Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1981.

Thesis (PhDNursing)--University of South Australia, 2003.

Thesis (PhDNursing)--University of South Australia, 2003.

Thesis--University of Pittsburgh, 1966. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves 340-343.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

In many social agencies today, caseworkers are working with groups of clients or relatives of clients and there are increasing references to this development in the literature. The purpose of the present study was to discover? (a) the extent of the use of such groups by caseworkers in the Greater Vancouver Area; (b) the administrative policy on the subject; (c) the views and experience of supervisors in the group method, including problems of supervising caseworkers; (d) the experience and also the training of caseworkers in these groups. Questionnaires were utilized to obtain most of the data. They were sent to the casework agencies of the Greater Vancouver Area, to the administrators of agencies with caseworkers using the group method, and to the supervisors of such caseworkers. An interview schedule was prepared to use in interviews with caseworkers who were "change agents" in a group. The evidence is that increasing numbers of social workers in the Greater Vancouver Area are working with groups of people rather than singly. The administrative level reflects much uncertainty about the appropriate policy to develop in the use of group methods. Supervisors are on the whole not experienced in this technique, and questions on how to supervise caseworkers working with groups need to be answered. Caseworkers are favorably impressed with the usefulness of groups as a way of helping clients and relatives of clients, but most of them lack adequate training in group method. To improve services, there is now a need for a classification system of group services to be employed in casework agencies, and there is an urgent need for training, probably with the aid of Schools of Social Work Instructors, to help caseworkers become proficient in this new development of group method. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Much concern is currently being expressed about those families who remain chronically dependent upon social agencies. Their problems are usually multiple and their pathology serious. They are believed to make disproportionate contribution to the incidence of juvenile delinquency, to perpetuate social disorders in the community, and they are certainly costly, in terms of time, money, and waste of human lives. Many health and welfare agencies have worked with them, often in a piecemeal and unproductive manner. The present study was initiated to secure and analyse facts about a local group, specifically in relation to family circumstances and to City Social Service operations. Social characteristics of the families, their special needs and problems, are reviewed. Services rendered and other agencies interested are tabulated. Relevant contemporary studies and experiments are drawn on (a) to compare findings, (b) to suggest guides toward rehabilitation of these families and toward prevention and control of family disorganization. Especially referred to are community surveys by Bradley Buell and Associates; the family-centered project conducted recently in St. Paul; an experiment in welfare administration, also of Minnesota; a county health program in London; and a local community (Vancouver) survey. The sample families reveal major problems; financial, health, and social maladjustment. Typically, most of the homes are broken. Of special significance to social workers, is the finding that the majority of the fathers in this group are absent, or intermittently out of the homes, because of social problems. Over eighty per cent of the parents have serious personality, behaviour or relationship difficulties. Despite the severe degree of social pathology, services rendered are mostly in relation to economic and health needs. Although numerous agencies are interested in the families, they have made negligible gains toward rehabilitation, and the future of their children must be deemed endangered. Exceptionally, a few families reveal some potentials for self-maintenance which need to be fostered. From the available information, the indications are (a) that new approaches in community planning and action are required,(b) that the City Social Service is in a favourable position to provide basic services, including intensive social case work and basic information about multi-problem families, which could stimulate public opinion and forward the development of constructive community programs. The majority of the community's "multi-problem families" could be identified through the City Agency. It is submitted that a demonstration project, under its administration, would be of momentous importance to its clientèle, and of impressive value to the community, toward the prevention and control of the "impacted" social ills which flourish in this multi-problem group. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This is a descriptive study of play interviewing as done by Social Workers in a Child Guidance Setting, when play is used in the treatment of children with adjustment problems. The purpose of the study is twofold: 1. To demonstrate that the play interview as a social work technique is a valid part of social work practice when conducted within defined limits. 2. To identify and examine the realized and potential diagnostic and treatment features inherent in the play interview. This study contains a review of social work philosophy, concepts, principles and techniques, (formulated as a basis for viewing the play interview) a survey of the salient literature on play techniques (dealing with theoretical assumptions about the value of play as a tool in treatment) an analysis of five Individual social work play interviews. The fourth chapter contains a discussion of the findings of this study in relation to the implications of related studies focused on social work contributions to the services of the Provincial Child Guidance Clinic of Vancouver. This study complements six previous studies done on other aspects of child guidance practice by social workers at this clinic and discusses its relatedness to these studies throughout. In order to reach the major objectives of this study two schedules were employed in the analysis of the play interview recordings. A schedule of 13 social work interviewing methods drawn from Social Work literature by Glover and employed by Glover and Moslin in their studies on casework treatment methods was employed to identify interviewing methods utilized in the play interview. The second schedule made up of seven diagnostic and treatment features, drawn from the literature on play techniques. Twelve of the thirteen social work interviewing methods were identified in the play interviews thus demonstrating the similarity of the play interview as a social work technique to it's counterpart the social work interview. These findings support the findings implicit in Glover's study; that most social work interviewing methods are identifiable in play interviews. A second schedule made up of diagnostic and treatment features drawn from the survey of the literature on play techniques was applied; for the purpose of identifying diagnostic and treatment features inherent in the play interview and support or point up any contra-indications to the first hypothesis, that the play interview is a valid part of social work practice. Six of the seven diagnostic and treatment features were identified in the play interview records. These features were then matched with their counterparts or equivalents in the social work interview. These findings further demonstrated that the play interview is similar to and just as much a valid part of social work practice as the social work interview. This study thus provides a glimpse of the treatment potential of the play interview as a valid part of social work practice and points up the value of extending and developing the use of play interview as a social work treatment method. Conversely this study (by comparison) illuminates the richness of the treatment potential of the social work interview per se. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This thesis is an examination of foster home finding methods in a large child-placing agency. The study was undertaken as an investigation into the causes of dissatisfaction and difficulties experienced by agencies in their efforts to achieve a good standard of care for their children through the medium of foster homes. It is also a consideration of the manner in which the case work approach in home finding can be brought to bear on the amelioration of these problems. The agency in which the study was done, the Children' Aid Society of Vancouver, B.C., is typical of several in this country wherein the agency is committed to planning for several hundreds of children who come into its care through the administration of the various statutes related to the protection of children. It cannot be compared to small specialized agencies giving service to a selected clientele. The study includes: 1. An account of the development of the use of foster homes in child placement, and the use of case work method in this. 2. Review of social work philosophy and how it may be applied by the administration and personnel of an agency in home finding. 3. An examination of the agency's actual case records of foster home studies. The information sought was a comprehensive knowledge of the job of home finding through professional literature and observation of practice. The findings would support the contention that professional case work disciplines could be applied with greater effort, and that there is need for more emphasis on the part which foster home finding plays in a total child care program. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This thesis reviews the administrative process involved in initiating and developing a casework service in Gordon Neighbourhood House. The service operated over a period of eight months, and during that time accepted only members of the agency as clientele. Through intensive cooperative work with Gordon Neighbourhood House staff it was intended that caseworkers should employ their skills to improve the social adjustment of group members and thereby enhance the general health and welfare of membership groups. The administrative structure of Gordon House, and the problems involved in integrating this new service into the agency, are described. In evaluation, the achievements and possibilities of this service are weighed against the investments of administration and staff required in an effort to introduce and to maintain this service. The estimated effort involved in relation to the possibilities for achievement, is the criterion used to Judge the value of casework services in this setting. A rating is made of the degree of success achieved in forty-eight cases referred for service. Case summaries reveal the process involved in the operation of this service. The finding is, that, providing the agency takes appropriate administrative steps, casework services are a practicable method of coping with individual problems that cannot be handled satisfactorily within groups. It is important that the workers and the administration be sufficiently flexible to meet each other's requirements. Specifically, the administration must define the purpose and function of this service in such a way that responsibilities of the casework staff be made clear. The casework staff in turn must be prepared to apply their skills in the less formal setting of the neighbourhood house. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate