| 1. |
- Addelyan Rasi, Hamideh, et al.
(författare)
-
Empowering Single Mothers in Iran : Applying a Problem-Solving Model in Learning Groups to Develop Participants’ Capacity to Improve Their Lives
- 2013
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 43:5, s. 833-852
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since 2000, a problem-solving model has been taught to the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child, and teachers and students of social work in two universities in Iran. Since 2006, with the initiation of UNICEF, social workers, psychologists and even some psychiatrists in Iran have been learning this model. In 2008, a group of researchers created an empowerment-oriented psycho-social group and private intervention project to assess whether a group of Iranian single mothers could use this model, which was traditionally used by professionals only, to effectively and independently meet challenges in their own lives. Our results show that all women used the model effectively and, consequently, made more deliberate decisions to improve their life situations. Some of the women succeeded in finding a job and many improved their family relationships. This study suggests that empowerment-oriented social work can help many clients to achieve their goals, and that this psycho-social intervention project can be a useful model for social work in Iran and many other societies.
|
|
| 2. |
- Andersson, Gunvor
(författare)
-
The motives of foster parents, their family and work circumstances
- 2001
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 31:2, s. 235-248
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In foster care research the focus is generally placed on the children, not on the parents who perform the foster care. In this article the focus is on foster parents of 10-11 year-old children. They were interviewed about their motives for becoming foster parents, which were linked to their family and work circumstances. Among the 21 foster families in the study, four different but equally frequent reasons or motives for taking care of foster children from the very beginning could be distinguished: relatives who feel responsibility for a certain child; couples who want children and do not think they can have children of their own; families where the mother wants to be at home taking care of biological as well as foster children instead of having unskilled employed work outside the home; and parents with grown-up children who want to fill the 'empty nest' by becoming foster parents - combined with a family business at home or close to home. Changing family and work patterns in Sweden do not seem to have influenced foster families as much as families in general. The worth of acquiring more knowledge about the families involved in foster care of children and young people in order to improve foster care and reduce breakdowns of care is discussed.
|
|
| 3. |
- Andersson, Katarina, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
-
Empathetic attuning : 'How would i feel if i had to expose myself all the time?'—strategies for managing personal and intimate care in swedish formal home care
- 2023
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - : Oxford University Press. - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 53:2, s. 921-938
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sweden, as a welfare state, has a long tradition of providing formal home care and support to their citizens in their own homes, either through home care services or personal assistance. A large percentage of frail elderly and persons with disability who receive formal home care require personal and intimate care, such as help with eating, showering, getting dressed and personal hygiene. Managing intimacy and safeguarding the care recipient’s integrity pose particular challenges for staff. The aim of this qualitative interview study is to describe and analyse care workers’ (CWs) and personal assistants’ (PAs) strategies for managing situations and challenges related to provision of personal and intimate care in the context of formal home care. Semi-structured interviews with eleven CWs and nine PAs were conducted. Our analysis reveals a complex repertoire of relational and communicative strategies, within an overall approach - which we labelled 'empathetic attuning'—of relating to the current situation and task at hand whilst safeguarding integrity. These strategies were intertwined with dimensions of time. The possibility to accomplish satisfactory personal and intimate care rests on structural and organisational conditions that promote sustainable working conditions, where relations characterised by continuity, integrity and respect can be realised.
|
|
| 4. |
- Aronsson, Gunnar, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
-
Work conditions, Recovery and Health : A study among workers within Pre-School, Home Care and Social Work
- 2014
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 44:6, s. 1654-1672
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study investigated the working conditions associated with the accumulation of stress and lack of recovery and how recovery is related to health. The study group was employed in pre-school, home care and social work (n = 193). Recovery was assumed to be an explanatory variable for the relations between work and health. The response rate on a survey was 79 per cent. Cluster analysis identified three groups: the ‘Recovered’ (36 per cent of the total group) and ‘Not Recovered’ (25 per cent) and the ‘In-between’ (39 per cent). The Not Recovered displayed the whole chain of risk factors, involving difficult working conditions to which they responded with increased compensatory strategies. Despite this group having significantly greater reports of ill health, work absenteeism was not greater, which is likely related to their substituting sickness absence with sickness presence. As many as 43 per cent of the social workers were found to belong to the Not Recovered group. Multiple regression analyses controlling for background variables revealed that the Not Recovered group had a significantly higher relative risk for poor self-rated health than those in the Recovered group. Even sharper increases in relative risk existed for the other five symptoms that were analysed. Practical implications and new research questions are discussed.
|
|
| 5. |
- Astvik, Wanja, et al.
(författare)
-
Reasons for Staying : A Longitudinal Study of Work Conditions Predicting Social Workers’ Willingness to Stay in Their Organisation
- 2020
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 50:5, s. 1382-1400
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Extensive staff turnover within the statutory social services is a serious problem in Sweden and in other European countries. This study examines which work conditions predict social workers’ willingness to stay in their organisation. A web-based questionnaire was used to gather data. The participating social workers responded to two questionnaires over a one-year period. To identify the social workers who wanted to stay and also remained in the organisation, the group ‘Stayers’ (n = 1,368) consisted of social workers who reported low intentions to quit at T1. The group ‘Leavers’ (n = 1,182) were social workers who had actually resigned at T2. The data were analysed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The multivariate analysis shows that the work conditions that predicted staying in the organisation were low degrees of conflicting demands and quantitative demands, high degrees of openness and human resource orientation in the organisation and a high degree of perceived service quality. The results are discussed in relation to public management and managerial responsibility to create sustainable work conditions that facilitate the provision of good social services for citizens.
|
|
| 6. |
- Avby, Gunilla, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
-
Ways of understanding evidence-based practice in social work : A qualitative study
- 2014
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - Oxford : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 44:6, s. 1366-1383
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This qualitative, empirical study explores and describes the variation in how evidence-based practice (EBP) is understood in social work. A phenomenographic approach to design and analysis was applied. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with politicians, managers and executive staff in three social welfare offices in Sweden. The main findings suggest that there are qualitatively different ways in which EBP is understood, described in five categories: (i) fragmented; (ii) discursive; (iii) instrumental; (iv) multifaceted; and (v) critical. The outcome space is hierarchically structured with a logical relationship between the categories. However, the informants found it difficult to account for EBP, depending on what was expressed as deficient knowledge of EBP in the organisation, as well as ability to provide a seemly context for EBP. The results highlight the importance of acknowledging these differences in the organisation to compose a supportive atmosphere for EBP to thrive rather than merely assume the case of evidence-based social work. The categories can be utilised as stimuli for reflection in social work practice, and thereby provide the possibility to promote knowledge use and learning in the evolving evidence-based social work.
|
|
| 7. |
- Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Hanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
Intensity and Variable Attention : Counter Narrating ADHD, from ADHD Deficits to ADHD Difference
- 2023
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - : Oxford University Press. - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 53:8, s. 3647-3664
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Literature on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has historically come from a cognitive deficit approach and lacked community authorship. In contrast, this article utilises a neurodiversity framework to explore ADHD as a cognitive difference through ADHDers’ experiences. Specifically, here we analyse collective autoethnographic writings from neurodivergent academic researchers writing to one other about their experiences of intensity and variable attention or interest-based attention. Through the process of collective writing, we started to rename and restory our experiences, which has enabled us to understand intensity and variable attention as a valuable facet of human diversity, with both strengths and challenges. This project offers an example of how community-based research can elucidate individual experiences as ADHD/AuDHD researchers, facilitate exploration of varied experiences with intensity and attention and increase self-awareness and ability to give and receive neuroaffirmative support.
|
|
| 8. |
- Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Hanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
Managing Vocational Work, Achieving and Sustaining Work Performance : Support and Self-management amongst Young Autistic Adults in the Context of Vocational Support Interventions in Sweden
- 2022
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, we explore experiences of support and self-management amongst young autistic adults in the context of vocational support interventions in Sweden. We analyse how young autistic men use different strategies to manage their vocational work and the support they need to maintain, achieve and sustain their work performance. Data consist of eleven interviews with 4 autistic young adult men in different work environments where vocational support interventions are implemented to different degrees. One finding concludes that the interviewees are affected by and try to adapt to neurotypical norms and expectations about working life and adulthood. Although individualised coping strategies can be helpful, it is important for employers and formal support persons to understand and acknowledge that individual emotional and problem-solving coping strategies are demanding and need to be combined with adaptations in the working environment. Another finding concludes how work managers act as gatekeeper in the vocational support system the young autistic men aspire to access and in which they need to manage their work performance. Thus, social workers must provide structured and well-coordinated formal work support by both involving the autistic clients’ employers, work managers and informal networks.
|
|
| 9. |
- Borell, Klas, 1950-, et al.
(författare)
-
Hidden Voluntary Social Work : A Nationally Representative Survey of Muslim Congregations in Sweden
- 2011
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 41:5, s. 968-974
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study is based on a nationwide survey of local Muslim congregations (n = 105) and focuses on the patterns and function of voluntary social work carried out by the congregations.Muslim congregations in Sweden are not only religious meeting places, but also social meeting places and centres for the organisation of a broad range of social welfare services: outreach activities, support to newly arrived immigrants and activities for children and young people. The work is carried out on a voluntary basis at the intersection between the congregation and the community. Muslim voluntary social work appears to be most intensive in smaller municipalities with a large amount of unemployment. The dominant discourse on Islam in Europe has claimed that Muslim social work is part of an attempt to create self-sufficient enclaves that impede the integration of Muslim immigrants into the wider society. Claims of this type seem, however, to be largely unfounded. The Swedish Muslim congregations that carry out the most voluntary social work are those most interested in co-operation with other organisations and with authorities of different types and those that have the most positive experiences of the wider society.
|
|
| 10. |
- Bäck, Annika, et al.
(författare)
-
Aligning Perspectives? : Comparison of Top and Middle-Level Managers’ Views on How Organization Influences Implementation of evidence-based practice
- 2020
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 50:4, s. 1126-1145
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A supportive organizational context is important for successfully implementing evidence-based practice (EBP). Managers have an important role in creating organizational prerequisites for EBP. The present study compared how top- and middle-level managers describe the process of implementing EBP and the factors influencing this process. Data were collected through interviews with twenty-two managers in social services, and analysed with thematic deductive analysis based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and the COM-B model. Findings showed that top-level managers focused more on strategic- and system-level issues, e.g. external comparisons, dialogue with authorities and creating support systems, while the middle managers focused on the operative implementation at staff level, i.e. motivating and involving staff. Furthermore, the two groups had different understandings of EBP. To conclude, there needs to be an alignment in the understanding of, and support for, EBP between the different levels of managers. To create a mutual understanding of what EBP entails and to clearly communicate how the organization applies the different steps of the EBP process could be crucial steps in enabling the implementation of EBP, and needs to be done in dialogue between middle- and top-level managers.
|
|
