SWSD 2024

#0690 | Socio-ecological transition and community development: for a meaningful local action

André-Anne Parent ¹ ;

Geneviève LeDorze-Cloutier ¹

1 - Université de Montréal.

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Summary

La Table de quartier Vivre Saint-Michel en santé -VSMS- a pour mission de réunir les acteurs du quartier Saint-Michel (Montréal, Canada) afin d’œuvrer à sa revitalisation, à la lutte contre la pauvreté et l’amélioration des conditions de vie. C'est un mécanisme intersectoriel reconnu, regroupant des organismes communautaires et publics, des entreprises et des citoyens. Fortement ancré dans sa communauté, VSMS a adopté en 2020 un nouveau plan de quartier, avec l’ambition de mettre de l’avant un nouveau mode de concertation qui garde le citoyen.ne au cœur des choix dans ses espaces de changement: alimentation, habitation, réussite éducative, mobilité, et culture, ses projets\ -la serre quatre saisons, le projet SAVEUR et la maison communautaire- et enjeux\ : environnement, sécurité, sports-loisirs.\ Des acteurs impliqués dans le fonctionnement de VSMS et des acteurs associés aux espaces de changement ont été rencontrés. Plusieurs projets peuvent être mis en lien avec les enjeux environnementaux car ils sont traités de manière transversale, dont le projet SAVEUR de l’espace Alimentation, qui facilite l’accès à une alimentation saine et abordable, tout en favorisant la réussite éducative et professionnelle. Mis en place par un financement philanthropique, il mobilise\ l’agriculture urbaine\ et l’économie circulaire.\ Les résultats révèle que l’actualisation de la transition socioécologique est traversée par les besoins socioéconomiques de la population. Certains participants considèrent qu'ils seraient plus criants que les besoins liés à l’environnement. Ainsi, il serait difficile de traiter la transition dans un contexte de défavorisation économique, quoiqu'on observe que plusieurs projets menés par VSMS sont cohérents. VSMS supporte des initiatives citoyennes (corvées de nettoyage, jardins communautaires) et le projet de Maison Communautaire, un bâtiment carboneutre. Toutefois, la transition socioécologique ne fait pas l’objet d’un projet identifié et mené par VSMS. À notre sens, cela est cohérent avec l’intention d’intégrer l’environnement de manière transversale dans les différentes actions.\

Keywords (separate with commas)

#1151 | The social-ecological transition invites itself into the development process of territorial communities in Quebec: the role of collective workers trained in social work

Sonia Racine ¹ ;

Denis Bourque ² ;

André-Anne Parent ³ ; René Lachapelle ⁴ ; Ariane Hamel ²

1 - Communagir. 2 - Université du Québec en Outaouais. 3 - Université de Montréal. 4 - Centre de recherche et de consultation en organisation communautaire - UQO.

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Summary

The current ecological crisis (combining climate and environmental crises) is an unprecedented global challenge that concerns all sectors of activity and all levels of intervention. The same applies to all the social crises afflicting our societies (denial of democracy, growing inequalities, exacerbated polarities, etc.). These crises call for a transition that must take place on all fronts, leading us to transform not only our ways of producing and consuming, or our modes of transport and housing, but also our democratic practices and our representations of the world (narratives). In short, the whole paradigm of how we live together is being transformed. So where do we start? How do we go about it?These changes can emerge from processes of local democracy and solidarity, such as those implemented by territorial community development initiatives, of which there are almost 300 examples in Quebec. We define these as more or less formal collaborative bodies bringing together third-sector organizations, the public and sometimes private sectors, and citizens in a given territory. By mobilizing local players, they target collective issues related to living conditions and quality of life, with the aim of carrying out collective actions in response to jointly identified priorities. At present, there is little focus on ecological issues, but initiatives do exist or are emerging around themes such as: public or active transport, short circuits, the fight against heat islands, local food systems, building conversion, mobilization against deforestation, etc.\ How have the efforts required to counter the ecological crisis been incorporated? How is their expertise in collective action to meet territorial needs being showcased? And, above all, how do collective workers, especially those trained in social work, play a decisive and singular role, depending on the particularities of each territory?

Keywords (separate with commas)

social-ecological transition, territorial community development initiatives, collective action, collective workers, concertation\ \

#1187 | Trauma and Mitigations of Marginalized Individuals during the Pandemic

SukYin Caroline Cheng ¹

1 - Northern Michigan University.

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#1333 | The Presentations of Marginalized Populations in Climate Change Research: A Scoping Review

Bonita Sharma ¹ ; Dorlisa Minnick ² ; Anna Beardsley ¹

1 - University of Texas at San Antonio. 2 - Shippensburg University.

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Summary

Responding equitably to climate change justice requires examining the inequitable ways women, indigenous, and queer populations have been presented in climate change research. In this study, we use critical ecofeminism, queer ecology, critical Indigenous feminism, and postcolonial feminism perspectives that amplify the agency of women, queer communities, and indigenous peoples in conducting a\ scoping review of their struggles and challenges and the ways they have curated their knowledge and praxis within their ecological environment. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. This review focused on studies from 1995 to 2022. We used the following keywords “women” or “woman,” “queer,” “indigenous,” “LGBT,” “climate change,” “climate,” “environment,” “environmental,” “justice,” “impact” “conservation” and “ecology” with inclusion criteria of peer-reviewed articles, quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and systematic reviews. Articles were excluded if they were from the grey literature, such as dissertations, books, and conceptual papers. We used several search engines, including Google Scholar, PubMed, selected EBSCO, Medline, CINAHL, AMED, ASSIA, IBSS, and ISI Web of Knowledge. The preliminary search yielded 1,960 articles, of which 680 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The final review resulted in n=24 articles. Findings reflect on categories of research on activism and social movements, local conservation projects, struggles over livelihoods, concerns for health and mental health, and collective identity, among others. Studies were represented from various global north and global south nations. We are at a critical juncture of environmental change; honoring and listening to the collective voices of indigenous, women and queer peoples’ knowledge will help promote a sustainable earth system.\ We recommend co-developing scientific knowledge by partnering with women, queer communities, and Indigenous peoples who have been stewarding nature for sustainability since time immemorial and can create bottom-up approaches to sustainable climate change, adaptation, and mitigation.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Climate Change, critical ecofeminism, postcolonial feminism, Women, Queer, Indigenous, LGBT, Marginalized populations, environmental justice, ecology, conservation, scoping review

#1132 | Crossing the divide: Covid-19 and families’ experiences and the perspectives of policymakers and sectoral leaders during care home lockdown in Scotland

George Palattiyil ¹ ; Dina Sidhva ² ; Neil Quinn ³ ; Trish Hafford-Letchfield ³ ; Sumeet Jain ¹ ; Kerry Musselbrook ⁴ ; Lynn Jamieson ¹ ; Debbie Tolson ²

1 - University of Edinburgh. 2 - University of the West of Scotland. 3 - University of Strathclyde. 4 - Iriss.

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Summary

Coronavirus pandemic unsettled hitherto normative interactions between families and communities across the world. Covid lockdown led to care homes being closed, with no interaction between residents and their families. Against this backdrop, research was carried out to understand family carers’ experiences of care home lockdown and to identify different stakeholder perspectives on policy directions and considerations during care home lockdown.The study involved in-depth, qualitative interviews with 36 family carers who had significant contact with their relatives in care homes prior to the lockdown and 19 stakeholders (Scottish government, national agencies, regulatory authorities, health and social care partnerships, advocacy organisations, and sector leaders). With ethical approval, all interviews were conducted virtually, thematic analysis was used to analyse the data and generate themes.The findings reveal that families experienced psychological harms associated with care home lockdown, due to the perception of being cut off, severing a significant personal relationship, a diminishing sense of self, and fear for their relative’s safety and well-being. Stakeholders had a superficial understanding of the emotional impact on relatives, focused primarily on disease prevention and the protection of vulnerable and frail care home residents from the virus, and recognised that technology was helpful as a form of communication but insufficient in offering maintenance of emotional and social bonds.It was evident that older people in care homes and their families had suffered real emotional pain and psychological distress and were disproportionately affected during the pandemic. The loss of human touch and relationships was palpable. This research concluded that in future instances of a similar need to impose isolating measures, much greater priority should be given to maintaining contact between family carers and care home residents, recognising that shutting out family carers for long periods causes very serious harm.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Covid-19, Family carers, Care homes, Lockdown, Public health policy

#0457 | Green social work

CHUN YU YIN ¹

1 - TAIWAN H Foundation.

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#1269 | A Public Health Crisis: Suicidality and Male Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

Patrick O'Leary ¹

1 - Disrupting Violence Beacon, Griffith University.

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Summary

As a public health issue males die from suicide at 3 to 4 times the rate of females (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2021). It has long been established that there is a link between child sexual abuse (CSA) and later suicidality amongst survivors. For survivors of CSA, the rate of suicidality is twice that of baseline populations. The extent of the suicide risk is further extenuated for male survivors of \ CSA where they are ten times more at risk then general populations to suicidal ideation and attempts. The need for specialist prevention and support services for male survivors who are suicidal is significant. It is important to note that male survivors of CSA are a sizable subpopulation with estimates that up to 1 in 6 males experience sexual abuse in childhood or adolescence. The seriousness and scale of deaths by suicide amongst male survivors cannot be understated and is a substantial public health problem. It is well known that suicidal ideation, attempts and self-harm adversely impact on social functioning, causing morbidity and have untold financial implications on the health and social service system and general productivity in the Australian community. This presentation will examine this issue in Australia and globally, how it links to intersectional issues such as gender-based violence, mental health, incarceration, and addictions. It will draw on both research from Australia on men and suicide as well as explore various prevention and intervention initiatives from organisations. Finally this presentation will make a number of recommendations on research, practice, and policy in how social work can lead change.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Child sexual abuse, gender-based violence, suicide, mental health, public health, men, boys, social work practice

#1349 | A Public Health Crisis: Suicidality and Male Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

Patrick O'Leary ¹

1 - Disrupting Violence Beacon, Griffith University.

[ver]

Summary

As a public health issue males die from suicide at 3 to 4 times the rate of females (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2021). It has long been established that there is a link between child sexual abuse (CSA) and later suicidality amongst survivors. For survivors of CSA, the rate of suicidality is twice that of baseline populations. The extent of the suicide risk is further extenuated for male survivors of \ CSA where they are ten times more at risk then general populations to suicidal ideation and attempts. The need for specialist prevention and support services for male survivors who are suicidal is significant. It is important to note that male survivors of CSA are a sizable subpopulation with estimates that up to 1 in 6 males experience sexual abuse in childhood or adolescence. The seriousness and scale of deaths by suicide amongst male survivors cannot be understated and is a substantial public health problem. It is well known that suicidal ideation, attempts and self-harm adversely impact on social functioning, causing morbidity and have untold financial implications on the health and social service system and general productivity in the Australian community. This presentation will examine this issue in Australia and globally, how it links to intersectional issues such as gender-based violence, mental health, incarceration, and addictions. It will draw on both research from Australia on men and suicide as well as explore various prevention and intervention initiatives from organisations. Finally this presentation will make a number of recommendations on research, practice, and policy in how social work can lead change.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Child sexual abuse, gender-based violence, suicide, mental health, public health, men, boys, social work practice

#1350 | Climate violence: A critical framework to support accountability.

Amy Young ¹ ; Ana Borges-Jelinic ¹ ; Elena Marchetti ¹ ;

Patrick O'Leary ¹ ; Matthew Scott ² ; Jason Squire ²

1 - Disrupting Violence Beacon, Griffith University. 2 - Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

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Summary

Climate change exacerbates violence. Inaction, resistance, and some responses can have violent and unjust consequences for some groups. Climate violence is a framework developed and utilised jointly by the Disrupting Violence Beacon and Climate Action Beacons from Griffith University and RaouI Wallenberg Institute. The framework examines the intersections of climate change and gender-based violence (including coercive control), migration (forced and voluntary), human rights violations, technology use and development, justice, and questions of sovereignty. Less visible intersections can also be understood through the climate violence framework. For example, female environmental activists are silenced through threats and use of violence when defending the environment with First Nations women more likely to be impacted.This paper outlines the climate violence framework. The advantage of using the term climate violence over terms such as climate justice or climate change is that the term draws attention to the harm caused, rather than obscuring damage, and therefore responsibility. The gendered nature of climate violence needs to be framed within the wider context of mass violence against women and girls. Children are also disproportionately impacted by climate change and, therefore, need to be acknowledged as a separate group of victims of climate violence. Conceptualising the impacts of climate change as an act of violence allows for different responses to be formed. This recognises that inaction can accelerate violence but also acts in response to climate change both to resist and to mitigate can exacerbate or even start new forms of violence. The use of climate violence as a framework offers the opportunity to critically reframe climate change, disrupt patriarchal and siloed approaches to climate change and its socio-political impacts. This can shift notions of responsibility, offering opportunities for those causing violence to be held accountable on local, state and global levels.\ \

Keywords (separate with commas)

Climate Change, Gender-based Violence, Violence, Gender, Social Action, Human Rights, Technology, Inequality, Oppression