Del trabajo de apostolado a la profesionalización. Análisis de la profesión de Trabajo Social en Aragón

This paper shows the main results of a social research on the birth, the historical changes and the current situation of social work profession in the Spanish region of Aragón, done with the follow goals: to understand the female character or social work, to show the importance and consequences of this female character, to encourage teachers to incorporate the gender perspectives in their lectures and to encourage future social workers to carry out the profession for changing the current gender relations. According to the gender perspectives, social work profession in Aragón is a female activity as the result of changing the place where traditionally dependent people were looked after and the change of the people who did this work.En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de una investigación sobre el origen, la evolución y la situación actual de la profesión de trabajo social en Aragón, realizada con el objetivo de comprender el carácter feminizado del trabajo social, mostrar la importancia y las consecuencias de este carácter feminizado, animar a los docentes a incorporar las perspectivas feministas en sus clases y animar a los futuros trabajadores sociales a realizar una práctica del trabajo social tendente a la transformación de las actuales relaciones de género. De acuerdo con los planteamientos teóricos de género que han orientado la realización del estudio, se ha considerado que la profesión de trabajo social en Aragón es una actividad feminizada como consecuencia del cambio del lugar donde tradicionalmente se ha cuidado a las personas dependientes y del cambio de las personas responsables de realizar estas tareas de cuidado

'All teenagers have problems, whether they're adopted or not': Discourses on adolescence and adoption among parents of transnationally adopted teens

Adopted children's arrival at adolescence is an object of interest and concern among researchers, professionals, and politicians. In this article, I offer an analysis of parental talk among 24 families about their concerns related to their transnationally adopted teens. The majority of the adoptive parents reported having concerns about their children, which they attributed to their children's entry into adolescence and their children's inherent personality traits. In this article, I focus on the first of these attributions, which places the ''blame'' on adolescence. I do this from a perspective integrating a theoretical view from social anthropology that analyzes social discourses and a more applied view from social work that explores how these discourses influence family practices. The results of this analysis can guide family and professional practices and public policies on adoption

La innovación docente en la formación de trabajo social

Esta ponencia sobre innovación docente en trabajo social pretende motivar a los asistentes a este V Congreso Estatal de Escuelas de Trabajo Social para que utilicen la oportunidad que el proceso de convergencia de la educación superior en el espacio europeo proceso impulsado por el Acuerdo de Bolonia, firmado por los ministros de educación de los países miembros de la Unión Europea en 1999, nos ofrece para debatir sobre la formación en trabajo social y para diseñar y llevar a cabo experiencias de innovación docente, que mejoren la calidad de la docencia en trabajo social que se imparte en nuestro país. La preocupación por la calidad ha sido una constante en la docencia del trabajo social en nuestro país, ya que la propia naturaleza del trabajo social, como profesión de ayuda, plantea una serie de exigencias en cuanto al rigor de los conocimientos teóricos, metodológicos y técnicos, pero también en relación con los métodos docentes utilizados. En este sentido, lo importante en la formación de trabajo social no es la mera transmisión de estos conocimientos teóricos, sino la capacitación de los estudiantes para su aplicación en el proceso de intervención social, una capacitación que exige la utilización de métodos docentes innovadores.The main aim of this paper is to encourage the participants of this scientific meeting to discus teaching innovation in social work education in Spain. From my point of view, the Bologna process offers the Spanish lectures on social work a great opportunity to test new teaching methods, in order to improve the quality of social work education. According to the European experience, the best way to offer this quality is to include theoretical knowledge, methodological strategies and human values in the social work curriculum. Therefore, the teaching innovation in social work education is a requirement in order to integrate these three dimensions and to guarantee the applied nature of the social work profession

Essentialism in Spanish parents' descriptions of their transnationally adopted teenagers

This preliminary qualitative study of 24 adoptive families in Catalonia, Spain asks how adoptive parents of teens describe the things they dislike about their children. This question matters because prior research shows that parents' views of their children can affect their parenting style and their relationships with their children. I show that in describing their dislikes, parents draw on essentialist beliefs about their children's culture of origin and about their personality traits. My analysis inspires questions about the possible relationship between essentialist parental beliefs and parenting practice, in both adoptive families and families more broadly. This is of particular relevance in the current moment, in which childrearing is influenced by neoliberal values that emphasize the social success of children and teens as future citizens and hold parents responsible for this outcome (Geinger et al., 2014). The research can also inform family and professional practices and public policies related to adoption

Narrativas esencialistas de padres que adoptan adolescentes en el campo trasnacional

This preliminary qualitative study of 24 adoptive families in Catalonia, Spain asks how adoptive parents of teens describe the things they dislike about their children. This question matters because prior research shows that parents' views of their children can affect their parenting style and their relationships with their children. I show that in describing their dislikes, parents draw on essentialist beliefs about their children's culture of origin and about their personality traits. My analysis inspires questions about the possible relationship between essentialist parental beliefs and parenting practice, in both adoptive families and families more broadly. This is of particular relevance in the current moment, in which childrearing is influenced by neoliberal values that emphasize the social success of children and teens as future citizens and hold parents responsible for this outcome (Geinger et al., 2014). The research can also inform family and professional practices and public policies related to adoption.This preliminary qualitative study of 24 adoptive families in Catalonia, Spain asks how adoptive parents of teens describe the things they dislike about their children. This question matters because prior research shows that parents' views of their children can affect their parenting style and their relationships with their children. I show that in describing their dislikes, parents draw on essentialist beliefs about their children's culture of origin and about their personality traits. My analysis inspires questions about the possible relationship between essentialist parental beliefs and parenting practice, in both adoptive families and families more broadly. This is of particular relevance in the current moment, in which childrearing is influenced by neoliberal values that emphasize the social success of children and teens as future citizens and hold parents responsible for this outcome (Geinger et al., 2014). The research can also inform family and professional practices and public policies related to adoption.This preliminary qualitative study of 24 adoptive families in Catalonia, Spain asks how adoptive parents of teens describe the things they dislike about their children. This question matters because prior research shows that parents' views of their children can affect their parenting style and their relationships with their children. I show that in describing their dislikes, parents draw on essentialist beliefs about their children's culture of origin and about their personality traits. My analysis inspires questions about the possible relationship between essentialist parental beliefs and parenting practice, in both adoptive families and families more broadly. This is of particular relevance in the current moment, in which childrearing is influenced by neoliberal values that emphasize the social success of children and teens as future citizens and hold parents responsible for this outcome (Geinger et al., 2014). The research can also inform family and professional practices and public policies related to adoption.This preliminary qualitative study of 24 adoptive families in Catalonia, Spain asks how adoptive parents of teens describe the things they dislike about their children. This question matters because prior research shows that parents' views of their children can affect their parenting style and their relationships with their children. I show that in describing their dislikes, parents draw on essentialist beliefs about their children's culture of origin and about their personality traits. My analysis inspires questions about the possible relationship between essentialist parental beliefs and parenting practice, in both adoptive families and families more broadly. This is of particular relevance in the current moment, in which childrearing is influenced by neoliberal values that emphasize the social success of children and teens as future citizens and hold parents responsible for this outcome (Geinger et al., 2014). The research can also inform family and professional practices and public policies related to adoption