Forensic social work is defined as the specialty that focuses on the interface between the legal system and the human service system. Forensic psychiatric social work is a subspecialty of forensic social work. Treatment issues arise in forensic social work due to the nature of working within the two systems, but some are specific to forensic psychiatric social work due to the nature of balancing the needs of the patient with the protection of society. Issues that are relevant to forensic psychiatric social work are, applying psychosocial rehabilitation strategies in a forensic setting, the paradox of custody vs. caring, issues surrounding confidentiality and the use of authority, bargaining and persuasion as tools for social work practice. The author identified these issues as each of them was raised during a specific case that the author was actively involved with. The focus of the study is to explore the issues by discussing them in relation to this case. The literature is reviewed and suggestions are made as to how the management of the case could have been improved. Recommendations are also made for the field of social work, specifically in the field of forensic psychiatry.

Few efforts have been made to understand the subjective experiences of birthparents involved in the child welfare system, especially of those who have had their parental rights permanently removed. The research undertaken seeks an initial investigation of this neglected issue, providing accounts of four birthmothers' experiences of having one or more of their children involuntarily and permanently removed from their care as a result of child neglect. Implicit in this research is the assumption that these mothers do indeed suffer tremendous grief over the loss of their children, regardless of child welfare agencies' assessments of their parenting capacities. Furthermore, the research critically evaluates how child welfare practice and policy might serve to exacerbate incumbent issues of loss, ultimately disenfranchising this already isolated and stigmatized population. Therefore, this qualitative study endeavours to assist not only child protection workers, but also the greater community in better understanding what it is like to be a "child welfare parent" who has had her parental rights terminated, and to be aware of the existing imbalance of power between child welfare agencies and the clientele they serve. The study ultimately aims to help ensure that human dignity and genuine respect are not lost in the work of child protection.

The purpose of the present research was to explore the political underpinnings that shape the meaning that native child welfare workers give to their work. This was achieved with the use of a participatory research model that combines group interviews (sharing circle) with ethnography as a means of data analysis. The resulting narratives have suggested that the meaning native child welfare workers attribute to their work emerges from their community and the provincial structures that legislate and define child welfare policies, two sources, composed of various sub-systems, that often share polarized values and ideologies in matters of child welfare. This struggle is further complicated by the cultural relevance of child welfare services in the debate surrounding sovereignty and colonialism. It is suggested that more attention be given to understanding this meaning and how this process must originate from the community if indeed the deriving services are to be both culturally relevant and community based.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current kinship initiative within the field of Child Welfare in Ontario by reviewing its history and exploring any obstacles that may be preventing the support of this program. Key themes that were derived from the data include economic, policy and legislative barriers to permanency and workplace culture creating barriers. Recommendations include the support of specialized kinship workers and assessors, increased funding to support this model and kinship service families, centralized government services and a more universal direction from the Ministry regarding service delivery. Implications for social work practice, policy and further research were also discussed and included less frustration with the program, resulting in an increase of referrals and continued growth and sustainability of placements; the end result would be fewer children entering foster care. The possibilities for future research include: evaluating permanency outcomes for children in kinship in-care versus kinship out-of-care, exploring what the long term social and economic impact of skipped-generation parenting will have on kin, and to assess if funding constraints and legal limitations are impacting clinical case planning in Child Welfare. / Le but de cette étude est d'évaluer l'initiative de parenté actuelle dans le domaine de la protection des enfants en Ontario en examinant son histoire et en explorant les obstacles qui peuvent empêcher la prise en charge de ce programme. Les thèmes qui ont été dérivées les données comprennent économique, création des barrières de la culture des obstacles politiques et des lois à la permanence et le lieu de travail. Recommandations comprennent la prise en charge des travailleurs de parenté spécialisés et des assesseurs, augmentés le financement à l'appui de ce modèle parenté service familles, services gouvernementaux centralisée et une direction plus universelle du ministère concernant la prestation de services. Implications pour la pratique du travail social, politique et poursuivre les recherches ont également discutées et inclus les moins frustration avec le programme, ce qui entraîne une augmentation des renvois et a continué de croissance et la durabilité des placements ; le résultat final serait moins d'enfants entrant soins foster. Les possibilités pour de futures recherches incluent : évaluer les résultats de la permanence pour enfants dans la parenté en soins versus parenté out-de-soins, exploration quel le long terme impact social et économique des responsabilités parentales génération ignoré aura sur kin, et d'évaluer si le financement des contraintes et des restrictions juridiques sont perturber une planification cas cliniques dans le bien-être de l'enfant.

It is generally accepted that spirituality can play an important role in the end stage of the life of a person. Spirituality can provide a source of comfort and guidance and in so doing be a coping strategy. Social workers should take into account this spiritual component of their work particularly with clients who use spirituality as a form of social support. This thesis provides a theoretical understanding of spiritual based practice. It identifies the principles and competencies central to this practice, including the need for worker self awareness. It then illustrates how certain social work students have applied these principles in their practice with dying clients. / The author's own identification as an individual from a religiously oriented Muslim country is used to illustrate the importance of understanding and working from the world view of clients. The author concludes that spirituality should not be ignored by social workers in their practice.

Problem. Oppressive cultural and social representations are inscribed on the body and intersect with women's subjective identity. / Objective. The present study explores the use of the body as a vehicle for resistance against such inscriptions. / Method. The practice of martial arts is investigated as one of the means of empowerment for women. Quantitative methods were used to compare the levels of empowerment in a group of women who practice martial arts versus a comparison group of women who do not practice martial arts. / Results. Quantitative analysis revealed that while no differences were found in overall empowerment scores between the two groups, differences were found on the subscales of empowerment. Women who practice martial arts demonstrated lower levels of Righteous Anger on the empowerment scale than women who do not practice martial arts. Closely reaching statistical significance, women who practice martial arts demonstrated higher levels of Control on the empowerment scale.

This exploratory study examined the recourse available to Montreal tenants facing housing problems that affect their health and/or safety. Strengths and weaknesses of the Quebec Rental Board and the borough-level city inspection service were explored through qualitative interviews with key informants and brief analysis of statistics. Findings suggest that, although the Rental Board has certain strengths and it is possible for tenants to achieve a positive outcome, particularly if represented by a lawyer, there is a major gap between tenants' rights under the Civil Code and their ability to enforce these rights in practice. Issues discussed include access, hearing procedures, challenges in providing proof, and results ultimately obtained. At the level of the borough inspection service, this study suggests both strengths and weaknesses, as well as variation between boroughs; time, resources, and the philosophy of intervention emerged as important themes. Ideas for improvements for both of these recourses were also discussed. / Cette étude exploratoire visait à examiner le recours disponible aux locataires montréalais vivant des problèmes de logement touchant leur santé et /ou leur sécurité. Les forces et les faiblesses de la Régie du logement du Québec ainsi que du Service d'inspection de la Ville de Montréal (arrondissements) ont été explorées par le biais d'entrevues avec des acteurs–clé ainsi qu'une analyse brève de statistiques. Les résultats suggèrent que, malgré certaines forces et bien qu'un résultat positif soit possible à la Régie du logement (surtout avec la représentation par avocat-e), il existe un écart important entre les droits accordés aux locataires en vertu du Code civil et leur capacité de faire respecter ces droits en pratique. L'accès, les procédures, la preuve, et les résultats ultimement obtenus sont parmi les enjeux discutés. Au niveau du service d'inspection, ce projet suggère des forces et des faiblesses, ainsi qu'une variation entre arrondissements. Le temps, les ressources et la philosophie d'intervention ont apparu comme thèmes importants. Des suggestions visant l'amélioration de ces deux recours ont également été discutées.

Delinquency among adolescents has become one of the major problems of our society. Much has been written about this problem and many studies by sociologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, have been made to find the causes. Over the decades many theories as to the cause or causes of delinquency have been postulated by various writers. These theories have varied from that of heredity to those of environmental or social factors. [...]

As a student, citizen and practitioner of community organization, the writer has had many opportunities to work with committees of varying kinds for different purposes. Some of these experiences have been pleasant, others have been arduous, a few have been considered as chores but rarely has a committee membership been accounted an activity of such worth as to lead to an increase in personal knowledge and enhancement within the profession. Having been an active participant in numerous committees and having had an advisory relationship to others, one is sometimes inclined to agree with the anonymous wit who believed that 'the best committee is that one which consists of a good chairman and two members, the latter being absent.' [...]

Family casework agencies have always been concerned with the impact of life's circumstance on the family as a whole and with what can be done to help families achieve stability or to make changes that will help them to achieve maximum effectiveness in handling both everyday and critical life problems. In family-centred casework, the improvement of the social functioning of the family unit is achieved by direct or indirect treatment of individual family members, so planned, so balanced and controlled, that benefits accrue to the total group.