Showing papers in "International Social Work in 1993"

Social work and social development: towards an integrative model for social work practice

Abstract: The early origins of the profession of social work in the Charity Organization Society (COS) and the Settlement Movement symbolizes a present-day ideological dichotomy in the values and goals of the profession. Casework with its origins in the COS has today become therapy and case management. The Settlement Movement inspired the community organization approach and reflected to a certain extent a social reform agenda. This dichotomy is expressed variously as the distinction between microand macro-practice; or the differing approaches of social action and therapy; and sometimes it is expressed as the medical or curative model in contrast to prevention and empowerment. In whatever way these distinctions are conceptualized, the fact remains that they have become separate and often conflicting approaches to the profession. Social work has a diffuse professional identity, due in no small measure to its inability to reconcile these different elements theoretically. Specht (1990) warns that social work has been taken over by psychotherapy and argues that social work should aim to create healthy people through healthy communities. Wakefield (1988a, 1988b) argues that social work has failed to express clearly its ’organizing value’ and proposes a model with distributive justice as an organizing value. Reeser and Leighninger (1990) and Saleeby (1990) express similar concerns about the loss of social justice goals in social work. Meyer (1990) argues that we must repair ’our fractured profession’ and regain the tradition of social reform. Leonard’s (1975) early warning that social work theory

Analysis of social work teaching material in India: the need for indigenous foundations

Abstract: Social work education is organized mainly at master’s degree level because the US model which it copied was primarily at graduate level until the end of the 1960s. Since then institutions for undergraduate social work education in the USA have multiplied but in India not more than a dozen institutions offer the bachelor’s degree in social work. Just as in the USA, social work education originated outside the established university education system in India. The history of The New York School of Social Work, now part of Columbia University, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Bombay, now an autonomous university, presents many similarities.’ Out of nearly 140 Indian universities which cover about five thousand colleges, only fifteen universities have separate departments of social work, two institutions are deemed to be universities and all other social work institutions are private colleges affiliated to the universities. The pattern of affiliation and management of the twenty-one institutions included in this study shows that seven institutions are under public management (as well as four others which did not reply); six are related to the Christian Church and the rest are under private management (Government of India, 1965, 1968). Professional education for social work began in 1936, when a school of social work was set up in Bombay by the House of Tatas, one of the largest private industrial and business enterprises. The main inspiration for its establishment came from the USA mainly because its founding director was an American. This institute has not only provided the basic pattern in the past but continues to be the foremost institution in the field of social work education even today. The second institution was established in 1946, in Lucknow

Chinese adoptees in Britain: a twenty-year follow-up of adjustment and social identity

Abstract: are preferred for a variety of religious, cultural and economic reasons in different cultures (India and China, for example). In modern China the enforcement of a ’one child policy’ cannot eradicate the traditional preference for boys, and the couple whose first and only child is a girl is in some quandary. It has been alleged that, as in India, female infanticide (including abortion of female foetuses) is practised. However, recent demographic work by Swedish and Chinese statisticians (Johansson, et al., 1991) has offered an optimistic comment on this gloomy picture. Official statistics on births in the People’s Republic of China suggest that for every 100 girls, 120 boys were born between 1980 and 1987. Yet under natural conditions the ratio is about 106 males for every 100 females born under ’natural’ conditions male children are more likely to be miscarried, or to die during childbirth; this is compensated for by a slightly higher conception rate for males. Either this implies infanticide on a massive scale, or the statistics are not telling a true story. Johansson and his colleagues conclude the latter, in an analysis of census data which indicated that about half of the missing 2.5 million girls were actually alive and probably many more than that who were not declared in census returns. Sometimes female children are hidden, placed in orphanages or, most frequently, adopted or fostered by neighbours or relatives. Johansson and his colleagues recalled the Chinese folktale in which a couple leave their newborn child in a wood, after telling a childless friend from another village to look for something special at a certain time and place. Custom adoption has a long tradition in China, and this practice has survived at an informal level.

Confucian welfare philosophy and social change technology: an integrated approach for international social development

Abstract: Confucius (551-497 BC) is renowned as a philosopher and educator, but little attention has been paid to his roles as a researcher, statesman, agent for change, social planner, enabler and advocate. In reality, Confucius was a universal generalist who approached social change from an essentially conservative yet situational and multilevel perspective. Thus, his transformation model has practical implications for universal generalist social work practice because it is comprehensive and embraces social change at all levels. To seek more beneficial outcomes in issues of social change in postindustrial society, social work has placed new emphasis on social systems networks, self-help, volunteerism, social support and social care. In the community setting, the emphasis is on people caring for and about each other (Morris, 1977). While therapeutic models are readily available in the social work literature, models of practice that describe the operationalization of social care ideas are not as well articulated. This may be due to the fact that social work has some difficulties reconciling the relationship between helping individuals as opposed to the community as a whole (Harrison, 1989). Since there is an intrinsic relationship between social change and social planning, it is crucial for social work to address certain

Mental health promotion for South East Asian Refugees in the USA

Abstract: The migration of refugees is generally divided into three stages: antecedents of flight, the period of flight and the resettlement process. Each stage presents unique problems of its own, and any programme for refugees should be developed in accordance with specific features, conditions and problems inherent in each stage of migration. This article presents the development of a mental health prevention/promotion programme for South East Asian refugees in the resettlement period in the USA, using two public health prevention models as its conceptual framework. Since 1975, over 860,000 South East Asian refugees have resettled in the USA. Voluminous studies on physical and mental health among South East Asian refugees have consistently indicated a considerable rate of psychiatric and psychosomatic problems. Flaskerund and Anh (1988) report that, in early studies, the prevalence of psychiatric problems among South East Asian refugees was at 10 percent, with depression and anxiety the most common diagnoses. By 1985, the prevalence of depression among Vietnamese refugees in two primary care clinics was found to be 40 to 50 percent (Flaskerund and Anh, 1988: 453). Westermeyer (1988), who studied mental illnesses among South East Asian refugees, reports the rate of serious depression at 20 percent. Since most of the studies were done with clinic patients, a built-in bias with the sample population should be recognized and interpretation of findings requires a little caution. However, it can fairly safely be concluded that the various studies on South East Asian refugees over the years have

Cross-cultural values, social work students and personality

Abstract: The international social work community is becoming increasingly aware that the nature of social problems facing Western and Third World nations differs greatly, and cross-cultural psychologists have consistently noted that the values, attitudes and behaviours across national boundaries are often significantly different. In recent years, social work educators in at least one developing country, India, have begun stressing the need to assess the wisdom of unilaterally transferring Western, specifically, the USA’s, social work theory and practice methods to their social work programmes and are calling for the indigenous development of the profession. Some findings, however, have also indicated that those who are attracted to the social work profession in India are from the more affluent and educated strata of society (Ejaz, 1989) and may identify more with the values and behaviours of the West, which may be further reinforced by Western social work education, than with those of the indigenous populations they serve. This article presents a general overview of some cross-national value differences between the cultures of the USA and India, suggests their effect on social work students and compares the personality characteristics of social work students in the USA and in India. Implications for social work education are also discussed.

Emigration and the black Jews of Ethiopia: dealing with bereavement and loss

Abstract: In June 1991 some 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were dramatically airlifted to Israel. The rescue brought to reality a dream to live in the land of their origins. A similar attempt was initiated in 1985 with less success and loss of life in the long trek from the Gondor to the Sudan. This article documents the trauma of this migration, including the complexity of mourning and bereavement. The role of social work and its relationship to the special ethnic needs of this community will be noted. The black Jews of Ethiopia, often referred to as Falashas, Kayla and Beta Israel (Leslau, 1979; Quirin, 1977; Messing, 1985), have experienced mass mourning and trauma in their long journey from northwest Africa to Israel. The Beta Israel (literally: ’the house of Israel’), as the black Jews of Ethiopia prefer to call themselves, identify with the Jewish faith and are inextricably tied to the Jewish people. It is often thought that the Beta Israel are descended from the tribe of Dan, one of the ten lost tribes carried away by the Assyrians in 722 BC. After the death of King Solomon, a schism developed and ten of the twelve tribes seceded and under Jeroboam formed the Northern Kingdom. The Kingdom capitulated 200 years later and the majority were deported to Assyria where they soon lost their separate identity and were assimilated. Leslau (1979: xi) offers a number of other views as to their origins:

South African Women and the Role of Social Work: Wathint' Abafazi Wathint'Imbokodo (Provoke Women and You've Struck a Rock)

Abstract: South Africa is at the eve of change from a system of institutionalized racism. Apartheid legislation made the repressive regime possible, with policy directives that have influenced and nourished racial and socioeconomic inequality in the country for decades. As South Africa seeks new ways of dealing with old problems, it is important for social work professionals to consider the impact that apartheid policies have had on South African women in general and African women in particular.’ African women in South Africa have borne the brunt of social legislation under apartheid and for this reason women’s issues must form a part of policy deliberations. These issues have serious implications for social and political planners. In traditional African society, women held a more central position than they do today. This is reflected in their economic conditions, their socialization processes, and their participation in social development activities. Traditionally, African women formed an anchor, a rock for their family and for society as a whole. Today, African women are in a double jeopardy because of their status as African people and as African women. The apartheid system has caused social dislocation and marginalization of women through continuous resettlement and migratory labour. This marginalization is threatening not only the position of women in society but the social fabric and ultimately the equilibrium of South African society. It is time to reinstate African women in the political arena of South African society as a major force that can have a serious impact on the changes the society must make.

Well-being and parental contact of foster children in Israel: a different situation from the USA?:

Abstract: A sense of discomfort is noted among child welfare workers in Israel as well as in the United States regarding the well-being of children in foster care. The reasons are threefold: (1) ideological: Weiner and Weiner (1990) challenged the professional position that the least detrimental setting for children is families, by showing the relative developmental advantage of children in Israel who grew up in adoption and child institutions when compared with foster care; (2) social: in the United States, doubts are raised regarding the ability of ’ordinary’ foster families to care for children who enter care when they are older with more severe personal and family problems due to the increase of divorce, teenage pregnancy, drugs and Aids (Terpstra and McFadden, 1991); (3) policy: permanency issues are challenged as questions are asked regarding the value of continued ties with birth parents. While in the United States the emphasis is placed on research which supports the importance of continued ties (Hess, 1987), in Israel the evidence is contradictory as recently Benbenshati et al. (1990) reported no significant correlation between parental contact and the well-being of children in care. Troubled by these issues, we attempted to test whether the relationship between the child’s well-being and the frequency and quality of the relationship with the natural family is valid for Israel as well as the United States, and to review our findings in light of differences in ideology, policy and reality between the two countries. A child placed in care must deal simultaneously with separation from parents and adjustment to a new environment. Littner (1975) suggested, from a clinical point_ of view, that maintaining ties with natural parents enables the child to integrate his or her place in the natural and foster family. In the absence of such ties, the child

The impact of setting on work-related stress and performance among Norwegian social workers:

Abstract: There have been numerous studies designed to examine the levels of burnout and work-related stress among social workers in particular work settings, such as child protective services (Harrison, 1980), day care centres (Maslach and Pines, 1977), mental health services (Pines and Maslach, 1978) with physically disabled persons (Stav et al., 1986), in shelters for battered women (Epstein and Silvern, 1990) and among high school teachers (Munakata and Shiija, 1986). While studies of work-related stress within certain social service

Alcohol and drug abuse in Israel in the twenty-first century: implications for social work education:

Abstract: Now is the time to examine what is being done in social welfare and to plan the future. This article attempts to forecast future trends and needs in a specific domain addiction to psychoactive substances and to analyse the implications for social work practice. Substance abuse is not generally perceived as belonging to the social worker’s area of expertise, unlike other social problems such as poverty and inequality, unemployment, crime, developmental disablement, etc. Our first premise is, therefore, that social work, perhaps more than any other helping profession, is the right one to cope with this phenomenon. There are several reasons for this claim: First, in the last decade a fundamental change has taken place in the perception of addictive behaviours. Addiction is considered a complex behaviour with a variety of causes and aspects (biological, psychological, social, legal, etc.). Therefore, the best model for understanding, assessing and coping with the phenomenon is the bio-psychosocial one (Donovan and Marlatt, 1988). In this context, social work as a profession, dealing with bio-psychosocial intervention, has a major role to play. Second, the main task of social work is to solve social problems of the needy, vulnerable and weak populations in society (Fink

Occupational stress and burnout among outreaching social workers in Hong Kong

Abstract: s International 41 (March): 3823-A. Shinn, M. and M. Morch (1983) ’A Tripartite Model of Coping with Burnout’, in B. A. Farber (ed.) Stress and Burnout in the Human Service Professions, pp. 227-40. New York: Pergamon. Shinn, M., M. Rosario, H. Morch and D. E. Chestnut (1984) ’Coping with Job Stress and Burnout in the Human Services’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 40: 864-76. Spergel, I. (1966) Street Gang Work Theory and Practice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Streepy, J. (1981) ’Direct-service Providers and Burnout’, Social Casework 62(6): 352-61. Subcommittee on Outreaching Social Work (1983) Operation Manual for Outreaching Social Workers. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Council of Social Services. Zastrow, C. (1984) ’Understanding and Preventing Burn-out’, British Journal of Social Work 14: 141-55.

Families, children, poverty: education for social work practice at multiple systems levels

Abstract: As global economic interdependence has increased, with concomitant social and economic changes at the national level, the problem of poverty has intensified in many countries of both South and North, including certain populations in many industrialized nations. Families, women and children often bear the brunt of this intensification. Structures at international, national, state or provincial, and local governments levels affect neigbourhoods, families and children. In order to understand and effectively assess lowincome clients’ difficulties, social workers need multilevel social systems practice models that enable interventions with and on behalf of clients at multiple system levels. After a brief overview of poverty in two industrialized nations, the United States and Singapore, this article presents a multilevel systems model for social work practice that is based on a social systems theoretical perspective and that identifies seven systems levels for assessment and intervention: (1) the person, (2) the family as a social system, (3) the neighbourhood or community as a social system, (4) local social systems, (5) state/provincial social systems, (6) the national social system, and (7) the global socioeconomic system. Two examples of the use of this model in problem-solving and policy implementation, in Singapore and in the USA, is presented. Finally, implications for social work curricula and field practica will be discussed.

Child deprivation in the USA: cautionary notes for other countries:

Abstract: In a global crusade against childhood poverty during the last three decades numerous innovative experiments and programs, based on increasingly sophisticated techniques of intervention, have been launched throughout the world by national governments, voluntary organizations and international agencies. These programs vary a great deal in content, design, implementation and scale of operation. But all have addressed the basic needs of children in the

Integrative seminar: a cognitive approach to linking theory and practice in social work

Abstract: in the 1990s. In the latest debate on whether the continuum in social work education should be supported, it is interesting, although not surprising, to find that both the proponent (Hoffman, 1992) and the opponent (Kolevzon, 1992) argue for integration in social work education. Despite its importance students and practitioners find it difficult to integrate theory and practice. This difficulty may be related to the ’problematic’ nature of the relationship between theory and practice in social work (Pilalis, 1986). When theory is confined to what is taught in the classroom, and practice is limited to what is done in an agency or in the field, theorizing and practising are likely to be treated as separate activities. As a result, the relationship between theory and practice in social work will be that of tenion, conflict, or lack of fit (Chamberlain, 1977; Hamilton, 1981; Jordan, 1982; Glazer, 1974; Cohen, 1975; Bailey, 1982; Rothman and Jones, 1971). Difficulty may be compounded by insufficient understanding, cooperation and coordination between social work training institutions and agencies where students are placed for practice. When the agencies’ goals and concerns regarding student

Self-reliance versus entitlement programmes, or, where should we place the deckchairs on the Titanic?:

Abstract: Throughout history there has been a dynamic relationship between self-reliance on the one hand and societal responsibility for individuals on the other. Currently, throughout the world, there is growing emphasis on self-reliance as an answer to individuals’ problems. However, long-term trends, which seem irreversible, indicate a need for ever-increasing governmental intervention, planning and responsibility. The interrelationship between individuals and society was exemplified over 4000 years ago when Hammurabi decreed that each person was responsible for his or her own acts; but in the event of a calamity such as a flood, it was society’s duty to help the victim.’ Similarly, the ancient Greeks held that ’Every man is the architect of his own fortune’;’ but ’Heaven helps the men who act.&dquo; Much later, Maimonides the mediaeval Jewish philosopher outlined society’s responsibility for one who becomes poor: the community is to provide him with the same level of living that he had enjoyed previously; but the highest degree of charity consists of making someone self-sufficient.4 4

Book reviews : O'Hagan, K. (1993) Emotional and Psychological Abuse of Children. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. 167 pp

Abstract: children, since the stories rarely extend much beyond the point of the child joining the family. Thus people embarking on intercountry adoption will receive little help in thinking through the long-term implications for children being reared in a society imbued with racial discrimination and stereotypes, some of which are illustrated by derogatory and patronizing remarks made here and there in this book about the children’s countries of origin. Several of the couples also made it clear that they

Family mediation in the United States and China: a relevant method in social work education for a vulnerable population

Abstract: In ancient China, mediation was the principal means of resolving disputes. The Confucian view was that the best way to resolve a dispute was by moral persuasion and agreement, not by sovereign coercion. A natural harmony was thought to exist in human affairs that it was wrong to disrupt. Unilateral self-help and adversarial proceedings presume the end of a harmonious relationship. Thus, both are antithetical to the peace and understanding that are central to Confucian concepts. Mediation is currently practised on a grand scale in the People’s Republic of China through the people’s mediation committees. Even in the formal Chinese legal system, considerable emphasis is placed on self-determination and mediation in the resolution of all types of disputes (Folberg, 1983). From 1981 to 1988, people’s mediation committees in all of China had successfully resolved the civil disputes of more than 56 million cases, most of them family cases (Bulletin of Chinese Women, 1989). Much mediation is conducted with divorce cases which has recently risen to one per thousand marriages in China (Xu and Wang, 1987). In the United States, early Chinese immigrants set up the Chinese Benevolent Association to resolve disputes between community and family members by mediation. In 1920, the American Jewish community re-established its own mediation forum, the Jewish

Ideological purity versus pragmatic considerations in the development of social welfare in Israel

Abstract: Israel is often characterized as being dominated by two main political groupings: the left-wing labour parties who espouse socialist values, and the right-wing capitalist parties who espouse free market policies. It is therefore only natural to portray the current structure of the Israeli welfare state as a product of the ideological strife between these politically disparate groups. Yet, this conflict is convoluted because due to pragmatic reasons, both groups would have implemented similar policies if in power. The question then becomes to what extent is the continuing strife between these two groups an ideological or a turf conflict? This article will show how the development of human services in Israel was affected by these intricate and often ideologically obfuscated conflicts. The first part of this article will trace the roots of this conflict and its impact on the development of Israeli social services in the pre-state period before 1948. The second part will illustrate how both groups restrained yet fostered the development of Israel into an advanced westernized welfare state.

Unemployment in South Africa: a social policy issue for social work

Abstract: forum (NEF).’ The NEF will focus on short-term issues such as unemployment, job creation and restructuring of the public sector; long-term issues will be directed at macro-economic issues and development strategies. The business sector, the government and economists have expressed concern that the economy requires stimulation. The government has conceded that unemployment is entrenched and that it is a structural problem.2 The evidence of the structural damage revolves around the protracted violence in the black townships and within families, poverty, disease, malnutrition and generally the erosion of the social fabric of South African society. This paper examines the dimensions of unemployment in South Africa, the types of unemployment that exist and the context of unemployment in relation to social work.

The transition in Eastern Europe: implications for both East and West

Abstract: The profound political and economic changes in Eastern Europe have consequences not only for social services in the East, but also have grave implications for those in the West. In this article, we examine the economic and political transition from the perspective of what it means for social services and offer a solution that we think should be given serious consideration. In order to discuss the implications for social services, it is necessary to look briefly at the political and economic situation. The single most important problem is that Eastern European nations (with the exception of Czechoslovakia and the former East Germany) have little experience of the workings of a modern market economy. Prior to the Second World War, most of Eastern Europe was made up of largely rural, agricultural countries. While there was

Book reviews : Humphrey, M. and H. Humphrey (1993) Inter-Country Adoption. London: Routledge. 149 pp:

Abstract: In Europe at this time the destinies of many ethnic minority women are being eroded and tied in very closely to the general position of their sisters in the Third World. This book is another reminder that we are all responsible for each other and that the better-off sisters carry heavy responsibilities towards other women. It is also another book that will add to the particularly lively debate in the UK and Germany at present

The role of the social worker with ethnic elderly people in geriatric day hospitals

Abstract: The population of people aged sixty-five and over is increasing in Canada at an unprecedented rate. It is expected that by the year 2021, when the majority of those born during the baby boom period of 1945-65 will reach age sixty-five, there will be approximately 5,000,000 senior citizens in the country (Secretary of State, 1988). This population, depending on other demographic dynamics during this time, will represent approximately 12-15 percent of the total population of the country. Naturally, the increase in the population aged sixty-five and over has considerable implications for the social work profession. Many innovative practice, policy and research initiatives are under way to develop resources that ensure this population receives the required social services to contribute to their