International Social Work

This article presents the responses from frontline social work practitioners, administrators and educators in Trinidad to the recently published Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development. In acknowledging the significance of the Global Agenda, it became apparent that there was a need to solicit and channel the views of the local practitioners on this declaration. This article is based on a study carried out by the social work unit of the University of the West Indies. The study was intended to facilitate the articulation of the perceptions of key constituents about the Global Agenda and to critically analyse and respond to the Global Agenda within the context of a developing region. This article draws on the data that were collected from a focus group discussion among key constituents in the profession of social work in Trinidad. The findings support the Global Agenda as culturally relevant to the social realities facing Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region at this time. The prevailing view was that notwithstanding the responsibility to institutionalise the currency of the profession to influence social policy development on critical human rights and social justice issues, country-specific mandates and jurisdictions must be maintained as the primary determinants of social work practice, education and policy development. The potential value, applicability and advancement of the four commitments put forward in the Global Agenda are also highlighted.

The literature highlights the difficulty involved in integrating human rights and social work practice, especially among students who encounter extreme and unfamiliar social problems. Content analysis of narratives written by students during their field placement abroad contributes to identifying the conditions that are necessary to increase students’ awareness of their own obstacles and difficulties in promoting human rights. The findings provide insights into the actions that need to be taken in order to enhance human rights knowledge and to better integrate it into practice. International field placement is recommended as a preferred setting for implementing social rights practice in global contexts.

Advantages, phases, challenges, and strategies related to the process and procedures involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating study abroad programs, and addressing emergencies have been discussed as being issues in teaching trauma and diversity content. However, very little has been written about study abroad programs dedicated to specific topics and no studies address teaching trauma content by means of international immersion courses. This article discusses pedagogical and logistic aspects of teaching about trauma in diverse cultural contexts using a recent intensive immersion study abroad course in Israel to illustrate the issues under discussion.

This article critically examines the close tie between host and source countries in producing education migration. Using South Korea and Canada as a case study, our analysis illustrates how the gradual granting/limiting of citizenship to education migrants is ingrained in social policy which contributes to the nation-building of the host country while relying on ‘foreign’ income from the source country, impinging on family life (i.e. splitting family structure trans-nationally), and risking social integration. Although the actors are changed from labor migrants to education migrants the same dynamic of excluding migrants from citizenship and distinguishing worthy migrants from non-worthy migrants remains unchanged.

The Integrated Community Development and Child Welfare Model (CD-CW) engages workers with families and communities to reduce poverty, and at the same time, improve the well-being of children. Skill building in asset-based development, family enterprise, and child trauma is delivered through a three-stage, applied training model. CD-CW was pilot tested and implemented with 100 livelihood and child welfare workers in Ethiopia. Data from Learning Portfolios, team consultations, and a 2-day evaluation retreat are reported. Findings include the importance of using asset-based assessments, applied assignments, and integrated training to address poverty directly as a root cause of child maltreatment.

Critical interrogation of social work texts reveals ideologies contributing to hegemonic ‘taken-for-granted’ knowledge that maintains oppressive power relations. In the South African context of ongoing inequality after the 1994 democratic transition, neo-liberal ideologies have structured and constrained social work knowledge and practice constitutive of social change. Similarly, conservative neo-liberal ideologies underpinning social work knowledge and discourse act performatively to shape practice and social realities. This article, based on a section of the author’s PhD study, examines one of the thematic ideological trends found in post-1994 social work texts on poverty and social development, which reflect neo-liberal, individualist ideologies of ‘blaming-the-poor’ and personal culpability for poverty. A selection of three texts is discussed, illustrating processes and modes of operation of these ideologies in the various approaches proposed.

Migration, particularly when triggered by economic or political hardship, has significant psychological and socio-economic consequences for the individuals concerned. While an impressive amount of research has been conducted by social workers into migration in North America, Europe and Asia, the same cannot be said for Africa. The continent has high numbers of displaced people and refugees, yet no Africa-linked research on migration has been published by the social work profession. This article addresses this gap in the literature by focusing specifically on Zimbabwean day labourers in South Africa. Survey results reveal that these migrants face intense competition for scarce jobs, and thus economic uncertainty, and are often victimised. It is incumbent upon the social work profession to expose the vulnerable conditions in which day labourers have to operate, and to mobilise a coordinated response from relevant government and non-profit organisations in the interests of greater social justice and harmony.

Unlike the economic costs of migration, the psychosocial conditions and emotional needs of migrant family members in Southern Africa are under-researched. Therefore, this article examines narratives of suffering provided by Zimbabwean non-migrant women. It demonstrates that the absence of men from the home creates a multidimensional deficit – not only a loss of caring hands but also forcing non-migrant women to double-up on the responsibilities in the family. Factors connected to women’s suffering include overwhelming responsibility at home and emotional insecurity created by prolonged separation and the potential disintegration of familial bonds. The article also considers the implications of non-migrant women’s experiences for social work research.

For many Latino immigrants, family separation due to migration is common. Children who experience family separation and reunify with their parents in the United States experience profound outcomes. Research is limited in understanding how these youth adjust to life in the host country. Through in-depth interviews, this study investigated the adjustment processes of 10 Mexican immigrant youth who reunified with their parents. Findings indicated that male participants experienced low levels of familial, social support and had low academic achievement. Female participants received greater familial, social support and had high academic achievement. Recommendations for research and social work practice are provided.

This study investigates the determinants of social support. We used a random sample of 211 female Chinese marriage migrants from a 2-year longitudinal secondary data set and conducted bivariate and multivariate multiple regressions to examine the associations of social support with acculturation stress, persistent acculturation stress, psychological wellbeing, perceived neighborhood disorder, and optimism. Results showed that marriage migrants have difficulties rebuilding their social network outside their own communities. Acculturation stress and psychological wellbeing were the two significant factors affecting social support. Findings suggest that social support interventions should focus on alleviating acculturation stress, expanding social networking opportunities, and enhancing psychological wellbeing.

This article examines the representation of social workers in the Russian-language immigrant press in Israel. Social work is a public service that did not exist in the USSR and most Russian immigrants were not familiar with it before immigration. This lack of basic knowledge underscores the importance of reliable representation of this major public service in the immigrant media. Nevertheless, the findings show that by taking the immigrants’ side under any circumstances, while distorting the function of the social work services, the immigrant press fails to fulfill its socialization role and does not facilitate its readers’ integration in their new society.

Intercountry adoption programmes have brought children from racially and culturally diverse backgrounds to live as Australians, including 30 Thai children from Rangsit Children’s Home who arrived in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This article provides insight into the experiences of intercountry adoptees at four key stages of the adoption process: leaving the orphanage, arrival in Australia, becoming a member of a family and reconnecting with Thai culture. As this study demonstrates, each of these phases can be challenging for both the adoptees and the families who adopt them and supports may be required long after adoptees become adults.

Family environments are known to usually be better for children’s development than institutional care. China has experience with different forms of foster care, but none have been empirically evaluated, especially with respect to children’s outcomes. One form of foster care is ‘collective fostering’, in which many foster families live in a single apartment building on the grounds of the institution. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of such a project operated by a children’s institution in a large city in China by examining changes in children’s height and weight from before to after entering foster care. Results (n = 102, mean age = 63 months) showed a significant positive quadratic relationship between time and height (p = .002), with height z-scores declining during institutional residency and then increasing after entering foster care. Further analysis on children (n = 23) who were enrolled in the fostering project for more than 65 months showed that their height and weight z-scores improved significantly while living in foster families compared to the last assessment before the transition. The study concluded that the collective foster care project, like the more widely practiced community foster care, had the potential for improving children’s development.

Child soldiering affects approximately 300,000 children worldwide. Abducted and forced into combat, victims experience trauma that may have life-long effects. Thus, it is important to understand child soldiers’ experiences and develop culturally appropriate interventions. Using Qualitative Interpretive Meta-Synthesis (QIMS), the authors sought to understand the lived experiences of ex-child soldiers in Sierra Leone, Northern Uganda, and Liberia. Findings revealed the experiential nuances of four phases ex-child soldiers experience: abduction; militarization; demilitarization and reintegration; and civilian life. Findings enhance current knowledge about ex-child soldiers’experiences and inform policy and program design to help ex-child soldiers cope with the aftermath of the war and civilian life.

South Africa’s intention is to build a developmental state. A developmental state can promote both social development and economic development. The author argues that social workers need to ensure that the developmental state prioritizes social development.

Despite significant contributions from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in socio-economic development in Bangladesh, the evidence in community development is little known. The findings of this article are based on two NGOs working with two indigenous communities. The study used a qualitative case study research approach, where a multi-method data collection procedure was applied. The analysis of the findings underscored the role of these two NGOs in four ingredients of community development: improving participation, social networking, partnership and development ownership. The results showed that the NGOs’ contributions in community development were credible. The findings provide important guidelines for social workers, NGO workers and development practitioners.

For more than four decades, governments of Ghana have worked with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to solve rural problems. However, the extent to which NGOs have been able to improve rural conditions is questionable. Many have suggested that NGOs function more as patriarchs than as partners in their rural development work. This article is a critique of NGO strategies for rural development in Ghana, in which I argue that the longstanding limitations of NGO strategies may have contributed to rural underdevelopment rather than development. I conclude that if NGOs are to contribute meaningfully to rural development in Ghana, they will need to change their strategies.

Advocacy is a crucial vehicle for realising social work’s commitment to social justice. Yet, particularly in South Africa, little is known about social work research on advocacy. Therefore, this article uses a qualitative systematic review of published research on advocacy in South Africa’s social welfare sector in order to evaluate the contribution of social work research. It finds that there is scant research on social welfare advocacy in South Africa. Based on these findings, the article suggests areas for further social work research on advocacy in South Africa’s social welfare sector.

Metropolitan municipalities are responsible for social services in Turkey. This study is built on two main points that affect each other: (1) the creation of a social texture map with the help of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and (2) the establishment of a Social Information Center (SIC) in the city of Konya, Turkey, within the scope of Konya Metropolitan Municipality. The SIC Project includes the relation of the local government services to the public and can be described as an important project. As the scope of this project is conceived on a model scale of Konya Province, it includes important steps where inferences can be made on the scale of Turkey.