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When Social Workers Are Given Dual Mandates: Child Maintenance and the Complexities of Family Situations in the Ghanaian Child Protection System The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-04-05 Alhassan Abdullah, Kwabena Frimpong-Manso, Ebenezer Cudjoe, Pascal Agbadi
Custodial parents, often single mothers, face challenges regarding child maintenance, including a lack of financial commitments from non-custodial parents for their children’s welfare. The evidence suggests that there is a strong link between child maintenance and poverty as well as other family violence issues. In addition to their primary child and family protection duties, child protection practitioners
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The Perceived Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health and Well-being of Care-Experienced People The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-04-04 Jonathan Taylor, Siân Pooley, Rosie Canning, Aoife O’Higgins, Lucy Bowes
The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on care-experienced people has been the subject of research, but important gaps remain in our understanding of how care-experienced people felt their mental health and well-being were affected by the pandemic. Care-experienced adults from across the UK were invited to complete a survey and submit a diary during the first lockdown. Responses
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Revisiting the Bond between Social Work and Ethnography The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-04-03 H Sinai-Glazer
Ethnographic research in social work is extremely valuable, yet not very commonly applied. In this theoretical article, I delineate the historical bond and ethical alliance between ethnography and social work, as well as highlight the empirical value that ethnography can offer the social work profession. By so doing I render visible the affinity between ethnographic research and the discipline of social
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The Public’s Attitudes towards Social Workers: The Role of Values, Opinions of Others and Personal Experience The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-04-02 Eugene Tartakovsky
The present study investigates the psychological factors affecting the public’s attitudes towards social workers. The study was based on the theory of human values and aimed to investigate the role of personal motivational goals reflected in values on attitudes towards social workers. In addition, we tested the contact hypothesis in the context of social work. The study was conducted in Israel using
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Social Workers’ Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Social Work Practice in Schools: A Scoping Review The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-04-02 Sarah Binks, Lyndal Hickey, Airin Heath, Anna Bornemisza, Lauren Goulding, Arno Parolini
The aim of this scoping review was to establish the breadth of the academic literature regarding the barriers and facilitators to social work practice in schools as perceived by School Social Workers (SSWs). Following the PRISMA-ScR Scoping Review Framework, 42 articles were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria. Five interrelated themes related to the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice
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Negotiating Access to Hard-to-Reach Populations through Institutional Gatekeepers in Social Work Research The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-29 Barbora Gřundělová, Zuzana Broskevičová, Iveta Kowolová
Institutional gatekeepers play an increasingly important role in social work research, and their involvement in the research process is essential for the development of a usable knowledge base. This article explores the experience of recruiting participants through institutional gatekeepers for research on hard-to-reach populations in social work. The article aims to find out how researchers negotiate
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‘It Sounds Bizarre, but I Can Call It a Good Thing Now’: Social Worker’s Lived Experiences of Posttraumatic Growth following Dual Disaster Events The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-28 Daniel J Youssif-Hay, Raewyn Tudor, Jane Maidment
This article reports on findings from a research study on social workers who practised in Christchurch, New Zealand, following two disaster events: the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 and the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks. The concept of posttraumatic growth (PTG), with particular reference to vicarious PTG, double exposure and shared resilience, is also explored in relation to this research
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Ruling Relations Coordinating the ‘Migrant Family’ in Institutional Encounters between Finnish Social Work Professionals and Migrant Service Users The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-22 Maija Jäppinen, Hanna Kara, Camilla Nordberg, Anna-Leena Riitaoja
Despite the growing body of literature on how migrancy transforms family relations, surprisingly little research exists on how ‘migrant family’ takes shape in institutional encounters. In this article, we analyse the negotiations on when and how family relations become addressed in encounters between social workers and migrant service users. Drawing from institutional ethnography, we understand the
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Clown-based Social Work as Dissent in Child Protection Practice The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-19 David Steggall, Rebecca Scollen
This article presents Clown-Based Social Work (Steggall, 2023) as a form of dissent consistent with Paul Michael Garrett’s (2021a) conceptualisation of Dissenting Social Work. It contributes to the debate sparked by Chris Maylea (2020) and continued by Paul Michael Garrett (2021b) and Joe Whelan (2022). Clown-Based Social Work is an outcome of Steggall’s, doctoral research findings. Clown theory is
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Socio-Digital Challenges for Social Work in the Metaverse The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-12 Fernando Relinque-Medina, Pablo Álvarez-Pérez
The metaverse will have a direct impact on the way we relate to each other as. The interest of the young population explains the extent to which this new developing technological paradigm is already present in our society, generating environments where people will feel part of them and where interactions will be more authentic, immersive, and it remains to be seen whether these relationships will also
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My Journey to Become a Social Worker: Defining Moments of Professional Identity Formation The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-12 Yael Hochman, Noga Pitowsky-Nave
Whilst a main task of social work education is to develop the student's professional identity, the literature on social workers’ identity formation is limited. Drawing on twenty-one reflective written assignments, this qualitative study examined defining moments as perceived by third-year Israeli social work students—moments seen as most influential in their process of professional identity formation
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‘Mind the Gap’: Extending Outcome Measurement for Accountability and Meaningful Innovation The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-05 Rebecca E Johnson, Gary Kerridge, Hayley Alderson, Graeme Currie, Seana Friel, Carrie Harrop, Amy Lynch, Ruth Mcgovern, Emily R Munro, Fiona Newlands, Deborah Smart
We examine the outcome measurement landscape in care leaver innovation, where many innovations to support transitions of young people leaving care fail to sustain beyond a fixed-term pilot, and fewer impact wider transition policies. Our empirical qualitative study comprises interviews with 31 senior UK children’s social care policy and practice professionals, 103 interviews across five innovation-focused
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Human Rights and Social Work: Making the Case for Human Rights Plus (hr+) The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-05 Paul Michael Garrett
Human rights are declared to be ‘fundamental’ and ‘foundational’ to social work. Such rights are part of the ‘DNA’ of the profession. This understanding is central to the profession’s self-image, and it reflects how social work portrays its ethical base to the general public and the wider world. However, uncritical uses of ‘human rights’ by its promulgators and (re)producers occlude a range of important
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A Managed Approach to On-Street Sex Working: Messages for Social Work Practice The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-05 Kate Wood
Presently, there is limited research examining sex work and social work in the UK; however, the needs of sex workers often intersect with various areas of practice. This article sets out to enhance social work practice by drawing upon empirical findings from an Independent Review of the Managed Approach to On-Street Sex Working (2020) commissioned by the Safer Leeds Partnership. The Review evaluated
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Unveiling Graduate Readiness to Respond to Domestic and Family Violence in Australian Social Work Programmes The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-03-01 Krystal L Schaffer, Neil I Martin, Jill E Lawrence, India R Bryce
Social workers trained initially through university education are essential in community responses that seek to address domestic and family violence (DFV). However, research has shown an international shift towards dominant models of thought that individualise or pathologise understandings of DFV in social work practice. This is problematic as it can cultivate a disconnect from the social justice mandates
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Social Workers’ Professional Failures as Perceived by Welfare Bureau Managers within Arab Society in Israel The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-29 Ibrahim Mahajne, Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail
Social workers’ professional failures are considered inevitable occurrences. However, virtually all research on professional failure management relates to the healthcare field. The scant literature on professional failure does not give much weight to the profound implications of context on professional functioning. This pioneer study illustrates how important it is to consider the context to understand
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A Birthmother’s Counter-Story of Racism and Oppression in Children’s Social Work: Carving an Afro-Centric Space for Sawubona in Euro-Centric Social Work Education, Practice, and the Safeguarding System The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Carlene Cornish
In this article, I ask ‘What are the specific challenges and controversies that birth mothers of ethnic minorities (EM) experience in the safeguarding context’? The aim is to examine safeguarding practices and ascertain how power, racism and gender oppression are understood and experienced by mothers of EMs in social work. The literature highlighted complexities and ethical concerns regarding child
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What are We Talking about When We are Talking about ‘Decolonising’ Social Work? The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Paul Michael Garrett
The core concern is the ‘decolonial turn’ which is said to be taking place in a number of universities and other institutions. In this context, attempts are being made to unmask the colonial ideologies and common sense rooted in various disciplines including social work. The article examines key terms such as ‘Decolonisation’, ‘Eurocentrism’, ‘Coloniality’ and ‘Decoloniality’. In conclusion, some of
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Social Work and Intractable Conflict: Professional Experiences and Role Perceptions The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-16 Ruth Soffer-Elnekave
Social workers worldwide share a common framework and mission: to provide aid to those in need and promote social justice. Yet as an international profession, both global and local realities contribute to the unique ways in which the profession is understood and practised in various locations. This article considers the broad issue of how local and global realities shape social workers’ understanding
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Trauma as the ‘Belief That the World is a Dangerous Place’: The Obfuscation of Systemic Violence in Social Work’s Discourses of Trauma The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-16 Alicia Chatterjee, Yoosun Park
The concept of psychological trauma has been taken up widely in popular culture and in diverse academic fields including social work. In this work of poststructuralist discourse analysis, we used methods of close reading to examine a random sample of thirty social work articles on trauma (published 2010–2020). Our aim was not to refute the salience of the concept nor to establish its true meaning and
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Perceptions of Safe Staffing, Self-Reported Mental Well-being and Intentions to Leave the Profession among UK Social Workers: A Mixed Methods Study The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-16 Paula McFadden, Justin Maclochlainn, Jill Manthorpe, Rachel Naylor, Heike Schroder, Susan McGrory, Jermaine Ravalier, Patricia Nicholl, Denise Currie, Karen Kirby, Hannah Davies, Judith Mullineux, Mary McColgan, John Mallett
The purpose of this study was to examine social workers’ perceptions of safe staffing levels and correlate these perceptions with standardised measurements of well-being in the UK. This cross-sectional mixed-methods study analysed data from 406 social workers from November 2022 until late January 2023. Data were collected using anonymous online surveys including both qualitative and quantitative methods
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Mindfulness-Based Social Work and Self-Care with Social Work Professionals: Replication and Expansion of a Randomised Controlled Trial The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-12 Alan Maddock, Karen McGuigan, Pearse McCusker
Social workers are at high risk of work stress and burnout, with the Covid-19 reported to have amplified this risk. The Mindfulness-based Social Work and Self-Care programme (MBSWSC) has been found to support cognitive and emotion regulation of social workers, leading to improved stress, burnout, mental health, and well-being. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to replicate and expand the
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Ready, Willing and Able? Local Perspectives on Implementing Prevention in Social Care in England The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-12 Joanna Marczak, Gerald Wistow, Jose-Luis Fernandez
There is a growing emphasis on prevention to reconcile demographic pressures, resource scarcity and expectations of better quality care and support. The Care Act 2014 placed a statutory duty on English local authorities to prevent and delay the development of needs for care and support. However, evidence suggests that the prevention approach has secured less impact than intended. Given that existing
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Learning by Stealth: Newly Qualified Social Workers’ Experiences of Navigating Health and Hospital Social Work The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-12 Danielle Davidson, Rosalyn Darracott
Hospitals are known to be fast paced, multidisciplinary environments, which can be experienced as both challenging and fulfilling workplaces by social workers. Newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) are still learning how to be social work professionals through their engagement in and delivery of practice. Drawing on a larger pilot study conducted in Brisbane, Queensland, this article reports findings
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Towards a Retributive Concept of Re-entry The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-09 Netanel Dagan, Ram Cnaan
Retributive justice is the preferred penal theory in many countries, especially for serious offences, and is a predominant justification for imprisonment. Retributivists, however, have little to say regarding the state’s role towards returning citizens after release from prison. In reality, paroled individuals struggle with continuing surveillance, poverty, stigma and other significant barriers to
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Hegemony, Common Sense and Good Sense: A Gramscian Study of Policymakers’ Perspectives on Dealing with Poverty in Child Welfare and Protection The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-02-07 John William Decoene, Laura Van Beveren, Griet Roets, Rudi Roose
The existing international research on the prevalence of poverty in Child Welfare and Protection (CWP) services points to a persistent discourse of ‘pedagogicalisation’, meaning that CWP interventions often construct social problems, such as poverty, as emerging from a failing education of families, and leave the social circumstances of the families unchallenged. Although front line practitioners in
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Bearing Witness: The Impact of Lived Experience Educators Participating in Social Work Student Supervision during Placement The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-01-25 Kate Duncanson, Phoebe Kingston, Patricia Tran, Barbara Blundell, Sue Gillieatt, Lyn Mahboub, Robyn Martin
Social work student supervision during field education is a mandated requirement where students review their activities and learning in the workplace with field educators (FEs). Inevitably service users will be discussed in supervision but will have little or no opportunity to represent their perspectives during sessions. In order to explore how service user perspectives might be integrated into supervision
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A Common Purpose? Social Work Students’ Social Justice Related Views in Finland and the island of Ireland The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-01-25 Paula McFadden, Helena Bloomberg, Johanna Kallio, Christian Kroll, Claire McCartan, Niamh Flanagan, Gloria Kirwin, Maria Pentaraki, Elaine Wilson
Exploring social work students’ views to understand how equipped they are to pursue the social justice mission of the profession should be of central academic and practical interest. There are, however, surprisingly few empirical studies focussing on social work students’ views on social justice-related issues from a comparative viewpoint. Such knowledge is thought to be of a wider international interest
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‘Seen’ through Records: Parents’ Access to Children’s Social Care Records in an Age of Increasing Datafication The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-01-12 Sarah Gorin, Rosalind Edwards, Val Gillies, Hélène Vannier Ducasse
General Data Protection Regulations state that parents may submit a Subject Access Request (SAR) to see personal records held about them. In this article, we draw on interviews with parents who have made an SAR in order to view their children’s social care records. Their experiences reveal the significant barriers of time, energy and bureaucracy that they faced in accessing their children’s records
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Mapping Social Work’s Response to the ‘Grand Challenge’ of Loneliness: A Systematic Scoping Review of the Literature The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-01-11 Rachael Courts, Lisa Brophy, Maïa Bleue, Megan Jacques, Johanna C Badcock
Loneliness is recognised as a ‘grand challenge’ for social work, given its negative impact on health and well-being. But there has been limited progress on how social workers should respond. We aimed to characterise social work research on loneliness from 2016 to 2021, to inform policy, practice and training. We utilised the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews with a narrative synthesis
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Outreach Work in ‘Hard-to-Reach’ Communities: A Critical Analysis of Task Shifting, Contact Making, Establishing Credibility and on-the-Spot, Solution-Focused Assistance The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-01-11 Odessa Gonzalez Benson, Ifrah Mahamud Magan, Melanie Yu
Outreach—the opening up of access to social services, information and opportunities—is arguably a crucial yet understudied aspect of social work practice. This study revisits ‘outreach’ as concept, using data from ‘hard to reach’ communities, specifically refugees. Our findings illuminate ‘task-shifting’, whereby professional service providers sought the help of grassroots community leaders in reaching
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Changing Gears and Buying Time: A Study Exploring AMHP Practice Following Referral for a Mental Health Act Assessment in England and Wales The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2024-01-10 Matthew Simpson
The role of the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) under the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 in England and Wales is to respond to referrals for psychiatric detention and make an application for detention where they consider this necessary. This article reports the findings of my doctoral study into AMHP decision-making at the point of referral for an MHA assessment. The strengths-based methodology
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COVID-19, Bereavement and Political Psychotherapy: A Critical Social Work Perspective The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-12-28 Adi Barak
In the article, the author examines the role of critical social work in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic with reference to theory, practice and pedagogy. The author argues that the COVID-19 crisis was not only a crisis of public health but also an ideological crisis. In this context, the author explains that a combination of political theory and psychotherapy theory is necessary when treating individuals
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Changing Trends in Child Welfare Inequalities in Northern Ireland The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-12-27 Lisa Bunting, Nicole Gleghorne, Aideen Maguire, Sarah McKenna, Dermot O’Reilly
Longitudinal research in England and Wales has identified increasing inequality in child welfare interventions, particularly with respect to children in the poorest areas coming into care. Although previous cross-sectional research has shown associations between area level deprivation and child welfare interventions to be weakest in Northern Ireland (NI), it remains unknown if this reflects wider trends
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When the Body Speaks: Body-Mapping the Somatic Symptoms of Stress in Hospital Social Workers The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-12-18 James Sabbagh, Mim Fox, Nandini Ray
Impact of workplace stress is a significant issue for social workers in hospital practice. This study aims to understand somatic stress in hospital social workers, the physical embodiment of stress and recognition within employing organisations and education. Using a collaborative inquiry methodology, data were collected using body-mapping workshops. Following Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis
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Approved Mental Health Professionals’ Experiences of Moral Distress: ‘Who Are we For’? The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-12-18 Jill Hemmington
In England and Wales, approved mental health professionals (AMHPs) undertake interviews with service users as part of wider Mental Health Act assessments. AMHPs act as the ultimate decision-maker in relation to statutory detentions. They have legal duties to consider the least restrictive outcomes for service users, including alternatives to hospital. Yet they are increasingly unable to act on this
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How Do Child Welfare Social Workers Assess the Leadership of Their First-line Managers? A 15-Year Perspective The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-12-15 Amanda Norrgård, Pia Tham, Annika Strömberg, Ingemar Kåreholt
The study aimed to investigate how child welfare social workers assessed the leadership of their first-line managers over a period of fifteen years and to examine whether the assessments have changed over time. More specifically, the analysis focused on the extent to which social workers perceive the leadership of their first-line managers to be empowering, supportive and fair. Data were collected
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Evaluating Fast Track Social Work-Qualifying Programmes: Have We Learnt Anything? The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-12-05 Roger Smith
This article reflects on the cumulative outputs of evaluations of the various fast track qualifying programmes introduced into social work education in England over the past decade or so, in order to draw out some of the wider lessons available to us. The fast track programmes were introduced in response to a range of concerns about recruitment and retention within social work as well as the quality
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‘We Reach out but we Also Expect Something in Return’: Social Work Engaging with Roma People in Temporary Container Homes at the Edge of the City The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-12-01 Sophie Samyn, Ionut Cioarta, Martin Wagener, Koen Hermans, Griet Roets
In this article, we critically explore the research findings of a qualitative study of local social policy and work interventions, called ‘the post-mobile project’ in Ghent, Belgium. The project provided temporary housing for families in container units, accompanied by mandatory integration assistance, and was implemented as a potential solution for Romanian Roma families after the dismantlement of
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Abolitionism and Ecosocial Work: Towards Equity, Liberation and Environmental Justice The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-11-25 Amy Shackelford, Smitha Rao, Amy Krings, Kathryn Frances
The ecosocial work approach incorporates the environment into social justice frameworks. It calls for holistic practices that centre Indigenous and Global South voices, transdisciplinarity, anti-oppressive strategies in micro–macro practice and sustainability. In this article, we argue that the integration of abolitionist theory and practice within ecosocial work—specifically the reduction or elimination
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Discretion and Strategies for Investigating Child Abuse: Social Workers’ Conceptions of Child Abuse Investigations and Police Reporting The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-11-16 Sara Quarles van Ufford, Maria Heimer, Ulla-Karin Schön, Hanna Linell
Understanding the capacity of child welfare (CW) organisations to deal with child abuse is complex, and dependent on the specific CW context. Sweden occupies a unique position in trying to balance high demands for CW and protection with a strong family support focus, which carries a risk of overlooking children who need protection. Drawing on an understanding of social service organisations as street-level
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Temporary Agency Workers in the Personal Social Services—Doing Core Tasks in the Periphery The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-11-14 Emelie Shanks
Despite concerns about negative consequences for clients and permanent staff, temporary agency workers (TAWs) are frequently employed to manage staff shortages in personal social services (PSS) in Sweden and elsewhere. Drawing on qualitative interviews with thirty-four TAWs, managers and permanent social workers, this article aims to enhance our understanding of how TAWs are utilised in the PSS and
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Can Social Workers Estimate the Likelihood of Future Actions and Events? A Forecasting Accuracy Study The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-11-10 David Wilkins, Melissa Meindl
Social workers routinely make decisions and formulate care plans in the course of their work with children and families. These decisions and care plans are based at least in part on the professional judgement of the worker. An important component of judgemental quality is the extent to which explicit or implicit forecasts about the likelihood of different future actions and events are made with accuracy
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Role of Peer Support in Building Motivation to Change Addictive Behaviour The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-11-10 Markéta Čtvrtečková, Alžběta Stromšíková, Lukáš Roman
This article deals with the results of a qualitative, multiple-case study that examined the impact of peer support on motivation for change amongst service users in a drug addiction recovery program. A total of nine semi-structured interviews were carried out with patients who also worked with a peer worker as part of their involvement with the service. Participant observation and keeping a research
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Surviving Violence, Ambiguity and Oneself: The Experience of Child Protection Workers in Chile The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-11-06 Javiera Garcia-Meneses, Mary Elizabeth Collins
The challenges of contemporary child welfare practice are well documented in many countries worldwide. The current study enhances this work by reporting the lived experiences of child welfare workers in Chile, who negotiate their practice in a strained political and organisational context. A qualitative methodology was used to understand the complexities of the survival strategies of these workers
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People with Disabilities and Labour Market Barriers: The Perspectives of Israeli Social Workers The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-11-06 Limor Gadot, Roni Holler
Social workers play a key role in supporting the labour market inclusion of disabled people. Nevertheless, we know little about how they perceive the barriers that disabled people face and their role in addressing them. In particular, we need to know more about the extent to which they adopt an individualised versus a social model of disability. To address this gap, semi-structured interviews were
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Revisiting a Positive Living Group Climate as a Citizenship Climate: A Socio-Spatial Perspective on Residential Youth Care The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-11-06 Matthias Remmery, Simon Allemeersch, Rudi Roose, Griet Roets
The concept of a positive living group climate is currently used as a key strategy to substantially realise the citizenship of youngsters in residential youth care. The concept focuses mainly on what happens inside the residential youth care facility, as the interpersonal relationships between the professionals and the youngsters are identified as the main component of a positive living group climate
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Social Workers’ Perceptions of the Effect of Interpersonal Factors on Older Adults’ Decision to Remain in Abusive Relationships The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-10-18 Sagit Lev, Mickey Schindler, Yael Waksman
Older adults who are abused by their offspring often find it difficult to cooperate with professionals to end the abuse. In these situations, social workers face an ethical dilemma between respecting the older adult’s right to autonomy and intervening in a paternalistic way to prevent harm. This qualitative study aimed to examine the effect of interpersonal factors on the decision-making ability of
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The Importance of Information Processing in Child Protection Cases—A Study of Social Workers’ Integration of Other Professionals’ Knowledge The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-10-18 Rakel Aasheim Greve, Birgitta Persdotter, Øivin Christiansen, Tone Jørgensen
The processes used by social workers to collect, interpret and use stakeholder information in child protection cases are an unexplored but essential part of the decision-making process. This study focuses on social workers’ efforts to integrate the knowledge of other professionals. This article draws on a framework for managing knowledge across organisational boundaries and a process-oriented conceptualisation
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‘Memories from the Forgotten Frontline.’ Social Worker’s Reflections on Shifting Practices of Work, Home and Belonging during Covid-19 The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-10-11 Denise Turner, Katie Walsh
This article documents a creative and participatory research project with social workers that took place online during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Thirty-three social workers contributed images and captions to one or more of the four project themes: (i) Belonging and Connection; (ii) Health and Wellbeing; (iii) Home and Away and (iv) Loss and Change. The website became a digital archive
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Voicing or Silence: Palestinian Israeli and Jewish Israeli Social Workers’ Relationships during Political Turmoil The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-10-10 Neveen Ali-Saleh Darawshy, Sagit Lev, Shlomit Weiss-Dagan
In this study, we examined Palestinian Israeli and Jewish Israeli social workers’ relationships in relation to events in May 2021 that involved serious political violent incidents between Palestinian and Jewish Israelis. The qualitative phenomenology approach was used. We interviewed twenty-five social workers from both groups who work in public social services in six ethnonational mixed Palestinian–Jewish
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COVID-19 Impact on Children’s Social Work Practice and Social Worker Well-being: A Mixed Methods Study from Northern Ireland and Great Britain during 2020–2022 The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-10-09 Paula McFadden, Jana Ross, Justin MacLochlainn, John Mallett, Susan McGrory, Denise Currie, Heike Schroder, Patricia Nicholl, Jermaine Ravalier, Jill Manthorpe
Social workers were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we examined the well-being, burnout and work conditions of UK children’s social workers at five time points of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a cross-sectional mixed methods study analysing data from 1,621 social workers who worked in children’s services in the UK in 2020–2022. Data were collected using anonymous online
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What Challenges Emerge from Cases Where Children Are Made Subject to a ‘Care Order at Home’? The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-10-07 Ciarán Murphy, Noreen Maguinness, Eoanna Stathopoulos
A continued and unprecedented demand for England’s child protection services has coincided with increasing numbers of children being made subject to Care Orders within the Family Court. There is a growing understanding of the associated challenges—not least in terms of cost and placement availability. However, there has been limited discussion of the difficulties associated with children being made
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Structural and Socio-Political Barriers to Providing Services to Arab-Palestinian Young Women: Social Workers’ Perspectives The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-10-07 Haneen Elias, Raghda Alnabilsy, Shira Pagorek-Eshel, Lia Levin
The aim of the study was to understand structural and socio-political barriers faced by social workers to providing services to Arab-Palestinian young women abused in childhood, considering their multiple marginalisation. The literature has addressed the structural barriers in terms of the written policy and the social services provided to the Arab-Palestinian minority. However, little is known about
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The Shifting Labour Process in Professional Care: Recreating Dominance and the Managerialised Mental Health Social Worker The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-09-28 Donna Baines, Catrina Brown, Francis Cabahug
Though the rationalisation of health care has been well documented, less is known about its impacts on mental health social workers. Drawing on qualitative data collected from 120 interviews and the qualitative comments on a Canadian four-province survey, the article explores the shifting labour process through profession-linked and organisational care strategies. The article argues that power is shifted
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Age Differences in Perceived Preparedness for the Continuation of COVID-19 Pandemic: Important Role of Social Support The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Zhirui Chen, Zhen Cong
This study examined the age differences in perceived preparedness for the continuation of COVID-19 pandemic; and tested the moderating effects of three types of social support, i.e., emotional, financial and instrumental support. Using a sample of 450 adults in Texas, USA from the research project ‘Vulnerability and Resilience to Disasters’ (October 2020 to January 2021), results of multiple linear
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Becoming a ‘Social Work Coach’: How Practising Coaching Creates Beneficial Agility in Social Work Identity The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-08-24 Suzanne Triggs
This article explores how social workers experienced the intersection of social work and coaching roles, and the impact that incorporating dual roles within a child protection context has on social work identity. It discusses the themes from a ‘real-world’ qualitative study conducted in a local authority family support and child protection service in the North of England. Thematic analysis was used
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Religion, Religiosity and Parenting Practices: An Examination of Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze Mothers in Israel The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-08-24 Rana Eseed, Iris Zadok, Mona Khoury
The role of religiosity in shaping family functioning, in general, and parental discipline, in particular, have received wide research attention, especially in studies conducted amongst Christian parents from Western cultures. Little is known about the relationship between religiosity and parenting in non-Western cultures. The current study explored the role religion and religiosity play in predicting
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Truly Listening to Accounts of Mental Health Act Assessments: Reflections on my Practice The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-08-15 Louise Blakley
This article draws upon the experience of the author whilst undertaking a qualitative research study exploring service user experiences of being assessed for detention to a mental health hospital. Doing research as a social work practitioner is a growing area and a common motivation is to improve practice. This article brings a different way of reporting research, which is embedded in the reflective
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Listening in Mental Health Clinical Practice The British Journal of Social Work (IF 2.352) Pub Date : 2023-08-13 Bani Aadam, Abner Weng Cheong Poon, Elizabeth Fernandez
In mental health clinical practice, listening is viewed as a fundamental skill that clinicians should possess to support service users and enable recovery. Given its importance, this review sought to explore how listening is understood in mental health clinical practice. A scoping review was conducted to search for peer-reviewed articles reporting on literary and empirical studies. The search covered