Summary

This interactive workshop introduces participants to a transdisciplinary social development initiative (iFEED) that leverages the disciplines of agriculture and social work to build organizational and community capacity to advance food sovereignty and sustainable development using participatory, empowering, equitable, and rights-based practices. The world's population is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 (United Nations, World Population Prospect 2019) and global demand for animal proteins may rise by as much as 88% (Cottrell et al., 2018; Searchinger et al., 2018), much of which will be consumed at levels exceeding guidelines for healthy eating. How to feed a growing population a healthy (nutritious) and sustainable diet is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today (Willet et al., 2019). Aquaculture has multiple connections to the SDGs and plays a central role in food security and nutrition for billions of people constituting a cornerstone of many people's livelihoods, economies, and cultural practices. This workshop will use a practice examples from the iFEED project to elucidate knowledge on the important role of social work in advancing sustainable development, specifically as it relates to reducing poverty and hunger, promoting good health and well-being, and quality education in ways that provide decent work and economic growth and reduce inequalities. Special attention will be given to the socio-economic investments, methods, and approaches used to build organizational and community capacity and the emerging sustainable development outcomes and impacts that have resulted from the iFEED project. Finally, social and human rights issues related to social work and aquaculture will be discussed to co-build a new eco-social world based on values that shape policies and practices to ensure sustainability and good quality life-cycles – not only for each human being but for each part of our eco-systems on which we all depend, leaving no one behind!

Keywords (separate with commas)

sustainable development, food security, aquaculture

Summary

Social workers serve an essential role in supporting first- and second-generation immigrant communities, which respectively constitute 14.1% and 12.3% of the US population. Yet, social workers often lack sufficient trainings specific to the needs of immigrant communities. This lack of training may be particularly detrimental, considering the heightened stress faced by immigrants in recent years of heightened exclusionary policies throughout much of the world and COVID-19. Toward strengthening social work training, the current study draws from an open-ended question in a larger survey to better understand what first- and second-generation immigrants perceive as needing from social workers. Community-based and Qualtrics panel samples were collected between April-June 2021. Data for this current study were drawn from the question, “How can social workers support immigrant communities?”\  Content analysis strategies were employed due to the brevity of responses to this question. Data from participants who provided coherent responses to the question (n=265) were analyzed by four coders, who met to incrementally merge codes. Codes were finalized into five themes: 1) Resources for Immigrants; 2) Doing Right by Immigrants; 3) Advocacy; 4) Understanding Immigrants; and 5) Negative Attitude Toward Immigration. The first four themes highlighted conceptual and tangible approaches social workers can employ to better support immigrant communities. These approaches included supporting basic, health, and legal needs (Resources for Immigrants), reducing discrimination (Doing Right by Immigrants), promoting inclusive policies and speaking against anti-immigrant sentiment (Advocacy), and learning the cultures of those being served (Understanding Immigrants). The fifth theme, Negative Attitude Toward Immigration, was reflected in 15 participant responses and focused on exclusive policies toward undocumented immigrants. These 15 responses were outliers to the rest of the data. Findings are meaningful to helping social workers understand the ways that immigrants perceive needing their support and have implications for training the future workforce.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Social work, Immigration, Service provision, Resources for immigrants, Immigration policies, Advocacy

Summary

En el presente trabajo se exponen los principales resultados, hallazgos y conclusiones del estudio de profundidad exploratoria y en desarrollo en torno al concepto de Systematization. La sistematización, como metodología de producción de conocimientos, encuentra su raíz de surgimiento en las ciencias sociales en la década de 1960, con un arraigo en la tradición latinoamericana. El estudio se aboca a la discusión en torno al uso del concepto de sistematización, asumiendo que una de las dificultades primigenias en las ciencias humanas y sociales, es la relativa al uso de términos y conceptos.\ Para el abordaje del concepto se realizó un análisis bibliométrico de citación, co-citacion, palabras clave y resumen, de la literatura relevante contenida en la base de datos Web of Science (WoS).\ Se realizó un análisis bibliométrico, que incorpora análisis de citación, análisis de la producción científica anual, análisis de las fuentes (revistas) más relevantes, análisis de autores de mayor relevancia, análisis de la producción científica por país y análisis bibliométrico de los documentos más citados. Para ello se trabajó con bases de datos de Web of Science, exportadas en formato Bibtex y analizados por software Rstudio, específicamente con paquete Bibliometrix contenido en R, en interfaz gráfica de Biblioshiny.El estudio analiza un total de 867 documentos, en donde es posible constatar el uso multifacético del concepto de sistematización, destacando dos clústeres, estando el primero vinculado a la producción científica anglosajona y el segundo a la tradición latinoamericana, específicamente a la disciplina del trabajo social.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Systematization, bibliometrics, social work.

Summary

Background and Purpose: Research on educational outcomes such as school enrollment and learning achievements among youth have been a major focus in sub-Saharan Africa, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals aimed at reduced inequalities and promoting quality education. Zambia, with 53.4% of its population under the age of 18 and a median age of 16.7 years, ranks as the 8th youngest nation globally. Consequently, the country's economic growth will be largely shaped by the educational and socio-emotional development of its children. However, few studies explore factors that influence children's confidence in their ability to meet academic tasks and goals. This study addresses this gap by investigating factors associated with academic self-efficacy among low-income children in Zambia, with particular attention to the role of family.\ Methods: Cross-sectional data was collected in 2020, post Covid-19 school closures, among 5-7th graders from low-income neighborhoods in Lusaka, Zambia (N = 274). The dependent variables were continuous measures of academic self-efficacy (α= .72) and social self-efficacy towards teachers (α= .71). Predictor variables included family involvement in child’s education, academic performance, English proficiency, age, gender, and primary caregiver’s education level. Analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM).\ Results: The sample consisted of 56% females, and 46% males, with an average age of 13 years (SD=2.73). Results revealed significant positive effects of family involvement on child academic self-efficacy (β = 0.25, p\<0.05) and social self- efficacy with teachers (β = 0.25, p\<0.01). The child’s academic performance, ability to understand English and caregiver’s education level were also significant determinants of self-efficacy.\ \ Conclusions/Implications: Findings confirm the importance of family involvement towards enhancing children's self-efficacy. Implications for research and practice include efforts to facilitate and promote family involvement in children’s education, as well as needs assessment and supports to promote the development of self-efficacy among children.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Self-efficacy, Academic, Family involvement, \ Children, sub-Saharan Africa, Zambia