Chaitali Das

Strategies for critical reflection in international contexts for social work students

International contexts provide social work students with the opportunity to develop knowledge of international social work, global citizenship and cultural competency. While these contexts are powerful sites of learning, there is a need to ensure that this occurs within a critical framework. The paradigm of critical reflection is used to facilitate this and has been popular in international programs. In this article, we develop this further by describing critically-reflective techniques and providing examples used in a pilot exchange program between a social work school in the UK and in India. The potential implications of these strategies for social work education are discussed.

A Delicate Balancing Act: Negotiating with Gatekeepers for Ethical Research When Researching Minority Communities

Research and processes of knowledge production are often based on racialised and imperialistic frameworks that have led to either the exclusion or the pathologisation of minority groups. Researchers address issues of exclusion by adopting recruitment strategies that involve negotiating with gatekeepers to ensure the inclusion of minority or marginalised groups. This often involves in-depth scrutiny of gatekeepers and requires the researchers to negotiate deals and to make personal disclosures. However, there remains relatively little discussion on the pragmatic ethical issues facing researchers in the field as a result of these interactions. This article suggests that interactions with gatekeepers present ethical issues that can be effectively addressed and managed by researchers through the exercise of phronesis. Phronesis allows researchers to make critical ethical decisions based on the specific characteristics of the research sites and subjects, not least of which are those issues that emerge as a consequence of researcher positionality. Such decisions are not necessarily identified or accommodated through bureaucratic processes which govern research ethics. We advance the notion of research ethics as an ongoing process that requires researcher skills and engagement, rather than a one-off bureaucratic exercise.

Re-engaging with community work as a method of practice in social work: A view from Northern Ireland:

• Summary: This article investigates community work as a method in social work in Northern Ireland (NI). It traces the processes that have led to the marginalisation of community work within social work practices and the complex relationship between community development and social work. Nonetheless, the welfare state is undergoing change wherein new agendas of personalisation, service user involvement, community engagement and partnership are emerging, which are changing the occupational space of social work. We argue that this change can be an opportunity through which social work can and must re-engage with community development, particularly within the existing political arrangements and sectarian context of NI. However, social work’s engagement in the community presents risks given its current relationship with the state and loss of trust within the Northern Irish community. We discuss these risks and further possibilities. • Findings: The article draws from contemporary literature on the current context of community development and service provision in NI social work’s involvement. The possibilities for community social work are explored through recent policy initiatives and the current situation of the community sector. Risks that stem from social works relationship with the state, and with community organisations as well as the contradiction between discourses of partnership in service delivery and the ground reality are considered. • Applications: Our analysis suggests the need for: a) collective action by social workers through collective representation, b) a new conceptualisation of professionalism that incorporates partnerships with other workers in the care sector, and c) education that has contemporary resonance.

A study of successful applicants’ views of a social work admissions process:

• Summary: There are substantial variations in the way that applicants are selected for social work programmes in the UK and across the world. This article begins by reviewing the literature in this field, revealing debates about how effective and reliable are methods of assessment used during admission processes. It then describes a cross-sectional survey of new social work applicants (n = 203) to two programme providers, describing demographic characteristics and their experiences of the admissions process. • Findings: A number of themes emerged from two sets of findings. There were variations in demographic characteristics, particularly in terms of gender and religion. The study was particularly interested in how students viewed the admissions process. Most students were satisfied with admissions processes, and there were some differences in views about the methods used. The article concludes by describing changes to the admissions system that were partly informed by the study. The article acknowledges the expected bias in the methodology, given that successful applicants were surveyed and not those who were not successful. • Applications: The authors discuss the study findings in the context of national and international literature and suggest that more rigorous attention should be paid to such evaluations to enable this important area of education and workforce development to be better understood.

Comparing Social Work Students’ Perceptions of Risk Using Online Discussion Fora: Lessons Learned from a European Pilot Project

Abstract Comparisons of international child welfare systems have identified two basic orientations to practice; a ‘child protection’ orientation and a ‘child welfare’ orientation, which are founded upon fundamentally different values and assumptions regarding the family, the origins of childcare problems, and the proper role of the state in relation to the family. This paper describes a project which sought to compare how undergraduate social work students from three European Universities perceive risk in referrals about the welfare of children and to explore the impact of different cultural, ideological and educational contexts on the way in which risk is constructed by students. Students from Northern Ireland, Germany and Poland examined three vignettes via 10 online discussion fora each of which provided a narrative summary of their discussion. The paper presents some findings from the analysis of the qualitative data emerging from the student discussions and draws out the lessons learned in terms of how the project was designed and implemented using online discussion fora.