Affilia

Based on the analysis of qualitative, semi-structured interviews conducted with 92 welfare-reliant lone mothers living across Canada, this article explores the “micro-aggressions” experienced by these women in their interactions with the social welfare system. Micro-aggressions refer to the verbal and nonverbal, relational exchanges that send denigrating messages to persons of marginalized and discriminated against social groups. From the analysis, we conclude that class and gender become sites, intersecting and interlocking, where micro-aggressions as a form of interpersonal violence and discrimination occur against women/lone mothers living in poverty that act to diminish the agency and sense of public worthiness of these women, in turn limiting their access to contesting these constructions.

This study explores how formerly incarcerated women define success. Qualitative analysis of data from in-depth interviews with 30 women who had been released from prison at least 3 months prior to the interview suggests that avoiding recidivism is only one aspect of success for this population. Success is defined as having their own place, helping family members and others, living free from criminal justice surveillance, persevering through challenges, and living a “normal life.” Ways in which these conceptualizations expand traditional notions of success for this population are discussed. Limitations and suggestions for future research are offered.

Social work educators who identify as feminists often find themselves feeling isolated in the academy and longing for connection. Connection is emphasized in Relational Cultural Theory (RCT), a theory of human development that emphasizes the perspective that individuals grow in relationship with one another. The authors apply RCT to membership on the Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education (Women’s Council), within the Council on Social Work Education. This perspective has explanatory value and can be used to help plan for and facilitate beneficial mentoring experiences. Implications for research and for use in other contexts are considered.

This phenomenological study captured the unique perspectives and insight of how 10 black women experience and define leadership in their HIV/AIDS community work. Black feminist epistemology provided the framework for understanding how these women experienced leadership at the intersection of race/gender/power while working on behalf of marginalized and stigmatized community members. Salient themes that emerged from the analysis include leadership is situational and contextual, leadership is inclusive and collective, intent is more important than label, leadership is transformative, leadership is scrutinized, and power is centered in mothering relationships. Their leadership builds on the efforts of the liberation and racial uplift work of the 19th-century Black Women’s Club Movement and emerged as black feminist leadership to address the contemporary social injustice of HIV/AIDS.

There is a growing body of qualitative research into women’s experiences of recovery from an eating disorder, however, as yet there has been little attention to the gendered social dimensions of these experiences. This in-depth interview study with eight recovered women was informed by the feminist concept of situated intersubjectivity, which allows for attention to both the discursive and material/lived dimensions of women’s experiences, as well as the intersubjective gender relations framing these. Narrative–discursive analysis revealed three main themes in women’s narratives, namely, recovery as a journey, turning points to recovery, and transforming relationships. Analysis demonstrated how many women’s accounts took the form of quest narratives, drawing on humanist discourses and practices of self-care and self-discovery to construct recovery as a journey to self. However, the study particularly identified shifts in intersubjective gender relations across women’s narratives that enabled other ways of belonging, recognition, self-acceptance, and agency. This article examines the implications of these findings for social workers and other health-care practitioners who support women experiencing eating disorders.

Rooming houses are often considered last resort accommodation for people affected by homelessness. However, some rooming houses aspire to provide safe, affordable, good-quality accommodation. This article reports on research into an activity program Women Achieving New Directions (WAND) in one such rooming house for women in Melbourne, Australia. Women-only homelessness programs are important because of women’s specific, gendered experiences of homelessness. Five main themes relating to program impact and structure were identified from the data, namely, reducing isolation, the importance of leaving choice to the women, the vital role of staff support, the emerging sense of program ownership, and experiences of building community connection.

In this article, we analyze the importance of the face as the expression of stigma for incarcerated women. Using a methodological model of body mapping, we carried out a qualitative analysis from an intertextual perspective on self-portraits. A specific case study was selected: an imprisoned Andean woman (named Satu for the purpose of this research) serving a 10-year sentence in a Chilean prison for drug trafficking. Among the most relevant conclusions, is the expression of the good/evil dichotomy recorded as the manifestation of bitterness and guilt in a moral and institutional penalty system that doubly punishes women offenders, particularly at two levels: a symbolic and imaginary one because of their involvement in criminal activity dominated by males, and the second a real one that strips away their natural right to function in their maternal role, producing extreme guilt.

There is a clear need for financial literacy programs specific to survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), as the skills and knowledge acquired during these programs stand to increase survivors’ ability to achieve economic independence. In order to understand advocates’ experiences in providing a financial literacy program, this study reports the findings of a qualitative study among 19 domestic violence advocates across 10 states. Findings revealed that advocates expressed complexities in providing financial literacy to survivors. Furthermore, advocates discussed the ways in which they incorporated the financial literacy curriculum into their own financial management behaviors. These findings provide critical information in regard to best practice approaches to incorporating financial literacy into IPV services.

The sex trafficking of women has received attention by the U.S. social work profession as a contemporary human-rights abuse. However, trafficking is not an emergent issue but is historically situated within the profession. Sex trafficking is inextricably linked with the origins of professional social work, with Jane Addams playing a critical role in the Progressive Era fight against sexual slavery. This has impacted the contemporary understanding of sex trafficking by social workers and has had practice implications. This article examines historical and contemporary parallels, policies, and perspectives on the sex trafficking of women in the United States.