SWSD 2024

#0434 | ‘The Sad Reality is Many Social Work Graduates Don’t Work in the Fields of Social Work’: An Untold Truth about Nepali Social Work Graduates

Raj Yadav ¹ ;

Pratiksha Ghimire ¹ ;

Dilip Karki ¹

1 - University of the Sunshine Coast.

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#0591 | Youth Work in Contexts of Inequity: Implications for Youth Wellbeing

Uzo Anucha ¹

1 - York University.

[ver]

Summary

Youth workers are a vital component of youth programs and they often become role models, mentors, teachers and sometimes, even surrogate parents to the young people in these youth programs. Our study asks: What are the systemic issues, gaps, and barriers encountered by youth workers? How do they navigate these gaps? What issues affect youth workers' ability to do their work with youth as effectively and healthily as possible? Our methods included seven focus groups with 58 frontline youth workers. The findings centred around four themes: Youth worker identity and lived experience as a resource: 1/ Their professional identity is tied to their personal identities and was “not separated or detached” but part of who they are. 2/ Numbers Work: The pressure to meet targets and numbers frequently means that critical skills and practices, such as relationship-building, mentorship, empowerment, and advocacy, are difficult to report as numbers, are rendered invisible. 3/ Rule-bending Work: The systems within which youth are embedded have significant gaps for young people. They discussed how they made these systems work for youth. In some instances, this work is unauthorized. 4/ The marginality of youth work and invisibility of youth workers’ voices (devalued work and precarious employment). Youth workers described their precarious and insecure jobs and how they had to piece together multiple contract-based jobs to survive. They also noted that the youth sector’s precarious and insecure labour market is stratified by race, gender, and sexuality. Through unfair and exploitative employment structures and practices, the youth sector is a site of harm and inequity for youth workers, which negatively impacts youth. The findings provide a detailed account of how personal, professional, and political identities are constructed in relation to the work and the actual practices that community-based youth workers do, including care, systems coordination, and numbers work.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Youth work, Precarity, Qualitative Research

#0740 | Compassion Fatigue Resilience: Efforts to Reduce Burnout and Increase Retention among Social Workers

Tonya Hansel ¹ ; Leia Saltzman ¹

1 - Tulane University.

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#0809 | Addressing the Resonance: Narratives of Migrant Social Workers Working with Young Migrant Workers in China

Timothy Chen ¹

1 - Gratia Christian College.

[ver]

Summary

The study aims to\\ present and analyze how\\ migrant social workers without local household registration\\ of China\\ serve young migrant workers\\ in factories or service industry, who also possessed no local household registration of urban Chinese areas. Also, the study is to justify and construct the resonance between migrant social workers and migrant workers in the process of interaction and service delivery, and\\ how\\ the resonance informs the development of the\\ social work profession in China, with responding to the\\ questions: (1) What is the experience of migrant social workers in serving the young migrant workers or labours in urban China? (2) How does the common experience of migration shape the service process? (3) How does the service provided by the migrant social worker shape the life of migrant workers or labours?Narrative\\ inquiry was applied to the research.\\ Interviews with\\ migrant social workers with whom the young migrant workers interacted and community stakeholders, in addition to observation, were triangulated to enhance the\\ verisimilitude and\\ utility of the research. All interviewees shared rich and thick narration on their stories to be social worker and present their life to serve migrant workers.\\ Furthermore, with the narratives of interviewees, the idea of ‘profession of social worker’ is thickened with ‘commitment’ and ‘life togetherness’ with migrant workers to change their social milieu with professional ethics, skills and knowledge. Following the research finding, further studies on developing the manpower of social workers directly from the population of migrant workers is advised. Those social workers with migrant backgrounds will find it more effective to engage, assess and identify the needs of migrant workers. Establishing training institution of migrant workers in social service field is suggested to enhance blooming of social work profession as well as responding to immediate service needs of migrant workers in China.\\

Keywords (separate with commas)

Social Work in China, Migrant, Migrant Social Worker, Narrative Research, Resonance, Professional Identity of Social Worker

#0231 | Factors that sustain and/or threaten professional identity in social work: Findings from a scoping review.

Bernadette Moorhead ¹ ; Kyoko Otani ² ; Riki Savaya ³ ; Karen Bell ¹ ; Nicola Ivory ¹ ; Wendy Bowles ¹ ; Mary Baginsky ⁴

1 - Charles Sturt University. 2 - Nihon Fukushi University. 3 - Tel Aviv University. 4 - Kings College London.

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Summary

This paper reports on a subset of findings from a large systematic scoping literature review on professional identity in social work. Against the backdrop of contemporary practice contexts, especially concerns about constrained resources and poor working conditions, there are growing calls to understand the factors that impact the professional identities of qualified social workers. To examine how professional identity is developed and crystalised, a search strategy was implemented across academic databases to gather peer-reviewed social work literature spanning a 20-year period. Screening produced a total of 65 sources for analysis. Our paper reports on the findings that were derived from thematic analysis of the findings section of the empirical studies (n = 49) and the main discussion section of the non-empirical (n = 16) studies. The findings revealed a range of positive and negative factors that impact upon developing, sustaining and/or threatening the professional identity of social workers. Among the positive impacts are themes related to coherence and congruence in professional identity as well as pride and access to ongoing learning. In contrast, the negative impacts highlighted issues related to incoherency, as well as ambivalent or poor external perceptions that produce a lower regard for social work. Implications for evidence-informed systemic measures that prioritise the development and sustainability of professional identity are outlined for professional associations and employers. The need for further research that examines these positive and negative factors are identified to better understand variables that contribute to social workers developing and sustaining coherent professional identities.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Professional identity; social work; working conditions; public perceptions; retention; burnout

#0836 | Challenges of keeping children connected with their families during the Pandemic: insights from foster parents and child welfare workers

Sarah Maiter ¹ ; Ssewanyana Derrick ² ; Daniel Kikulwe ¹

1 - York University. 2 - University Of Toronto.

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Summary

Introduction: This research examined experiences of child welfare workers (CWW) and foster-care providers in addressing communication and child-parent access during the COVID-19 pandemic.\ Background: Immense disruptions to child-welfare systems during the pandemic have been reported. Prolonged durations of social and physical isolation of children in child welfare from their birth families and from CWW were unintended consequences of COVID-19 public health measures. This isolation negatively impacted on the mental health of children and parents, and increased children’s vulnerability to child abuse and neglect. Regardless of the reasons, child-welfare policy and practice ought to prioritize family reunification as the initial case goal, but curbing visits during the pandemic severely impacted this core tenet. Service disruptions were mostly addressed by a rapid transition from in-person to virtual child-welfare services. Yet, the experiences of CWW and foster-care providers in implementing virtual child-welfare services during the pandemic are not well understood in Canada and elsewhere.\ \ Method: Thirty-seven CWW and foster-care providers participated in a survey conducted in Ontario, Canada. The survey included items on strategies used to communicate about safety, children and youths’ reaction to remote interventions. challenges faced by foster-care providers in managing parent-child access visits. and their recommendations for improved parent-child access for children in foster care.\ \ Findings: The use of virtual video communication alongside other modalities to observe non-verbal cues and interactions was almost universal (about 94%) but varied with children’s age. Privacy concerns were common in children and youth contacts. Visitation scheduling challenges, digital inequality and fear of the contagion were commonly encountered by foster-care providers.\ Recommendations: Regular virtual check-ins with foster parents by CCW, training on safety and on use of online meeting tools. and providing subsidies for internet-related costs would enormously fill the unmet support needs of CWW and clarify foster parents’ roles in managing parent-child relationships.\

Keywords (separate with commas)

COVID-19. pandemic, foster-parents, virtual, child-welfare, abuse and neglect, communication\

#1189 | Obstacles in the social work career path: how to support well-being and commitment?

Sirkka Alho ¹

1 - Jyväskylä University.

[ver]

Summary

Finnish social work is subject to the changes of the century. Since the beginning of 2023, social and health care has been administratively combined with welfare areas.In Finland, the social sector has the biggest shortage of workers, according to the Employment Barometer of the Ministry of Labor and the Economy for the year 2022 (TEM). According to it, the third biggest shortage was of special experts in the social sector. Based on the analysis prepared by Keva, there will be a shortage of social workers in the future as well. According to Keva, there are more than 6,000 pensioners in this professional group, and there is currently a shortage of 2,700 social workers (Keva). According to the register maintained by Valvira, there are more than 7,200 social workers in the register of professionals, and there are approx. 4,700 vacancies for social workers in the municipalities, of which approx. 3,500 are qualified social workers. 105 social workers have participated in this qualitative survey study at October/2022. The questions are open questions and they map the well-being experienced by social workers, its obstacles; work support and career development opportunities. The theoretical reference framework structures the material through four concepts: well-being at work, forms of work support, motivation and commitment to work and the organization.The research questions include: What kind are the organization and management that supports social work, as well as work support, so that work well-being and career development as well as competence develop in an optimal way?The goal of the research is to find ways to the revolving door syndrome of social work and how the employees could do better in their tasks and thus also the clients and society could do better.

Keywords (separate with commas)

well-being at social work, career development, engagement at social work

#1209 | Sharing an interdisciplinary leadership training model to strengthen the workforce supporting people with neurodevelopmental disabilities

Matthew Bogenschutz ¹

1 - Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Summary

In the United States, and throughout the world, neurodiversity has become increasingly visible in recent years. For instance, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \ (2020) estimates that 1 in every 36 children in the U.S. has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, marking a substantial and rapid increase from only 1 in every 150 children in 2000. Similar increases have been observed elsewhere around the world. \ Neurodiversity often comes with the need for specialized and coordinated social and health services, and the complexity of providing those services often leaves neurodiverse children and their families “lost in the system” without adequate support to make progress toward improved social function and independent living. Social service and healthcare workers are often inadequately trained to meet the needs of this growing population, and many national and private health and social service systems are not designed to bring together professionals who may be able to provide necessary supports.The Virginia Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities program (VA-LEND) is designed to train social service and healthcare workers from 16 professional disciplines how to provide person-centered, evidence based, and interdisciplinary supports to children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families. VA-LEND involves students in didactic, clinical, policy, and individually designed leadership activities in order to develop a strong interdisciplinary workforce aimed at improving health and social outcomes for people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Through activities such as our Family Mentorship Experience and the inclusion of self-advocates with disabilities and their family members as full participants in our class sessions, VA-LEND exemplifies model practices for centering lived experience for sensitizing professionals to the service needs of people with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families. This presentation will share our successful model, our evaluation results, and provide suggestions to audience members who may wish to establish interdisciplinary training programs.\

Keywords (separate with commas)

Neurodevelopmental disabilities; interprofessional training; workforce development; lived experience

#0165 | Care-for-Life Family Preservation Development Model

Dr. Angelea Panos ¹ ;

Dr. Patrick Panos ²

1 - UVU. 2 - University of Utah.

[ver]

#0277 | Mobilizing Community Inclusiveness to Promote the Dignity of People and Communities Affected by FASD

Marleny Bonnycastle ¹ ; Shannon Foster ¹ ; Cintia Cordeiro Damasceno ¹ ; Bich Dong ¹ ; Jeannine Cull ¹ ; Robyn Sugden ¹ ; Antonella Veiras ¹

1 - University of Manitoba.

[ver]

Summary

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

#0455 | Hidden barrier education under poverty

CHUN YU YIN ¹

1 - TAIWAN H Foundation.

[ver]

#1384 | Experiencia de articulación docencia-profesión a través del fortalecimiento del Centro de Referencia Especializado para Población en Situación de Calle

María Fernanda Escurra ¹ ; Yasmin da Silva ¹ ; Ana Beatriz Rezende da Silva Gabry ¹ ; Ana Beatriz Ribeiro Costa ¹ ; Andressa Lopes Sales ¹ ; Antonio Reguete Monteiro de Souza ¹ ; Julia Fraga de Jesus Menezes ¹ ; Thayná Cristina dos Santos Ramos dos Santos Ramos ¹

1 - Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.

[ver]

Summary

Este póster presenta de forma resumida la experiencia, así como fotos de actividades, \ del proyecto Prodocencia “Contribución para el fortalecimento del Centro de Referencia Especializado para Población en Situación de Calle - Centro POP-BC: una instancia de articulación docencia-profesión en el área de Trabajo Social”. Ese Centro Pop se encuentra localizado en el centro de la ciudad de Rio de Janeiro y forma parte de la 1ª Coordinación de Asistencia Social, de la Secretaria Municipal de Asistencia Social de la ciudad de Rio de Janeiro.\ Este proyecto, ejecutado desde junio de 2022, está vinculado a la Faculdad de Servicio Social de la Universidad del Estado de Rio de Janeiro - UERJ, cuenta con cinco estudiantes becarios, una becaria de investigación \ y una\ voluntaria e integra el Programa Articulación Población en Situación de Calle, Organizaciones y Universidad – Programa ArtPopRua, que envuelve docencia-investigación-extensión.\ El póster presenta el equipo responsable, objetivos, actividades realizadas, metodologia, resultados, próximos pasos, instagram y contacto. Incluso, las fotos seleccionadas permiten ilustrar algunas actividades, mostrando la riqueza de la experiencia. Entre las actividades realizadas se destacan: reuniones sistemáticas en la UERJ y en el Centro Pop; observaciones participantes y visitas semanales a la institución; diálogos y acciones con profesionales y usuarios; realización de cursos; organización de eventos; lecturas de textos, discusiones y elaboración de resúmenes; organización de campañas (Noviembre Negro, Campañas de donación); establecimiento de alianzas e Instagram del programa.La relevancia de esta propuesta se relaciona al hecho que permite articular de forma concreta la formación profesional con el mercado de trabajo, además de proporcionar la asociación antes mencionada entre docencia-investigación-extensión, dando visibilidad a una manifestación estructural de la cuestión social que alcanza, con particularidades específicas, inumerables ciudades brasileras, así como de países del mundo entero en el contexto de la dinámica capitalista contemporánea.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Población en Situación de Calle, Pobreza, Política de Asistencia Social, Universidad.

#0440 | Lived Experiences and Challenges of Bangladeshi Social Work Students in Field Practice

Mahmudul Hassan ¹ ;

Mohammad Shahjahan ²

1 - McGill University. 2 - University of Dhaka.

[ver]

Summary

Though all students of social work discipline in Bangladesh are required to attend field practicum before graduation, there is a lack of knowledge about the experiences and challenges of Bangladeshi social work students in field settings. This study was conducted to explore recent Bangladeshi social work graduate-student perspectives, experiences, and challenges in their field practicum period at different institutions. A phenomenological research approach was followed. For gathering data, 10 recent-graduate students (5 male and 5 female) from the Institute of Social Welfare and Research at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh were interviewed in this study. Also, two FGDs (Focus Group Discussion) were conducted (each consisting of 5 students) in the same educational institution to uncover students’ lived experiences on field placement. The study showed that students had a positive experience in their field settings. They were able to connect their classroom education to the practice fields. Also, they got the chance to receive firsthand experience and develop work-related skills. However, some students revealed the lack of coordination between educational institutions and agencies. Also, the lack of support and guidance from the institutional supervisors and agency supervisors has been portrayed by few students. Some agencies were not aware of the roles and responsibilities of students in their organizations. Students urged for better coordination and collaboration between the educational institutions’ supervisors and agency supervisors. Also, they recommended developing a comprehensive plan/guideline by both educational institutions and agencies to guide students during their field practice.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Social Work, Field Placement, Experiences, and Challenges of Students, Bangladesh

#0502 | Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Community-Oriented Girls' Education Program in Pakistan: Community-Based Participatory Research

Aamir Jamal ¹ ;

Liza Lorenzetti ¹ ; Cara Au ¹ ; Hussain Durrani ¹

1 - University of Calgary.

[ver]

Summary

The Canadian Association of Children’s Education in Pakistan (CACEP) uses an innovative, holistic, community-oriented model to promote gender justice through the education of children in a conflict-affected region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan has some of the largest gaps in access to education and gender equality globally, which worsen in rural regions. An anti-colonial approach is therefore necessary to support justice, equality, and self-determination since girls’ education is a contested issue in the Pashtun region of Pakistan. Through a transnational solidarity model, CACEP learns from the families and communities it serves on a micro-level and aims to share its unique model at a macro-level with the larger global community. Guided by mutual aid theory, a decolonial framework and community-based participatory action research, CACEP seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of its model and improve its impact. This research project engages CACEP families, scholarship patrons, staff, and volunteers through focus groups and photovoice methodologies to understand experiences, strengths, and areas of improvement for CACEP's model. Key objectives include: 1) improving CACEP's model through critical insights of CACEP stakeholders, 2) sharing CACEP's research-informed practice model with international social development practitioners and policymakers, 3) strengthening gender justice and girls' education support through knowledge mobilization in Pakistan and globally, and 4) creating a foundation for further research through partnerships. Presenters from a transnational Canadian and Pakistani team will highlight CACEP’s model, participatory action research methodology, and preliminary findings from the advisory committee, focus group, and photovoice process.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Girls’ education, participatory action research, gender justice

#0785 | Vulnerable but essential workers: Older-adult personal support workers’ (PSWs) contributions during the COVID-19 emergency response

Haorui Wu ¹

1 - Dalhousie University.

[ver]

#1337 | Client Violence against Social Workers: Toolkit for a Safe and Inclusive Workplace

Hanae Kanno ¹ ; Monit Cheung ² ; Xin Chen ³

1 - Valdosta State University. 2 - University of Houston. 3 - Soochow University.

[ver]

Summary

In the United States, 85.5% of 1,029 social workers in a national study (NASW, 2015) experienced psychological aggression by clients. Recently, 30% of social workers felt their employers did not adequately address workplace safety (NASW, 2022). With snowball sampling, 16 social workers in a state of the United States were interviewed about their experiences and perceptions of Client Violence (CV). Nvivo12 was used to code the transcribed interview data to validate analyses grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior. CV was categorized with open coding and grouped into themes with pattern coding. Specifically, this study explores how White and African American social workers handle CV similarly or differently. The participants were 24 to 61 years old. Ten were Whites (62.5%), and six were African Americans (37.5%). They represented frontline workers (50%), administrators (43.75%), or in both roles (6.25%). They worked in child protection services (n=8), women’s shelters (n=2), hospitals (n=2), behavioral health services (n=2), hospice (n=1), and private practice (n=1). They were in their present job for 9.03 years. All participants had experienced CV, the most common forms being verbal abuse, life threats, and property damage. Four similar themes were found among both White and African American social workers: client-worker alliance training, shared-experience planning, agency responsiveness, and community-engaged support. Participants suggested using an agency-initiated worker protection program with tools to handle CV. The first tool is a prevention program with guidelines to form healthy worker-client alliances for increasing staff protection. The second tool is a list of ground rules in social work practice. The third tool is research on social workers’ interaction skills in justice-centered client conversations. The final tool is an advocacy message about how to handle CV alerts. This research suggests making an agency policy to address CV worldwide, including self-care and racial justice principles for workplace safety.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Social Workers, Client Violence, Toolkit, Safe Workplace, Inclusive Workplace, Workplace Safety, Self-Care, Racial Justice　　　　

#0046 | Factors contributing to mental health and well-being of Burmese refugee youth

Kareen Tonsing ¹ ;

Jenny Tonsing ² ; Martha Vungkhanching ³

1 - Oakland University. 2 - Appalachian State University. 3 - California State University Fresno.

[ver]

Summary

Refugees often experience many pre- and post-migration stressors, which may increase their risk of poor mental health and well-being. Literature on refugees' mental health often focuses on psychopathology and their traumatic experiences. Although emergent research highlights the importance of emphasizing protective factors, these processes are less known about Burmese refugee youth. In this study, we examine the influence of protective and risk factors associated with the mental health of Burmese refugee youth resettled in the United States (US).We assess positive well-being with the Stirling Children's Well-being Scale (SCWBS) and psychological distress with the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (HSCL-D). Protective factors include family congruence, school connectedness, and resiliency. Risk factors include acculturative stress and perceived discrimination. Descriptive statistics examined the distribution of demographic characteristics and the study variables. Further, Hierarchical linear regression analysis examines the association between protective and risk factors and mental health status, controlling for demographic characteristics.Data came from a convenience sample of 133 Burmese refugee youth (55.6% girls and 44.4% boys), ranging in age from 10-17 years (Mean age=13.38,\ SD=1.99). Hierarchical linear regression analysis indicated that higher levels of school connectedness (β=.35,\ p\<.001), resilience (β=.28,\ p\<.001), and family congruence (β=.15,\ p\<.05) were significantly associated with higher levels of positive mental well-being, explaining 54.5% of the variance in SCWBS. Further, higher levels of resiliency (β=-.21,\ p\<.05) were significantly associated with lower psychological distress. On the other hand, perceived discrimination (β=.18,\ p\<.05) and acculturative stress (β=.19,\ p\<.05) were significantly associated with psychological distress, explaining 28.5% of the variance.The findings of this study indicate the need to understand protective and risk factors for mental health status among Burmese youth from refugee backgrounds. Furthermore, implications for refugee-related strategies in schools, social services, and mental health services are discussed.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Refugee, youth, mental health and well-being, protective factors, risk factors, resilience

#0048 | Attitudes Towards Mental Health and Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Burmese Refugees

Jenny Tonsing ¹ ;

Kareen Tonsing ²

1 - Appalachian State University. 2 - Oakland University.

[ver]

Summary

Despite the elevated rates of psychosocial distress among individuals from a refugee background, this population has low rates of mental health help-seeking. Literature on refugee studies identifies structural and cultural barriers to seeking help for psychological problems. However, there is a lack of research on perceptions about mental health problems and mental health help-seeking behaviors among Burmese refugees. The current study examined attitudes about mental health problems and barriers to seeking mental health services among Burmese refugees in the United States (US).Data for this study came from a convenience sample of 15 participants from four states in the US through a one-on-one in-depth phone interview. Interview data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by the authors following the thematic analysis procedures to identify major themes. Based on this process, four major themes emerged from the data: generational differences in perspective on mental health, adopting survival mode, stigma and misconception, and suggestions for community awareness.Respondents included ten females and four males, ranging in age from 20 to 49 (Mean age=30.21). Data analysis revealed generational differences in mental health perception. The older generation is more likely to associate mental illness with negative connotations due to a lack of awareness and exposure than the younger generation. Respondents also discussed how the older generation needed to channel their energy on survival and providing for the family and was less likely to view mental health issues as severe. In addition, the stigma of mental illness and seeing it as a weakness or not spiritual enough acts as a barrier to seeking help. Finally, data identified community awareness as a potential resource to mitigate the stigma attached to mental health problems, including culturally appropriate anti-stigma interventions and community education.The participants’ narrative highlights mental health challenges and barriers to seeking help. Implications will be discussed.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Mental health, mental health help-seeking, refugee, Burmese

#0633 | Transnational Child Migration: Promising Practices from South Africa

Ajwang' Warria ¹

1 - University of Calgary.

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Summary

In South Africa "there are an estimated 642,000 migrant and refugee children, making it the country with the largest child migrant population on the continent. In response to this, the European Union (EU), in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Refugee Agency -United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), launched the EU Global Promotion of Best Practices for Children in Migration project to strengthen child protection systems and provide alternatives to immigration detention. The programme was implemented across four countries in two regions: El Salvador and Mexico in Latin America and the Caribbean Region (LACR); and South Africa and Zambia in Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESAR). The programme's final beneficiaries are children on the move, including migrant, internally displaced, returnee, asylum seeking and refugee children; as well as children who move voluntarily or involuntarily, within or between countries, with or without their parents or other primary caregivers.The overall objective of the programme was to contribute to the effective protection of children on the move and the realisation of their rights through child protection systems that provide quality integrated services, alternative care, mental health, and psychosocial support all with a gender sensitive lens. This paper reports on promising practices identified in partnership with the local implementing organizations focusing on (i) integrated work, leveraging on other projects and interagency partnerships, (ii) Tapping into community-level knowledge to identify children on the move at risk and in need of care and create awareness, (iii) mental health and psychosocial services, (iv) critical social justice lens incorporating reflection, \ advocacy participation and intersectionality, (v) Africentric approach to practice, (vi) research and documenting practices, (vii) policy development and strategic litigation.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Child Protection, Migration, Promising Practices, Transnationality

#0698 | Historicizing the profession to respect diversity and advocate for social action in the profession - Access to abortion under socialism and the role of social work

Sara Pistotnik ¹

1 - University of Ljubljana.

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Summary

In Slovenia, the 1960s were formative years for social work. Newly trained social workers have been gradually integrated into various social institutions, developing social work approaches in line with the social views of the era. This was also the case in the field of reproductive health. Due to restricted access after the II. World War abortion was considered a prominent social problem. Often illegal, it affected large proportion of women causing high levels of morbidity and even mortality. When legal provisions in the 1960s allowed for social indication as a legitimate reason, it quickly became predominant in applications. Their eligibility was the concern of social workers, who were included in Commissions for granting abortion. The presentation will address social context guiding the integration of social workers in the decision-making regarding social indication, as well as development of methods by social workers practicing in abortion commissions. Various historical sources reveal that they were focusing on individual women’s situation, using conversation as method for evaluating, if their individual, family, or social circumstances were legitimate to grant an abortion. Besides, as abortions were considered harmful to health, they had a role in the official prevention strategy that emphasized the use of contraceptives and sex education, but also in the detection of persistent social issues such as poverty and severe housing conditions. Development of their practice can thus help us analyze social norms under socialism and how reproductive health was positioned within the broader field of social policies. These reflected an important shift of the state focus towards creating the conditions for family planning policies consistent with socialism's goal of raising the standard of living but also with the global agenda as stated in the UN Proclamation of Teheran in 1968.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Abortion, socialism, social work, social indication, Yugoslavia

Write here the title of the Symposium and the name of who coordinates it:

Historicizing the profession to respect diversity and advocate for social action in the profession; coordinator: Darja Zaviršek\

#0151 | BARRIERS TOWARDS FURTHERING OF EDUCATION FOR MIGRANT YOUTH IN SOUTH AFRICA: THE CASE OF MUSINA, LIMPOPO PROVINCE

Rapholo Selelo Frank ¹

1 - University of Limpopo.

[ver]

#0939 | The ‘Best Interest of the Child’ in Transnational Families - the Example of Displaced Unaccompanied Minors in Germany

Franziska Anna Seidel ¹ ;

Jana Katharina Bürger ¹

1 - University of Kassel.

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Summary

Background: The 'best interest of the child' is a guiding principle in Child and Youth Welfare. It's the specific task of the child welfare system and social work to assess and ensure the child's best interest, especially when biological parents cannot meet such needs – for instance, due to the physical separation of displaced children and their parents.\ Aim: This presentation discusses how the child's best interest is considered with regard to diverse transnational family relationships of displaced unaccompanied minors (UMs) in Germany. Principles of ‘the best interest of the child’ and social work principles with UMs will first be outlined before focusing on their implementation in practice.Method: The presentation is based on a thorough literature review and grounded theory analysis (Charmaz, 2014) of qualitative interviews with (former) UMs (n=12), social workers and pedagogical staff (n=20), and experts (n=3).\ Results:\ Despite the highly developed Child Protection System in Germany and the provision of various forms of support for UMs, findings point towards a lack of support concerning UMs' transnational family relationships.\ Parents in countries of origin or transit countries are only, in some cases, involved in social work interventions.\ In providing a rationale for their interventions, social workers referred to UMs' helplessness, personal experiences, organizational routines, and requirements. Social work approaches did not explicitly consider the principle of ‘the best interest of the child,’ theoretical foundations, or empirical justifications.Conclusions and Implications: Findings concerning the existing research examining "the best interest of the child" regarding UMs and family involvement are discussed. Based on empirical, theoretical, legal, and ethical considerations, it will be highlighted in what way the "best interest of children" and the role of the family abroad could better be considered in the case of UMs.\

Keywords (separate with commas)

unaccompanied minors, transnational families, ‘best interest of the child,’ qualitative research, social work in Germany

#1133 | Researching refugees in the global South – Reflections on Methodological Imperatives and Ethical Challenges

George Palattiyil ¹ ; Dina Sidhva ²

1 - University of Edinburgh. 2 - University of the West of Scotland.

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