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The welfare state is in crisis and it is in this context that statutory agencies, charged with the delivery of services to children and their families, are struggling to define and provide acceptable forms of intervention and service provision. As politicians, academics, media commentators, members of the public and professionals, within various disciplines, debate the appropriate role for social work', state employees charged with mediating the relationship between the child, family and state, attempt to work productively with some of the most disadvantaged children and families in contemporary society. Given the contentious nature of this task it is unsurprising that conflictual expectations and definitions of good practice are evident in this arena. These impact on front line workers and managers, who struggle to accommodate changes whilst meeting statutory organisational responsibilities, linked to legislative and policy shifts that are implemented on the shifting sands of changing ideological, political and economic imperatives. Within this environment the nature of professional and managerial roles, responsibilities and relationships is of interest as staff respond to initiatives focused on reshaping services. This is important from the perspective of agency personnel, as shifts often lead to the redefinition of roles and responsibilities in ways that employees may resist. It is also important from a client 2 perspective as the extent to which staff successfully manage the tensions of practice fundamentally affects the nature of service responses at the individual, and organisational level. This research focuses on the impact of changes for social work practitioners, and their immediate managers, rather than social work clients, as they attempt to meet the challenges of implementing, or failing to implement, recent legislative and associated policy shifts within children and families services. Comparison and analysis of the experiences of organisational members occupying various roles, managerial and professional, will highlight the impact and consequences of change for staff across the occupational hierarchy. In addition, exploration of current issues within one social work service sector will hopefully illuminate key issues in the social work arena more widely. In general, attempting to construct counter narratives, through (re)focusing our attention at differing levels or in differing directions, is crucial if difficulties identified in relation to contemporary social work practice are not to be wholly ascribed to social work and social workers. Decontextualised analysis, to accommodate the impact on practice of the application of specific ideological and political doctrines as if they are neutral expressions of good sense, is problematic yet arguably increasingly standard practice in the welfare arena. The tensions arising for social workers, working within what can then be seen as hostile terrain, requires detailed analysis if they are not to be uncritically 5çpcgQatedfind pilloried within contemporary blame cultures. The empirical work for the project was undertaken within one metropolitan social services department, using a mix of research methods, to explicate the day to day circumstances of organisational members working lives within a changing organisational context. Fieldwork initially focused on identifjing key organisational members (for example research and policy development officer) and conducting focus groups (4) with staff from children and families services. Guided qualitative pilot interviews (6), and main interviews (34), were then undertaken with organisational members occupying varying locations across the occupational hierarchy. Additionally, collation and analysis of organisational products (over 40 documents from a variety of sources) was an integral part of the project. Finally information collected was analysed using a middle order approach and utilising a qualitative data analysis package, Atlas/ti. The preliminary analysis of pilot interviews highlighted a number of significant themes. However, consideration of the extent to which the legislation or the context of implementation has primacy in practice was a key concern for staff; at all levels in the organisation, who faced difficulties and dilemmas in practice around providing services to children and their families. In particular the impact of importing management practices from the private sector and the extent to which budgetary constraints are arguably limiting the implementation of the legislation, and thereby undermining the care ethic embedded in it, were important issues. These preliminary themes have been further developed through analysis of the main interviews. Overall concerns around intentions and outcomes, rhetoric and realities, in social work practice were central for practitioners and managers. This Ph.D. thesis reports on empirical work completed and grounds theoretical analysis, fcoiiiimporary issues in the social work arena, in the original research. A focus on the interface between structural changes, organisational responses and individuals' practice experiences constitutes an attempt at crossing the established historical divide in social work theorising, where the focus has usually been on structural concerns or questions of agency in isolation.

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This correlational study uses quantitative data as well as qualitative document and policy analysis to consider the role that social policy has played in achieving poverty reduction in Canada’s provinces since 1999. Because social policy is only one among many factors influencing poverty and a social protection system consists of many programs, this research seeks to identify those factors, including social policies and/or social policy changes, which are most likely to have influenced poverty. This research finds that social policy and economic factors influenced poverty rates and trends over this period, albeit inconsistently across demographic groups and jurisdictions. The analysis suggests that it is very likely that social policy reduced poverty among families with children in Quebec and Ontario over this period. In contrast, social policy has become increasingly ineffective at reducing poverty among unattached adults in terms of both incidence (poverty rate) and depth (poverty gap). Finally, the evidence suggests that economic factors likely played an important role in reducing poverty in British Columbia and, to a lesser extent, in Quebec, but likely did not contribute to poverty reduction in Ontario. This research demonstrates the need for additional comparative research on how social policy and its evolution influence poverty rates at the provincial and demographic levels. To support such research (and evidence-based policymaking), this research also shows that there is a need for provincial and federal governments to collect and publish data on social programs and beneficiaries. Finally, the findings demonstrate the need for additional social programming aimed at preventing and relieving poverty among unattached adults who have seen very little improvement in their poverty risk over the past 15 years.

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<p>For the purposes of this thesis I interviewed four women. The interviews sought to uncover how these women experienced discretionary decision-making and whether it was a vehicle for novel and emancipatory work. I also asked what and how did the competing policies structure their work and decision-making? What have been their experience and their power in the change making process? Where are some of the locations of change as they experience and understand it? Where do they see change necessary in the structure of these policies?</p> <p>These four women worked in two different child welfare agencies. The larger of the two agencies has recently undertaken an anti-racism education and organizational change initiative. This work is critical to maintaining or establishing healthy communities. The experience and energies of practitioners must be harnessed as generators of practical assessments and solutions regarding systemic oppression and practical problems. This experience must also be employed as a vehicle for political change both at the frontline and throughout the policy making process.</p> <p>Although discretionary decision making could clearly be a site for emancipatory work and a vehicle for antioppressive practice, the data show that it was not utilized as such to any great extent in the professional lives of these four women. All four respondents spoke about anti oppressive practice and change as a regular aspect of the work in their agency; all also indicated that there are a significant number of barriers to practicing within this framework.</p> <p>This work of critical analysis is not covered under existing funding frameworks, nor is it quantifiable through current accountability measures, and thus it remains invisible work. In an era of New Public Management with the contracting out of services, lean service provision built upon principals of just-intime production, it becomes increasingly difficult to justify these efforts of resistance and service reform. Unless the lack of an antioppressive framework can be linked to increased risk to children and families, and thus become a liability to the service providers, it seems unlikely that this reform will be effectively engaged and carried through to completion.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

The concern of this dissertation is planning theory and practice; its purpose is to make planning more responsive to the problems of the city. The premise that the study is built on is that social planning must be in harmony with the nature of its subject matter, and that social problems is its subject matter. The supposition is that if we grasp the nature of social problems and build planning theory and practice on these insights, planning efforts will be more relevant and more effective. The approach is a theoretical one; social problems are the starting point. After urban problems--and poverty in particular--are examined from an historical perspective, a social systems framework is presented to clarify how problems are generated and maintained as well as to explain how responses to problems are shaped. The inquiry into the nature of social problems then draws upon sociological theory. This theoretical literature is found to focus on either the objective elements of social problems or on the subjective, that is, the process by which persons come to judge whether a condition is a social problem. Structural aspects of problems are not an important concern of the theorists. However, in this study a problem is considered as social only when its causes lie outside of individuals--when the sources or origins can be found in existing structural or institutional arrangements. Problems are conceptualized as having two dimensions: objective and subjective ones. Social problems--specifically, their objective and subjective dimensions--are related to social planning. It is contended that planning must deal with the objective elements of social problems, including structural aspects, as well as with the subjective dimensions. Or, in other words, social planning must (1) treat the structural causes of problems and also (2) address itself to the values, beliefs, definitions, etc. that obstruct social change. In addition to this theoretical linkage of social problems and social planning, the dissertation situates planning in the context of a general theory of social reality. Drawing upon the work of Berger and Luckmann (1966), planning is conceptualized as a process in which reality is socially constructed. These theoretical concepts--the objective and subjective dimensions of socia1 problems as the object of social planning and social planning as the social construction of reality-provide the basis for the model which is developed. Three components of the model are treated. First, characteristics of the process are discussed, and it is contended that the social planning process must be “task-oriented,” "experimental,” “cybernetic,” dialogic, and collaborative. Second, roles and phases in the process are discussed and illustrated. : Consistent with the theoretical framework in which knowledge is considered as socially distributed, citizen, planner, and decision maker have roles in each of the planning phases. Since no one has a complete view of social reality, each is seen as having a distinct contribution to make in the task of defining the problem and its solution. Thus, resolving social problems requires that citizen, planner, and decision maker collaborate and learn from one another. The planner's role is elaborated as the third aspect of the model. By planner is meant an interdisciplinary team whose role encompasses two main functions: (1) technical tasks that have traditionally belonged to the planner, and (2) interactional tasks. Although other planning theorists have outlined interactional tasks for the planner, his role in the collaborative model is “to promote mutual learning through dialog.” This role, similar to that of a process consultant, is considered unique to the collaborative planning model. Although components of the model resemble those of other models, taken together, the characteristics of the planning process, planning phases, and planning roles differ from any other model. And importantly, the planning model grows out of a theoretical analysis of social problems as well as a broad theoretical framework. The model is normative in nature, and although it is not tested empirically, it is evaluated at a theoretical level. The collaborative model and seven other planning models are assessed in terms of whether they are responsive to the nature of social problems. It is contended that the collaborative model is the only one that is responsive to the nature of social problems. This dissertation--its theoretical concepts and conceptual model-is seen as a contribution to an emerging planning paradigm--one that holds the promise that we can learn to deal effectively with the problems that confront our cities.

<p>A critical anti-racist feminist analysis is used to examine the City of Toronto's current approach to gender equity and to consider how the City can move forward based on the discussion of Toronto's issues and challenges and other cities' successes. Written from the perspective of one member of a 14-member City of Toronto women's advisory committee, it examines the City's approach to diversity in general and gender equity in particular. The analysis finds serious flaws in the City's current approach, related to a lack of gender equity structures and mechanisms, a lack of interest in, and resources allocated to, such structures and mechanisms, and a lack of civic engagement of women, which forms a part of the City's overall democratic deficit. Structures and mechanisms implemented in other cities in order to promote gender equity are explored in order to provide the City with successful possibilities to consider. A proposed six-stage model categorizes various levels of commitment that cities have demonstrated towards achieving gender equity. This model allows cities, such as Toronto, to assess their individual progress on gender equity relative to other cities and to better understand the need to increase their efforts. Lastly, recommendations to the City of Toronto to enhance its gender equity approach are discussed. Despite the limitations of this study, the author believes it was highly necessary to document and disseminate the issues related to the City of Toronto's approach to gender equity in order to open up productive dialogue between the City and the community and to motivate effective, equity-enhancing change in a timely manner.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

This research investigates the impact of oil on a traditional Arab society. The . literature which addresses societal change IS methodically reviewed, with substantial attention given to the theories of noted sociologist Max Weber as well as many more recent scholars who have adapted and re-interpreted Weber's seminal insights. Following the review of relevant literature, the reader is introduced to the pre-oil, traditional society of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The body of the research reports, illuminates and examines through case studies the challenges of wrenching social change in a traditional society. The research finds that introduction of oil is the change agent. The invitation extended to Western oil companies to manage the extraction industry resulted in enormous disruption to the society as it then existed, and provided very large sums of capital to the UAE. Both of these factors, the insertion within the society of a western industrial culture of size and importance, and the opportunities for the UAE to develop and modernize at great speed due to the availability of large resources, combined to place enormous tension on the social traditions and practices of the then tribal society. The research then turns to the ways and means that both the society and the western oil companies employed to manage the dynamic of change. The specific role of the Oil Company's Public Relations function is examined in depth. The thesis that the public relations function served both the company and the society at large as the primary agent of mitigation is stated and tested. This paper finds that the public relations function performed a critical service by explaining the traditions of the society to the oil company, and negotiating for the oil company with the formal and informal organizations present in the society. These public relations practitioners also performed the critical task of representing, and at times. performing advocacy services for, groups within the society whose values were threatened by the western practices of the oil companies. This latter function is very different from the traditional roles of western public relations staffs. The research concludes that in this particular circumstance the contribution of the public relations staff was essential to both the company and the society in coping with enormous social pressures.

Social concern about deviant, delinquent and disorderly behaviour has a long history in the UK. Propelled by the New Labour government’s Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the ‘antisocial behaviour agenda’ reframed the problem and constructed a punitive solution (Newburn, 2007). While in recent years Scottish policy has diverged from the punitive rhetoric established in Westminster, the ‘antisocial’ individual continues to be conceptualised as part of a disruptive minority that fails to conform to societal norms of behaviour. This antisocial minority has, invariably, come to be associated with young people and, in particular, young people from ‘disadvantaged’ socio-economic circumstances. While there is a growing body of empirical research on this topic, most has focused on young people’s relationship to antisocial behaviour in terms of their role as victim or as perpetrator. Alternatively, studies have evaluated how young people experience specific policy interventions. The principal aim of this doctoral research is to shift away from attempting to explain why young people become involved in antisocial behaviour and instead explore the diverse ways they define, experience and relate to it. Its gaze, therefore, is upon young people’s everyday interactions with antisocial behaviour and, in so doing, seeks to produce a more rounded understanding of young lives. The research was based within ‘Robbiestoun’ (a pseudonym): a predominantly social housing estate in the suburbs of a Scottish city and, as such, was able to situate young people’s experiences of antisocial behaviour alongside their experiences of living in a ‘disadvantaged’ socio-economic place. It employed participatory ethnographic methods to engage with a range of young people across multiple research sites. The empirical analysis found that understandings of what is, and is not, normal behaviour were fundamental to young people’s relationship with the antisocial. Social and physical disorder was a regular occurrence, and for many, it was an established, even normal, part of everyday life. Nonetheless, young people were aware of external categorisations of Robbiestoun and its residents as ‘abnormal’, an identity which most young people resisted and challenged. Young people’s behaviour in public spaces was similarly contested. Professionals (and many adults) had clear ideas about what constituted normal, social behaviour and these frequently conflicted with those held by young people. Such conflict was most evident for those young people actively engaged in criminal and antisocial acts. Not only was antisocial was a label these groups identified with, but they also rationalised their involvement in antisocial behaviour as an expected, and indeed necessary, part of growing up in Robbiestoun. The research revealed that young people utilised a range of strategies, techniques and rationales which enabled them to navigate the area’s ‘abnormal’ identity and ‘get on’ with ‘normal’ life. Such tactics were not universal across Robbiestoun, but rather varied according to young people’s own behavioural standards and social norms. The research concludes by arguing that the different relationships young people have to antisocial behaviour were, in fact, expressions of economic inequality, poverty and material disadvantage. This is an important point, but one not adequately addressed by policy makers. Rather than pursuing policy objectives based on the pursuit of ‘correct’ social values and norms, it is contended that more attention must be given the role of local norms in shaping young people’s definitions of, and relationships to, antisocial behaviour. Only then can a more rounded understanding of everyday lives in a disadvantaged place be developed and, in turn, workable solutions be found and delivered.