Understanding the Efficacy of Bhutan’s First Ever Certificate Course in Social Work

With the transition of political, economic and social scenario in Bhutan, the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have been expanding over the years. Bhutan has more than forty registered CSOs and the numbers are still growing. However, paucity of trained social workers in Bhutan has compelled the CSOs to recruit employees with varying degrees. To mitigate this, Samtse College of Education (SCE) of the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) launched Bhutan’s first ever certificate course in social work. So far, two cohorts of participants have been trained. This study was designed to understand the efficacy of Bhutan’s first ever certificate course in social work from the vantage point of the participants. It adopted a convergent parallel mixed method design, primarily employing questionnaires and semi-structured individual interviews. The study found the certificate course to be highly effective in enhancing the professional competence of the social workers in Bhutan. It is believed to have been an “eye-opening experience” for most social workers who ventured into this profession, without relevant training. The study recommends SCE and RUB to provide similar certificate courses to the thousands to untrained social workers in Bhutan.

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Situating the Efficacy of Certificate Course in Social Work: A Case of First-Ever Course in Bhutan

Research on Social Work Practice ◽

10.1177/10497315211011249 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 104973152110112

Author(s):

Ramesh K. Chhetri ◽

S Dorji ◽

Tshering Dorji ◽

Sangay Wangchuk

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Professional Competence ◽

College Of Education ◽

Civil Society Organizations ◽

Individual Interviews ◽

The Social ◽

Mixed Method Design ◽

Political Economic

Purpose: With the transition of political, economic, and social scenario in Bhutan, the civil society organizations (CSOs) have been expanding over the years. However, a paucity of trained social workers in Bhutan has compelled the CSOs to recruit employees with varying degrees. Considering such situation, this study was designed to understand the efficacy of Bhutan’s first-ever certificate course in social work offered by Samtse College of Education from the vantage point of the participants. Method: It adopted a convergent parallel mixed-method design, primarily employing questionnaires and semistructured individual interviews. Results: The study found the certificate course to be highly effective in enhancing the professional competence of the social workers in Bhutan. Discussion: The study supports the need to provide similar courses to hundreds of untrained social workers in Bhutan who are aspiring to upgrade their professional competence.

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METHODS OF SOCIAL WORK MANAGEMENT IN THE ACTIVITIES OF A SOCIAL WORKER

Social work and social education ◽

10.31499/2618-0715.2(7).2021.244079 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 51-61

Author(s):

Maryna Lekholetova

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Social Services ◽

Social Worker ◽

Time Management ◽

Professional Competence ◽

Management Skills ◽

Professional Activities ◽

The Social ◽

Work Management

The article presents an analysis of different approaches of domestic scientists to the interpretation of the concept of «social work management». The author surveys the features of management as an object of governance in the activities of a social worker. Features include the social nature of management information; the need for motivation methods that effectively influences and motivates professionals to better results in social work; availability of social workers' professional competence; the presence of problems with forecasting the results of management in the social sphere; the importance of current and final management results. The author proves the necessity of social workers' self-management skills (time management, motivation, stress resistance and recuperation, development of emotional intelligence) for the effective performance of management tasks in professional activities. The article highlights the principles that should be followed in solving organizational and managerial tasks in social work management (purposefulness, ability of realization, adaptability, efficiency). The researcher presents the structure of social work management methods in the study (economic, administrative, social counselling, psychological and pedagogical influence, social influence). Research characterizes the methods of social work management while working with recipients of social services (methods of individual social work, methods of group social work, methods of community work, methods of social service design).

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Deciding to use the law in social work practice

Journal of Social Work ◽

10.1177/1468017311431476 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 75-95 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Suzy Braye ◽

Michael Preston-Shoot ◽

Veronica Wigley

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Work Practice ◽

Social Work Practice ◽

Legal Knowledge ◽

Legal Rules ◽

Individual Interviews ◽

Low Profile ◽

The Social

• Summary: This article reviews evidence on how social workers incorporate legal rules in their decision-making. It draws on a small empirical study in which practitioners shared with each other, in peer interviews, examples of their own casework, followed by individual interviews with a researcher. Taken together, the conversations cast light on the extent to which legal knowledge is foregrounded in practitioners’ accounts of their work. • Findings: The findings show that references to law are more likely to be implicit than explicit, particularly in adult social care, and that absence of legal references is a striking feature of the social workers’ narratives. The article draws on related literature to interrogate the potential reasons for the relatively low profile of ‘law talk’ and identifies four factors – lack of legal knowledge and confidence, reliance on organizational and procedural approaches, assumptions about the role of law in different service contexts, and individual orientations to practice – as significant factors in determining whether and how legal rules are relied upon. Thus it presents a more nuanced analysis of the relationship between law and practice than has hitherto been available. • Applications: The findings are significant in casting light on the complex range of factors that present barriers to the robust and consistent implementation of legal rules in social work. They have implications – in particular for the role of organizational management in the audit, development and supervision of practice – that are particularly topical in the context of the work in England of the Social Work Reform Board.

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Visita domiciliar no trabalho do assistente social: reflexões sobre as técnicas operativas e os desafios ético-políticos na atualidade

Libertas ISNN 1980-8518 ◽

10.34019/1980-8518.2017.v17.18528 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Thaisa Teixeira Closs ◽

Giovane Antônio Scherer

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Social Worker ◽

Home Visit ◽

Professional Competence ◽

Professional Work ◽

Operative Techniques ◽

The Social ◽

Neoliberal Ideology ◽

Political Project

Resumo: O presente artigo objetiva discutir a visita domiciliar, compreendida como um instrumento interventivo no trabalho dos assistentes sociais. O material, ancorado no referencial dialético-crítico, apresenta reflexões de cunho técnico-operativo, problematizando os desafios presentes na articulação desse instrumental no exercício profissional. Aponta-se para a necessária articulação das dimensões da competência profissional na direção da materialização do projeto ético-político do Serviço Social, problematizando a conjuntura atual de agudização da ideologia neoliberal de cunho neoconservador e seus impactos para o trabalho profissional do assistente social. Home visit in the work of the social worker: reflections on the operative techniques and the ethical-political challenges in the present time Abstract: This article aims to discuss the home visit, understood as an intervention tool in the work of social workers. The material, anchored in the dialectical-critical referential, presents reflections of technical-operative nature, problematizing the present challenges in the articulation of this instrumental in the professional exercise. This article points out the necessary articulation of the dimensions of professional competence in the direction of the materialization of the social-political project of Social Work, problematizing the current conjuncture of neoliberal ideology exacerbation of neoconservative nature and its impacts on the professional work of the social worker.

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Satisfaction with the Social Work Profession: A Ten-Year Analysis of Undergraduate Students' Perceptions

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1997.80.3.835 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 80 (3) ◽

pp. 835-838 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

James G. Hanson ◽

James G. McCullagh

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Career Choice ◽

Social Workers ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Perceived Satisfaction ◽

High Satisfaction ◽

The Social

A 10-yr. study of 746 social work undergraduates' perceived satisfaction with seven factors related to their career choice suggested high satisfaction with social work as a career; with the purposes and functions of social work, and the students' initial volunteer experience. There were no significant changes in satisfaction over the 10-yr. period, which findings parallel those of other studies in which similar methods have been used with practicing social workers.

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Social workers, critical theory and the political sphere: addressing political misrecognition and marginalisation in the Republic of Ireland

Critical and Radical Social Work ◽

10.1332/204986021x16114102394790 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Susan Flynn

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Democratic Party ◽

Political Life ◽

Critical Commentary ◽

The Social ◽

The Republic ◽

Electoral Representation ◽

Irish Politics

Despite the traditional social justice mandate of social work, and critical and radical theoretical traditions that pursue egalitarian and just societies, the engagement of the social work academy with Irish politics has been underwhelming at best. While there are abstract analyses that address sociopolitical theory and ideological wrongdoings related to neoliberalist rationality, attention in social work academia to the nuts and bolts of everyday political life in Ireland, such as democratic party politics and electoral representation, leaves much to the imagination. This article therefore pursues a more grounded reading of social justice in Irish politics for social workers. The supporting proposition is that to effectively interject in political misrecognition and marginalisation, social workers must understand the present political state of play. Towards achieving this, Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition aids thematic critical commentary on the literature.

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What's the problem with disaster? Anthropology, social work, and the qualitative slot

Qualitative Social Work ◽

10.1177/14733250211039517 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (6) ◽

pp. 1496-1516

Author(s):

Tisha Joseph Holmes ◽

John Mathias ◽

Tyler McCreary ◽

James Brian Elsner

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Social Work ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Housing Stock ◽

Qualitative Inquiry ◽

Problem Definition ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

The Social ◽

Disaster Anthropology ◽

Political Economic

On March 3, 2019, an EF4 tornado devastated the rural Alabama communities of Beauregard and Smith Station, killing 23 people and causing direct injuries to another 97. This storm was unusually devastating, with twice the predicted casualty rate based on the tornado’s power, the impacted population, and impacted housing stock. In this paper, we apply qualitative methods from anthropology, geography, and planning to better understand the social context of this unusually devastating tornado. Recognizing that there are multiple formulations of the problem of disasters, we aim to highlight how interdisciplinary qualitative research can deepen our understanding of tornado disasters. Combining policy analysis, political economic critique, and ethnographic description, we seek to showcase how qualitative research enables us to interrogate and reimagine the problem of disasters. Rather than simply juxtaposing qualitative and quantitative methods, we emphasize how the heterogeneity of qualitative research methods can strengthen interdisciplinary research projects by generating dialogue about the multiple contexts relevant to understanding a social problem. While problem definition remains a central challenge to establishing a dialogue between anthropology and social work, here, we intend to extend this discussion to larger interdisciplinary collaborations. Situating the issue of problem formation within a broader ecology of qualitative inquiry, we highlight how dialogue about problem definition can, itself, produce meaningful insights into how we understand disasters.

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Social work education in action: How studying for the profession facilitates the adaptation of internationally educated social workers in Canada

International Social Work ◽

10.1177/0020872818818660 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 114-127

Author(s):

Annie Pullen Sansfaçon ◽

Marion Brown

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Social Work Education ◽

Educational Background ◽

Work Skills ◽

The Social ◽

Theory Project ◽

Work Education ◽

Adaptation Processes ◽

Depth Interviews

This article presents the results and theorization of a 4-year Grounded Theory project that sought to understand the processes and dynamics involved in the professional adaptation of internationally educated social workers now practicing in Canada. In-depth interviews with 66 participants, who undertook social work education outside of Canada and have subsequently settled to practice in the country, were conducted. Results highlight that the social work educational background of the professionals not only offers key conceptual, theoretical, and analytical foundations needed to adapt knowledge and skills to practice abroad, but also provides tools to navigate and negotiate professional adaptation processes as a whole. We conclude that ultimately, social workers may adapt well to their new work contexts because of the transferability of social work skills, knowledge, and values to new practice settings, thus facilitating interventions with services users and also their own process of professional adaptation.

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Head Start and Social Work

Families in Society The Journal of Contemporary Social Services ◽

10.1606/1044-3894.756 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 78 (2) ◽

pp. 172-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Arthur J. Frankel

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Head Start ◽

Social Workers ◽

Social Service ◽

Financial Resources ◽

Current Status ◽

Service Component ◽

Work Involvement ◽

The Social ◽

Head Start Programs

The author states that the social work profession is not sufficiently involved with Head Start. Data from a representative sample of Head Start programs shows the minimal role professional social workers play with Head Start even when ample financial resources to hire BSWs or MSWs are available. Evidence suggests, however, that Head Start is open to increased professional social work involvement. The author presents reasons social work professionals are underrepresented in Head Start and recommendations for increasing professional involvement and influence. The author also discusses the history and current status of Head Start, including a thorough description of Head Start's social service component.

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