Occupational social work and corporate social responsibility share commonalities which could provide significant avenues for occupational social worker practice, especially at a macro level of intervention, the area most lacking in their service delivery. The engagement of occupational social workers in corporate social responsibility in South Africa seems to have been misunderstood, with consequent limited involvement of the profession in this field. The main aim of this qualitative exploratory study was to explore the perceptions of occupational social workers in Gauteng regarding their definition and envisaged engagement in corporate social responsibility interventions in order to motivate for the incorporation of corporate social responsibility into their practice. To achieve the aim of the study, semi-structured interviews were held with seven occupational social workers and three social workers with five years practical experience in occupational social work. Sampling was not necessary given the small size of the research population. Data analysis took the form of thematic content analysis. The main findings were that the participants’ primarily defined corporate social responsibility as the contribution made by companies to the community outside the workplace however, they subsequently identified internal stakeholders, such as employees, as legitimate recipients of corporate social responsibility services. The data analysis revealed a clear perception that occupational social workers were well-suited to play roles in corporate social responsibility, utilising a full range of their micro, meso and macro skills. The identification of avenues for macro practice with internal and external company stakeholders was particularly significant, given that this is the area of intervention which has been most lacking in occupational social work service delivery. It was also established that the objectives of developmental social welfare could be incorporated into occupational social work roles in corporate social responsibility. The conclusion was reached that occupational social workers could play valuable roles in the social responsibility endeavours of companies to contribute towards change efforts to address the social problems and transformation challenges which plague South African society. The support of company leadership, who are open to the ideas of occupational social workers and champion an increased mandate for them, would be facilitative to the development of an occupational social work domain in the field of corporate social responsibility.

As the landscape of the United States changes and world resources face depletion, shale gas development has become a major social justice issue. Social workers may be called upon to help support communities undergoing change from industry as well as the environmental and social justice concerns that are arising in areas with rich natural resource supplies. This research examines how a rural population perceives change when industry enters an area. It explores community change and social justice concerns that are occurring with shale gas development in order to help determine implications for social work practice. Using a phenomenological approach, this work examined the perceptions of 20 residents of the Pennsylvania community of the Laurel Highlands who live within 10 miles of where fracking has occurred. In depth interviews were carried out with this population to explore their perceptions of community change from shale gas development. Residents of the Laurel Highlands report anxiety about the future of their environment, including negative impacts to the air and water. They are angry about the outsourcing of local natural resources to other areas in both the United States and abroad. Residents feel a loss of power and sense of control due to shale gas development and the large corporations which support its growth. These factors are negatively impacting their quality of life. Shale gas development and the changes it brings are influencing residents' decisions about investing in the Laurel Highlands as well as staying in the area long term. As a result of these factors, community action is increasing to help build support during industrial development in the area. This work examines these themes and concludes with a discussion of how social work practice can help assist rural residents with their changing communities.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2006. / School of Social Work, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Advisor(s): William H. Barton, Nancy Chism, Carol Hostetter, Marjorie Lyles, Cathy Pike. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-118).

Diploma thesis analyses the macro practice in the Czech social work. It defines macro practical concept and its relationship to social policy and community social work by analysing the Czech and foreign specialized publications. It defines the key knowledge, skills and abilities which macro practicioner should manage. It emphasizes the macro scope towards the political representation. Macro practical methods are presented too. Diploma thesis defines two main principles - networking and evidence based practice. At first, macro practicioner is the creator of professional's networks or social services network. Secondly, in the evidence based practice macro practicioner is obligated to manage his decision making process on the base of the best and the most recent scientific researches. It all concludes the macro practice framework, which leads to the efective work with social excluded people. Macro practice is viewed as the approach, which helps clients, communities, regions and target groups in the implementation of their civil right, when it uses the enpowerment techniques. According to the international perspective, the status of the actual Czech macro practice is vieved as unconsolted. Therefore, author proposes the development of the social work education on the bachelor and master degrese...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This study examines organizational learning (OL) with member organizations of a state association for children and family services. OL has been studied in business organizations, but the concept has value in the context of Human Service Organizations (HSOs) as well. HSOs face increasing demands for accountability through evaluating outcomes, requiring new organizational skills and activities. The state association has collected outcome data from member organizations for nine years, and has recently provided external consultants to help organizations interpret and make use of the information to improve organizational functioning. The process of OL was measured pre- and post-external consultation using an OL questionnaire developed by Templeton, Lewis, and Snyder (2002). Sixty-two member agencies received questionnaires and 42 responded for a response rate of 67%. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 CEOs/Executive Directors of HSOs. The OL questionnaire was found to have sufficient reliability and validity for the sample of HSOs in the study. Two factors were identified through factor analyses, Organizational Culture and Environmental Awareness. Satisfaction with an external consultant was not found to be related to increased OL. In the qualitative findings, the origins of learning themes that were identified were External Pressures, Philosophy, Planning, and Financial Pressures. The facilitating factor themes identified were Leadership, Philosophy, New Staff/New Leadership, Willingness, Planning, and Training. The perceived obstacles to OL were Resistance, Philosophy, Finances, and Time. External consultants were found to contribute to Evaluation, Awareness, Motivation, and Training. The main practice implication of the study is the identification of an instrument that may be used to examine OL in HSOs. The identification of facilitating factors and factors that may impede OL is a valuable contribution, as is the use of a standard definition of OL. The educational implications are for awareness in the education of future leaders by introducing OL and the application to HSOs. Future research is needed to address the development or modification of a better matched instrument for use with HSOs.