Social Work

The end of World War II and the Civil War (1946–1949) found a great section of the population of Greece struggling with serious economic and social problems, while the next two decades witnessed important socioeconomic and cultural changes. Within this context, a group of mental health professionals claimed that their mission was not limited to the treatment of the mentally ill. They founded the Centre for Mental Health and Research and argued that 'mental hygiene' could improve the lives of all, relieve social problems and contribute to the modernisation and democratisation of society. During the late 1950s and the 1960s they sought to apply this vision not only in mental health but also in welfare services, the Social Aid Stations in Athens, Piraeus, Thessaloniki and Patrai. The Stations' clientele originated from the less privileged social strata of these cities and surrounding villages, and requested material and practical assistance, and to a lesser extent, help with emotional and interpersonal problems. Based on unexplored case material, and building on existing literature on social psychiatry and mental hygiene, this paper addresses the gap in our knowledge of the history of mental health-cum-welfare services. It argues that the Stations envisioned and implemented an original combination of mental health and social welfare , which in the late 1950s was perceived as matching the needs and potential of the Greek population, while offering an ideal vehicle for the dissemination of mental hygiene. However, by the mid-1960s the Stations started to focus on mental health, and in the late 1960s the Athens and Patrai Stations were closed down, and the Thessaloniki and Piraeus Stations were turned into Social Psychiatry Services. This paper follows and interprets the shift from psy-chosocial welfare to social psychiatry, taking into consideration the transformations of Greek society, the specificities of the Stations' operation and the profile and intentions of the Centre of Mental Health and Research. It asserts that the history of the Stations is significant in helping us understand and rethink the uneasy relationship between the social and the psychological in mental healthcare and social welfare.

In recent years, there has been considerable attention within the social work profession surrounding diverse personal, family, and community issues pertaining to sexuality, yet social workers typically receive very little training on sexuality. This article discusses several such issues before introducing a recently proposed positive sexuality framework, which was designed to help facilitate sexual diversity and resolve a wide range of sociosexual problems. The positive sexual-ity framework is comprised of eight interrelated dimensions and, while designed to address sexual issues specifically, overlaps with and complements social work generalist practice. Thus, social workers and helping professionals may find increased success in better understanding and addressing a wide variety of sociosexual problems and issues by utilizing a positive sexuality framework in conjunction with generalist practice.

This study examined the association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and parenting outcomes including parenting stress, feelings of competence and discipline strategies. Maternal depression and current partner violence were hypothesized to be mediators of the association between CSA and parenting. This study is based on secondary data analysis of archived data. The participants were 263 primiparous mothers (107 with a history of CSA and 156 comparison mothers recruited from a prenatal clinic prior to the birth of their first child. Mothers were interviewed twice: once when they were between 28 and 32 weeks gestation and again when their child was between 2 and 4 years of age. During the first interview, women were asked about childhood experiences of sexual abuse. During their second interview, they were asked about current symptoms of pathology and experiences with partner violence and parenting beliefs and practices. Structural Equation Modeling indicated that the relationship...

Abstract  As increased attention has been directed toward the disparities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities in achieving positive health outcomes, the importance of promoting the active involvement of people with intellectual disabilities in efforts to reduce such disparities and promote positive health and wellness outcomes has been acknowledged by researchers and policymakers. This parallels the larger movement within the disability field to promote the self-determination and empowerment of people with intellectual disabilities. The authors more explicitly discuss the implications of self-determination, as it has been conceptualized in the disability field, for promoting positive health and wellness outcomes in people with intellectual disabilities. They review the current research on self-determination and its impact on health, as well as the implications of this research for the development of strategies that promote self-determination in the achievement of health and wellness outcomes in people with intellectual disabilities. The authors posit the need to extend an understanding of the implications of self-determination for promoting health in people with disabilities not only to the disability field, but also to the medical and public health fields. They also provide recommendations for future research and practice.

Compares conceptualizations of homelessness as a temporary state through which people pass or a permanent trait that emanates from individual characteristics. Evidence from a longitudinal study of 564 homeless families in New York City and additional secondary sources supports the view that for families, homelessness is a temporary state that is resolved by the provision of subsidized housing. Even for single individuals with severe mental disturbances, housing is a key factor in ending homelessness, although here there is more evidence that social services also contribute. Policy implications are that governments should take a more active role in reducing homelessness by providing access to subsidized housing.

Community development is a form of social intervention which relies on the participation of local actors on delivering endogenous processes of development. As local actors we consider the people who is related to a community and has power of agency. Sociocultural animation is a method of empowering people to participate in the development of their own groups or communities, looking at their own needs, capabilities, knowledge and skills to identify problems and the adequate strategies to solve them. It concerns all social, cultural and educational dimensions as part of a development process. This paper explores the contribution of sociocultural animation as a tool for social work aiming to community development.

ABSTRACT A psychoanalytical approach to the climate crisis in terms of the individual psychological background as object relations determine the relationship to nature as holding female representations and group dynamics at work in the reaction or lack thereof. A further exploration into the ability to sustain frustration as a key element to personal and societal development allowing to shed primitive libidinal patterns whereas certain psychological structures are hindered from this ability. As a result, the dysfunctional narcissism feeds relationships of dominance and power completing a self destructive pattern where only adaptation and symbolisation processes could counter the traumatic effects of sudden change to our modern lifestyles.

To cite:
Wilkins, A. 2017. Rescaling the local: Multi-academy trusts, private monopoly and statecraft in England. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 49 (2), 171-185

For the past six years successive UK governments in England have introduced reforms intended to usher in less aggregated, top-down, bureaucratically overloaded models of service delivery as well as secure conditions for greater school autonomy.  Yet the ‘hollowing out’ of local government has not resulted in less bureaucracy on the ground or less regulation from above, nor has it diminished hierarchy as an organising principle of education governance.  In some cases, monopolies and monopolistic practices dominated by powerful bureaucracies and professional groups persist, albeit realised through the involvement of new actors and organisations from business and philanthropy.  In this paper I adopt a governmentality perspective to explore the political significance of large multi-academy trusts (MATs) – private sponsors contracted by central government to run publicly funded schools – to the generation of new scalar hierarchies and accountability infrastructures that assist in bringing the gaze of government to bear upon the actions of schools that are otherwise less visible under local government management.  On this account, it is argued, MATs are integral to statecraft and the invention and assemblage of particular apparatuses for intervening upon specific organisations, spaces and peoples.

Purpose: Information sharing and joint working between agencies undertaking direct work with children have long been recognised as fundamental to robust and effective safeguarding and child protection arrangements The public health response to Covid-19 disrupted those arrangements abruptly This study aims to identify some of the innovative practices that have been implemented and how responses might inform planning for multi-agency working in the future Design/methodology/approach: This study presents reflections on preliminary fieldwork from a study of how agencies in London are responding to the challenges for multi-agency safeguarding arrangements created by the Covid-19 measures It draws on the experience of expert practitioners in the research team as well as interviews with 17 senior professionals from local authorities, safeguarding partnerships and health Findings: The study participants endorsed known concerns around increased risks to children and raised new concerns about...

È "lavoro di partito" tutto ciò che contribuisce al movimento reale che abolisce lo stato di cose presente. In Marx la teoria del partito non è del tutto esplicita, però è facile da ricavare da molti dei suoi scritti. Nel Manifesto il quadro teorico offre già una buona traccia per una lettura di tutto ciò che egli scriverà successivamente: i comunisti sono coloro che anticipano la società futura; non fanno già più parte di questa società anche se vivono dentro di essa. L'enorme importanza di questo concetto non è stata capita dalla maggior parte di coloro che si richiamano a Marx.

Securing financial sustainability through fundraising and other forms of financing is a critical issue for many nonprofit organizations. This article extends the benefits theory by adding beneficiary and organizational characteristics to it and examines how these characteristics affect revenue source composition. Based on a survey of International Nongovernmental Organizations (INGOs) with headquarters in Switzerland, the results quantitatively demonstrate a predictive relationship between programmatic and financial management: First, Swiss-based INGOs’ revenue sources rely heavily on income-generating revenue sources. Second, the efficacy of the benefits theory of nonprofit finance is demonstrated outside of the organizational context of U.S. local/national nonprofits. Third, INGOs’ organizational and beneficiary characteristics influence their revenue source composition. Fourth, the results demonstrate clear differences between revenue sources. Fifth, overall, the beneficiary field is the most influential of the proven
characteristics in determining revenue source percentages.

The article develops the concept of sensus communis in order to describe the fundamentally interactive and socially embedded nature of human experience. In the introduction, we focus on the historical relevance of phenomenological psychiatry for social psychiatry, especially in Germany, and give a short outline of the philosophy of common sense. The concept of sensus communis is then considered under three aspects: (1) as a fundamental intermodal capacity of sensing oneself and the world through the medium of the lived body; (2) as a social sense, derived from primary social interactions with others, and enabling a habitual, pre-reflective and confident relation with the social world; (3) as ‚common sense‘, that means, the capacity to perceive and think in accordance with intersubjectively shared, self-evident rules, and to apply them to specific situations. All three aspects must be considered as mutually interwoven. On this basis, psychopathological implications of sensus communis as well as socio-epidemiological findings on the connection between social environment and mental disorders will be taken into account. Finally, the paper points out possible applications of the concept to therapeutic approaches such as assertive community treatment and open dialogue.

"Since its very inception, social work has been considered an organizationally based profession, with the majority of its workforce employed within formal organizations. Whether in nonprofit, for-profit, or governmental agencies, the practical realities of human service organizations are a central element of professional social work. This book explores the climate and culture of these agencies and provides essential information for surviving and thriving in this setting. It prepares students for their future careers so that they will feel empowered in their work and be able to fulfill their responsibilities toward organizational, community, and social change. Using real-life examples, the authors examine the internal structures of management, financing, and supervision and discuss common conflicts between agencies and professionals. The book’s straightforward tone and practical advice make it an asset to anyone entering human service organizations.

This new edition contains updated examples, case studies, and references. It also contains valuable information on the effects of the recent financial crisis on human service organizations. Agencies now face increased caseloads and more complex social problems with fewer resources and less money. Understanding how these events have changed the nature of human service organizations will allow students to be better prepared for the work ahead of them.

Features

•
Expanded content on the practical aspects of organizational theory and suggestions for developing leadership skills
•
Updated examples, case studies, and references throughout the book
•
Key points and discussion questions following each chapter
•
Updated instructor’s manual available online as a PDF or Word document"