Alastair Christie

Negotiating the uncomfortable intersections between gender and professional identities in social work

This article is based on a study of men’s relationship to the social work profession in the North-West of England. It argues that men’s presence in the social work profession is accounted for in discourses of career motivation, of career choice, and of men social workers as heroes and/or ‘gentle-men’. The article considers how these negotiations between gender and professional identities might contribute to debates about the detraditionalization of gender and work identities in late modernity.

Responses of the social work profession to unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is rapidly developing immigration legislation and policies to respond to its relatively new status as a destination for asylum seekers and refugees within the European Union. New political definitions of asylum seekers and refugees are being constructed in a country with its own history of mass emigration. At the same time, the economic growth that is making Ireland a more attractive destination for asylum seekers and refugees has also fuelled an unprecedented expansion in the employment of social workers. Specialized services are now being developed for unaccompanied children who are seeking asylum. This expansion in the number of social workers and growth in service provision has led to little professional debate about the role of social workers with asylum seekers and refugees. This paper examines the questions raised by the provision of social work services to these children and considers the wider implications for the development of the social work profession and social work practices in Ireland.

Life experience: A neglected form of knowledge in social work education and practice

Abstract The significance of ‘life experience’ for career choice has emerged as a key finding in our study of social work students at a British university. This article analyses those ‘life experiences’ which students identify as influencing their decision to become social workers. The findings raise questions about the status of ‘life experience’ as a form of knowledge in social work. They also point to the complex relationships between ‘life experiences’ and motivations to pursue a social work career. It is argued that ‘life experiences’ significantly influence social work practice and education, and although often overlooked, they provide a potentially valuable resource for promoting professional practice.

Gender, ethics and social work An international study of students' perceptions at entry into social work education

The connections between gender, ethics and social work are complex. Based on a cross-national project, this article investigates how student social workers commencing their professional education in Australia, Canada, the USA and the UK rank the importance of selected social work aims. The equivocal findings from a statistical analysis of gender, age and university of enrolment pose interesting questions for further exploration.

Whiteness and the politics of ‘race’ in child protection guidelines in Ireland

Since the mid-1990s Ireland has been described in government documents as a ‘multi-cultural society’. This is partly in response to the significant number of migrants who have recently come to live in a country that has traditionally viewed itself in mono-cultural terms and as a country of emigration. This representation of Ireland as a multi-cultural society, which includes a growing number of ethnic minority groups, is also evident in government child care legislation and policies. In the area of child care, the National Childrens Strategy states that children from minority ethnic communities have ‘special needs’ that should be met. However, as yet, these ‘special needs’ identified with those seen as culturally different have largely remained unnamed and unrecognised in research, policies and social work practice in Ireland. In 2008, the Irish government published three reports that reviewed Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children. This article analyses how black and minority ethnic groups are represented in the national guidelines and the three review reports, and argues that the identification of ‘special needs’ re-centres the dominance of white Irishness as the universal norm against which all child care practices are judged. The article raises questions about how ‘race’ remains unnamed in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland child protection policies and practices.

Advocacy and surveillance: primary schools teachers’ relationships with asylum-seeking mothers in Ireland

Abstract The article analyses the findings of a small-scale qualitative study in Ireland that examines interactions between asylum-seeking mothers and primary school teachers, and highlights the significance of teachers’ understandings of asylum in shaping home-school communications. Mothers and children in this study were living in Direct Provision, collective accommodation for asylum seekers in Ireland. The research identifies a number of concerns including: poor communication between the school and mothers, only English being used as a medium of communication with the mothers, and mothers being directly and indirectly excluded from Parent Associations. Interactions of teachers with asylum-seeker mothers demonstrated a lack of recognition that their situation is different from other migrants/newcomers and is particularly challenging because of the because of living in Direct Provision and under the threat of deportation. The research shows that primary schools are drawn into ambiguous relationships with asylum-seeking mothers in their attempts at advocacy and surveillance, as they are expected to facilitate integration, while at the same time dealing with the uncertainty facing asylum-seeking parents and children.

Book review: Diane Sainsbury, Welfare States and Immigrant Rights. The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion

Payne argues that social work with older people demands a creative focus and suggests that social workers who are not creative themselves will find this almost impossible. Fortunately, he observes, almost by definition social workers have to be creative in some senses, but there is a strong hint that many could be more energetic and enthusiastic in pursuing their own creative leanings. The reasons for this encouragement to those social workers supporting older people are that creativity will probably assist in forging relationships of trust and in imaginatively assisting an older person in meeting their goals or wishes. Similarly, engagement in community arts programmes may be one way of linking up generations and neighbourhoods, or, as seems to be Payne’s own favourite, doing something around gardening. While these points could probably be taken up cross-culturally, there are some sections of this text where efforts to make the book relevant to different social systems become a little convoluted. Day care for older people features as a positive option, though interestingly the data on which this section draws is much older than most of the other references. However, day care centres in the UK are currently being viewed as offering limited choice and forestalling access to mainstream day opportunities. In many areas there are substantial closure programmes. While this may be on the grounds of cost savings, there are debates to be held about the differences in social care systems which mean that day care can be seen as so negative in one place and yet an advance in another. Similarly, social work’s critical perspectives are also context contained; and while there may be much to say in allaying a mediatized approach there is also room for social workers to be highly engaged in multi-disciplinary teams where differences of perspective can be aired. The key theme of citizenship is sustained throughout the book and will provide readers with a lens to think about the practice and politics of ageing. Payne writes clearly and has chosen to provide web-based resources as the main references to make access easier. As he notes about social work with older people, opportunity work needs to go alongside reality work, and ensuring resources are available is one part of this approach.

Editorial: Community and Social Services Responses to Asylum Seekers

University College Cork (College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Science Research Publication Fund)

Editorial: Social Work Education Crossing Borders

We joined the board of Social Work Education in 2002 at a time when the journal sought to look outwards towards the wider international world of social work education, where debates about social work education are increasingly located in the contexts of globalisation and borderless nations. This editorial gives us the opportunity to discuss two systems on one island, that of Ireland. Social work education in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland provides an interesting case study in how academic education and professional training are negotiated within and across national boundaries. Of course there is a history of divergence, if only because education and practice has been constructed in different ‘times’ and ‘spaces’ in the two, separate jurisdictions. For example, over the last decade the system in the Republic of Ireland has more readily embraced European Union standards and qualifications, whilst in Northern Ireland, much like the rest of the UK, this process has been slower, though this may change with the introduction of the new BSW degree in 2004. Perhaps for this reason, much higher numbers of foreign nationals are applying to be accredited to work in the Republic (the number of applications accredited has varied from 32 in 1997 to 302 in 2002). This is not so much the case in Northern Ireland, where the impact of 30 years of political violence and the subsequent net outward migration of social workers towards Britain may account for a more homogenous workforce. Interestingly there has been, to date, very little movement either way across the border. Again problems of common accreditation and political factors may be at play here. At the same time, there have been signs of increasing cooperation and standardisation over the last few years. Since 1996, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC, formerly the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work, Northern Ireland) and the National Social Work Qualifications Board (NSWQB) in the Republic have engaged in cooperative projects (Barry et al., 2003). For example, the Co-operation and Working Together project (funded by the EU) facilitated contact and collaboration between employing agencies on both sides of the border. One study (O’Brien, 2001) highlighted the need for social workers to understand legislation, social policy and service provision on both sides of the border. Subsequently, a resource pack on these issues was produced, which provided information for social workers who crossed the border, as well as for social workers who came from outside the UK and Republic of Ireland. There are a number of pressing issues which now face educators and policy makers on the island of Ireland. An expansion in the numbers of students being trained has Social Work Education Vol. 24, No. 5, August 2005, pp. 483–484

What about the fathers? The presence and absence of the father in social work practice in England, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden-A comparative study

Within northern Europe, gendered roles and responsibilities within the family have been challenged through an emergence of different family forms, increasing cultural diversity, and through progres ...