UiS Open Journals (Univ. of Stavanger)
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"Orientation" as a Sensitizing Concept in Social Work
Get PDFStudying institutional discourses between clients and social workers could strengthen reflections on social work practices by asking: What definitions of the situation do the partners talk from? What content do the partners wish to communicate and could there be considerable differences between the two of them? Why are the partners using specific forms of talk and what does that meta-communicate? Are they developing working agreements and tuning into each other or are communication complicated by contributors speaking from diverse footing and frames? This article explores some of these issues
Can they be compared? An essay on the historical development of welfare systems in Russia and Norway
Get PDFThis essay concentrates on the social modernization that took place in Russia and Norway during the period from the late 19th to the early 21st century by examining the origins and the subsequent development of their welfare systems, including the social legislation passed. The focus is on the professional assistance provided and the specialized workers engaged in social care for the underprivileged sections of the population
“My experience in life is that you should be careful with most people and not trust them too much”: Social trust among recipients of voluntary welfare in Norway
Get PDFThe significance of social capital, including social trust, has in recent decades been acknowledged by many scholars across different disciplines as a key resource. This has led to many studies and scientific articles investigating this topic. Few studies, however, have focused upon social trust within marginalised groups. This study is based upon data gathered from one of the larger research projects investigating the vulnerable recipients of voluntary welfare assistance in Norway. The aim of the study is to investigate the level of social trust in a sample of 80 recipients of welfare assistance within two large voluntary welfare organisations in the capital city of Oslo, Norway. In particular, the study will explore whether and to what degree the level of social trust can be explained by conditions experienced while growing up and as an adult. Results indicate that adult life experiences, such as drug abuse and life satisfaction are the most important explanatory variables. However problems experienced while growing-up seems to be indirectly related to social trust. The results of the study highlight the significance of acknowledging processes of marginalisation in socially vulnerable groups, such as drug users and children experiencing problems growing up
Lessons and Challenges of Social Work Practice: Reflections from Managing Complex HIV/AIDS Cases in Uganda
Get PDFThis article explores the complexities of working as a social worker with people who have HIV/AIDS in Uganda. The exploration takes the form of a detailed case study
Lessons from Rwanda
Get PDFBefore a recent visit to Rwanda, all that the country held for me, as with most people, was the spectre of genocide, war, poverty and starving children. My brief visit to the city of Kigali challenged my widely held assumptions about the country. Kigali was the epicenter of the genocide in Rwanda, where about one million people experienced murderous tyranny within a space of 100 days, that wreaked havoc upon the country and left millions of people with untold losses and emotional scars. Rwanda is, indeed, an amazing example of a country rising from the ashes. My first encounter was on the Air Rwanda flight, where the in-flight magazine warns those entering the country to leave their plastic bags behind; that no person would be allowed to pass through immigration and customs with plastic bags and wrappings. A plastic bag free country is one of Rwanda’s contributions to environmental conservation and saving the earth. And of course in stores, its paper bags all the way
Social Welfare and Social Work Education In Canada: Slipping to the Right
Get PDFInternationally, Canadians struggle with their national identity. Canadians proclaim that they are not Americans and like to boast that they have more in common with Sweden with its snowy winters and extensive social programmes. This article outlines some of the historical developments of social welfare in Canada and examines some of the recent trends at dismantling the programmes. In the neo-conservative state, efforts towards “globalization” and “free trade” with the United States have attacked Canada’s social safety net, marginalizing and suppressing the poor. However, in spite of the current trends, Canadians have maintained its humanitarian philosophy and resisted the “Americanization” of its social programmes. Some of this resistance has been successful but as in many other countries much of it has failed
Internationalizing Higher Education: Challenges and Possibilities for Social Work Education
Get PDFWhy are institutions of higher education interested in internationalization? The question was asked at a faculty meeting in our university college. A variety of arguments and opinions were expressed. Many “when”, “what”, “how”, “who” and “why” questions were asked. Some arguments were normative and altruistic emphasizing the need of helping to develop countries in improving their educational system, others took a more ideological stand explaining internationalization within a neo-liberal and globalized frame, and some arguments emphasized the importance of a comparative approach to improve the quality of national education
Female Well-Being: Toward a global theory of social change
No full textBook Review:Female Well-Being : Toward a global theory of social chang
Street Children Discourses in Russia and Cuba: A Comparative Study aimed at Developing Preventative Measures in Public Child Care
Get PDFMy colleague and I came to a centre for rights protection of children and adolescents in a city in Northern Russia. It was a winter day with snow all over. In an open space between the houses, just before the entrance to the centre building, we met two eight or nine-year-old girls, skiing. They were smoking cigarettes. My colleague, who is a Russian, said as a joke: “Don’t you know when you smoke a second head will grow on your shoulders?” The answer came right-away: “I don’t care!” This little conversation in Russian was our introduction to a series of meetings with different spokespersons working at arenas with influence on child and adolescent welfare in the region