International Social Work

Equity is inherent to democracy and the stated mission of the social work profession. We contend that neoliberal values re-define democracy, as if market-driven ideology, practices, and modes of governance are the essence of democracy, and this further precludes us from re-imagining democracy-to-come. To illustrate how democracy is undergoing a metamorphosis, we use the international education policies in Canada as a case study. Informed by Deleuze and Guattari’s work on the construct of the rhizome, we illustrate how complex rhizomatic systems in the global market have been endlessly devised while legitimizing neoliberal products as the ‘real’/democracy in international education.

In this article, we discuss the question of why only a few men decide to study social science courses such as social work. While the conceptual base of our analysis includes the theory of planned behaviour and theories centring on gender role orientations, the empirical base is a random cluster sample of high-school graduates in Switzerland. The results show different gender effects, as well as direct and indirect effects, for all the theory of planned behaviour factors. Gender role orientations and the question of how a social science profession fits one’s own gender identity appear to be of particular importance only among male students.

This article explores global social work ethics and international field training based on the experiences and practice dilemmas of Norwegian and Swedish social work students. It employs a postcolonial perspective to answer ‘What are key ethical challenges for the students?’ and ‘How can social work educators promote ethical awareness in international field training?’ based on focus group interviews and field reports. The results show that international field training contributes to both deepening some students’ critical knowledge and reinforcing others their colonial discourses. It is argued that social work educators play an important role for students’ critical positioning and knowledge.

During the last few years, there has been a growing concern for environmental justice within international social work. This article connects to such concerns and aims to present and discuss environmental injustices faced by local communities in Mauritius, Peru and Sweden. Primary data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with a total of 25 key representatives of local communities in the three countries. Secondary materials were combined with the primary data in ATLAS-ti v.8.3 for a deductive critical discourse analysis. The findings describe the substantive, distributive and procedural environmental injustices faced by local communities in the three case studies. The article then considers the implications of the findings for international social work interventions in promoting environmental justice. The article concludes on the need for international social workers to continue their efforts and practices towards achieving environmental justice for all, in promoting global sustainable development.

This article discusses the social development practices of an international collaboration working to reduce energy poverty through the provision of household solar lighting for Indigenous people living in remote communities in the Remexio district in Timor-Leste. The article discusses some of the findings of a practice-based study that uses collaborative inquiry to analyse the working model of ‘Lampu Diak’, the name of the solar lighting project, and its impacts on the health and well-being of local people and the communities in which they live. Underpinned by a practice-based sociomaterial approach, the analysis characterises the Lampu Diak project as a heterogeneous and distributed network. It discusses four of the developmental social work practices that sustain the project, with a particular emphasis on the introduction of clean, affordable, sustainable solar lighting and the associated ‘common funds’. Common funds are informal microcredit schemes managed by community-based self-help groups. The article explores the potential affordances, benefits and pitfalls of common funds and the unanticipated ways in which they continue to unfold and extend the Lampu Diak project. The article contributes an example of how a village-to-village transnational collaboration practises developmental social work in a particular context.

The aim of this study was to explore work stress among social workers working in nongovernmental services in Cyprus and the factors affecting work performance, as well as possible causes of occupational stress and work burnout. It focuses on organizational characteristics as well as individual factors, which can have an impact on the social workers’ work performance. The method of collecting qualitative data was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 12 professional social workers employed in different nongovernmental organizations. Results show that important sources of work stress for these social workers include the excessive workload, working overtime, dealing with role ambiguity/conflict and ethical dilemmas in the workplace, and having to confront unmet personal expectations and a negative public perception of the profession. These work stressors combined with the insufficient support and understanding by the supervisor and colleagues may lead to occupational stress and burnout symptoms. Findings highlight the fact that awareness and understanding of the impact of occupational stress could be a primary focus of prevention of burnout among professional social workers.

This article presents the results obtained in a qualitative study based on the experiences of professionals from two Chilean projects addressing Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC). Methodologically, this study consisted of semi-structured interviews of professionals paired with a group participation-based approach. Participants identified critical knots that stemmed from the difficulty or complexity of CSEC itself, and from the limitations and contradictions of the national child welfare and judicial systems. These points of contradiction produce ethical and emotional tensions, which the professional resolves using accommodations as well as resistances based on the Focus on Rights within these same systems.

Femicide is experienced almost every day in Turkey due to male violence; tens of thousands of families and children who are affected by the violence are, at the same time, left behind. In this study, in-depth interviews were conducted, using a qualitative method, with 6 children and 17 caregivers who were left behind following 10 cases of femicide, and the problems and needs experienced by these people are revealed.

Informal care is recognised as a significant resource in the care of older adults living with a chronic life-limiting illness. This review aims to assess the existing literature on how informal care can support older people living with chronic life-limiting illness in Africa. An integrative review framework was used. Three themes emerged to focus on chronic illness management as a social and clinical matter; cultural obligations contingent on the availability of people and resources; and burden of care relieved by connection with the church. Social policies should be structured to support caregivers and older adults to strengthen the ties between community social organisations and their families.

The purpose of this study is to assess the dynamics of multidimensional poverty and inequality among middle-aged and older adults. The findings demonstrate that most people may experience multidimensional poverty in old age. Social participation plays a crucial role in contributing to overall poverty. The most prominent factor of inequality among those in poverty is sex, and the greatest disparity in the multidimensional poverty across subgroups is education. This study offers empirical evidence on the old age poverty profile from a multidimensional perspective and helps to target disadvantaged groups and regions.

Social care is an immature welfare policy domain in Turkey, with three distinctive characteristics: the central role of the family, limited public expenditure, and low levels of institutionalization and professionalization. However, following local legislative reform in 2004, municipalities have become important actors in social care provision, initiating social care programs for local citizens. This article fills a gap in the existing literature by focusing on the smallest administrative units of the local welfare system: the district municipalities. The article explores and compares the emerging role of district municipalities in social care provision in selected districts of Istanbul to assess, in the context of an immature welfare system, how far they fulfill the principle of universal provision. It finds that while service provision capacity was increased by localization to an extent, the social care provision capacity that district municipalities developed is not sufficient to transform social care policies into one that conforms to the principle of universalism. Due to coordination problems and the wide service area defined by the law, district municipalities ‘pick and choose’ service beneficiaries, instead of ensuring equal access for all local citizens.

The objective of this article was to validate the Spanish version of a prosociality scale that evaluates prosociality toward family members, friends, and strangers. This objective was developed in two studies. In Study 1, exploratory factor analysis was conducted to test the construct validity of the scale. The reliability was tested using McDonald’s omega coefficient and coefficient H. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to confirm the structure of the scale. Moreover, the convergent validity of the Prosocial Behavior Scale toward Different Targets was studied by analyzing its correlation with other well-known scales: the Prosocial Tendencies Measure and Interpersonal Reactivity Index.