published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Hegemonic discourses and ideologies of social work in South Africa, arose from the racist capitalism of colonialism and apartheid. Imperatives for social justice and social change therefore require that social work education reflect on and develop discourses of radical and critical knowledge and practice. The main aim of the study was to explore the extent to which South African social work knowledge and education, as reflected in various formal and narrative discourses, meets critical imperatives for social change and transformation. The study was qualitative in nature, using a depth-hermeneutic approach, with various interrelated, coherent empirical processes. These include reviewing extant theory to contribute to a framework of knowledge and practice constitutive of social change, conducting a politically engaged, critical thematic analysis of social work discourse constitutive of social change, as reflected historically in a selection of formal South African social work texts and in the narratives from group conversations among South African social work educators. Early South African social work knowledge and practice had emerged from the ‘social hygiene’ and eugenics movement, but later, Afrikaner nationalist ideology and liberal and racist capitalism shaped social work. In postapartheid South Africa, discourses of social development and reform within a free market rational economy; ideologies of liberalism and capitalism as solutions to structural social problems, neo-liberal discourses of individual responsibility and valorisation of agency, social control and regulation, are prevalent. Social work knowledge and practice consistently supported hegemonic ideologies of the state. Throughout the history of social work however, there was evidence of counterhegemonic, radical and critical discourse, albeit suppressed and hidden. Knowledge and practice constitutive of social change can be positioned on a continuum from oppressive, domesticating and colonizing knowledge and practice, to coercion and status quo maintenance, to institutional and societal reformist knowledge and practice; to transformational and critical knowledge and practice; and to radical and revolutionary knowledge and practice.

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.

Greece is seven years into a socio-economic crisis, where oppression has increased as a result of austerity measures driven by the political parties in governance and Troika. In a context of attacks on social care and social work, dominant social values of intolerance and violation of human rights, the pursuit of anti-oppressive practice is more crucial than ever. However, discussions and debates on social work and anti-oppressive practice have mostly taken place outside of the context of Greece. Reflecting on this gap, this doctoral research project asks: What is the role of social work education in influencing students' ability to manage value tensions in relation to anti-oppressive practice within the current context of social work education in Greece? It is the first such study of its kind in Greece. Using a qualitative case study methodology, the research was based in one of the four national Departments of Social Work (subsequently abolished). Semi-structured interviews were undertaken involving social work students in their first and final years of professional education (n=32) and academic staff/placement supervisors (n=10). Data analysis was informed by a ground theory approach. The study revealed social work education's failure in stimulating the development of an ethical and anti-oppressive self in students. The key determinants identified were: students' narrow understandings and individualistic approaches towards oppression; the unjust educational policies within which students are educated and educators work; an outdated curriculum with a clinical and technical approach; and lack of social action/connection with the community by the Department. Results are interpreted using the conceptual lens of Foucault (1977; 1980; 1982) and Freire (1970; 1993; 1994). A conceptual model is also presented, in order to understand and promote (anti-) oppressive practice at multiple levels: subjectivity, discipline and governmentality, as well as discourse, oppressive reality and dividing practices. The key implications of the study are for social work education to reflect and respond to current social needs by developing a radical and anti-oppressive curriculum; being involved in social action through social movements and professional associations; establishing a dialogical and reflexive learning process with the active participation of students and service users in designing and evaluating educational content and processes; and a constant deconstruction/reconstruction of the self for students, educators and practitioners.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

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published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Philosophy

The present study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of systematic desensitization and cognitive self-control training procedures in reducing anger arousal, overt hostility, and aggression; and their effectiveness in increasing constructive action in therapists conducting counselling interviews with child abusers. Thirty graduate social work students who indicated that they sometimes become at least mildly angry toward parents or caretakers who physically abuse children participated in the study. The students who volunteered for the study were randomly assigned to three treatment conditions in a pretest/posttest control group design. Anger was aroused experimentally in the subjects using laboratory provocations which consisted of six imaginal interviews with abusive and non-abusive parents. The imaginal interviews were conducted in a language laboratory using an automatically synchronized slide-tape program. The systematic desensitization and cognitive self-control treatments consisted of two one-hour training sessions administered within the same week. / The criterion measures employed in the experimental study included (a) Reaction Inventory (Evans & Stangeland, 1971), (b) Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (factor analytic version--Bendig, 1962), (c) Hostility Scale Applicable to Verbal Samples (Gottschalk, Winget, & Gleser, 1969), (d) Self-Report Rating of Anger Scale (Novaco, 1975), (e) Self-Report Rating of Aggression Scale (Novaco, 1975), and (f) Self-Report Rating of Constructive Action Scale (Novaco, 1975). / Analysis of covariance of the experimental data indicated no statistically significant treatment differences on any of the six dependent measures. Although statistical significance was not achieved, the pre-treatment and post-treatment means showed changes in the desired direction on the six dependent measures for the systematic desensitization treatment group. The cognitive self-control treatment group means showed changes in the desired direction on five of the dependent measures. / The empirical results were discussed with reference to theoretical concepts of anger arousal, and the research literature on experimental studies of training procedures relevant to anger control.