This PhD by published work consists of: • five single authored articles in refereed journals; • two main author articles in refereed journals; • four jointly authored articles in refereed journals; • a single authored article in a non-refereed journal; • one jointly authored book, including five single authored chapters; • two single authored chapters in edited books. They were published in the period 2003-2013. None has been submitted for any other degree or diploma by me or any other person. The theme running through these publications is the need for social workers to pay significant attention to issues arising from religion, belief and culture. The research reported highlights the impact of such issues on the lives, experiences, resources and responses of individuals, groups and communities for whom they are important. The work emphasises the importance of developing such understanding and of enhancing knowledge of different ways in which religion, belief and culture impact on the issues that social workers deal with. I suggest that these are essential aspects of culturally competent social work practice which have too often been neglected in both research and professional training. The publications are listed in Appendix 1 (pp 56-59). They demonstrate how my thinking has developed over the past decade. They reflect and are, in part, a response to the developing professional, theoretical and political context within which I have operated as a social work practitioner, manager and academic over a longer period. The majority are solo-authored. However, I remain committed to collaborative work and recognise that discussions with those researched, my collaborators, and others remain invaluable to the ongoing development of my thinking. Joint authorship declaration forms have been completed, in respect of all relevant publications, and are appended. Eight publications (Art.12, Art.11, Art.10, Art.9, Art.8, Art.6, Art.5 and Art.3) are based on findings from primary research, while Art.1 and Art.2 explore published data or data supplied by others to provide original analyses of particular issues. The remaining publications, notably book chapters, are primarily conceptual in their approach. They are underpinned by findings from both the primary research reported elsewhere and the use of case examples collected from semi-structured interviews with social work practitioners.

This thesis is based on four articles. In the first article, questionnaire data from a follow-upstudy (Article I) that aimed to explore social support, coping and resilience as predictors ofmental health in unwed young pregnant women and young mothers during placement in ashelter home were analysed. Nine shelter homes were invited to participate in the study (n ofpre-assessment = 250; n of post-assessment = 79). Percentages, paired sample t-tests, multipleanalyses of variance (MANOVA), and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse thedata. There were no significant changes in social support, coping or resilience between thepre- and post-assessment. The variability in the mental health scores from the follow-upassessment could be explained by the variability in coping, social support and resilience forbetween 14% of the variance in the BDI score and 36% in the GHQ sum-score. However,about 32% of the unwed young pregnant women and young mothers had a BDI score above26 suggesting the occurrence of a depressive disorder at the second assessment. Thequalitative part of the study (Articles II and III) attempted to investigate the reactions receivedfrom their significant others, and how these reactions influenced their pregnancy experience.Furthermore, their daily life experience during their placement in a shelter home is described.Seventeen unwed young pregnant women and young mothers aged from 12 to 18 wereinterviewed. Qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis were used to analyse thetranscriptions of the interviews. Significant others were often perceived as reacting to theunwed young pregnant women and young mothers with secrecy, repression and rejection. Theresponse of the unwed young pregnant women and young mothers to the significant others inrespect of their pregnancy was to feel detached, trapped, unworthy and ambiguous. Theresults of the thematic analysis (Article III) led to three themes: rules and regulations, therelationship with the staff, and the relationship with the other girls in the shelter home. Theresults indicated that the participating shelter homes were often not fulfilling the standards ofshelter homes according to the Malaysian national laws and the United Nations Conventionon the Rights of the Child. In addition, a mixed methods approach (Article IV) was applied toinvestigate the associations between the experiences of the unwed young pregnant women andyoung mothers in the shelter home and their social support, coping, resilience, and mentalhealth. Because of the nominal data, the findings from the qualitative analyses were quantifiedand jointly analysed with the questionnaire data using Spearman Rank coefficient. The analyses were done based on the interviews and survey with 17 unwed young pregnantwomen and young mothers aged 12 to 18 years. The mixed methods study emphasized thatthe unwed young pregnant women and young mothers have poor availability and adequacy ofsocial support and were at risk of developing mental health problems if untreated.

Against the backdrop of the transformations in the entire framing of professional work, social work has come under close scrutiny in many countries, including Sweden. Doubts have been raised about practitioners’ existing knowledge base, and the importance of practitioners engaging in learning and the renewal and extension of professional capacities has been emphasized. The present thesis concerns knowledge use and learning in the daily practices of child investigation work. The aim is to explore processes of knowledge use and learning in practice. The study is based on a mix of qualitative approaches, basically from ethnography, comprising methods such as participant observations, interviews, reflective dialogues and documentary analysis of case data. The main findings demonstrate that investigation work is characterized mainly by the use of practice-based knowledge. Research-based knowledge is predominantly used as a means of explaining a client’s situation or to underpin and legitimize one’s own beliefs and decisions made on other grounds. Professional learning is largely adaptive in character, as the social workers learn to handle tasks in a fairly routinized way on the basis of rules or procedures that draw on existing knowledge in the practice setting. Two conclusions are drawn: First, the use of knowledge in child investigation work bears little resemblance to principles of evidence-based practice. Second, the reproduction of professional knowledge is largely implicit and taken for granted. The study offers insight into the much-discussed topic of putting knowledge into practice, which is of importance to strategies for organizing profes sional learning and knowledgeable practice. / Ett i allt högre grad vetenskapsbaserat samhälle har lett till att kunskapsbasen i många verksamheter ifrågasatts, däribland socialt arbete. Avhandlingen behandlar kunskapsanvändning och lärande i utredningsarbetet inom den sociala barn- och ungdomsvården. Syfte är att öka kunskapen kring hur individer använder kunskap och lär sig i och genom sin dagliga praktik. Avhandlingen baseras på fyra delstudier som genomförts i tre svenska kommuners socialtjänst. Det empiriska materialet består av deltagande observationer, intervjuer, reflekterande dialoger och dokumentanalyser. Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i ett kognitivt perspektiv på lärande med teoretiska rötter i pragmatism. Ett grundläggande antagande bakom studien är att lärandet utgår från hur individen tolkar och förstår den situation som hen möter och därefter handlar. Resultaten visar att utredningsarbetet företrädesvis baseras på praktikbaserad kunskap som erhålls från tidigare erfarenheter och kollegor. Forskningsbaserad kunskap används huvudsakligen för att bekräfta och legitimera en uppfattning och inte för att ifrågasätta och utmana existerande åsikter och antaganden. Lärandet kan främst karaktäriseras som ett anpassningsinriktat lärande där praktikern med stöd i tidigare erfarenheter och utifrån befintlig kunskapsbas skapar rutiner för att hantera arbetet. Kunskapsanvändningen inom den sociala barn- och ungdomsvården ligger långt ifrån idealen för evidensbaserad praktik. Reproduktionen av professionell kunskap sker främst implicit och utan frågasättande. Förståelse för praktikers faktiska kunskapsanvändning och lärande har central betydelse för hur verksamheter kan organiseras för att stödja lärande i arbetet.

M.A. / The Global Social Work Standards as outlined by Sewpaul & Jones (2004) aspire for social work education and training to equip social workers with relevant knowledge and skills. This would enable them to practice in a range of contexts applying different social work methods and techniques, while recognising the interconnectedness that exists within and across all systems at micro, mezzo and macro levels. Human service organisations that employ social workers should ensure adequate provision of resources and professional staff, with a range of expertise and appropriate qualifications to facilitate quality service delivery. As social work practice is interconnected with other systems and does not operate in a vacuum, social workers are often expected to interact with clients, communities or other professionals. They should therefore be competent and able to practice within the value perspective of the profession, guided by the professional code of ethics and values. A social worker’s report is one form of interaction and communication between the social worker and others, among whom are children’s court presiding officers. Children’s courts use social workers reports to assist them in decision making pertaining to matters relating to children. Although social workers are expected to be competent in record keeping and report writing by the time they graduate, the quality of their reports is often questioned by other professionals who use them to assist in decision-making. With this state of affairs, there is growing concern about the quality of social work reports, and the social work fraternity is asking the question, “what are the factors that contribute to the quality of reports compiled by social workers for children’s courts?” and “what should be done to ensure that social workers adhere to standards of proficient report writing?”

Thesis (Ph. D. (Social Work)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Refer to document / University of Limpopo

Thesis (M. A. (Social Work)) --University of Limpopo, 2017 / Refer to the document

Little attention has been paid in Canadian Child Welfare research to the role that training plays in engaging new workers as they enter the complex role of child protection. Focusing on learning principles such as child neglect and working with an ethno-racial Other, it was important to understand what workers took away from their engagement in training and how this was implemented in practice. A mixed methods approach using critical analysis of the OACAS Handouts was used to inform the Semi Structured Interviews conducted with frontline C.A.S. workers. Critical Race Analysis provides theoretical foundation to understand how the ethno-racial other is perceived and enacted in discourse that workers take away into practice. Findings suggest that C.A.S. workers have a conflicted view of training due to the nature and context in which they practice. Aside from the benefits of training, workers have a lot to say about how it could be structured in order to benefit practice. Workers also have complex and conflicting views on neglect, some of which are learned through training and then exacerbated through practice. Workers practice principles on engaging with an ethno-racial other was not influenced through training, but through their own learning processes as influenced by practice and earlier education. These factors relating to child welfare workers can help influence future training within C.A.S. organizations across Canada. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Men's violence against women is an ever-increasing societal issue. The social services bear the responsibility of supporting and protecting women who are victims of violence seeking help. This responsibility has been delegated to social workers based on municipal autonomy. To ensure the safety placements of these women, social workers are guided by standardized assessment tools implemented across municipalities. Previous research suggests that safety assessments might differ depending on where in the country women seek support and protection. The study focuses on investigating the basis upon which social workers ground their safety assessments and whether circumstances exist that cause variations in these assessments across different municipalities. Data from social workers is gathered through eight semi-structured interviews. This empirical data is processed and analyzed using the theoretical concept of scope for action. The study reveals that social workers base their safety assessments on FREDA and conversations with the victims of violence. It discusses the significance of the victim's narrative and how deficiencies in resources and evaluation can lead to discrepancies in assessments. The choice of assessment tools and the scope for action of social workers are questioned.

<p>Interrogating the concept of power is ethical social work practice. This research aims to investigate the manner in which visible minority women social service providers perceive the concept of power as non-managerial employees in the women’s shelter system. Therefore, the necessity to delineate the ongoing challenges and contradictions that shape the work experiences of visible minority women social service providers contributes and furthers our understanding of social justice, critical social work practice, and strategies to enhance workplace equity. In addressing the phenomenon of power from the viewpoint of those affected, this ultimately helps to broaden the understanding how as social workers it remains pivotal to raise awareness about the ongoing power imbalances in social services settings. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with visible minority women employed in the women’s shelter system in southern, Ontario were conducted and complement the author’s own personal reflections as a visible minority woman previously employed in the Violence Against Women’s shelter system. This research suggests that due to ongoing power differentials, neoliberal restructuring and discriminatory incidents, continued attention is required in order to address social inequality and enhance workplace equity.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn more about the experiences of social work practitioners who are employed in the for-profit sector. Data were collected through individual interviews with four registered social workers. Findings showed that social worker’s experiences of practice within for-profit or private practice settings falls into six main categories. ‘Social work identity’, which includes a comparison of social work and other professions, professional values and ethics, and professional practice issues. ‘Valued characteristics’, which includes past and current work experience, goals for practice, service provision, and job flexibility. The category of ‘fee for service’ examines charging fees in exchange for social work services, salary and compensation, funding, and advertising. ‘Challenges’ of social work practice in the for-profit sector includes experiencing financial pressure, client no-shows, and navigating the “balancing act” of providing services while earning an income. ‘Supervision’, which addresses issues of debriefing. The final category, ‘social work education’, explores the current post-secondary social work program and includes recommendations from participants on improving the curriculum and preparing graduates for working within the field. A central issue for social workers within the for-profit sector is the misconceptions that exist regarding their work. The conclusion is that unlike private practice, social work practice within non-profit and for-profit agencies has a number of similarities. The social work profession offers a multitude of career options for practitioners; different social workers fill different roles, according to their proficiencies, experience, and expertise.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)