Personality disorder has been and continues to be a contested diagnosis. Those who attract this form of diagnosis have been particularly vulnerable to the effects of stigma and have tended to be excluded from service provision. This thesis provides an examination of how recent developments in law, policy and practice have impacted upon the status of personality disorder as a diagnosis of exclusion in Scotland. The theoretical framework that provides this thesis with its structure is derived from the post-empiricist approach proposed by Derek Layder. This approach seeks to contextualise emergent inductive findings within a broader historical and contemporary analysis. In the case of this research the broader context consists of the interplay between mental health law, policy and practice in the field of mental health and the diagnosis of personality disorder more specifically. The empirical enquiry at the core of this thesis is based upon an analysis of the views, beliefs and expectations of front-line staff (psychiatrists and social workers qualified as mental health officers) involved in the process of assessment and service provision. In addition to front-line staff (n = 27) a range of key informants who were in a position to shed light on the strategic imperatives underpinning recent developments in law and policy were also interviewed. This analysis is contextualised within a review of key developments in law and policy that have particular significance for anyone who may attract a diagnosis of personality disorder. Despite the ostensibly inclusive approach towards those who may attract a diagnosis of personality disorder evident within the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, the reality is a highly selective and very limited inclusion of those who attract this form of diagnosis. The effective inclusion of those who may attract a diagnosis of personality disorder has been obstructed by several key impediments: 1: an insufficiently robust policy framework to drive forward the process of inclusion; 2: residual ambivalence towards the legitimacy of the diagnosis of personality disorder itself and the legitimacy of the claims made upon services by those who may attract a diagnosis of personality disorder; 3: insufficient and inadequately focused resources; 4: service structures that have not been redesigned sufficiently to engage successfully with service users who may attract a diagnosis of personality disorder. As a consequence of these impediments to inclusion, the majority of those who may attract a diagnosis of personality disorder in Scotland are likely to continue to face high levels of marginalisation and exclusion.

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The aim of this study is to investigate and analyze the potential effects on a number of social workers that may arise from listening to stories of domestic violence, and how these social workers deal with the potential effects. The study is based on qualitative interviews with seven social workers that work with domestic violence. The theoretical perspective that we used was the theory of coping. The results of this study have indicated that the respondents have been affected of listening to the stories of domestic violence. Examples of different impacts that the work has had on some of the social workers is that they avoid movies and/or books with elements of violence, they are more aware of the domestic violence in the surroundings and there has also been changes in their cognitive schemas. The respondents have also developed coping strategies such as feelings to cope with a situation and collegial support. Another significant coping strategy is the organizational aspects such as professional tutoring, a balance in the workload and additional education. The aforementioned results and the results from previous studies are comparable, and we have been able to identify some similarities, which could indicate vicarious traumatization.

Šiuolaikinis socialinis darbas neatsiejamas nuo jį dirbančių asmenų profesionalumo, kurį siekiama nustatyti įvertinant kompetencijas pagal kvalifikacinius reikalavimus ir suteikiant tam tikrą kvalifikacinę kategoriją. Socialinių darbuotojų kompetencijų tema nagrinėta mažai, tačiau aktuali, kadangi siekiančių studijuoti socialinio darbo specialybę skaičius auga, socialinių paslaugų sritis plečiasi – kuriamos naujos įstaigos, teikiamos naujos socialinės paslaugos. Tyrimo tikslas – išnagrinėti socialinių darbuotojų kompetencijų ir kvalifikacinių reikalavimų sąsajas atestacijos metu. Darbe nagrinėta kompetencijos samprata, socialinio darbuotojo kompetencijos sudėtinės dalys, jų svarba socialinio darbuotojo darbe. Palyginti socialinių darbuotojų ankstesni ir dabartiniai kvalifikaciniai reikalavimai, atskleidžiamos socialinių darbuotojų kvalifikacijos kėlimo sąlygos Lietuvoje bei socialinio darbo, kaip profesijos, profesionalėjimo bruožai. Atskleista, kad socialinio darbuotojo kompetencijos sudėtinės dalys yra žinios, vertybės ir įgūdžiai, kurie atestacijos metu įvertinami taikant kvalifikacinius reikalavimus: išsilavinimo lygį, socialinio darbo stažą, kvalifikacijos kėlimo trukmę, praktinės veiklos vertinimą ir savo praktinės veiklos pristatymą. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad pirminės atestacijos metu dauguma socialinių darbuotojų išsilavinimą, socialinio darbo stažą ir mokymąsi kvalifikacijos kėlimo kursuose, seminaruose laikė... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Le travail social actuel dépend beaucoup du niveau professionel des personnes qui l΄accomplissent. Les représentants de cette spécialité sont vérifiés suivant les différentes compétences et d΄ après ça ils reçoivent une cathégorie professionelle. Le domaine de ces compétences est peu analysé et, au contraire, il est très important aujourd΄hui, parce qu΄il y a de plus en plus de personnes qui choisissent le métier du cadre social, les services sociaux s΄élargissent, le nombre d΄institutions grandit. Le but de cette étude est d΄analyser les compétences obligatoires des cadres sociaux et trouver les liens entre les éxigences au cours de la certification professionelle. L étude présente la notion de la compétence, les parties de la compétence, leur importance dans le travail d΄un représentant social. Dans l΄étude on peut trouver les anciennes éxigences aussi que les actuelles, la présentation des conditions du perfectionnement professionel en Lituanie, aussi les moments du perfectionnement. L étude affirme que les parties de la compétence sont les valeurs et les savoirs-faire aussi que le niveau de la formation, stage du travail social, niveau du perfectionnement,les activités et leur présentation. Les résultats de l΄étude montrent qu΄au cours de la première certification la plupart des employés sociaux pour les principes les plus importants prennent la formation, stage professionel, et les cours du perfectionnement. Leur travail pratique... [to full text] / RÉSUMÉ Le travail social actuel dépend beaucoup du niveau professionel des personnes qui l΄accomplissent. Les représentants de cette spécialité sont vérifiés suivant les différentes compétences et d΄ après ça ils reçoivent une cathégorie professionelle. Le domaine de ces compétences est peu analysé et, au contraire, il est très important aujourd΄hui, parce qu΄il y a de plus en plus de personnes qui choisissent le métier du cadre social, les services sociaux s΄élargissent, le nombre d΄institutions grandit. Le but de cette étude est d΄analyser les compétences obligatoires des cadres sociaux et trouver les liens entre les éxigences au cours de la certification professionelle. L étude présente la notion de la compétence, les parties de la compétence, leur importance dans le travail d΄un représentant social. Dans l΄étude on peut trouver les anciennes éxigences aussi que les actuelles, la présentation des conditions du perfectionnement professionel en Lituanie, aussi les moments du perfectionnement. L étude affirme que les parties de la compétence sont les valeurs et les savoirs-faire aussi que le niveau de la formation, stage du travail social, niveau du perfectionnement,les activités et leur présentation. Les résultats de l΄étude montrent qu΄au cours de la première certification la plupart des employés sociaux pour les principes les plus importants prennent la formation, stage professionel, et les cours du perfectionnement. Leur travail... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

This paper explores a Master of Social Work (MSW) student's experiences in engagement with structural social work during an advanced practicum with a perinatal mental health project in Northeastern Ontario. The goals of the advanced practicum were to: (a) improve reflexive practice, (b) improve understanding of structural social work, specific to social justice, and (c) improve understanding of the role of structural social workers within inter-organizational collaborations. Deconstruction of the engagement with each of the goals and the challenges in facilitation of the objectives are reviewed. Though there are issues and dilemmas facing those who wish to engage in structural social work, this advanced practicum experience was successful in improving the student's engagement with structural social work praxis.

Social workers ideas about what domestic violence is influence their ability to recognize vio-lence in cases where this occurs. Social workers awareness and understanding of domestic violence can also influence the handling of these cases. Education on the subject domestic violence can increase social workers knowledge about, awareness and handling of violence. The present study aims to investigate how social workers in child protection investigations understand, recognize and interpret domestic violence and which interventions the social workers suggest. This is a qualitative vignette study in which semi-structured interviews was carried out with social workers working with child protection investigations. The result of the interviews has been analyzed using a social constructionist perspective and the theoretical concepts victims and perpetrators based on various forms of domestic violence. This study shows that the understanding and the interpretations by the participating social workers of domestic violence and victims and perpetrators influences if and how they recognize violence, which in turn influences their choices of interventions. / Socialarbetares föreställningar om vad våld i nära relation är påverkar om de uppmärksammar våld i de fall det förekommer. Hur socialarbetare uppmärksammar och förstår våldet kan ock-så påverka hanteringen av dessa ärenden. Utbildning i ämnet våld i nära relation kan påverka socialarbetares kunskap och uppmärksamhet på, samt hantering av, våld. I studien avser vi att undersöka hur socialarbetare som arbetar med barnavårdsutredningar förstår, uppmärksammar och tolkar våld i nära relationer samt vilka insatser socialarbetarna föreslår. Detta är en kvali-tativ vinjettstudie genomförd genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialarbetare som arbetar med barnavårdsutredningar. Intervjuerna har analyserats med hjälp av ett socialkon-struktionistiskt perspektiv samt de teoretiska begreppen offer och förövare utifrån olika for-mer av våld i nära relation. Denna studie visar att de deltagande socialarbetarnas förståelse och tolkningar av våld i nära relation samt offer och förövare påverkar om och hur de upp-märksammar våld, vilket i sin tur påverkar val av insatser vid utredning av familjer där våld förekommer.

Statistics corroborate the substantial and deleterious impact of substance abuse to both client and client systems. Social workers are regularly exposed to clients who are directly or indirectly affected by substance abuse. A random survey of social workers working with Anglophone and Allophone populations on the island of Montreal was conducted to evaluate the workers perceived ability to recognize and respond to the needs of this client group. Links were drawn to the various ways in which social workers developed their knowledge about addiction and to the worker's formal social work education. The study demonstrates the inadequacy of the formal social work program to address the problem of substance abuse. The implications for schools of social work and the need to develop core curriculum as well as specializations in substance abuse are presented.

Pendant longtemps, l’assimilation a été la manière privilégiée par le gouvernement canadien pour intégrer les communautés autochtones à la société canadienne. Les pratiques des intervenants sociaux non-autochtones se situaient alors principalement dans cette idéologie et, par conséquent, ils ont contribué à opprimer les Autochtones. En raison de ces événements historiques, l’intervention sociale non-autochtone n’a pas très bonne réputation dans les communautés autochtones du Canada. En effet, bien que l’intervention sociale s’actualise dans le présent, elle est teintée d’une histoire et réinterprétée à partir des mémoires collectives et individuelles. Cette recherche s’inscrit alors dans une réflexion sur les fondements et la nature du travail social non-autochtone en milieu autochtone au Canada. L’objectif de ce mémoire est donc de comprendre comment des intervenants sociaux non-autochtones se perçoivent dans le contexte de leur pratique auprès des populations autochtones au Canada. Les données furent recueillies lors d’entrevues semi-dirigées réalisées auprès de onze intervenants sociaux allochtones pratiquant dans des contextes différents, mais tous auprès des Premières Nations ou Inuits au Canada. La théorie des représentations sociales nous a guidée dans l’analyse qualitative des données collectées. Au terme de cette recherche, nous avons constaté que les intervenants sociaux non-autochtones rencontrés ont des représentations assez critiques envers le travail social non-autochtone en milieu autochtone. Cela les amène à se percevoir différemment, voire plus positivement, par rapport à leurs perceptions de leur profession dans les contextes autochtones. Leur univers de représentations professionnelles influence donc le développement d’une pratique qui se situe en marge des approches occidentales dominantes actuelles. / For a long time, assimilation was the government’s method of choice when integrating Indigenous communities into Canadian society. Non-native social workers’ practices figured predominantly within this ideology, and consequently, they contributed to the oppression of the Natives. Due to these historic events, non-native social intervention has a poor reputation in Indigenous communities in Canada. In fact, even though social intervention is presently evolving, it is still tainted by its history and reinterpreted by the collective and individual memories of the oppressed. It is therefore deemed important to study the way in which non-native social workers situate themselves with regards to these issues. This paper focuses primarily on the fundamentals and the nature of non-native social work in an indigenous context in Canada. The purpose of this research is to understand how non-native social workers situate and perceive themselves during their work with Natives. The data were collected during semi-structured interviews with 11 non-native social workers in various social environments, but all with First Nations people or Inuits of Canada. The social representation theory guided this research to a qualitative analysis of the data collected. During this research, it was found that social workers have a critical representation of social work in a non-native context. This brings them to perceive themselves differently, even more positively, compared to the perceptions they have of their professions in this Indigenous context. Their professional representations therefore influences the development of a practice situated on the periphery of current dominant Western approaches.

The aim of this study is to through six interviews, with six experienced, social workers’, in three cities, understand how the child’s position in the Swedish child protective services’ enquiries has change, and the factors behind it. The aim is also to compare if the social workers’ view of the child’s position in the enquire has change accordingly to Socialstyrelsens intentions of BBIC. The theoretical approaches that was used is the new institutionalism, the Shier’s pathways to participation and the term discretion. The results of the study shows that through the perspective of social workers, the factors that helped the child’s position to improve are the new organization of working patterns and the new documentation system, the new mindset of the social workers’ and the way the social workers’ talk to the children. The study also shows that through the child’s position in child protective enquiries has improved accordingly to Socialstyrelsens intentions of BBIC.