UiS Open Journals (Univ. of Stavanger)
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Social workers’ construction of “family” in Cuban context: Ideas for a debate
Get PDFThis paper presents preliminary research about the process of the construction of concepts in social work. In this case, it is referred to as a social worker’s construction of “family” as a concept and as a field of practice in a current Cuban context. Based on an exploratory and qualitative research design, the paper presents an analysis that also opens to the discussion about social work with families in Cuba. The findings shows that Cuban social workers think of family as a group with cohabitation and affinity, which is more important than consanguinity, as a dimension for family definitions. They also point at structures of family, special bonds in family network and the social internal and external functions of family in their definitions. Among these functions, the transmission of cultural values, as well as the emotional support and shelter for members, seems relevant.
Regarding family as a field of practice, they all share the criteria that is necessary for practice to develop a contextual analysis of each situation that goes from macro-contextual aspects to the micro-reality of family. The importance of structural matters and their impact on family functions is also a common idea, which is nucleated around a multigenerational reality of Cuban families and evaluated as a positive or negative impact depending on the case in question.
They consider social work with families, and social work in general, to be in a critical situation in relation to losing professionalization and social recognition. The reasons explaining these ideas have to do with the instability of social work institutionalization and the recent retraction of social services. These variations have obeyed the changes in a Cuban context that affects the entire welfare system and social work’s position in it
Public governance-constraints and challenges for social work practice
Get PDFIn the wake of public sector reforms, the work environment of professionals is changing; there is more description of results and outputs and tighter requirements of front-line work. The changes taking place address a shift towards managerial forms of control and organizational regulations in a range of Western countries. However, the new managerial regimes have different consequences for professionals as objects and subjects of governance. This paper investigates the extent of managerial and administrative regulations in the Norwegian social services, questioning the asserted negative impacts on professional autonomy in social work practice. The empirical data derive from a survey conducted among practitioners and managers in 125 local agencies, and compared to bureaucratic rules and agency procedures that set constraints, the new management model allows both autonomy and flexibility in choosing means and measures in various fields. Most of all, collegial support plays a significant role in providing professional standards for decision-making. The increase of management techniques and standard procedures in public administration concurrently challenges social work values, translating the social services into a field of more regulatory practices
The Color Purple? Perspectives of Canadian Parents of Adopted Children from China
Get PDFDuring the past two decades, Canadian parents have been regularly adopting infants from China, and have been facing a confusing dilemma on how to introduce their children’s Chinese heritage and language. The aim of this qualitative study is to uncover the beliefs and attitudes of the adopting parents about how to best promote a healthy identify development that includes their Chinese background. Using in-depth interviews, 19 parents of 14 adopted children explored their beliefs about incorporating the Chinese heritage in the development of their girls. The findings reveal that some parents feel that it is best to emphasize Canadian culture - “she is just Canadian.” Some parents feel that it is best to leave it alone and allow the children to choose their “identity” – “she has both feet in both worlds”, whereas, other parents are proactive by introducing Chinese heritage and culture to their children at an early age. Some parents feel that their children created a new identity with the “color purple” – a hybrid and new culture that combines both their Chinese background with a mainstream Canadian lifestyle
Are we right to blame it all on colonialism? The subject of history and gender in schools in a Malawian context
Get PDFThe study on the history school subject showed that any reenactment of the history discipline should include the reinterpretation of identities from a historical perspective, and this reinterpretation should start with colonial history because this is where it all began. A different approach to history will have positive implications on society’s view of gender, as it will encourage the inclusion of devalued categories such as women, black women and third-world women. But does this mean that colonialism is fully to blame for all the gender issues, as is the case within the Malawian history syllabus? This paper explores the influence of colonialism on the history/social and environmental sciences primary school subject
The involvement of family in child protection cases in Iceland
Get PDFThe aim of this study is to examine the involvement of families in child protection cases in Iceland, as well as to shed light on the attitudes of child protection workers on the importance of including families while working on child protection cases. The study is part of an international comparative analysis called: Social Work with Families: Social Workers’ Constructions of Family in Professional Practice. This article only addresses the Icelandic segment of the research. In the study, qualitative methods were used and three focus groups were conducted, in which the same three-step vignette about a child protection case was presented. The findings highlighted how difficult child protection workers found it to define the family. The main element is that family are those individuals closest to the child and connected to them through emotional ties, as Icelandic child protection workers seem to strive to involve family in child protection cases. However, there are signs which show that when working with more complicated cases the definition of a family becomes narrower, and involvement is restricted mostly to parents and grandparents. The findings also show that attitudes toward fathers differ from those toward mothers. The mother is expected to support and create security for the child, while the father is judged mostly on his violent behaviour and is not automatically regarded as providing support or actively taking responsibility for his child
Self-efficacy in protecting oneself against HIV transmission: A qualitative study of female university students in Malawi
Get PDFThis article deals with the complexity of health behaviour from a self-efficacy perspective, and shows the naivety in assuming knowledge as the main guide to better protection against HIV. The authors accentuate the importance of local knowledge when developing health strategies as in the case of protection against HIV, in this case for female university students in Malawi. Being part of a transition period, these students have to handle complex and at times opposing expectations. This makes HIV protection into a complex social- and health issue. However, the close association between universities and rational thinking has for long made public health see self-efficacy as one of the main determinants in general health behaviour. By seeing health behaviour as complex, this study explores into how female university students perceive their own self-efficacy in protecting themselves against HIV in Malawi with a HIV score of approximately 12%. The study is based on data from Chancellor College in Zomba, Malawi. The authors point to the potential of a closer collaboration between social work and public health in issues of both a social and a health nature, as in the case of HIV protection