Social Work Values and Ethics Issues of Universality

The question of whether the social work profession has a set of values that can be claimed by all social workers around the world has been and continues to be an important issue in a growing interdependent world. With the increase in global cooperation and collaborative projects between social work programs worldwide, the similarities and differences in social work values should be explored. Core social work values in nonwestern countries reflect societies in which the importance of community, spirituality, traditional beliefs, social justice/action and economic circumstances are emphasized. In western countries social work values are more concerned with individualism, objectivity, discrimination issues, self-realization and democracy. The purpose of this article is to examine the definition and layers of values, the emergence of social work values, the relationship between social work values and their social context and whether or not it is possible to have universal social work values

Social work scope of practice with Parkinson's disease: A qualitative study

Summary The field of social work has seen increased recognition across many sectors in recent years. Evolving racial, political, and medical paradigms and the COVID-19 pandemic have shown the importance of a person-centered approach to health and mental health. One such area of practice is neurology, specifically work with people with Parkinson's disease (PD), which is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, currently impacting more than 10 million people worldwide. While social workers have long played key roles in multidisciplinary teams in PD care settings, research and literature offering assessment and evidence in this area remain limited. This research study used a mixed-methods approach with additional in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with 11 social workers. This article presents findings from the 11 interviewees who are presently working with people with PD using thematic analysis. Findings Themes emerging were an in-depth detailed role of the social worker, the importance of strong relationships working with people with PD and their families, multidisciplinary teams, and the community. Institutional challenges were highlighted concerning supporting social work positions and encouraging social work intervention from the beginning of diagnosis to the end stages of the disease. COVID-19 proved very challenging for social workers, multidisciplinary teams, and families, and yet positive practices were identified as well. Applications The impact of this study reinforces the essential role specialized PD social workers play in multidisciplinary PD teams and recognition needed to increase their role through early intervention reflected in increasing social work positions in neurology

Habits of Mind and the Split-Mind Effect: When Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software is Used in Phenomenological Research

When Marshall McLUHAN famously stated "the medium is the message," he was echoing Martin HEIDEGGER's assertion that through our use of technology we can become functions of it. Therefore, how does adopting computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software affect our research activities and, more importantly, our conception of research? These questions are explored by examining the influence NVivo had upon an interdisciplinary phenomenological research project in health ethics. We identify the software's effects and situate our decision to use it within the Canadian health sciences research landscape. We also explore the challenges of remaining true to our project's philosophical foundations, as well as how NVivo altered our being-in-the-world as researchers. This case demonstrates McLUHAN's claim that new technologies invariably initiate new practices and modes of being, and urges researchers to attend to how we are both shaping and being shaped by software.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs120227Cuando Marshall McLUHAN afirmo "El medio es el mensaje" estaba haciendo eco a la afirmación de Martín HEIDEGGER de que a través de nuestro uso de la tecnología podemos convertirnos en funciones de ello. Por consiguiente, ¿Cómo afecta el análisis cualitativo de datos con asistencia de una computadora nuestras actividades de investigación y aún más importante, nuestra concepción de la investigación? Se exploran estas preguntas al examinar la influencia que NVivo tuvo sobre un proyecto de investigación fenomenológica interdisciplinaria en ética de salud. Identificamos los efectos del software y situamos nuestra decisión de usarlo en el horizonte de la investigación de ciencias de la salud canadienses. Exploramos los desafíos de mantenernos fieles a los fundamentos filosóficos del proyecto, así como también la forma en que NVivo alteró nuestro ser-en-el-mundo como investigadores. Este caso demuestra la afirmación de McLUHAN sobre que invariablemente las nuevas tecnologías inician nuevas prácticas y modos de ser, y urge a que los investigadores pongan atención sobre como forman, a la vez que se van formando, por el software.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs120227Als Marshall McLUHAN seinen berühmten Satz "Das Medium ist die Botschaft" formulierte,  fand sich eine ähnliche Vorstellung in Martin HEIDEGGERs Behauptung, dass wir durch die Nutzung von Technologie zu deren Teil werden.  Unsere Frage ist – von hier ausgehend – in welcher Weise die Nutzung computergestützter qualitativer Analyse-Software unsere Forschungsaktivitäten affiziert und  – noch zentraler – unser Konzept von Forschung? Zu deren Beantwortung haben wir uns mit dem Einfluss von NVivo auf ein interdisziplinäres phänomenologisches Forschungsprojekt befasst, das in der Gesundheitsethik angesiedelt ist. Wir identifizieren die Effekte der Software auf unsere Forschung, indem wir bereits unsere Entscheidung für ihre Nutzung in dem aktuellen Stand der kanadischen Gesundheitswissenschaften situieren. Wir befassen uns auch mit der Herausforderung, den philosophischen Grundlagen unserer Forschung treu zu bleiben und mit der Frage, wie NVivo unser "In-der-Welt-sein" als Forschende verändert hat.  Unser Beispiel zeigt, McLUHAN folgend, dass neue Technologien notwendig neue Praktiken und Seinsweisen hervorbringen, und es verweist Forschende darauf zu reflektieren, wie Software für Forschungsarbeiten angepasst wird und wie sie umgekehrt uns selbst "anpasst".URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs12022

Social work in Africa: exploring culturally relevant education and practice in Ghana

Series: Africa, missing voices series; 10Social Work in Africa offers professors, students, and practitioners insight concerning social work in the African context. Its purpose is to encourage examination of the social work curriculum and to demonstrate practical ways to make it more culturally relevant. Drawing on her experience as a social work instructor in Ghana with field research conducted for her doctoral thesis, author Linda Kreitzer addresses the history of social work in African countries, the hegemony of western knowledge in the field, and the need for culturally and regionally informed teaching resources and programs. Guided by a strong sense of her limitations and responsibilities as a privileged outsider and a belief that "only Ghanaians can critically look at and decide on a culturally relevant curriculum for themselves," Kreitzer utilizes Participatory Action Research methodology to successfully move the topic of culturally relevant practices from rhetoric to demonstration. Social Work in Africa is aimed at programs and practise in Ghana; at the same time, it is intended as a framework for the creation of culturally relevant social work curricula in other African countries and other contexts.Ye

Indigenization of social work education and practice: a participatory action research project in Ghana

Bibliography: p. 258-272Some page are in colour.The hegemony of western knowledge has influenced and continues to influence knowledge production throughout the world. Factors including colonialism, development under modernization and current neo-liberal globalization policies have helped to define knowledge production that promotes western thinking. Indigenous knowledge, for the most part, continues to be deemed primitive and unimportant. This hegemony is seen in the historical domination of Western social work knowledge worldwide and can be traced back to the colonial era. During the middle 20th century, social work education expanded to other non­western countries in an imperialistic fashion with the assumption that western social work knowledge, mainly North American and British, was universal and transferable. West Africa was influenced by this exportation of western social work knowledge, in particular, in Ghana. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Association of Social Work Education in Africa and the Ghana Association of Social Workers were active in promoting social work education and practice in that area. Over time, these organizations have lost their momentum and are perceived to have become ineffective. Western social work knowledge has continued its domination of social work education there. This study attempts to address the hegemony of western social work knowledge through a critical and emancipatory approach to knowledge production. Guided by Critical Theory and Participatory Action Research, it explores the processes of westernization and indigenization that have affected. Ghanaian society. Through a dialogical process, faculty, students, social workers and a community leader came together to create new knowledge concerning Ghanaian social work. Through this critical process, the group emerged with action plans that changed their situations personally and professionally. This new knowledge reflects a need for a greater profile of social work in Ghana, an organizational change in regards to the Ghana Association of Social Workers and a greater emphasis on the publication and use of indigenous writing in social work education. It is hoped that the new knowledge produced from this research will continue to evolve and will motivate and challenge social workers in Ghana to develop an innovative social work education and practice that will be relevant to the needs of Ghanaian society

Queen Mothers and Social Workers: A Potential collaboration between traditional authority and social work in Ghana

Kingship (chieftaincy) is an institution that has existed since ancient times in Africa (Kludze, 2000). It is an institution that has played a major role in many Ghanaian ethnic groups as the governor of customary law. Important to traditional authority is the Queen Mother. She is the biological mother or close relation to the chief and offers advice and counsel to him. Today they have many roles in their communities including being diplomats and mediators as well as overseeing the welfare of women and children in the community. Western style social work has been present in West Africa since the 1940's encouraged by the United Nations and the Association of Social Work Educators in Africa. Social workers have been trained in Ghana since 1946 and work in government and non-government organizations. The development of communities and the social welfare of women and children are of concern to social workers as well as to Queen Mothers. In 2002, a group of social work researchers met for ten months to look at the indigenisation of social work curriculum in Ghana with a Queen Mother as part of this group. This article describes the important dialogue between social workers and the Queen Mother concerning their roles in the community with potential future collaboration with each other that would enhance community development.Research was funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

The experiences of refugee women in the planning and implementation of programmes at Buduburam refugee camp, Ghana

Bibliography: p. 209-22

Co-location of a Government Child Welfare Unit in a Traditional Aboriginal Agency: A Way Forward in Working in Aboriginal Communities

This article describes the learning that took place in the context of a provincial family enhancement unit within an Aboriginal child welfare agency. Many benefits were identified for the workers, the families, and the relationship to the community. Most notable were the positive effects on non-Aboriginal government staff who were immersed in a more traditional Aboriginal agency. Key learnings include the importance of relationship in child welfare practice, the desire of child welfare workers for greater creativity in their responses to children and families and the need for more supportive leadership in the creation of the conditions necessary for this to happen. Recommendations are made to provincial officials to assist in the creation of such an environment

Co-location of a Government Child Welfare Unit in a Traditional Aboriginal Agency: A Way Forward in Working in Aboriginal Communities

This article describes the learning that took place in the context of a provincial family enhancement unit within an Aboriginal child welfare agency. Many benefits were identified for the workers, the families, and the relationship to the community. Most notable were the positive effects on non-Aboriginal government staff who were immersed in a more traditional Aboriginal agency. Key learnings include the importance of relationship in child welfare practice, the desire of child welfare workers for greater creativity in their responses to children and families and the need for more supportive leadership in the creation of the conditions necessary for this to happen. Recommendations are made to provincial officials to assist in the creation of such an environment.Keywords: Aboriginal worldviews, child welfare practice, leadership, learning environment, creativity, relationship building, Participatory Action Research

The enduring relevance of Indigenisation in African social work: a critical reflection on ASWEA's legacy

Following the independence of many African countries in the 1960s, social work educators in Africa sought to depart from their ‘Western’ traditions and develop approaches to professional teaching and practice appropriate to the African postcolonial context. The Association for Social Work Education in Africa (ASWEA) led these endeavours between 1971 and 1989. This article narrates the journey of ASWEA through its documented history now made accessible as an online archive. Included is a discussion of the political agenda of ASWEA within the context of broader political movements at the time of its inception, when the debate on the ‘indigenisation of social work education and practice’ in Africa was just beginning. The article argues that to date, ‘indigenisation’ remains an ethical imperative for social work in Africa as it continues to seek locally relevant solutions to changing social problems