Simon Hackett

Social Work Responses to the Challenges for Practice in the 21st Century

Social work is at a challenging moment in its professional history. As the twenty-first century unfolds, social work educators and practitioners are facing a range of perennial questions and additional new ones. This themed edition has been put together to both celebrate the coming together again of the profession’s three sister organisations – the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW); the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW); and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) to strengthen the voice of social work on the global stage, particularly that linked to the United Nations and its various international bodies through a process of membership consultation around what has been called ‘The Agenda’; and to highlight a number of important pre-existing and new social problems that require urgent action, including poverty; globalisation; the rise of indigenous voices; the trafficking of human beings; criminal gang activities involving drugs; diverse forms of violence including armed conflict; mass migrations; and climate change and other disasters whether ‘human’-made or ‘natural’. The trick that twenty-first century problems require social work educators and practitioners to achieve is to link global challenges and opportunities to locality specific ones that acknowledge the interdependency between these two realms and between people and their social and physical environments (Dominelli, 2012); address the internationalisation of social issues ranging from poverty to ‘human’-made to ‘natural’ disasters; the recognition of indigenous voices and spirituality in the work undertaken by social workers in diverse countries; the professionalization of social work that eschews a neo-colonial mentality and approach to collaborations that cross national and disciplinary borders; develop new theories and innovative forms of practice and research; and influence policy-makers at the local, national and global levels (Dominelli, 2004; 2009, 2010). This issue, therefore, refers to several articles linked to the shared journey that IASSW, ICSW and IFSW have undertaken to produce key 440784 ISW International Social Work

Social work research: Highlighting diversity in theory, practice and education

The articles in this issue reflect the wide diversity of methods, approaches and issues covered in social work research. Each study poses interesting questions for educators, practitioners and policymakers in today’s world. We hope that reading these articles will inspire you to think critically about the many taken-for-granted assumptions that pepper the profession. Amartya Sen’s work is familiar to many of ISW’s readers. Dheeshana S. Jayasundara considers the relevance of Sen’s human development and capability perspectives in the field of reproductive health and social work in ‘developing countries’. The author does this in the hopes of redressing the absence of meaningful theoretical frameworks applied to this area of practice. Jayasundara attributes this state of affairs to the marginalised place that reproductive health occupies in the terrain of social work theory and practice. While Jayasundara concludes that Sen’s human development and capability approach can assist practitioners in enabling women to make choices about their reproductive rights, this aspect of human affairs remains full of controversies and Sen fails to provide guidelines that will assist practitioners in dealing with these. The article by Sara Ashencaen Crabtree and Richard Williams focuses on the ethical issues raised for researchers doing cross-cultural research and the significance of their position as ‘outsiders’ in limiting both response rates to an on-line survey on inclusive education and the conclusions that could be derived from their data even though local interpreters/translators were used in follow-up attempts aimed at increasing the response rate. The subject matter of their research – inclusivity across social divisions in education in various Arab societies with specific historical cultures despite their common bond of Islam, particularly those linked to disability – is important in its own right. The authors call for further research into both topics. Generational inequity has become frontline news as the age of austerity ushers in cuts in public expenditures that impact on everyone, but are applied differentially so that older people and children and young people have very different experiences of the decisions politicians make in reducing budget deficits. Job opportunities and the ability to purchase a house are seen as particularly important in many Western societies and young 474398 ISW56210.1177/0020872812474398International Social WorkEditorial 2012

Editorial: Interplays between local and global contexts in social work

The interplay between local and global contexts in social work education and practice is a strong theme in the papers found in this issue. Collectively, they raise important questions about the links between the local and the global. A key concern is whether the relationship between these two dimensions can be one of empowerment rather than one of oppression in the form of neo-colonialism conducted in and through social work. Individually, they provide illustrations that problematize this question as each one attempts to find solutions that are relevant to a particular context and issue. The authors conclude that how to fashion non-oppressive links between the local and the global in different arenas and contexts is a major tension in contemporary social work. Julie Drolet’s article on women, micro-credit and empowerment in Egypt raises important concerns about the failure of schemes rooted in the idea of financial self-help as propounded by Mohamed Yunis, the founder of the Grameen Bank, to empower poor women because such initiatives fail to address structural inequalities including unequal gender relations and poverty. These are usually beyond the capacity of poor women to address. Tackling these requires transformative action throughout society. Irene Stevens and colleagues write about social work and social policy transfers by examining an exchange about vocational qualifications in social work involving the UK and Vietnam. They conclude that the different socio-historical contexts of the two countries have resulted in substantial differences being evident in social work education and practice. At the same time, they argue that professionals in these two countries have common cause in trying to improve the life circumstances of marginalized peoples in both nations, and in seeking to define the role and purpose of social work in their respective societies, although their responses might be different. The issue of labour migration is also pursued in the contribution by Marko Valenta and Zan Strabac. They consider the role of the Norwegian welfare state in facilitating the integration of migrant workers from Eastern 418284 ISWXXX10.1177/0020872811418284EditorialInternational Social Work

The Complexities of Practice

An interesting theme that threads through the contributions in this issue is that of the complexities of practice. These complexities can be subtle and nuanced, or obvious and sharply delineated. But wherever they lie on the spectrum of moving from one point to the other, complexities are contested, and often difficult to define. However, they can be ignored only to the detriment of those who expect high quality, culturally relevant and appropriate services from practitioners. Researchers too, cannot avoid the issue of complexity if their findings are to resonate with the lived experiences of the research participants they enroll in their studies. Moreover, complexity leaves the reflective practitioner facing difficult dilemmas that are not always amenable to solution, and so individuals are left dealing with the ambiguities that are created in their practice and having to seek support from others who understand their situation to avoid burnout or remain as a useful member of the profession. In the first article, John R Graham and his colleagues examine social workers’ satisfaction with their work and profession in northern rural communities in Canada. The study is empirically researched and exploratory, so the findings are limited to those that might be expected and further study is called for. Subjective well-being including personal and professional life satisfaction are important variables that transcend workplace satisfaction. But despite the extensive empirical work that underpins the analysis in this article, there is no certainty in the findings, simply the need for further and more detailed research. Margaret Pack reviews the literature around the contested notion of critical incident stress management or psychological debriefing that aims to reduce the likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorder from developing amongst practitioners in a variety of fields. While its effectiveness is disputed, used wisely, critical incident stress management can assist worker retention in highly stressful occupations including nursing, emergency services and social work. She also argues for critical incident stress debriefing that is sensitive to differences in individual responses, organizational context, practice setting and strengths-based. In this way, she suggests, 494329 ISW56510.1177/0020872813494329International Social WorkEditorial 2013