green social work, practice, education
#0126 |
Building Community Disaster Resilience as a Response to Climate Change: Perspectives from Social Workers in Trinidad and Tobago
Cheryl-Ann Sarita Boodram1
1 - The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine.
The role social work within the context of climate change is to build community expertise in ways that enhance their ability to prepare and recover from the negative effects of climate change. Literature over the past 30 years suggests that building community resilience is important in mitigating the disastrous effects of climate change and preparing communities for building sustainable futures. The aim of this study was to examine how social workers in Trinidad and Tobago view their roles in climate change and their experiences in building community disaster resilience in communities affected by disasters caused by climate change such as flooding. The findings show (1) the ways social workers view their roles in building resilient communities to prepare and recover from the effects of climate change (2) the challenges or barriers they encounter in integrating resilience approaches into their practice in communities and (3) the strategies used by social workers which support communities ‘bouncing back’ or ‘bouncing forward’ from climate change disasters. The findings also show that current approaches do not challenge inequalities and structural barriers which hinder the building of community disaster resilience in Trinidad and Tobago. The study also makes recommendations for strengthening social work education to prepare social workers for their role in climate change and disaster management and concludes with a call for social workers to adopt a more critical approach to building community resilience.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Climate change, community disaster resilience, social work, capital development framework, critical resilience praxis
By the end of 2022, over 108 million people had been forcibly displaced. Most were displaced because of war, conflicts, government persecution, and violence. The number of people displaced last year because of climate disasters is minimally estimated at 32 million. These are difficult numbers to obtain due to varying data collection methods within each country.\ Social workers are crucial workers and researchers to address how climate changes affect individuals, families, and communities. Our ecological theory enables us to understand multi-system factors that contribute to climate crises, as well as the multi-system perspective to be effective in helping individuals, families, and communities, not just during the crisis, but mitigating future crises and caring for those most affected.My international research on culturally-effective health and behavioral health for refugees, has deepened my understanding of the toll forced migration takes on those fleeing and on those accepting them into the new country. The pandemic, supply chain problems, and climate crises has made it clear that our world is interconnected and we are not citizens of a nation as much as we are global citizens whose lives are dependent on each of us working toward a common goal.Social workers need to lead the global effort. This presentation draws from research on forced migration, the ecological theory, and the voices of social workers working in areas devasted by climate crises (ie, floods, fires, heat, droughts). I will present what we know about forced migration and how to provide best practices for those relocating, as well as how to support communities that host the forced migrants. I will demonstrate why our theoretical base prepares us to be effective activists, and how we can work toward solutions. I will present the voices of social workers already working with climate crises.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Refugee, Forced Migration, Climate Crisis, Social Work, Ecological Theory, Human Rights
19:30 - 19:45
Inauguration Dinner
SS - ENG 13
13:40 - 14:40
Area_06
Climate Change, Social Work and social Welfare
#0134 |
Climate Change & Natural Disasters: Examining the Psychosocial Issues that Impact Female-Headed Households Post-Hurricane Maria in Dominica
Debra Joseph1
1 - The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados.
Hurricane Maria made landfall on the southwest coast of Dominica on the 18th September 2017 as a category 5 Hurricane with 160mph wind speed. This left 31 people dead, 37 missing. Around 65,000, that is, approximately 80% of the population were directly affected and more than 90% of roofs were damaged or destroyed. Power and water supplies were disrupted and entire crops destroyed.This research examined the psychosocial issues that faced the Dominican population of female headed households after Hurricane Maria. It also examined the current physical state of homes of these women as they struggle to find some form of normalcy in living. Its main focus will support community resilience, one of the four priority areas of the Regional Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy. The results can hopefully motivate people and or organisations to become more involved in comprehensive disaster management and have long term changes which can have a positive national, regional and international implications for strengthening disaster resilience.Pre-existing, structural gender inequalities mean that disasters affect women and girls in different ways than they affect boys and men. The vulnerability of females increases when they are in a lower socioeconomic group, particularly in the Global South. This vulnerability impacts preparedness, evacuation, response, number of deaths and recovery. The reasons for this vulnerability can often be traced to the roles females hold in society and existing gender and cultural norms where they live. Research in this area can help the understanding of women and how they cope in such disasters.The aims were: To examine the living conditions of persons immediately after Hurricane Maria and also four years later; to find out what issues and challenges are impacting their quality of life and to expose the gaps in their current needs.
#0353 |
Social work at the ‘frontline’ in disaster management: learning from Malawi.
Janet Walker1
;
Chisangalalo Ntonio
2
;
Felix Kakowa
3
;
Anstance Chunda
4
;
Simon Cauvain
5
1 - University of Lincoln.2 - AquaAid Malawi.3 - University of Malawi.4 - Children and Families International Foundation.5 - Nottingham Trent University.
This presentation will explore the response and experience of social workers in Malawi dealing with the immediate impact and consequences of disaster on communities as a direct consequence of the impact of global climate change. Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world (172/189), is particularly prone to adverse climate hazards that include dry spells, seasonal droughts, intense rainfall, riverine floods, and flash floods. We will focus on the learning from the recent experiences of the impact of Cyclone Freddy, which dissipated six months of rain fall in six days in Southern Malawi in March 2023, leading to loss of life, injury and devastation of crops, homes and infrastructure. Drawing on the voices of social workers (n=20) we will highlight some of their experiences, and the impact and responses of social workers. We will explore critical issues for social work and social work practice in responding to and dealing with the consequences of disaster on individuals, citizens and communities. We will highlight micro and macro challenges for social work practice. We will consider future actions to building adaptive capacity for social work to respond to future threats and disasters.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Malawi, Disaster Management, Social Workers, citizens and communities, challenges, future action
#0782 |
The Perivoli Schools Trust Education and Child Care Model: exploring communities’ lived experiences and the wider social and environmental impacts in Namibia.
Vicky Sharley
1
;
Janet Ananias
2
;
Emma Leonard
2
;
Elizabeth Ngololo2
1 - University of Bristol.2 - University of Namibia.
This abstract fits closely with three sub-themes: poverty and social inequalities4, climate change and social work and social development6, and social work social policy and the Sustainable Development Goals14.\ The Perivoli Schools Trust (PST) is an educarer training programme which offers free training for early childcare and education professionals who support children aged 0-4 years old through centre-based provision. The programme began in Namibia in 2012 and has since been expanded to other countries in southern Africa. Namibia is ranked as a middle-income country but has one of the most unequal distributions of income per capita in the world, with more than 43% of people living in poverty4\ (NSA, 2021).\ Whilst the PST programme is present in all of Namibia’s 14 regions, it is more prevalent in rural and poor areas4 because of its strong focus upon the capacity building of staff4\ and the sustainable use of waste materials to improvise teaching resources and activities in the absence of funding 6.\ The project connects closely with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 3/4/5 (good health and wellbeing, quality education, and gender equality4) 12/13 (responsible consumption and production, and climate action6), and the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development in promoting sustainable communities and environmentally sensitive development through sustainable human relationships (IFSW, 2012)14.This paper presents the findings from the 3-year collaborative qualitative study between the University of Namibia and the University of Bristol, UK. Interviews (n=74), Africa-centric talking circles (n=6) and creative arts-based workshops (n=6) were undertaken in six early years centres, with educarers, parents and family members, children and members of the community within three diverse regions in Namibia. Data was thematically analysed collaboratively by academics from both partner institutions using a virtual platform. \ Emerging themes were identified and the preliminary findings from the project will be presented.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Early Years, Childcare, Communities, Education, Social Development, Waste Materials, Environmental, Sustainability, Poverty, Social Impact
#0940 |
Social work and climate change: The split between the personal and the professional
Angelika Kaffrell-Lindahl1
;
Vishanthie Sewpaul
2
1 - Mid Sweden University.2 - University of KwaZulu-Natal.
The climate crisis is accelerating even quicker than feared and has devastating consequences for nature, animals and the people, especially people that social workers engage with.\\ Sweden has, despite severe cutdowns, an international reputation for being a sucessful welfare state and it has\\ a strong self-conceptualisation as being a role model for environmental sustainability. Yet,\\ Swedes have one of the highest ecological footprints on earth on account of high consumption rates.\\ The\\ 2022 People’s Charter exhort social workers across the globe to embrace\\ eco-social justice and environmental sustainability, with the first call to action framed as\\ Ecological integrity: From exploitation to recognising the rights of nature for sustainable co-existence.\\ This presentation, drawn from qualitative research with social workers in Sweden, highlights the gaps between global rhetoric and on the ground realities, and the huge chasm between\\ social worker’s commitment to climate justice on a personal level and their professional practice. The empirical data show that while social workers are aware of the importance of responding to climate change, they see the call to action as being far removed from the demands of daily practice.\\ There are strong indications that individualization, specialization and\\ the impositions of efficiency and narrowly defined outcomes, which are features of neoliberalism and new public management, influence social workers’ scope of work in decided ways.\\ \\ We discuss the implications of these for the politization of social work and the importance of an emancipatory praxis in social work education and practice.\\
Keywords (separate with commas)
climate crisis, eco-social justice, neoliberalism, new public management, emancipatory praxis\\
14:45 - 15:45
Area_06
Climate Change, Social Work and social Welfare
#0621 |
Social-ecological leap in British Columbia? The decline of wild salmon as a catalyst.
The ecological crisis goes far beyond global warming: the decline in biodiversity also is a significant issue affecting communities' well-being worldwide. Those impacts are particularly striking when it comes to cultural keystone species, i.e. species that shape the culture – and the social fabric – of a people. In British Columbia, salmon species are recognized as cultural keystone. However, salmon populations have plummeted over the last few decades. While the psychosocial consequences of this decline have been explored in the literature, research is scarce as to how such a disaster can be a lever for social-ecological change. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders (n=10), this research demonstrates how the decline in salmon populations in British Columbia has proven to be a catalyst for social-ecological resilience in some communities impacted, and how the adversity caused by this disaster transformed those communities in innovative ways and permitted them to "leap" forward. Focusing on community narratives identified by the participants, this research analyzes what conditions promoted or hindered such change. Three case studies are identified: 1) the eviction of fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago by local First Nations and their allies; 2) the creation of the Cowichan Watershed Board following a major drought and 3) the responses to the Big Bar Landslide on the Fraser River. Furthermore, the author also reflects on the role of social workers in social-ecological change, arguing that the expertise of social workers in intervening at the junction of people and their environment must include the ecological context.
Keywords (separate with commas)
biodiversity, community mobilization, cultural keystone species, ecological conservation/restoration, environmental justice, Indigenous knowledge, narratives, resilience, social-ecological systems
#0842 |
Participation and Sustainability Nexus: A Systematic Literature Review in the Context of Social Work
Since the 1960s, sustainability has emerged as a significant topic in academic literature and political discourse, providing an opportunity to bridge social justice concerns with environmental issues. Within the realm of social work literature, the concept of sustainability has become a prominent subject of discussion, primarily through the line of research affiliated with eco and green social work (Matthies et al. 2001; Dominelli, 2012; Boetto, 2017). In this context, involving and engaging service users appears to be a valuable methodology for social work to achieve sustainability, as highlighted by Cuthill (2010).To gain a deeper comprehension of the topic, we carried out a systematic literature review using the PRISMA method. The central research question that directed this review was: How does participation contribute to enhancing the sustainability of social work? The selection of the 94 contributions, downloaded from Scopus and top SW journals, was based on specific criteria: the publication timeframe (from 2000 to June 2023), language (English), and publication following a blind double peer review process. Furthermore, the inclusion criteria extended to encompass exclusively articles based on empirical research to elucidate the existing empirical evidence.\\\ To conduct the paper’s analysis, a data extraction table was devised to accommodate the content of the selected articles. The findings, which will be presented during the conference, revealed the following aspects: 1) The study's type and employed methodology; 2) The definition of participation and/or sustainability; 3) The role attributed to service users; 4) What is acknowledged to service users’s participation by social workers? ; 5) The underlying motivations prompting social workers to encourage participation; 6) The level of intervention (individual, group, community) addressed; 7) The specific area of intervention. The literature review highlights the necessity for empirical research that assesses the mechanisms and specific dimensions through which participation enhances the sustainability of social work.\\\
Displaced migrants as a vulnerable population have limited access to resources in their host country. The reasons many have migrated from their homeland may be due to the culminating events of political unrest, violence, poverty, lack of access to healthcare and economic opportunities. This experience coupled with the migration journey experience (e.g., human trafficking) can make migrants susceptible to mental illness, substance abuse, as well as worsening health conditions. Once relocated to a new land with different cultures, language and customs, if the host country does not have adequate social services that can feed, house, teach and provide healthcare, the migrant will feel even more isolated and marginalized which makes their tangible concerns ignored or minimized. In small island developing states where resources are limited yet in high demand, tending to a displaced migrants’ needs is a daunting task. \ Public social service agencies are overwhelmed, leaving non-profit organizations and United Nations agencies responsible for most of the migrants’ needs. Considering climate change, and the changing weather patterns with sudden earthquakes or hurricanes, migrants may face the devastating experience of being displaced again. This chapter will examine small Caribbean island’s social services agencies’ capacity to provide services to displaced migrants if there is a natural disaster. It will address the inadequacies in current social service \ agencies to address migrants and the recommendations needed to assist this population with dignity and worth of the person.\ \
Keywords (separate with commas)
migrants, climate change, social services\
15:50 - 16:50
Area_06
Climate Change, Social Work and social Welfare
#0342 |
Transforming the Field Education Landscape: Climate Action and Environmental Justice
Practicum, also known as field education, is the signature pedagogy in social work education. Practicum is the site where students learn to integrate and apply the values, knowledge, complex practices and skills of the social work profession. Despite its importance, field education is in crisis. Social work education programs are experiencing significant challenges with delivering practicum experiences for students. There is an urgent need for social work education programs to re-vision how the profession prepares the next generation of social workers. This presentation will discuss the TFEL partnership, and Green Social Work Advisory, that aims to integrate research and practice in the preparation of the next generation of social workers by developing partnered research training initiatives, both within academia and across the public and not-for-profit sectors, that enhance student and trainee research practice knowledge and applied skill development. The partnership is structured in three streams: (1) Digital Storytelling, (2) Development of Sustainable Field Education Models and (3) Applied Practice Research. A partnership approach is required to transform social work field education through multi-partner engagement, from a crisis model to sustainable models. This presentation will highlight the Green Social Work Advisory and how the partnership is facilitating climate action and environmental justice in social work. This partnership (2019-2025) is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) partnership grant. Improved research training and mentorship related to field education and practice research will be discussed.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Field education, climate action, environmental justice, training, mentorship, sustainability
#0431 |
Climate Change and Social Work in Nepal: An Indigenous Insight
Despite Nepal being a vulnerable nation to climate change, and its over a three decades of history of social work education and practice, this subject-matter is yet to be mainstreamed in Nepali social work pedagogy and praxes. Given this backdrop; and meantime, drawing on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent promotion of Indigenous knowledge and practice, and development in the field of social work and climate change, this presentation aims to explore about climate change and social work in Nepal from an Indigenous perspective. In doing so, firstly, this presentation discusses about the context of climate change and social work in Nepal. Then, it explores how the issue of climate change has been explored in global social work and what a nation like Nepal can learn from it. And finally, it proposes what should inform the idea of climate change and social work in Nepal from an Indigenous perspective. Knowledge thus produced in this presentation will not only help Nepali social work to design and prepare itself to better respond to the worsening effects of climate change in Nepal but also it will aid other similar nations elsewhere to integrate Indigenous views while responding to the effects of climate change.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Climate change, social work, Indigenous perspective, Nepal
#0522 |
Consortium for equitable disaster resilience: Creating an equitable and just society
Regardt Ferreira1
;
Tim Davidson
1
;
Fred Buttell
1
Introduction: Equitable resilience programming mitigates the impact of a disaster. Our approach is both emergent and leadership driven. Both are needed to drive and sustain community-level change to promote equitable resilience, for marginalized communities. Hurricane Ida resulted in several deaths & injuries, thousands of destroyed and/or uninhabitable properties, hampered economic development, and disrupted essential services. As a result of great need amongst communities impacted by Hurricane Ida, The Consortium for Equitable Disaster Resilience (CEDR), was established. Methodology: Our emphasis on equitable disaster resilience, is achieved through evidence-based practice focused on the full spectrum of community stakeholders. This was achieved through a community-based participatory research approach. Our modalities used with the CEDR to achieve equitable resilience included strategic and operational planning, organizational management, targeted curriculum development, training, application of new and relevant information and communication technologies, monitoring and evaluation, and community-based participatory research. Findings: The project produced several resilience enhancing findings, replicable across regions impacted by climate change. Results included: Through research conducted on barriers and breakages for disaster financing, the project produced a series of products that included, a grant writing program, research on the current state of associated barriers in accessing financial assistance for marginalized communities. We developed an equitable resilience framework for communities that is focused on addressing climate change, equity, and disaster events with an emphasis on addressing disaster financing barriers. Significance: Through our work we captured best practices for equitable disaster resilience. A baseline equity checklist was created from our literature review, a community-based participatory research study, to inform policy and practice around disaster financing and recovery. The divide between local leaders and communities was addressed. Findings from this project should be used to improve overall decision making for providing disaster and essential services to the most vulnerable impacted by climate change, inequity, and disaster events.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Climate Change, Equity, Resilience, Disaster
#0580 |
Climate Change and Child Marriages in sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Critical Voices and Transdisciplinary Partnerships from the Global South.
Child marriage is a (in)formal marriage or union in which one of the partners is 18 years old and/or under. Although boys can also be victims of child marriages, the rates of girls who are married before their 18 birthday in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia is much higher. Factors that contribute to child marriages vary to include socio-political, cultural, economical, and environmental factors. Climate change has a disproportionately severe impact on developing countries through changes in temperatures, rainfall, extreme weather events and sea levels — despite most emissions coming from the Global North. And yet, a range of voices is missing in the debates and discussions on climate change and sexual and reproductive wellbeing – including child marriages.thClimate change is a global environmental phenomenon, which will affect everyone and pose major threats to goals related to human-centred sustainable development. While there has been increased recognition on the link between child marriages and climate change, there are missing voices, and knowledge and practice gaps in understanding the complexities and connections. This paper is a review of secondary data that seeks to explore missing voices and climate vulnerabilities – as factors that facilitate child marriages. Preliminary data indicate that climate change increases vulnerabilities of child marriage. In addition, the indirect affects of climate change can have worse-off consequences because they often challenging to predict because of being a consequence of consequences. By integrating diverse voices, we expand debates, networks, and interdisciplinary research on the climate change-child marriage nexus.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
child marriages, environmental crises, climate vulnerability, diverse voices
The presentation will contend that the importance of time, place and space to tangata whenua as indigenous social work practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand, is of value to the profession of social work as a whole.The difference in perceptions and as a consequence, perspectives is evident when the indigenous voice and practices that are professional in their own determination, may not align with the perceptions of the profession of social work. This is where the challenge of competing forces becomes apparent.The place of marae in the understanding of tangata whenua social work practitioners provides a place of belonging and by association obligation, which is supported by geographical markers that identify the boundaries to strengthen the sense of space and the ancestral narratives that transcend the passing of time. These points of identification enhance the understanding of who I am as a person and as a social work practitioner.The translation of these understandings and practices into the profession of social work are often met with divergence of perception and perspective in understanding and practice. Time, place and space become contextualized by intention and responsibility not obligation.The necessity to complete a risk assessment or to respond to the urgency of a referral bring into question the notion of being a ‘professional’ and the intention of a particular action. The substantiation of the action is primarily about ‘qualification’ not a sense of belonging, responsibility to the profession not an obligation to the people. The indigenous voice and practice can so easily become subsumed in the perceptions and perspectives that govern such considerations, which are almost dialectically opposed.It is contended navigation of place and space requires time but the connection and relationship that follows will be invaluable in progressing the profession of social work as agents of social change.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Indigenous voice; profession of social work; time, space and place, agents of social change.
#0444 |
Lore and Law: The Tension Between Indigenous Lore and Non-Indigenous Law in the Social Work Profession
David McNabb1
;
Miriama Scott
2
1 - Lifewise.2 - Tangata Whenua Social Workers Association.
The presentation will explore the origins of Lore and Law in Aotearoa New Zealand, and how they emanate from two different perspectives: the tangata whenua (indigenous peoples) and those people who came afterwards, each bringing their perspectives that originate in a different understanding of the order of a given society and as a consequence, the different influence on the profession and Profession of Social Work.\ One of the Competence Standards of the profession of social work in Aotearoa New Zealand is:“9. Competence to practice within legal and ethical boundaries of the social work profession”.However, if there is a difference in perspective, the challenge is how to navigate the difference or advocate for one over the other according to applicability.\ If both ensure the safety of a service's recipients by maintaining the integrity of social work practice, then how is relevance determined?\ To a tangata whenua person the lore is embedded in tikanga (correct procedure) and consequently, indicative of the origins that have a whakapapa (lineage) starting from ancestral knowledge and practice, with the korowai (cloak) of atua (spiritual beings).\ \ The whakapapa (lineage) of law arises from the cases brought before the courts or in the regulations that govern a profession. The script is more about rights rather than obligations. People have a right to be protected but the obligation to the safety of a society may not be so evident. This is where the debate between individual rights and collective obligations becomes most apparent.\ For a tangata whenua social worker lore, in particular tikanga (correct procedure), are most influential in practice as a professional. However, for a social worker who is tangata whenua (indigenous), the Profession of Social Work becomes the determining factor.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
indigenous, social work, profession, lore, law
#0483 |
Exploring the needs of Calgary's urban Indigenous youth across the gender-identity spectrum in relation to programming and services to support sexual health, identity and belonging
Natalie St. Denis
1
;
Hayley Brillion
1
;
Olivia Cullen
1
;
Meaghan Finnbogason
2
;
Richard Williams
1
;
Kirby Redwood
3
;
Taylor Behn-Tsakoza
1
;
Christine Walsh1
1 - University of Calgary.2 - Miskanawah.3 - Mishkanawah.
Cultural and sexual identities are complex processes of identity development for urban Indigenous youth who, as a consequence of colonial violence, historical and intergenerational traumas, have higher incidences of child sexual abuse, early pregnancies (Ball, 2009; Statistics Canada, 2006), sexually transmitted infections (First Nations Information Governance Centre, 2012), and suicide (Wilson, 2015) compared to their non-Indigenous peers. Drawing on a gendered-lens framework recognizing the interplay of indigeneity, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, geography, age and ability this study uses a Youth Participatory Action Research methodology to engage Indigenous youth across the gender-identity spectrum through storywork (Archibald, 2008; Archibald & Parent, 2019) to determine culturally relevant programming and services to support their sexual health, identity and sense of belonging. In the Grounding Phase of the research individual storytelling sessions with three Elders and five Indigenous service providers (Blackfoot, Metis, Cree) yielded seven key pathways forward including the need for service providers to recognize the impact of historical and ongoing colonial violence and genocide across mainstream systems, programs, and services on Indigenous youth who consequently need to see their culture and cultural identities represented in authentic ways in order to feel safe, develop trust, build relationships and engage in services.In the Gathering Phase, peer-interviews were conducted with 14 gender and sexual identity diverse Indigenous youthIn the Knowledge Creation Phase the research team and youth co-researchers highlighted the importance of the intersectionality of their identities, underscored the challenges they faced in accessing the medical system (stigma, bias, etc.,), suggested training needs for service providers and Elders and recommended the need for trauma-informed sexual health programming. In this presentation we share the findings of the research and invite you to consider how best to engage gender and sexually diverse Indigenous youth to develop culturally based programs aimed at responding to their sexual health needs
Keywords (separate with commas)
Indigenous youth; sexual health; youth participatory action
#0903 |
Ubuntu as an Ethic of Responsibility to Support Others - a Reflective Framework for Ubuntu Practitioners
Warren A. Thompson1
1 - Child Protection and Family Services Agency, Jamaica.
This paper suggests that elements of the African philosophy of Ubuntu are evident in cultural retentions in the African diaspora in the Caribbean. Narratives from interviews conducted with eighteen grassroots female leaders of voluntary community organizations were used to theorise an ethic of responsibility to help and support others as a morality that fits squarely within Ubuntu philosophy. Elements of the ethic of responsibility to help and support others included being a community person, having a sense of purpose, and helping others. These elements were then used to construct a reflective framework with key reflective questions for use by aspiring Ubuntu practitioners. The framework is particularly designed for macro and mezzo level Social Workers engaging in Community and policy practice or working in institutions, but it is also useful for practitioners practicing at the micro level.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Ubuntu, Ethic of Responsibility, Caribbean, reflective framework
1 - University of Calgary.2 - Makerere University.3 - MacEwan University.4 - University of Pretoria.5 - Westfield State University.6 - University of Johannesburg.
Historically, social work education in African universities was heavily influenced by a European worldview. By creating and implementing Euro-centric curriculum, the important role of African values, social systems, and ways of knowing, developed thousands of years before the colonial period, were dismissed and replaced by western theories and practice. The United Nations, in supporting colonial countries to become independent, encouraged the exportation of western social work education to African countries to address social issues arising from independence. African social work conferences emerged in the 1950’s and 1960’s including in Ghana (1962), Zambia (1963) and Egypt (1965). These conferences produced a critical thinking venue to address what African social work educators were realizing: that western social work education was ineffective in training African social workers to work locally within their communities. As a result, the Association for Social Work Education in Africa (ASWEA) was formed to act as a forum where social work educators would critically discuss the relevance of western social work to Africa and to strengthen the indigenization process of creating a social work curriculum for Africa. Conferences, workshops, and directories of social work education around the continent were produced from 1973-1989. In 2020, a distinguished group of African social work educators agreed to meet and conduct a critical analysis of these 3,500 pages of important historical African social work documents. Since 2020, the group has met monthly to present analysis of these documents. The significance of this research for Africa is that a historical record will be produced of the evolution of social work in Africa, from 1973-1989 that can be taught in social work classrooms, supporting the decolonial process of social work education in Africa (postcolonial, decolonial). The presentation will present a PowerPoint of this process of critical analysis with some preliminary findings.
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work education, Africa, decoloniality, ASWEA, history
#0855 |
Social Work’s Role in Advancing Indigenous Peoples' Rights
Indigenous peoples are among the most marginalized people in the world. In recognition of this human-rights problem, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007. Since then, a proliferation of advocacy concerning Indigenous peoples’ rights, including self-determination, sovereignty, decolonization, sustainable livelihood, and cultural revitalization, has arisen in the global, national, and local arenas. However, the global, national, and local disconnect often constitutes a deterrent to realizing Indigenous peoples’ rights. The social work profession in many parts of the world continues to fall short of its stated values and directly or indirectly contributes to ongoing oppression of Indigenous peoples. This must be changed. Social workers must have the knowledge and the tools needed to live up to the social justice foundation of our profession by advancing Indigenous peoples' rights whenever and wherever possible. Social work practitioners must move beyond short-term solutions to problems impacting Indigenous communities and instead focus on advancing Indigenous rights by supporting the implementation of UNDRIP at all levels. Social work leaders must actively work to decolonize colonial systems of social services that continue to oppress Indigenous peoples. Social work educators must integrate UNDRIP and Indigenous issues into the curriculum. This presentation will stimulate discussion among SWSD participants about (1) global, national, and local advocacy of Indigenous peoples’ rights, (2) implementation gaps of UNDRIP in Indigenous communities (3) past successes, current challenges, and future possibilities of drawing on glocal\\ connections for advancing Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and (4) the role of social work in helping to fill implementation gaps and to “translate” global and national advocacy into local actions. This presentation will report on a case study that captures the recommendations of the leaders of six social organizations staffed by Indigenous peoples in Cambodia on ways to advance Indigenous peoples’ rights.\\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Indigenous peoples' rights, UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), global advocacy, social work education, Indigenous community development, Indigenous organizations, decolonizing social work, Cambodia
#1003 |
"Maybe it’s a cultural thing, maybe its coloniality": What the West misses in understanding Gender Based Violence in Central America
How as social workers, do we come to know about El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and their diasporic communities? In the West there is a particular narrative about Central Americans where men are producers and women are victims of violence. This violence is explained as happening over “there” and produced by culture, including gender ideologies of machismo and marianismo. Culturizing gender-based violence roots Central America in colonial narratives of uncivilized, backward and not progressive in comparison to the West – the beacon of humanity and civilization. This narrative or taken-for-granted assumptions are rooted in a representation of culture unilaterally applied when working with and understanding women and their experience. What’s ignored is the stories of women who are redefining gender and their ongoing everyday resistance(s) to colonial assumptions. This presentation centres testimonios from a transnational social work research project to shift the social work gaze from the West to focus on Women’s on-going activism. Twenty-two women participated, connecting the personal and collective across time and space to theorize from the body to push for social change. Theorizing from the body positions Central American women as holders and producers of knowledge existing outside of the West. In engaging with this knowledge, social workers are encouraged to see beyond culture as a driver of gender-based violence and listen to the voices of women in and from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and their diasporas.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Coloniality, gender-based violence, mobilization
#1348 |
A Systematic Mapping Study on Social Work and Climate Change
Rapid and increasingly climate change variations have been observed during the last decades. This phenomenon has been escalating the vulnerable populations risks, disparities and inequalities\ in different contexts and levels of reality. As climate change is a relatively new and complex research area in social work, the need for a systematic mapping study is crucial in order to summarise the progress so far and identify the gaps and requirements for future studies.\ This paper presents a systematic mapping study of social work and climate change global publications since 2015,\ and their linkages to the sustainable development goals. The results present the most cited works on the subject, an evaluation map showing the most frequent and cited words and seven clusters of themes based on their co-occurrence, with a major emphasis on underdeveloped territorial areas. From the preliminary analysis, the most relevant research findings, trends, and issues emerge, suggesting multilayered and complex\ theoretical and practical implications to have into account when developing an effective research road map on the subject.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work, climate change, SDGs, systematic mapping study
#0012 |
‘Ikibiri’ (working together) and ‘Ubuntu’ (I am because we are) (Mutsonziwa, 2020). Outcomes from buddying students from Oxford Brookes and Hope Africa University, Burundi.
Oxford Brookes University has introduced an innovative buddying system for social work students with those at Hope Africa University, Burundi, which is in East Central Africa. The mutual aims of the system are for students from both institutions to learn about social work in another culture, develop their communication skills, and increase their experience of diversity and inclusion. Students meet virtually once a month in small groups to co-produce a resource for future social work trainees to understand cultural differences. The project evaluation is based on the Burundian principle ‘Ikibiri’ (working together) and the African principle ‘Ubuntu’ (I am because we are) (Mutsonziwa, 2020). This talk will share lessons learned from decolonising teaching and research, and equip and inspire others to do the same.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Decolonisation, Ubuntu, Ikibiri, buddying,
#0036 |
Governance in child welfare and well-being of Indigenous children and their families: the case of the Opitciwan Atikamekw Social Protection Act in Québec, Canada
The overrepresentation of First Nations youth in provincial child protection systems in Canada, including in Quebec, is well known. Research has revealed the harmful consequences of the undifferentiated application of child welfare systems to Indigenous children and families, including the loss of cultural identity. Even though Quebec’s Youth Protection Act (YPA) has been amended several times so that any intervention takes into consideration the preservation of children’s cultural identity, this legislation remains unsuited to Indigenous realities and continues to have discriminatory effects. In Quebec, the recognition of First Nations' cultural and family practices as well as the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination have for a long time been the subject of significant controversy and resistance by the legislature.To counter systemic discrimination, federal legislation (An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families) was introduced in 2020, allowing Indigenous communities to implement their own child welfare law. It is in this context of legislative changes that the Atikamekw Nation of Opitciwan adopted their own law in 2022 and has initiated a research-action to document its implementation. After presenting the new principles of the law, we will see how the establishment of an Atikamekw governance fosters the development of original community approaches that ensure not only the safety and well-being of Atikamekw children, but also the preservation of their cultural identity and the decolonization of social practices.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Governance, child welfare services, Indigenous laws, social practices
#0102 |
Developing an indigenous voice in Social Work education
This abstracts details the work of an established international project exploring partnership working and collaboration across the United Kingdom and East Africa. Using the backdrop of decolonisation of the curriculum and embedding indigenous wisdom, this project undertook some learning on indigenous wisdom and how this can be applied to social work practice and the curriculum, with a move towards the internationalisation of the profession. This project focused on decolonising what international collaboration means and how this is practiced through responding to and addressing colonial influences to repair and rebalance partnerships. This included utilising key indigenous concepts and methods around mediation and community consultation. The learning from this project enables a start to build an evidence base for the position of indigenous knowledge and the value this brings to a global perspective for social work curricula and to increase global learning through a lens of social justice
Keywords (separate with commas)
Decolonisation, indigenous, social work education, international collaboration
This presentation shares a strategy of engaging positionality in teaching and learning as a way to broaden emancipatory approaches in social work education. Given the current political climate of undercutting critical perspectives in education, it is crucial to continue to foster critical consciousness of ideas, beliefs, values, commitments, histories, and discourses that shape how we live, work, and relate to one another. Cultivating reflexivity on positionality we not only demonstrate how power relations are constructed and lived every day, but also offer platforms for emancipatory approaches to education, where the dominant narratives are problematized, and alternative narratives amplified. The presentation will share examples from the classroom.
In September 2022, a school in the northeast implemented Dr. Love’s Liberatory Consciousness Framework (LCF), which addresses antiracism and oppression. Liberatory consciousness is an awareness of oppression and intentionality about changing systems of oppression (Love, 2010). The LCF consists of four elements –awareness, analysis, action, accountability/allyship. Awareness requires that you recognize that we live in an oppressive society; analysis requires that you develop explanations about why oppression is happening; action requires you to take action to promote equity and justice; and accountability/allyship requires you to collaborate with others to address what is contributing to an oppressive society. The LCF is being used to guide curriculum development, students’ work in their field placements, and the work of staff within the school.The purpose of this panel discussion is to inform social work educators about the usefulness of the LCF for curriculum development and designing field placement activities. Examples of how the framework is being used in the curriculum and field settings will be discussed as well as lessons learned. Results will be presented from the initial evaluation of the implementation of the LCF. Resources for those who would like to use this framework in their schools will be made available. Participants will be given time to discuss how they can implement this framework and discuss any challenges they might anticipate in its implementation.Participants will learn about the elements of (awareness, analysis, action, and accountability/allyship) the liberatory consciousness framework.Participants will learn about the ways in which the liberatory consciousness framework was implemented in the curriculum and field settings and consider how they might want to implement it at their own schools.Participants will learn about the challenges encountered in implementing the liberatory consciousness framework.
Keywords (separate with commas)
liberatory consciousness framework, antiracism, oppression, social action
#0649 |
Decolonization is not a metaphor: Decentering eurocentrism, demolishing cultural hierarchies, and reclaiming indigenous knowledges to decolonize social work practice.
In Canada, the inequitable assaults of the COVID pandemic and intertwined traumas of anti-Black, anti-Asian, and anti-Indigenous racisms have mobilized social work schools and the social work profession to actions that are often grouped in a discourse of decolonizing social work. However, the term ‘decolonization’ has been employed imprecisely, often used metaphorically to describe actions towards social justice. True decolonization, in the context of social work, requires deliberate efforts to undo the cultural and social effects of colonization, namely, social work focused in eurocentrism, practices reinforcing cultural hierarchies, and the erasure of indigenous ways of being and healing. Using decolonization as a metaphor fails to serve the pressing need for social work to be more respectful of, and responsive to, the diverse communities it serves in the contemporary context. This paper will discuss the impact of (neo)colonization on social work, as it is imperative that we acknowledge and understand the specific ways in which colonization has shaped social work before we can effectively dismantle its detrimental impacts. This paper asserts an urgent need for social work to embrace a precise decolonization framework, thus empowering social workers to challenge the status quo and address the systemic issues that undermine our efforts to do social work for social justice.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Canada, decolonization, anti-racisms, indigenization, cultural diversity, social work practice
#0734 |
Looking at different narratives around mental health and psychotic phenomena in Nunavik: decolonizing social work by involving different epistemologies and ontologies in practice and research
The narratives used to convey mental health experiences and the meanings associated with them are manifold. The work of postcolonial scholars has shown how mental health practices can be mediated by the colonial gaze, both consciously and unconsciously, further shaping the understanding of mental health issues, if not the experience itself. Moreover, mental health concepts have long served to establish and maintain colonial interests (Fanon, 1952). As such, allegations of misdiagnosis are most prominent in the cross-cultural diagnosis of schizophrenia and psychotic experiences (Adeponle, 2010).\ Combining the preliminary results of a research on psychotic experiences among the Inuit of Nunavik, Québec, Canada, and the experiences of the author as social worker in indigenous context, this presentation explores the different narratives around mental health and psychotic phenomena in Nunavik. We propose to look at the different meanings that emerge and explores how mental health concepts are culturally constructed and how it impacts research and clinic and often, prevent the development of culturally pertinent services. The aim of this presentation are to develop a better understanding of how concepts of mental health and psychotic phenomena are understood in Nunavik and identify the challenges related to the practice of social work in a context of coloniality. We also wish to discuss the uncertainties and biases that researchers and practitioners may experience, when faced with different epistemologies and ontologies, \ and how to embrace these uncertainties. \
One of the barriers to decolonisation work in social work in Africa and around the world has been the dismissal of colonisation as a thing of the past that ended with the colonial era. There continues to be a denial of ongoing colonisation and neocolonialism hence erasing the responsibility to fix them in social work. in this presentation, the present-day manifestations of colonialism in social work will be discussed and a decolonisation-first theory-practice provided. Some processes of decolonising self and mind from the colonisers/colonised perspective will also be shared to stimulate listeners to start on or progress the much-needed decolonisation and indigenisation of social work.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Colonialism; decolonial; decolonisation-First Theory-practice ; indigenisation; social work; decolonising self;decolonising mind
#1284 |
Cultural adaptation of a harm reduction intervention: The first Managed Alcohol Program in Montreal
Rossio Motta-Ochoa1
;
Jorge Flores-Aranda
2
1 - University of Montreal.2 - Université du Québec à Montréal.
Background: Hazardous alcohol use is one of the major risk factors for people’s health worldwide and certain populations, such as indigenous people (IP) experiencing homelessness, are disproportionately affected by its consequences. A myriad of interventions that target these complex issues have been developed. Among them, managed alcohol programs (MAPs) are harm-reduction interventions that aim to reduce the effects of severe alcohol use and homelessness. MAPs provide accommodation, social and health support in addition to regular doses of alcoholic beverages to stabilize drinking patterns and replace the use of non-beverage alcohol (mouthwash, hand sanitizer, etc.). Although the positive impacts of MAPs have been reported, very little is known about how to adapt this program to the living conditions of urban IP.Objectives: Using a decolonial approach, this paper aims to discuss the results of a qualitative evaluation of the first MAP in Montreal (Canada), implemented by the indigenous organization Projets autochtones de Montréal.Methods: Ethnographic methods (participant observation and informal interviews), and semi-structured interviews (n=12) were used to explore the adaption of the MAP and its effects on the lives of its residents. The collected data were thematically analyzed.\ Results:\ Efforts to culturally adapt the MAP model to urban indigenous people encountered challenges such as multiplicity of identities and diversity of lifestyles. However, the flexibility of the MAP’s harm reduction approach allowed the accommodation of diverse indigenous values and practices, fostering a sense of belonging among its residents. Several beneficial impacts such as stabilization of alcohol use and reduction/cessation of drug use were also reported. Improvement of residents’ health was also noted.\ Conclusion:\ The cultural adaptation of the Montreal MAP fosters a sense of belonging among its residents. Beneficial changes in substance use patterns and health improvement were also reported.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Cultural adaptation, interventions, addiction, Indigenous, decolonial\
#1515 |
Decoloniality Framework Social Work Practice and Immigration: Central American youth mobility and migration
Henry Parada
1
;
Veronica Escobar Olivo1
;
Laura Perez Gonzalez
1
Despite efforts to engage North American Social Work with different frameworks, including Global Indigenous Frameworks, Social Work analysis, education, and interventions, they remain largely within the Modernity, Eurocentric-whiteness worldview. Decoloniality is the process of decolonization from the Aba Ayla (Latin America). It provides an alternative framework for social workers to discuss and understand human mobility and migration from the “other” standpoint. In 2014, former U.S. president Barack Obama declared the large-scale migration from the three Northern countries of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) a ‘crisis’ (Galli, 2018). Since then, Central Americans seeking safety movements has continued to gain international attention, particularly in 2018 and 2021, including caravans. The presentation aims to explore the construction of Central Americans migrating–specifically, the experiences of youth on the move. Based on research from the Rights for Children and Youth Partnership (RCYP), the presentation will examine youth as an excluded category using a decoloniality framework. As it is constructed, youthhood is a suspension between two stages: childhood and adulthood (Parada et al., 2024). While children (defined legally as those under 18) are afforded particular protections, youth between 18 and 30 are not afforded the same protections yet have been simultaneously recognized as not quite reaching adulthood. This in-between suspension becomes further complicated when discussing northward migration from Central America, as the migrant is also considered the liminal persona, whereby they are neither here nor there (Menjivar, 2006). We argue that the duality of existence–both as migrants and as youth–is used to treat the youth migrant as responsible for their illegalized movements and infantilized when and if it pleases decision-makers and politicians.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Decoloniality, liminal persona, Central America, youth migration, caravans
#1566 |
Imagining a Macro Somatic Social Work Practice: A Visionboard for Our Future
Lee-Ann Assalone1
1 - Alumna of Indiana University School of Social Work - Indianapolis.
"Social workers are bridge builders between groups, organizations, governments, countries with the potential to support setting limits, defining needs, and strengthening capacity for mutual understanding. Yet social work practice is infiltrated with echoes of colonialism, capitalism, ableism, and patriarchal thinking and relating in the world. Somatic social work practices seek to unravel our conditioned responses shaped by oppression and trauma. When social workers teach somatic practices to clients in clinical work, we co-regulate with and support our clients’ ability to regulate their own nervous system, and thus increase their ability to face challenging circumstances, set limits, and navigate the “triggers” from traumatic experiences.What might this look like on the macro level? How could traditions across the globe that align with natural cycles and celebrate interdependence be reflected in our policies and practices? How might our macro practices help stretch our social nervous system to hold more joy and connection, to help us more skillfully move through grief, fear and uncertainty as cultures and nations?Using art as a medium for exploration, we are creating a multisensory vision board to imagine what a macro somatic social work practice might look, feel, sound, smell and taste like. Through images, sounds and textures, we will imagine a social work practice that marries indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing, organizing, and problem solving, in concert with the natural world. We will frame them within the language of neuroscience to contextualize these practices. "\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Art as intervention, decolonial practices, somatic social work, macro social work, creative social work practices\
The overrepresentation of Indigenous children and families in the child welfare system in Canada is alarming and there is an urgent need for more just and culturally appropriate responses. Although there is evidence that systemic racism and poverty are connected to child maltreatment, these broader issues have gone unaddressed. Despite social work being a predominate profession in child protection, there is a significant gap in the research on how social work education programs are preparing social workers to make a difference in this field of practice. The purpose of this research is to help understand social work education as a platform for critical transformation in child welfare practice. Twenty-eight in depth, semi structured interviews were conducted with three main groups: front line child welfare workers who have social work degrees, social work educators teaching courses related to child welfare, and key informants in leadership and administrative roles related to child welfare delivery systems. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using constructivist grounded theory.Results: Data analysis revealed the complexity of child protection work and the need for social work education to reflect this reality. Findings suggest that preparing students for day-to-day practice as well as social change is necessary. Participants described transformative experiences in the classroom through experiential learning, peer learning, self-awareness, and critical thinking. Participants highlighted that learning multiple perspectives, having realistic portrayals of the field, learning in safe spaces, having a commitment to life-long learning, and understanding personal wellness are elements that facilitate transformative learning.Conclusions/Implications: Child protection services present unique challenges for social workers between helping and controlling. Barriers continue to exist between anti-oppressive frameworks and practice. The findings provide a framework for social work education to deliver transformative learning experiences that help students deconstruct oppressive perspectives and paradigms and learn alternative culturally responsive approaches to child welfare.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social work education, child welfare, transformative learning, Indigenous child welfare
#0682 |
“It felt like a nightmare”: A Postcolonial Analysis of the Experiences of Return Migrant Women to Kosova
Displaced populations have received increasing attention, yet the experiences of return migrants remain largely hidden within social sciences. Existing research suggests that policies which impact return migrants, especially those forced to return to their home countries, do not reflect their voices. Specifically, the UNHCR has adopted repatriation as a preferred policy solution, despite research which substantiates that returning to one’s home country is neither durable, nor the end of the migration cycle; as many of 80% of returnees decide to remigrate. This one-size-fits-all approach to forced displacement is a colonial practice as it does not recognize the impact of intersecting identity categories on return migration. To address this, this qualitative study examined the repatriation experiences of return migrant women from Kosovo and the role of social workers in facilitating return. In 2015, Kosovars constituted the fourth largest group of asylum seekers in the European Union, yet 96% of them were rejected. Considering that return migration trends are impacted by global power dynamics, this study relied on a postcolonial theories. Postcolonial theories suggest that power is partly operationalized through language, thus Critical Discourse Analysis was used as a research methodology. CDA is concerned with examining how power, language, and discourses shape social processes and relationships of dominance. Data collection included interviews with 15 return migrant women and 18 service providers in Kosovo. The main findings illustrate that returnee women and service providers rely on colonial discourses which construct Kosovo as inferior to EU countries and highlight the impact of patriarchy and ethnic racism on return migration. A postcolonial analysis demonstrates that despite Kosovars’ challenges with repatriation, EU countries use their power to impose repatriation as a preferred solution for Kosovo’s government. These findings provide important implications for how return migration might be carried out, not only in Kosovo, but worldwide.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Repatriation; Return migration; Postcolonialism; Social Work; Kosovo
#0693 |
A Dohari Narrative of Nepalese Grandmothers Providing Informal Family Support for Adult Children in Hamilton Ontario
The population of people aged 55 and older is growing significantly in Canada. The aging population of Canada is also becoming more ethnically diverse, with South Asians making up the largest visible minority group in both the 2006 and 2016 census. Also, South Asian females represent the largest visible minority and comprise 5.4% of the Canadian female population and many of them are grandmothers who provide informal support for older adult children. However, the experiences of these grandmothers are missing in extant literature. Hence this paper will be adopting an innovative arts-based method - dohari narrative to explore and present the experiences of Nepalese grandmothers providing informal family support to adult children in the City of Hamilton, Ontario. The research found that the grandmothers feel obliged to take care of the entire family because of how busy their children are, and this might be a source of stress for them. This calls for a rethink for older care providers and provision of culturally sensitive interventions by social workers.
Keywords (separate with commas)
aging population, South Asian grandmothers, informal family support, dohari narrative, culturally sensitive interventions
#0986 |
The Prairie Child Welfare Consortium: Collaboration for Justice in Child Welfare Practice and Education.
Jennifer Hedges
1
;
Jason Albert2
1 - University of Manitoba.2 - First Nations University of Canada.
The Prairie Child Welfare Consortium (PCWC) is a partnership between academic institutions, government representatives, and community agencies across three neighboring Canadian provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The PCWC is committed to supporting families who encounter the child welfare system. The provinces share a similar colonial history of child welfare and face unique challenges as well as opportunities for promoting child and family wellness. Social workers have always played a role in developing and delivering child welfare services and there is a responsibility to help shape the future of child welfare to be culturally responsive and anti-oppressive.\ The Consortium provides a model for provinces/states and groups interested in collaborating to solve complex challenges by sharing ideas, resources, and engaging in research by creating a multi-sector and cross-cultural child welfare network.\ The PCWC has held ten biennial symposia bringing together various child welfare participants to discuss research findings, purpose solutions, and collaborate across jurisdictional and professional boundaries on child welfare issues. Part of the symposia structure is to include pre-conference training workshops and pre-conference meetings of Indigenous scholars and allies, focused on education and research pertinent to Indigenous child welfare. An important outcome of PCWC symposia has been the publication of eight books. This series: Voices from the Prairies has become an important resource for child welfare across Canada.\ The presenters will describe the Consortiums unique structure and collaborative model as well as the impact and outcomes that have been a result. Future initiatives by the PCWC to strengthen its capacity moving forward to create research partnerships, deliver education, and support policy and practice development will also be discussed.\
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social work education, Child welfare, Collaboration
There may be various reasons for substance use and misuse in society, but the component of race makes the problem of addiction more endemic for Black and other racialized individuals and families. Using the emancipatory approaches of Critical Race and Critical Whiteness Theories as well as the Intersectionality framework, this presentation aims to examine the oppression of addiction in Black families, touching on precipitating factors such as the lived experience of racism and systemic violence as well as the over-representation of Black Canadians in the provincial and federal correctional systems.\ The objectives are to: a) assess the contributing, risk, and vulnerability factors for substance use and abuse for Black service users; b) examine barriers to help-seeking in the Black family/community; c) identify social work interventions at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels; and d) highlight culturally relevant resources (including pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments) for Black individuals and families. The outcomes would be for participants to recognize the layers of oppression under which Black individuals function in society, and for health and addiction professionals to gain insight into intervention strategies regarding working with Black individuals, families, and communities.For Black Canadians, addiction is often beyond individual pathology, therefore, treatment and interventional models must incorporate the family and community (who aid their treatment, relapse, and/or recovery), and the disabling external environment of marginalization, criminalization, and social exclusion. This presentation will, therefore, spotlight critical social work interventions at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels and the need for social workers to be sensitive to provide services in culturally meaningful ways. Given the increasing diversity of Canada’s sociocultural landscape, this presentation has implications for social work practice in addictions for Black service users and social policies and legislations by policy-makers at the national and international stages.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Emancipatory approaches, addictions, Black service users, Black families and communities, Canada, inclusive social policies, social work practice
#1023 |
Revolutionizing Social Work Education in Canada: The On/Off-the-Ground Cohort Model
Students who live in Northern and rural communities and cohort-oriented students often face barriers in traditional social work education. In presentation author will introduces an innovative solution – the On/Off-the-Ground Cohort Model – redefining the landscape of social work education in Canada for greater inclusivity and flexibility.This presentation explores how implementing flexible on/off-the-ground cohort models in social work education can increase respect for diversity.First, it examines how reserving learning for physical classrooms limits participation for groups including rural students, working professionals, and those with disabilities or caregiving responsibilities. Second, it outlines an on/off-the-ground approach that synchronizes online and in-person learning within a cohort. This provides multiple pathways to a social work degree. Third, the presentation details multiple benefits of the model in areas like cost savings, customized learning, inclusive access, collaboration, and community impact. Finally, it invites discussion on challenges in shifting from conventional delivery models that have marginalized non-traditional groups.The presenter argues that respecting diversity requires moving beyond rhetoric to challenge systems that inhibit equity in access. Social work education claiming to value diversity must mirror this commitment in teaching practices that embrace varied learning needs. By making education more available, accessible and applicable to non-traditional learners on/off-the-ground cohort models demonstrate respect for diversity.\ Participant Takeaways:Technological Empowerment: Discover the potential of technology to transcend physical limitations, promoting inclusivity and global engagement.Balancing Act: Understand the delicate balance between flexibility and structure, enabling personalized learning experiences without compromising curriculum quality.Responsive Education: Participants will gain insights into tailoring education to individual circumstances, effectively reaching students who face obstacles in traditional learning settings.In this presentation, the author presents not just a model, but a transformative shift that respects diversity, promotes accessibility, and equips educators to shape the future of social work education.
Keywords (separate with commas)
social work education, on/off the ground cohort model, Canada
#1046 |
MINO MADJI8IN: Hybrid Intervention Teams and Urban Indigenous Holistic Wellness
Karine Croteau1
;
Mireille De La Sablonnière-Griffin
2
Context: As a result of colonial policies and traumatic experiences (CRPA, 1995; CVRC, 2015; ENFFADA, 2019), First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals experience more psychological, spiritual and social distress than non-Indigenous people (Bombay et al., 2014 ; INSPQ, 2021 ; Kirmayer et al., 2009 ; Maté, 2022). In response to the exponential growth of requests for distress assistance amongst the general population (80 % of all calls to police), and the limitations of police intervention methods with Indigenous people (CERP, 2019), four pilot EMIPIC (hybrid teams composed of police and community responders) were deployed in Quebec (Canada) as of March 2022. Objectives: The study aims to elucidate what are the foundations and memorandum of understanding of hybrid teams and their implications for culturally safe intervention with Indigenous people in distress? Four main objectives are pursued: (1) understanding the reality and needs (mental wellness) of the Indigenous members interviewed; (2) identifying the extent to which their conception of balance and mental wellness is recognized and valued by the EMIPIC; (3) apprehending how the Indigenous participants felt during the intervention; and (4) describing how they perceived the nature of the services promulgated by the EMIPIC. Method and results: The authors conducted a scoping review on hybrid practices with Indigenous people, based on a scientific and media corpus. In addition, preliminary analysis of qualitative data collected to shed light on the experiences of twenty (n = 20) Indigenous members (essentially anishinabeg – algonquins) from the Maniwaki, Kitigan Zibi and Lac Barrière regions, who were in contact with an EMIPIC in the event of psychological, spiritual, or social distress, are exposed. Discussion: Implications for research and intervention, and recommendations are identified for the renewal of promising practices in the field.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Hybrid Intervention Teams, Holistic Wellness, Indigenous People, Urban Environment, Cultural Safety, Renewal of Practices
#1345 |
Afrocentric Sharing Circle: Tool for Emancipatory Anti-Colonial Research , Pedagogy and Practice
The circle tool has been used for orally transmitting knowledge, fact gathering, conflict resolution, restorative justice and healing in many communities for centuries. The circle represents an unbroken inclusive intimate egalitarian space where everyone sits face to face, knowing and being known because the face is the window to the soul. Using the circle for teaching, research or practice with groups, families and individuals is innovative but not novel. The (ASC) for instance builds on long standing cultural traditions, honouring the epistemology of African ancestors to illuminate contemporary African lived experiences.The Afrocentric Sharing Circle promotes transparency, trustworthiness and authenticity, valuing\ African socio-cultural capital, promoting trust and building intercultural and intergenerational community. The ASC aligns with the subtheme of anticolonial/Indigenous/ /Emancipatory approaches by centering Africans as knowledge producers and thereby disrupting hegemony and white supremacy. Framed by Afrocentric, critical race and anti-colonial theories, ASC enables asking hitherto unasked research questions, facilitates access to nuanced but often supressed/ repressed feelings and produces deep meaning making and empowering insights.The ASC has been used in funded research studies with Black youth, social workers, Black families, and older Black adults. In this workshop we discuss the features of ASC including African ambience, food, research as ceremony, cultural acknowledgement, mutual healing from the wounds of colonialism and power balancing in the circle. Participants report that engaging in ASC is as empowering and illuminating as the research outcomes. In this interactive workshop, participants will have the opportunity to enact an Afrocentric Sharing Circle and collectively debrief its applications to their own research, \ teaching and practice.\
Caribbean social work students and practitioners often encounter challenges in applying generalist social work frameworks to their practice with Caribbean people or those with Caribbean heritage in the diaspora. Their struggles often involve understanding Caribbean social work issues through theoretical lenses developed in western societies. Since the early origins of training of social welfare officers in the Caribbean, the development of social work education, research and practice has continued to be heavily influenced by the global north.With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, every facet of social work in the Caribbean has been disrupted. As social work practitioners, educators and researchers sought to navigate the pandemic, there was a reliance on solutions and good practices developed outside of the Caribbean. Very little attempt was made to examine how Caribbean historical and cultural perspectives and traditions could be integrated to strengthen social work delivery in the region.This paper reflects on the calls for decolonializing social work in the Caribbean social work education. The paper advances an argument for the development of a homegrown, decolonized social work perspective which can meet the needs of populations in a [post] pandemic era. This paper provides insights from an on-going project which examines the perspectives of social work educators, researchers, and practitioners in the Caribbean, on the imperatives for decolonizing social work practice, education and research. After engaging with social work professionals throughout the Caribbean and through a process of self-reflexive questioning, I propose the need for a Caribbean perspective in Social Work. I share the initial concepts as an emerging paradigm which is based on Caribbean shared values, communality, environment, cultural traditions and social life. I propose this as a possible theoretical base for sustainable social work with Caribbean populations.
Keywords (separate with commas)
decolonization, social work perspective, Caribbean social work education, emancipatory social work
#0425 |
Transforming Communities: A Critical Perspective of Orality, Textuality, and Visuality in Haiti
Orality, textuality, and visuality play vital roles in creating ontological spaces, maintaining traditions, consolidating identities, and mobilizing resources for both individual and community development (Hernández-Ochoa \& González-Orjuela, 2017; Plaisir, 2010; Ulmer \& Paine, 2011). With the emergence of new technologies, Haiti finds itself at a critical intersection to potentially capitalize on these expressive, discursive, and dialogical tools for societal transformation. However, various barriers– interpersonal, institutional, and sociocultural– pose significant challenges to harnessing the full potential of these tools. Therefore, this presentation discusses the dynamic interplay between traditional oral practices, textual communication, and visual media in Haiti using the cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to examine the dialectical and transformative dimensions embedded in the interconnections between individuals, their cultural and historical environments, and the communicative activities in which they are engaged. First, this presentation explores the multifaceted role of orality, textuality, and visuality in community engagement and knowledge transmission, as well as their impact on community cohesion, identity formation, and resistance/resilience of cultural heritage. Second, as technology penetrates the everyday lives of Haitian communities– both in Haiti and abroad–, the critical perspective adopted in this project addresses the potential tensions and contradictions that arise as orality, textuality, and visuality intersect within the Haitian context under the influences of digitalized, incentivized, and highly interactive platforms facilitated by the web 2.0., while paying close attention to uneven power dynamics within these communication modalities. Lastly, this presentation contributes to a broader understanding of the transformative capacities of orality, textuality, and visuality in community development initiatives in Haiti. By recognizing and valuing the diversity of communication practices, it is necessary to empower and advocate for the inclusion and representation of traditionally marginalized voices, cultural expressions, and local knowledge systems in all translocal and glocalized processes of community transformation.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Communication modalities, technology, orality, community transformation
#0448 |
Women, their complex positionalities, and emancipatory social work in Nepal
This presentation is based on the preliminary findings of my own qualitative research for PhD, entitled Decolonising social work with Nepali women that aims to explores Nepali society, the multifaceted identities of Nepali women, and the critical role of social work in addressing the complexities they face in their daily lives. To better understand about Nepali women’s positionality in Nepali society as well as how Nepali social workers are working with them, I identified that in-depth interviews with female social work graduates would represent Nepali women as well as social work pedagogy and praxes in Nepal. Having both qualification and experience would allow me to explore about effective and relevant social work working modalities and approach with Nepali women. The initial findings shed light on historical, sociocultural, economic, and political struggles of Nepali women and how the interplays of these worsen the statuses and identities of Nepali women. Furthermore, overly emphasized themes that emerged from the interviews were the deeply rooted and blindly practiced patriarchal norms, discriminatory practices on and with Nepali women, and Nepali women’s nature of acceptance of all kinds of social inequalities as their fate. They also highlighted the potential of social work in understanding how Nepali women reflect on their identities, navigate cultural and societal pressures, and develop a sense of self that is informed and empowered within. And, finally, the participants in this study accentuated that there is a need for a contextually grounded, emancipatory social work approach to respond to the daily struggles of Nepali women. Most importantly, this presentation emphasizes on understanding the diverse struggles and identities of Nepali women as crucial aspect in Nepali social work practice for their emancipation.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Keywords: gender, Nepali women, social inequality, emancipatory approach, Nepali social work.
#1058 |
Strength among Sámi with Various Abilities and Challenges with Concepts of Disability and Inclusion – an Indigenous Perspective
This paper is aiming at further analyze results from a previous study by the author, based on stories from Sámi with various abilities, and examine concepts of disability and inclusion, and influence these concepts could have among Sámi with various abilities or disabilities. The study showed strength among informants, traditional knowledge, and cognitive, physical, and spiritual abilities included, which were adjusted to the individuals’ life conditions. Their abilities and strengths were about maintaining their Sámi context, family support, and self-developed aid, based on Sámi worldview in which individuals are not labelled as disabled. Instead, all have abilities and are important for family and society. Challenges like being in institutions, or being questioned by elder care staff, could lead to isolation, loosing family contacts, language and cultural experiences, and impaired wellbeing. Informants hoped for awareness in mainstream society of Sámi existence and their rights as Indigenous People, which could support informants’ everyday life. Welfare services offered to persons with various abilities or ‘disabilities’, were based on worldview and life of mainstream society with same rights for all citizens, an established statement in the Swedish Welfare system, probably with intentions of inclusion. Moreover, legislations and insurance system are based on ‘disabilities’, problems, and burden for the individual and family. Thus, concepts of disability and inclusion could lead to exclusion among informants. In this study, I draw on Sámi perspective and indigeneity, history, culture, and language included, Indigenous methodology, and Sámi rights as Indigenous, and rights as persons with ‘disabilities’. Appropriate ethical guidelines for Indigenous research are followed. The study is approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board at Umeå University in Sweden. Conclusively, I suggest actions, among welfare actors, considering Sámi’s rights both as Indigenous, regarding Swedish legislations, and UN Declaration on the rights as persons with ‘disabilities’.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Disability, Decolonization, Inclusion, Indigenous, Sámi, Social Work, Welfare, Wellbeing.\
The concept of time is tied to environmental and cultural components. The notions of time for the people in the global south, especially in the predominantly agricultural and indigenous communities, are natural and seasonal. In contrast, the west treats time tied to work hours and values exactness in timekeeping. The punctuality of Euro-Americans is a privilege developed from centuries of lived experience in industrialized societies. In contrast, punctuality was not part of their lifestyle for many generations in the global south. The west sees monetary value in time, and punctuality is expected behavior. The Euro-American culture often looks down on the inability of people from Asia and Africa for not be punctual and treats it as an individual failure. Such an approach is a clear dynamic of historical privilege and oppression. Sense of time affects the behavioral pattern of people as well. While there is a likelihood of interpersonal friction in adherence to punctuality, a nonlinear understanding of time promotes collaboration. The eco-social and environmental context of social work practice and education are linked to diversity in the sense of time and differences in punctuality. This paper positions punctuality as a privilege and discusses the challenges of diverse communities with the western notion of punctuality. This presentation will explore the differences between the global north and south in the concept of time, referencing historical and cultural contexts in understanding time.
Keywords (separate with commas)
punctuality, time, privilege, industrialisation
#0250 |
Decolonizing Teaching and Learning in Social Work
This research abstract examines the persistence of colonial legacies in African states, highlighting the limited progress achieved since the initial decolonisation calls of the early to mid-20th century. Despite a superficial shift in political administration, Africa continues to grapple with underdevelopment while embracing imitations of European and North American cultures. In the context of education, this study argues that decolonisation has not taken root and emphasizes the need to reconsider teaching and learning practices. Recognizing the crucial link between education and upward social mobility, this presentation emphasizes the importance of addressing the approaches, quality, and relevance of education within a decolonial framework. The author contends that without firmly embedding teaching and learning practices in a clearly articulated decolonial approach, the social developmental aspirations of previously colonised nations will remain elusive. To shed light on the calls for decoloniality and the praxis of decolonising teaching and learning, this research paper conducts a comprehensive desktop review of the literature. Drawing on critical race theory (CRT), the paper critically reflects on the key aspects that necessitate attention in the process of decolonising teaching and learning. Moreover, the paper offers recommendations for various academic disciplines to initiate discussions and act towards decolonising their teaching and learning processes, as well as the content therein. Consequently, this presentation proposes a conceptual framework for decolonising the curriculum. By exploring the intersection of decoloniality and education, this research aims to contribute to the broader discourse on decolonisation, fostering a more inclusive and transformative educational environment that aligns with the social and developmental aspirations of formerly colonised nations.
Keywords (separate with commas)
Social Work, Teaching and Learning, Decolonisation, Social Development, Critical Race Theory, Approach.
#0335 |
Exploring alternative discourses on social work practices from the perspective of social representation theory
Masateru Higashida1
1 - Asian Research Institute for International Social Work, Shukutoku University,.
Pluralistic discourses on social work, including those on postcolonial/decolonial social work, indigenous social work and culturally relevant practices, are attracting increasing interest globally. This preliminary study examined the process of constructing alternative discourses on social work from the analytical perspective of the social representation theory posited in the domain of social psychology. Case studies in three areas were discussed in the Asian context: culturally relevant domestic social work, Buddhist social work, and international social work. The results of previous studies conducted by the author and his colleagues were subjected to a qualitative comparative analysis. The investigation focused on the familiarisation mechanism, which includes the processes of anchoring and objectifying. Different aspects, including familiarisation, cognitive polyphasia, and unfamiliar phenomena, were observed depending on the relevant concepts and terms used. However, the results indicated that certain social work discourses were constructed using relevant concepts and terms via dialogue and conference, research and publication, and education. Despite several acknowledged limitations, the findings of this study indicate that diverse and alternative discourses are gradually becoming common within the discipline. Furthermore, this study suggests that the perspective of the social representation theory is useful for social work research because it clarifies the process of constructing diverse discourses as a social reality.
Keywords (separate with commas)
alternative discourse, international perspective, Indigenous social work, international social work, qualitative analysis
#0505 |
What it means to be a Muslim in Canada: A Scoping Review of Empirical Studies
Our thematic analysis of the academic literature on Canadian Muslim Youth aims to identify and describe the factors which contribute to the construction of identity among Muslim youth in Canada and make some research and policy recommendations to address this issue. In this review, we responded to the following questions: What is the current research evidence for Canadian Muslim Youth identify construction? What are the major themes included in the identifies publications?
