In a globalized social welfare market, where international and national NGOs influence social service delivery in community’s worldwide, the demands on mutual exchange, shared responsibilities, and transnational collaborations has increased. However, there are some challenges that NGOs face in this work. Lack in coordination of donor funded projects have enabled overlapping responsibility in service provision and a rivalry between NGOs in retrieving funds, witch in it turn has hindered the communication of knowledge between NGOs in the social work field. To create good practice, the basic assumption is that NGOs have to be able to learn from past experiences, a process known as organizational learning. One way of realizing organizational learning, is through evaluation. The success of an evaluation is further closely linked with the utilization of the knowledge gained. The purpose of this study is to discover how knowledge gained through an evaluation made by the Swedish organization IOGT-NTO, has been used within the non-governmental organization of UYDEL, and how this knowledge is communicated to the organizations stakeholders. To realize our purpose, we conducted a field study within UYDEL in Kampala, Uganda. The material, collected through interviews and observations, was later transcribed and analyzed, in relation to our theoretical framework. The theoretical framework includes basic theories on organizational learning, evaluation and communication. Our results indicate that issues that initially introduced themselves in this evaluation, later was reintroduced in our material, and thus still remained a problem within UYDEL. What seemed to hinder organizational learning was the organizations over-dependency on its donors, which affected its sustainability, and could be seen as a consequence of the misplacement of recourses within the organization.

The aim of the study is to examine professional social workers experiences of legitimacy in conducting social work in Ghana’s capital Accra and to discuss possible sources of legitimacy. The idea is to problematize social work as a profession developed and constructed in Western contexts and exported to Ghana during the British colonization. The issue of legitimacy is examined from Ghanaian professional social workers subjective experiences of their meetings with clients and traditional authorities that historically been conducting social work in Ghana. The study is structured around three broad themes intending to explore the Ghanaian social workers experienced legitimacy as professionals in different sequences of the social work; the social workers experiences of legitimacy to (1) classify social problems, (2) to reason about social problems and (3) to take action on social problems. These themes are also basis for the fourth theme that provides a more explanatory discussion of the social workers experiences; (4) possible sources of legitimacy. The analysis conclude that the social workers experiences of legitimacy differ between whether the social work is conducted on an individual level or a community level, towards nuclear families or extended families and whether it is conducted in a social domain or institution that historically and traditionally been in the jurisdiction of traditional authorities or if it is a domain or institution that is recently introduced in the Ghanaian contexts due to modernization.

The aim of this study is to explore the perceptions that job recruitment organisations in Gävlehave about unemployed international social work graduates in Sweden and to explain the factorsthat affect unemployed international social work graduates’ integration into the labour market inSweden. To achieve this aim, a qualitative research design was used. In-depth interviews wereconducted with two professionals from two different job recruitment organisations in Gävle. Theinterviews were transcribed and analysed through thematic analysis. The results suggest that forthe first research question that explored the perceptions that job recruitment professionals inGävle have about unemployed international social work graduates in Sweden, five sub-themesemerged: “Expanded opportunities for integration”, “innovation and globalization”, “Equitable,transparent, and non-discriminatory policies”, “permanence and non-permanence”, and“financial power”. Meanwhile, the results indicate that for the second research question whichsought to explain the factors that affect unemployed international social work graduates’integration into the labour market in Sweden, five sub-themes emerged: “language”, “theory vs.practice debate”, “experience”, “networking and social contacts”, and “belonging”. Werecommend that international social work graduates make use of these results so that they canincrease their chances of access to jobs and integration into the labour market in Sweden.

No description available.

Adaptability and cultural competency are core qualities that concern the profession of social work. The primary goal for a social worker is to enhance human well-being and improve for all sorts of complex and basic needs. The aim of this study was to investigate social workers attitudes regarding humanistic creative art as an intervention tool for clients with bipolar disorder. The main focus was to investigate how these approaches could be applied internationally and if it could affect stigmatization.  The social workers had various experiences and came from Sweden, Finland/Australia and Nepal. The study was conducted through qualitative research with an inductive thematic analysis, data collection and semi structured interviews. Two theories were applied in order to interpret the results: Erving Goffman’s stigma theory and Carl Rogers’ person centered therapy theory, combined with Natalie Rogers’ person centered expressive arts. The results showed that humanistic art approaches aims for connectedness and could function as an intervention tool. The results also showed a fear of accidentally exacerbating mania and inexperience with bipolar disorder.

Appropriate housing with security of tenure is an important factor in the immigrant settlement and integration process. However, many studies of immigrant settlement and the housing careers of immigrants do so within the borders of a nation-state without reference to transnationalism – immigrants’ ties and cross-border connections with the country of origin. This case study of the transnational ties and housing careers of Ghanaian immigrants in Toronto aims to increase our understanding of one recent immigrant group’s settlement and integration process in Canada. Using a mixed-method approach involving both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, this study explores how transnational housing activities influence the housing careers of Ghanaians in Toronto. The findings include insights into the immigration history and the socio-demographic characteristics of Ghanaians in Toronto; the nature and extent of transnational ties between Ghana and Canada; the nature of housing careers among Ghanaians in Toronto; and the influence of transnationalism on housing careers of Ghanaians in Toronto. Although Ghanaians’ immigration to Canada dates from the late 1950s, Ghanaians started coming to Canada in noticeable numbers after the 1960s. Ghanaian immigration to Canada generally and to Toronto particularly surged in the 1980s and beyond. Deteriorating economic and political conditions in Ghana and relatively favourable immigration policies and a good economic climate in Canada were the driving forces behind Ghanaian migration to Canada. However, the Ghanaian settlement process in Toronto does not culminate in a complete break with the homeland. Rather, Ghanaians in Toronto have engaged in a range of transnational activities with the country of origin, including contacts with family and friends, travelling to or visiting Ghana, following Ghanaian politics, investing in housing or property in Ghana, running businesses in Ghana, attending funerals in Ghana, and making regular remittances to Ghana. With respect to Ghanaians’ housing careers, the study reveals that during their initial settlement period, most Ghanaians lived in public subsidized rental housing or poor-quality private rental housing. They considered their housing conditions as inadequate and unsuitable and were not satisfied with their neighbourhood’s safety and security. At the time of the survey, however, respondents were more likely to own homes and were more likely to feel safe and secure in their neighbourhoods. However, housing affordability remains a major problem for Ghanaians in Toronto. With respect to the influence of transnationalism on housing careers of Ghanaians in Toronto, the study finds that transnational housing activities, especially Ghanaians’ attitudes to and preference for investing in housing in Ghana, affect their housing careers in Toronto. Sending regular remittances to Ghana and investing in housing in the homeland involve mobilizing huge financial resources from Toronto to achieving their housing needs in the country of origin, while many Ghanaians struggle to meet their own needs in Toronto. A logistic regression analysis shows that personal income and strong ties with Ghana are statistically significant predictors of investing in housing in Ghana. At the same time, significant predictors of Ghanaians’ propensity to own a house in Canada include loyalty to Canada and household income. The study contributes conceptually and empirically to three areas of research – transnationalism, housing careers, and immigrant settlement and integration – which hitherto have been studied as separate themes. Conceptually, it breaks away from the traditional way of researching immigrant settlement and housing careers by introducing a new conceptual dimension, transnationalism. Further, this research has added new insights about a recently arrived immigrant group in Toronto. Finally, the study contributes to the social work literature by identifying an emerging field of international social work. It has drawn attention to the fact that in the era of transnationalism, the emergence of a population of migrants whose needs and lives transcend national borders will affect the future of social work research and practice.

Currently human trafficking is named the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. It is the second largest social problem in the global community, just behind narcotics and drug trade. Approximately 70% of trafficking is in the form of sexual exploitation. Victims of human trafficking often go undetected because of the deceptive nature of the crime, however once identified there are social services available to help re-integrate these individuals back into society. This research seeks to illuminate social work in human sex trafficking and how the phenomenon of trafficking manifests itself in the United States and Lithuania. The question is asked what are the services provided to victims of sex trafficking in the United States and Lithuania and how does the perceived inherent differences between the victims of phenomenon in each nation impact the delivery of these services, and the understanding of empowerment? In relation to the above research question and objective, the concepts of human trafficking, prostitution, social services, empowerment and international social work will be theoretically explored. In an effort to answer these questions qualitative research methodology was employed because of the freedom is gives to place importance on the subjective experiences of the research participants. To help capture the unique perspectives of the social service professionals working with trafficking victims semi structured interviews will be utilized as a means of... [to full text] / Šiuo metu prekyba žmonėmis įvardyta kaip greičiausiai pasaulyje auganti nusikalstama veikla. Tai antra pagal dydį socialinė problema pasaulio visuomenėje, pirmą vietą užleisdama prekybai narkotinėmis medžiagomis. Apytiksliai 70% prekybos sudaro seksualinis išnaudojimas. Prekybos žmonėmis aukos dažnai lieka neatskleistos dėl apgaulingo nusikalstamos veiklos pobūdžio, tačiau jas aptikus, egzistuoja socialinės paramos organizacijos, galinčios padėti tokiems asmenims integruotis atgal į visuomenę. Šis tiriamasis darbas siekia informuoti, kokios socialinės paramos organizacijų paslaugos teikiamos nuo prekybos žmonėmis nukentėjusioms aukoms, ir tai, kaip prekybos žmonėmis reiškinys pasireiškia minėtose šalyse. Iškeliamas klausimas, kokios paslaugos suteikiamos nuo seksualinio išnaudojimo nukentėjusiems asmenims JAV ir Lietuvoje bei kaip kiekvienoje iš šių šalių jaučiami įgimti skirtumai tarp reiškinio aukų įtakoja minėtų paslaugų teikimą bei galios suteikimo supratimą. Atsižvelgiant į iškeltą klausimą bei tikslą, teoriškai nagrinėjama prekyba žmonėmis, prostitucija, socialinės paslaugos, galios suteikimas ir tarptautinis socialinis darbas. Stengiantis atsakyti į šiuos klausimus, pasinaudota kokybine tyrimo metodika, kadangi ji leidžia sutelkti dėmesį į subjektyvias tyrimo dalyvių patirtis. Norint užfiksuoti unikalias socialinių paslaugų profesionalų darbo su prekybos žmonėmis aukomis perspektyvas, naudojamas pusiau struktūruotas interviu, padėsiantis geriau suvokti interviu dalyvių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Appropriate housing with security of tenure is an important factor in the immigrant settlement and integration process. However, many studies of immigrant settlement and the housing careers of immigrants do so within the borders of a nation-state without reference to transnationalism – immigrants’ ties and cross-border connections with the country of origin. This case study of the transnational ties and housing careers of Ghanaian immigrants in Toronto aims to increase our understanding of one recent immigrant group’s settlement and integration process in Canada. Using a mixed-method approach involving both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, this study explores how transnational housing activities influence the housing careers of Ghanaians in Toronto. The findings include insights into the immigration history and the socio-demographic characteristics of Ghanaians in Toronto; the nature and extent of transnational ties between Ghana and Canada; the nature of housing careers among Ghanaians in Toronto; and the influence of transnationalism on housing careers of Ghanaians in Toronto. Although Ghanaians’ immigration to Canada dates from the late 1950s, Ghanaians started coming to Canada in noticeable numbers after the 1960s. Ghanaian immigration to Canada generally and to Toronto particularly surged in the 1980s and beyond. Deteriorating economic and political conditions in Ghana and relatively favourable immigration policies and a good economic climate in Canada were the driving forces behind Ghanaian migration to Canada. However, the Ghanaian settlement process in Toronto does not culminate in a complete break with the homeland. Rather, Ghanaians in Toronto have engaged in a range of transnational activities with the country of origin, including contacts with family and friends, travelling to or visiting Ghana, following Ghanaian politics, investing in housing or property in Ghana, running businesses in Ghana, attending funerals in Ghana, and making regular remittances to Ghana. With respect to Ghanaians’ housing careers, the study reveals that during their initial settlement period, most Ghanaians lived in public subsidized rental housing or poor-quality private rental housing. They considered their housing conditions as inadequate and unsuitable and were not satisfied with their neighbourhood’s safety and security. At the time of the survey, however, respondents were more likely to own homes and were more likely to feel safe and secure in their neighbourhoods. However, housing affordability remains a major problem for Ghanaians in Toronto. With respect to the influence of transnationalism on housing careers of Ghanaians in Toronto, the study finds that transnational housing activities, especially Ghanaians’ attitudes to and preference for investing in housing in Ghana, affect their housing careers in Toronto. Sending regular remittances to Ghana and investing in housing in the homeland involve mobilizing huge financial resources from Toronto to achieving their housing needs in the country of origin, while many Ghanaians struggle to meet their own needs in Toronto. A logistic regression analysis shows that personal income and strong ties with Ghana are statistically significant predictors of investing in housing in Ghana. At the same time, significant predictors of Ghanaians’ propensity to own a house in Canada include loyalty to Canada and household income. The study contributes conceptually and empirically to three areas of research – transnationalism, housing careers, and immigrant settlement and integration – which hitherto have been studied as separate themes. Conceptually, it breaks away from the traditional way of researching immigrant settlement and housing careers by introducing a new conceptual dimension, transnationalism. Further, this research has added new insights about a recently arrived immigrant group in Toronto. Finally, the study contributes to the social work literature by identifying an emerging field of international social work. It has drawn attention to the fact that in the era of transnationalism, the emergence of a population of migrants whose needs and lives transcend national borders will affect the future of social work research and practice.

The aim of this study was to explore prerequisites for collaboration between Swedish authorities in their work with women exposed to trafficking with sexual purpose. A qualitative research method was used. Three over-phone semi-structured interviews and one face-to-face semi-structured interview were conducted with professionals from the County Administrative Board, the Social Services and the Swedish Migration Agency. The results were analysed thematically through three themes with relating subthemes. The results showed that the professionals perceived collaborative work as important in order to treat each aspect of the diverse issue that is human trafficking, as well as to exchange knowledge and experiences with the involved authorities. Moreover, the professionals described that prerequisites for a functioning collaborative work are; clear assignation of roles, sufficient time and budget, and that each agency is aware of the importance of collaboration. Some difficulties within collaborative work highlighted by the participants were; different opinions and agendas between the agencies and lack of knowledge. Finally, some implications for future research were noticed, for example a lack of research regarding collaborative work between agencies against human trafficking for sexual purposes.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur socionomer upplever att deras kompetens inom socialt arbete påverkats genom VFU utomlands. Två frågeställningar formulerades; vilka kompetenser socionomer upplevde sig ha utvecklat under VFU utomlands samt hur kompetenserna användes i det dagliga arbetet. Empirin kom från fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med yrkesverksamma socionomer. Datamaterialet analyserades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat analyserades mot en teoretisk referensram och kunskapsöversikt. Den teoretiska referensramen bestod av två teorier med olika definitioner av kompetens. Studiens resultat och analys visar att VFU utomlands är en möjlighet för socionomstudenter att få erfarenhet av att arbeta med socialt arbete utomlands. Erfarenheten upplevs generellt inte vara användbar i det dagliga arbetet. Dock framkommer efter analys flertalet kompetenser. Upplevelsen ger förståelse för internationellt socialt arbete och klienters erfarenheter av segregering. Studenter utvecklar bland annat sin förmåga till flexibilitet, lyhördhet och initiativtagande. Utlandspraktik kan vara socionomstudenters första erfarenhet av klientarbete och utvecklar därför deras kommunikationsförmåga, så som samtalsmetodik. Risken finns att utlandspraktik spär på studenters fördomar om andra länder än Sverige. / The purpose of this study was to investigate how social workers feel that their competence in social work has been affected through international placement. Two issues were formulated; what competencies social workers felt they had developed during international placement and how the competencies were used in their daily work. The data came from five semi-structured interviews with professional social workers. The data material was analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. Results were analyzed against a theoretical frame of reference and knowledge overview. The theoretical frame of reference consisted of two theories with different definitions of competence. The results and analysis of the study show that international placement is an opportunity for social work students to gain experience of working with social work abroad. The experience is generally not perceived to be useful in daily work. However, after analysis, several competencies emerged. The experience provides an understanding of international social work and clients' experiences of segregation. Among other things, students develop their ability for flexibility, sensitivity and initiative. International placement can be social work students' first experience of client work and therefore develop their communication skills, such as conversation methodology. There is a risk that international placement adds to students' prejudices about countries other than Sweden.