Thesis advisor: David Hollenbach / Thesis advisor: Meg Guider / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007. / Prepared for: L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. Bibliography: leaves 184-193. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-139). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-139). Also available on the Internet.

Critical social work theories have taken a prominent place in Canadian social work curriculums and academic social work literature in recent years. The prevalence of critical social work theory is understandable considering that the content of critical theories can help social workers grapple with how to carry out a practice that is centrally concerned with social justice. However, critical social work theories have generally been presented abstractly, with little attention placed upon the particular contexts of social work practice. As a result, not much is known about how critical social work theory is actually applied in practice. This is especially important in the context of child protection, where issues of oppression and power are particularly acute. / This thesis is premised on the assumption that an understanding of the context of child protection work is necessary in order to develop a critical social work theory that is applicable to this field. The thesis examines the context of child protection practice by exploring the subjective experiences of 14 front-line child protection workers. Drawing on in-depth interviews that focus on day-to-day practice, this thesis suggests that child protection work involves dealing with a range of fears that influence workers' practice, including their fears about children being harmed and about their own physical and professional vulnerability. As well, child protection workers presented a picture of the ways that their legislative and organizational context shaped their work. These factors of child protection appeared to influence a practice in which relationships and interventions with clients were focused on monitoring parents' completion of a series of tasks and children were constructed as vulnerable, individual, and rights-bearing. Ideas for a critical child protection practice are offered, based on these results. In particular, a critical child protection practice that includes the adoption of more detailed attention to the internal worlds of parents, child-care workers and children is discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2008. / Prepared for: School of Social Work . Bibliography: leaves 249 - 265. Available online via the internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Public Policy and Administration. Title from resource description page. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University--San Marcos, 2009. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 60-64. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-70). Also available on microfilm.

No description available.

Mukti Ashram is a rehabilitation center in north India that works with ex-child laborer boys. Fieldwork completed at the ashram in 1997-98 centered around the issue of the organization's attempt to enact social change through the engineering of community within the ashram's walls. Several fundamental processes that contribute to this goal have been identified: the construction and presentation of personal narratives which are ideally encased in a common structure; the encompassment of heterogeneity through careful focus on a singular point of commonality; and, the creation of national and transnational ties of horizontal solidarity, literal and "imagined." The nature of the activists' intervention, which becomes codified in the dominant ethos of the institution, presents an internal contradiction that is essentially unresolvable. It is found that power is always to some extent fought using those same tools of the powerful. Though in this case their goal of empowering the boys is to some extent compromised, such attempts still constitute a positive influence. Mukti Ashram's example demonstrates both the constraints and opportunities that may be met by organizations that work with subjugated groups. / Graduation date: 2000