Social work academic and industry partnerships: engagement and impact

This Editorial was written for the Advances in Social Work & Welfare Education Special Issue 22.2 on Social Work Academic and Industry Partnerships: Engagement and Impact

Disguised compliance or undisguised nonsense?:A critical discourse analysis of compliance and resistance in social work practice.

This article examines how the term disguised compliance first emerged and developed into the popular catchphrase that is used in practice today. Using critical discourse analysis, we explore how language affects practice and how social workers draw on a predetermined concept to rationalise concerns relating to parental resistance. We contend that concepts such as disguised compliance are misleading as they do not improve social workers’ abilities in detecting resistance or compliance. Instead, we argue that social workers should be cautious when using popular mantras which on the surface appear effective in describing parents’ behaviours but, in reality, conceal concerns relating to risk, accountability and blame. This study differs from the current literature which advocates social workers should be aware of disguised compliance by shifting the emphasis away from the behaviours of parents and towards acknowledging the power such discursive activities can have on practice

Navigating the territories of transition: An exploration of the experiences of transnational social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand

© The Author(s) 2020. This qualitative study conducted three focus groups with transnational social workers (TSWs) in three cities of Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim of the study was to examine the transitional experience of TSWs, particularly in relation to any strategies and mechanisms existing in the host country to facilitate their personal and professional transition. A significant finding is that a coherent profession-wide programme for facilitating the transition is absent as the existing practices are mostly within the employer–employee relationships. Transitional experiences of TSWs are explained using the metaphor of ‘territory’ and some strategies for effective transition are suggested

Open access publishing: a key enabler to research impact, informed practice and social justice

There is mounting pressure for university researchers to build stronger research partnerships with communities so research engagement and impact can be enacted and measured. At a perfunctory glance, the engagement and impact agenda would appear to be a win-win for researchers and end users. Through rewarding and productive university/community research collaborations, new knowledge can be produced, published and translated into policy and practice for meaningful real-world impact. Yet research impact looks less certain if practitioners, organisations, policy makers and the wider public cannot access scholarly publications because they are locked behind subscription paywalls. In this article we reflect on research partnerships, and the reasoning, rhetoric and accepted protocols in publishing research findings. We propose that open access publishing is a social justice issue that is key to social work research engagement and impact and research-informed practice

Social work and social media in Aotearoa New Zealand: Forging new boundaries

Social work and social media in Aotearoa New Zealand: Forging new boundaries The realities of social media demand the attention of social workers all over the world - both because of its significant impact on local societies, and on social justice issues associated with the global digital divide. Competence to engage in social media has arguably become the imperative of all professions however it is put forward that the social work profession should be more highly engaged in media activities given its principles of social justice and commitment to social change - activities which require an expertise in networking, communication skills and “media consciousness” (Briar-Lawson et al, 2011).This imperative has led to the development of tertiary inter-professional learning opportunities with journalism and social work students (Gelman and Tosone, 2010; LaLiberte at al, 2011), managing professional boundaries and leading to the notion of collaborative practice between social workers and journalists (Stanfield and Beddoe, 2013). This thinking also extends to the close link between ‘the media’ and ‘social media’ in the social work context. Social media has created the capacity for non-journalists to disseminate news, has changed the way journalists gather and report on news events and has affected how news is consumed and shared between people. Studies show that those who use social media as a news source are increasingly more interested in the views and “media analysis” of their personal networks, rather than what was traditionally offered by journalists. This suggests that “hierarchical relationships between mass media consumers and producers of media content are being further unravelled” (Hermida et al, 2012, p. 816). This reality offers social workers an opportunity to forge a new boundary between themselves and traditional media; as “citizen journalists” new means by which to pursue social justice are available. This global backdrop has led to a small Aotearoa New Zealand based study which asks how social workers in this country approach social media professionally; the initial themes emerging from the preliminary analysis of its data will be offered in this presentation. The data collected from New Zealand social workers via both quantitative questionnaires and key informant interviews has generated a diverse set of themes spanning social work identity, competence, capacity and the navigation of personal and professional boundaries. A wide spectrum of opinion is offered about the relevance of social media to the profession, varying levels of confidence and competence in its use, and thoughts about the unique influence New Zealand culture has on the professional use of social media. The results also offer an intriguing selection of metaphors that describe the relationship social workers have with social media. This presentation of this ongoing piece of work will highlight implications for social work education, for boundaries between research and practice and will describe an emerging identity of social work in the context of the New Zealand social media landscape. References Briar-Lawson, K., Martinson, K., Briar-Bonpane, J., & Zox, K. (2011). Child welfare, the media, and capacity building. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 5(2/3), 185-199. doi: 10.1080/15548732.2011.566754 Gelman, C. R., & Tosone, C. (2010). Teaching Social Workers to Harness Technology and Inter-Disciplinary Collaboration for Community Service. British Journal of Social Work, 40(1), 226-238. Hermida, A., Fletcher, F., Korell, D., & Logan, D. (2012). SHARE, LIKE, RECOMMEND. Journalism Studies, 13(5-6), 815-824. doi: 10.1080/1461670X.2012.664430 LaLiberte, T., Larson, A., & Johnston, N. (2011). Child welfare and media: teaching students to be advocates. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 5(2/3), 200-212. doi: 10.1080/15548732.2011.566757 Stanfield, D., & Beddoe, E. (2014). Social work and the media: A collaborative challenge. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 25(4)

Critical conversations: Social workers' perceptions of the use of a closed Facebook group as a participatory professional space.

INTRODUCTION: The rise of social media has been associated with the rapid growth in different forms of digital networking, debate and activism. Many studies have traced the role of social media in mobilising people to take action on shared issues of concern across the world. Yet while networked public spaces offer many possibilities for engagement and interaction, the technology also shapes social dynamics raising questions about privacy, professional boundaries and the nature of online behaviour. METHOD: The development of a closed professional group on the social networking site Facebook provided an ideal opportunity to explore the perceptions of social workers of their use of participatory public space for professional deliberation and debate about public issues. Members of the group were invited to complete an online survey; eleven social workers accepted invitations to be further interviewed and their subsequent interviews were thematically analysed. FINDINGS: Social workers involved in the Facebook group benefitted from the resources, research and professional development opportunities afforded to them as members and supported the professional potential and promise of social networking sites. They grappled with what constitutes ethical online behaviour, or netiquette, and identified the limitations and strengths of the social networking group as a place to promote robust professional dialogue and action on social issues. IMPLICATIONS: Analysis of social worker experience within participatory public spaces offers insight into how the profession can develop modern communication strategies and strong communities of practice in line with its professional principles and mandate

Civil gyakorlat: a szociális munka új szakmai paradigmája

Összefoglaló: A gazdasági racionalizálás több szakma helyzetét is befolyásolta a nyugati társadalmakban. Írásunk új-zélandi példák bemutatásával rávilágít arra, hogy a különböző szolgáltatások kapacitásának és finanszírozásának neoliberális átalakítása egyfelől deprofesszionalizációhoz vezetett, ugyanakkor lehetővé tette alternatív gyakorlatok kialakulását. Utóbbi, vagyis a szociális munka gyakorlatának civil modellje üdvözlendő. Eredmények: A kortárs szakirodalomban számtalan vita olvasható a szakmák természetéről. A szociális munka, mint szakma, jellegzetességeinek vizsgálata három típust tár elénk: a hősies, az altruista és a civil gyakorlatot. A szociális munkában kialakulóban van a civil gyakorlat, melynek előfeltétele, hogy a szakma szerepfelfogásában és tevékenységében fokozatosan előtérbe kerüljön az elsősorban a lakosság jogainak és szükségleteinek szem előtt tartásával végzett társadalmi vizsgálódás. Alkalmazás: E cikk célja, hogy előrelendítse a deprofesszionalizálódással kapcsolatos vitákat, s egy olyan civil szociális munkára tegyen javaslatot, amely képviseletre és kritikai társadalmi vizsgálódásra épül