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Ukraine is home to one of the world‘s fastest growing HIV epidemic and has received significant amounts of foreign aid to help it tackle the crisis. This study is an enquiry into the implementation of the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) programmes in Ukraine, during the second decade of this country‘s post-Soviet economic and political transition. The discussion is positioned within a broader debate on aid effectiveness. By looking at the GFATM as an aid institution whose establishment was purported to improve the aid delivery process, the thesis offers a critical insight on the GFATM aid delivery model in the context of Ukraine. The thesis investigates the conduct and practice of INGO and national NGOs in their role as Principal Recipients of GFATM grants targeting HIV prevention in Ukraine. Based on ethnographical enquiry conducted in three oblasts in Ukraine, and in capital Kyiv, the thesis aims to understand how NGOs have implemented HIV prevention services in context of state-owned health care system and to determine the perceived effects of the GF programmes on the ground. The thesis situates analysis of NGOs into a broader socio-political context of post-Soviet Ukraine and questions their role as central actors in delivering essential HIV programmes in parallel with or instead of the state, as well as the consequences for sustainability of such programmes. Using the particular experience in Ukraine, the thesis shows the influence of global funding institutions on relationships between state and civil society and altering of civil society‘s roles in aid programmes. The thesis includes a comprehensive literature analysis about the Global Fund and other donor programmes working in Ukraine in the area of HIV/AIDS.

In 2009, the Government introduced measures to improve social work training and practice in response to having analysed findings from Serious Case Reviews in the aftermath of a series of child deaths. One of the most significant of these improvements was the introduction of a new training framework, entitled the ‘Professional Capabilities Framework’ (The College of Social Work, 2012d). Emotional resilience was, for the first time, identified as a required capability within the ‘Professionalism’ domain of the framework. The aim of this research was to identify what emotional resilience was in the context of social work practice in order to meet the requirements of the Professional Capabilities Framework, thus addressing the Government’s new directives for improved social work education and training. A research study was undertaken to collect data relating to emotional resilience within a social work context involving ten focus groups of between 3-5 participants. The participants were chosen because of their experience in relation to emotional resilience and social work, either through being employed, studying or working in partnership with the University of Derby. The groups comprised, social work team managers, newly qualified and experienced Social Workers, practice educators, lecturers, social work students from all three years of the Social Work Degree Programme and service users and carers. All of the focus group discussions were audio-taped, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The study produced a definition of emotional resilience specifically for Social Workers which identified core traits of optimism, self-awareness, empathy and stability as well as the ability to remain calm and demonstrate appropriate empathy. The necessity for Social Workers to be emotionally resilient was confirmed, and causal factors in the development of emotional resilience such as adversity in life, reflective supervision and a supportive working environment, were highlighted. Valuable information was also obtained about how students might be educated and trained to become emotionally resilient professionals, in order to meet the requirements of the Professional Capabilities Framework. The findings indicated that challenging role plays, self-awareness activities, preparation for practice modules, the use of explicit case studies, reflective supervision and statutory placements, were all effective mediums for promoting emotional resilience. Keywords: emotional resilience, Professional Capabilities Framework, social work education and training, social work curriculum.

This study aims to critically analyse and explore how social workers (operating in the adult social work practice domain) draw on wider social (and social work) discourses in accounting for the work that they do. Utilising purposeful samples of students and qualified social work practitioners, this exploratory study of discourses analyses the implications this has on the construction of the social work identity, role and practice (action). Driven by a series of research questions, the objectives of this research were: 1) To critically analyse and explore the discourses on which students and social work practitioners draw on in their accounts of social work practice; 2) To identify and critically analyse the subject positions and discursive practices (collective ways of speaking) of social workers in respect of these discourses; 3) To critically analyse how and in what way social workers at different stages of the career trajectory draw differently upon these discourses; 4) To critically analyse and evaluate the implications for practice and service users of the respondents’ subject positioning and the discursive practices that they employ; 5) Develop a critically reflexive method (model) for social work education and research in order to make recommendations for research, education and critical social work practice (in the context of self-awareness). As this study involves several people in the exploration of adult social work (Community Care policy context), it will contribute to knowledge of the meaning given to contemporary social work. It does so by expanding the concept of discourse analysis to the wider social context in which the overall narrative (story) is ‘told’. This research aims to understand how respondents draw on discourses in particular ways and includes an analysis of the contradictions and gaps within the overall narrative of social work. Stemming from wider pre-determined narratives that are available in social work cultures, this study not only analyses the words themselves by utilising discourse analytic tools, but demonstrates new ways in which to apply critical discourse analysis in the exploration of accounts of social work. In this examination, this research critically analyses and evaluates the implications these discourses can have on identity construction (personal and professional self), as well as on those social work intends to benefit (service users).

In the long history of Cyprus, the ‘persona’, contributions, underpinning ideologies, role and historical trajectory of the voluntary sector, have not, unlike in other countries, been the subject of any substantial empirical and theoretical exploration, remaining under-researched questions. The main purpose of the research is to understand the rich past of the Cypriot voluntary sector and trace its trajectory to the present. How and why did the voluntary sector develop? Which factors lie behind its development? Using the framework of non-profit regimes, the main research tool for exploring voluntary sector development and its attached social origins theory, the research moves beyond the dominant state-society approach to study the Cypriot voluntary sector trajectory. Using qualitative rather than a quantitative methodology, and moving between the micro, meso and macro levels of analysis, the research explores welfare actors, institutions, structures, cultural and non-cultural elements, including any aspect which provides insight into how and why the voluntary sector in Cyprus developed the way that it has. It asks separately about the relationships between the voluntary sector and a) the state/regime, b) the Church/religion and c) society, exploring explanations for the distinctive features of Cyprus’ voluntary sector. The thesis furthermore makes use of the tools of historical institutionalism, specifically critical junctures and path dependency. Evidence not only challenges the narrow view in the literature, both theoretically and methodologically, for the study of voluntary sector development, but also the restricted experiences of non-profit regime typologies and their assumptions about regimes, welfare negotiations and power relationships. Hence, the research argues for a refined approach to investigate voluntary sector trajectories and suggests new dimensions, beyond the ‘traditional’ origins factors of non-profit regime theory. The thesis’ main arguments, mostly underexplored or missed in non-profit regime research, are that the voluntary sector not only derived from the Cypriot regime and its distinct evolutionary process, influenced by the dynamic historic and socio-political context and path dependency forces, but was also a source for the welfare state’s development. Religion, both as institutional structure and cultural and political force, shaped associational life; it also had a profound impact in shaping the voluntary sector’s major transformation points. The thesis also reflects how societal synergies, families, communities, and gender can contribute to our understanding of voluntary sector trajectories. Underlying forces emerge as authoritarianism, a weak welfare regime growing under the shadow of political turbulence, social, national/ethnic identity issues and empowerment.

This thesis concerns the role of the Social Care Worker in interventions into unacceptable sexual behaviour in people who have a learning disability. It takes as point of departure ways in which support organisations and individual members of staff become aware that a service user’s sexual behaviour needs to be addressed. This raises issues about the service user’s human rights, confidentiality, and the concept of what it is to be ‘professional’ which can affect information sharing between support organisations and also between fellow support workers. In the case of the latter this relates to the workers status within the organisation, relations of power/knowledge which also has implications for the status of these workers as ‘professionals’. The thesis goes on to determine the support workers’ perceptions of what Bourdieu has termed, their ‘field’. That is to say, those behaviours they feel they can address without consulting health professionals. In addition to this, criteria used to decide when it is appropriate to consult health professionals is also described which thus demarcates their ‘field’ as perceived by the social care workers. The subsequent roles of the SCW whether working with or without input of health professionals is then discussed in terms of the individual worker’s ‘proximity’ or working relationship with the service user in question, and also their status within the support organisation. Findings suggest that some front-line workers who can claim closer ‘proximity’ to the service user may not have the same level of information about the behaviour as their managers who work off-site and do not have their direct care. Consideration is then given to accounts of situations in which input from health professionals is sought but is not forthcoming leaving SCWs and their organisations to deal with the behaviour in-house. Some of these such as sexual assault and rape are thus being treated in the community when otherwise the individuals concerned would be treated in locked NHS wards. Thus a new ‘field’ emerges requiring of the SCW a level of responsibility and skill that goes unacknowledged. The thesis ends by considering the feelings of workers involved in interventions into unacceptable sexual behaviour and concludes with recommendations on the education and support these workers require. Acknowledgement of the work they do and re-assessment of their status as workers is also recommended.

This qualitative research study explores the experience of graduating social workers making the transition from university training into work as qualified social work practitioners. Most studies in this area look at the practice readiness of the newly qualified professional. This study looks at the participants’ experience in the work place. How do participants experience this journey of transition? What skills, particularly reflective practice and supervision, learned in training, are important to them? Eight graduates were interviewed three times as they began to practice, after six months and at the end of year one. Four people worked in children’s services, four in adult services. The methodology adopted for this research was Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). These findings suggest there is a process of transition that has three strands, phased development, a professional strand and a psychological /emotional strand. These strands are unique and taken together give a holistic view of an individual’s journey of transition. Across the eight participants there were commonalities and divergences between transition experiences. However a model of transition did emerge which may be applicable to other professional spheres. Reflective practice and supervision appear to be key elements of a newly qualified social workers practice. All participants received supervision; for the majority supervision was focused on case discussions and the social workers decision making: Little place was given to reflection on practice this was seen as an activity that worker’s carried out on their own in their car following a home visit, or on the way home at the end of the working day. There was no clear model of reflective practice used. A further finding concerns the methodology IPA, particularly this researcher’s experience of bracketing and research journaling as part of the research process.

This thesis considers social work practice with separated young people who have migrated to Germany and the UK, with a specific focus on the role of human rights perspectives within practitioners’ approaches. The conceptual starting points are the contradictions between human rights frameworks which are commonly conceptualised as universal and inclusive, and the exclusive responses of Western states towards 'irregular' and asylum migration. These contradictions are enhanced and complicated by binary conceptualisations of childhood and adulthood, affording children different rights from adults. In practice, separated young people are treated very differently depending on whether they are considered 'children' or 'adults'. While many face disbelief from authorities regarding their asylum and age claims, even those who are initially accepted as 'children' are faced with uncertain futures as they enter legal 'adulthood'. Social workers, as members of a profession which considers itself a key proponent of social justice and human rights, are at the interface of these dilemmas in their practice with separated young people. They have a central role in inclusive processes, helping young people access support and resources, but they may also be caught up in exclusionary processes which significantly affect their practice, including their commitment to emancipatory values. Seeking to unsettle and transcend dichotomist conceptualisations, the field research for this thesis examined accounts of practitioners in different organisational settings in Berlin and London/Southeast England. The findings suggest that there were different approaches, which were not mutually exclusive, to conceptualising and referring to human rights more or less explicitly in their day-to-day practice. In what can be described as a liminal field of social work practice, practitioners used a range of strategies between accommodation with and resistance to difficult policy contexts.

In this thesis, I seek to advance our knowledge about the factors that make people start and stop volunteer work, thus shedding light on the capacity of volunteering and voluntary associations to foster social cohesion. In particular, my goal is twofold: first, to reveal to what extent voluntary associations function as meeting places for people from different social backgrounds, and second, to assess the resilience of civic participation in the face of labor market experiences that might undermine such engagement. I make three core contributions to the literature on voluntary association involvement. First, I pay special attention to the organizational contexts in which volunteers are embedded. Second, I adopt a dynamic approach, analyzing decisions to start and stop volunteering. Third, I attempt to disentangle alternative mechanisms that could drive the associations observed between volunteering and its potential determinants. Analyzing data from The Netherlands and the United States, my findings expose limits to the integrative capacity of voluntary association involvement. As it turns out, the civic landscape is strongly segregated. People tend to sort into voluntary associations where they mostly meet people with similar characteristics as themselves. Such sorting occurs along multiple social dimensions, including educational attainment, religiosity, gender, and ethnicity. This constrains the opportunities for building relationships that cut across existing social boundaries. Indeed, these sorting processes can reproduce in the civic domain fault lines that dominate other spheres of life. Furthermore, civic engagement and participation in the labor market are shown to be strongly intertwined, with the former breaking down when labor force exits occur. Voluntary association involvement is, therefore, of limited value for drawing labor force outsiders into public life. However, this chain of events does not necessarily unfold, as long as labor force outsiders retain aspirations to participate in social life.

Social work is one of several professions closely associated with caring and femininity, and, as a result, often suggested as a non-traditional occupational choice for a man. Men’s generally poorer educational experience becomes more prominent when studying a subject associated with femininity such as social work (Severiens and ten Dam 2012). Men have more progression issues than women on English university social work courses (Hussein et al. 2008; Schaub 2015), and our understanding of how men experience social work education is limited. This thesis examines in-depth men social work students’ experience and progression, in order to determine the underlying reasons for men’s poorer progression. Twenty-one social work student men from seven English universities were interviewed using qualitative methods. The study found participants described a complex, layered set of experiential and progression challenges that are specific to men. These impediments appear to combine, for some men, with other non-gender specific difficulties, thereby increasing the likelihood of failure or withdrawal. Some men are able to manage these issues, but others find them more challenging, suggesting some men experience a cycle of academic struggle and disengagement closely linked to their identity as men training to become social workers. In order to understand their experience, several theoretical strands were applied. Theories of stigma, masculinities and student retention were used to provide explanations for the challenges found for the men interviewed. In addition to providing a voice for men social work students, this study makes recommendations for social work educators and programmes to support men to more successfully complete social work courses.