Elizabeth D. Hutchison

The Life Course Perspective: A Promising Approach for Bridging the Micro and Macro Worlds for Social Workers

The life course perspective, an emerging interdisciplinary perspective, has potential for helping social workers bridge their micro and macro worlds. This article provides an overview of the empirical and theoretical roots of the life course perspective and its basic concepts and major themes. Five basic concepts are defined and discussed: cohorts, transitions, trajectories, life events, and turning points. Six major themes that are emerging from interdisciplinary research are examined: interplay of human lives and historical time, timing of lives, linked or interdependent lives, human agency in making choices, diversity in life course trajectories, and developmental risk and protection. Strengths and limitations of the perspective for use by social workers are discussed and connections are made to narrative approaches to practice.

Who's Serving the Homeless?

Although responses to homelessness have increased dramatically, little attention has been paid to the service providers who work with this population. The authors present descriptive data on the characteristics of service providers, their job functions and roles, and job satisfaction.

Securing the Welfare of Children: Policies Past, Present, and Future

For the past century in the United States, the welfare of children has been considered a legitimate concern of government, but recent analyses have been critical of the efforts of the public child welfare system. This paper places the contemporary child welfare system, and its failures, in a sociocultural context, from an international perspective. The social construction of childhood is analyzed, and the ways that this construction marks children as a class in need of protection are discussed. Recent global demographic changes that affect the welfare of children are presented. Policies to secure the welfare of children are placed first in historical context, and then analyzed as they currently exist in fragmented late-industrial societies with multiple sites of authority. Following this analysis, future policy directions are recommended.

Reorganizing Child Protective Services: Protecting Children and Providing Family Support.

Abstract Thirty years after the 1960s child protection movement, the United States is said to face a “child protection emergency.” Separation of child protection investigation from family services, and assignment of the investigation function to police, is recommended by some child welfare scholars as partial solution to the emergency. This paper explores the historical context and current ingredients of the child welfare crisis. After reviewing our national experience with the separation of income maintenance and social services in public welfare, the authors advise caution in the separation of investigative and service functions in child protection.

Child Welfare as a Woman's Issue

The recognition that ensuring the welfare of children is not possible without addressing the welfare of their female caregivers is notably missing from the child welfare literature. This article seeks to correct this omission by analyzing the welfare of children in the context of societal structures for caregiving. The author places the gender analysis of child welfare in historical context, discusses current themes of gender bias, and analyzes the impact of child welfare policy and practice on several categories of women. Policy implications and practice guidelines for improving the well-being of children are discussed.

Women as Social Work Scholars: An Empirical Analysis

This article reports on a study of the characteristics, experiences, and scholarly productivity of a group of 96 successful female social work scholars and compares them to a group of 130 successful male social work scholars. It presents information on the supports and barriers for women in academe and offers insights into the quality of the womens professional lives.

Spirituality, Religion, and Progressive Social Movements: Resources and Motivation for Social Change

Social movement theory and research has paid little attention to the role of spirituality and religion in social movement mobilization. This article reviews the existing literature on the role of spirituality and religion in progressive social movements, with emphasis on movements developed in the United Sates. The analysis is framed by three strains of contemporary theorizing about social movements: the political opportunities perspective, the mobilizing structures perspective, and the cultural framing perspectives. The article also examines recent suggestions that the emotional and spiritual dimensions are left out of these three perspectives. The analysis suggests that religious institutions provide rich resources for progressive movement mobilization, and that both religious and nonreligious spirituality can provide motivation for progressive movement involvement.

Utilization of Contemporary Literature in Human Behavior and Social Justice Coursework

Social work educators on both the undergraduate and graduate levels are constantly challenged with the need to convey general knowledge and theoretical frameworks concerning social justice and human behavior to students, while helping them to develop empathy and understanding of individuals in specific situations. Although textbooks adequately convey the general and theoretical, they often do not provide comprehensive discussion of the individual situation making it difficult for students to acquire empathy for, and an understanding of, individuals in diverse situations. Thus, educators must find creative methods of engendering not only the necessary breadth of theoretical knowledge, but also an adequate depth of understanding of the individual in his or her unique situation. One innovate educational method of particular relevance to social work educators is the incorporation of contemporary fiction and non-fiction literature into social justice and human behavior courses. The use of contemporary literature facilitates student understanding of the general and theoretical by bringing both to life in the stories told.

TEACHING NOTES: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AND SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

This study surveyed social work educators about the importance of multiple intelligences for social work practice and social work education. The sample consisted of 91 faculty members who responded to an online survey that asked them to rate the importance of 7 intelligences (linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal) for overall social work practice, culturally competent practice, and social work education content areas. Interpersonal, intrapersonal, and linguistic intelligences were endorsed as the most important intelligences for social work practice and education; bodily-kinesthetic, musical and spatial intelligences for culturally competent social work practice. Implications for social work education and future work in this new area are recommended.

Norming or Transforming Feminist Pedagogy and Social Work Competencies

The past decade has seen growth in the international and interdisciplinary literature about competency-based education (CBE). With the passage of the Council on Social Work Education’s Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) in 2008, the U.S. social work education enterprise joined other professional groups in embracing CBE. This article analyzes the positions of both proponents and critics of CBE. It reviews the core competencies for social work identified in the EPAS and explores challenges and opportunities that CBE and the competencies present to feminist pedagogy. It concludes with a classroom exercise that is used to integrate feminist pedagogy and the core competencies.