Affilia

Feminist theology and feminist social work share similar values, social concerns, and institutional challenges, although interdisciplinary dialogue is rarely described in the professional literature. This article discusses the relevance of feminist theology to feminist social work, using narratives of women in faith-based service communities to identify common domains of practice and philosophy. Historical and contemporary narratives are discussed in light of the growing support for faith-based service initiatives and the likelihood of further collaborations between professional social work and religious nonprofit organizations. Discussion includes attention to issues of difference/diversity and multiple challenges posed by decreased public funding for social services.

Gender biases are pervasive in child welfare research and practice. Although these biases have been addressed to some extent in the literature, there continues to be a lack of information on fathers and an overrepresentation of information on mothers, and thus the biases continue. This article explores how these biases are currently manifested in both research and practice and makes recommendations for changes in research, policy, and practice.

This qualitative study of the parenting approaches of immigrant South Asian Canadian mothers found that character formation and identity formation were the mothers' key goals of parenting. Internalized cultural values, beliefs, and norms and external factors related to their social context and environment, such as collectivism, dual socialization, and environmental stress, guided the mothers' approaches to parenting. Social service providers need to be aware that racial-minority mothers think through their approaches to parenting to respond to social contexts that have negative consequences for their children and should include this understanding in their provision of services.

This qualitative study explored the motivations, meanings, functions, and consequences of self-harm for young women in urban and suburban contexts. It found that all 6 participants deliberately harmed themselves in response to traumas, family stress, and relationship problems. However, the suburban girls connected their self-harm behaviors to an overall sense of despondency, whereas the urban girls attributed these to release of unresolved anger. Key differences between the groups also emerged in the functions and consequences of their self-harm behaviors. These findings can increase social workers' capacity to respond to intentional self-injury among ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations of young women.

Finding safe, affordable housing is one of the greatest obstacles that women who leave abusive partners face. In response, advocates for battered women have begun to offer transitional supportive housing (TSH) programs. This article reports on interviews with 55 key stakeholders of these programs (direct service staff, current participants, former participants, and shelter residents) to examine the degree to which TSH programs fulfill the needs of the women who use them. Consistent with other research on empowerment-based services, the study found that the women were most satisfied when services were provided in a respectful and individualized manner. The women's recommendations included the implementation of safety protocols and the need for a variety of support services that should be offered but not mandated.

Feminist researchers have found focus groups to be valuable for understanding collective experiences of marginalization, developing a structural analysis of individual experiences, and challenging taken-for-granted assumptions about race, gender, sexuality, and class. These benefits are in contrast to individual interviews, which may lend themselves to privatized and individualistic accounts of gendered experiences and which risk reproducing colonizing relationships and discourses. This study used both individual interviews (life-history methodology) and focus-group interviews to examine the effects of marginalization and oppression on Black Canadian women's lawbreaking. Combining these two methodologies may be particularly fruitful in cross-cultural and/or cross-racial research and in contexts such as correctional institutions, where issues of power and disclosure are amplified.

Mental retardation and related developmental disabilities affect 1.5% of the population in the United States. Efforts to address preventable developmental disabilities—such as those caused by lead poisoning, fetal alcohol syndrome, and traumatic brain injuries—have been the focus of activities in one state for almost 20 years. These efforts were created, and have been organized and sustained, by women. The prevention coalition was established to foster cooperation, identify and develop resources, and advocate for programs, services, and legislation. The coalition further promotes the development of leaders in the human services and public health fields and embraces feminist principles of collaboration, mutual support, nurturance,and self-empowerment in its organizing efforts. Implications for community organizing and development, public awareness and community education around primary prevention issues, legislative advocacy, mentoring and coaching of emerging leaders, community partnerships, and social change are discussed.

Now that the author has finished her doctoral thesis in social welfare but has not yet taken her oral examination, she wants to share the experience of her struggles in the past 3 years of nonstop studying. The completion of her studies motivated her to reveal her experiences as a Chinese woman who had been a housewife for 6 years before she entered the doctoral program. This was really a critical turning point for her in changing her social identity from a woman who was locked in the family domain to a female elite who could be accepted in the academic domain. However, then as now, she is filled with a strong passion for expressing women's voices, has a commitment to social justice, and is inspired to add to the knowledge base in her field.