Evidencing reflective practice in social work education: Theoretical uncertainties and practical challenges

Reflective practice has become an increasingly influential idea in social work education and, in the UK context, it has recently been acknowledged as key to ensuring that social workers are better equipped to engage in complex decision making and effective practice. However, there remains a lack of clarity about how this concept is defined and operationalised in teaching and learning and there has been little systematic empirical examination of its utility in facilitating professional development. Drawing on research with undergraduates at Queen's University Belfast, this paper aims to develop understanding of students' experience of reflective practice. The results suggest that agency systems that have become over-reliant on rules and procedures present formidable obstacles to learning both at an individual and at an organisational level. The paper argues that the relationship between how reflective practice is taught and how it is enacted in practice needs to be better understood if such obstacles are to be overcome. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the findings for developing reflective practice in social work education and practice and highlights the challenges that need to be addressed if reflection and critical thinking are to become more firmly embedded within agency systems and practice cultures.

“Boundary-setting as a core activity in complex public systems”

Title: Boundary-setting as a core activity in complex public systems
Authors: Joanne Murphy & Mary Lee Rhodes

The definition of the boundary of a system is at the core of any systems approach (Midgley 2000; 2003). By defining boundaries we enable – and delimit – the range of outcomes sought and the actions and resources that can be brought to bear. In complex adaptive systems (CAS) analysis, the conceptualisaion and definition of boundaries is particularly challenging as they are constantly undergoing redefinition through agent action, interaction and entry/exit. (Rhodes et al 2011). The concept of ‘boundaries’ appears regularly in a wide range of literature around public management, administration, geopolitics, regeneration and organisational development. Discussions around boundaries focus on many things from concrete physical manifestations and barriers, to virtual interfaces between one organisational unit and another, or even entirely theoretical demarcations between different schools of thought (Kaboolian, 1998, Levi-Faur, 2004, Agranoff & McGuire, 2004).

However, managing ‘beyond’ such boundaries is a routinely recurring aspiration that transcends sectors and local concerns. Unsurprisingly then, there is an increasing understanding of the need to acknowledge and manage such boundaries (whether they be physical, social or organisational) within public management as a discipline (Currie et al 2007, Fitzsimmons and White, 1997, Murtagh, 2002). This paper explores the impact of boundaries on public management strategic decision-making in the sectors of urban regeneration and healthcare. In particular, it focuses on demarcations to physical space, communal identity and within professional relationships in these sectors.

The first section describes the research that gave rise to the paper and the cases examined. Next we briefly define what we mean by boundaries. We explore issues that have emerged from our analysis of urban regeneration and health care singularly, before looking at how the concept of boundaries is a recurrent concern across the sectors. The main contribution of the paper is an exploration of how a CAS lens can bring a new insight into the concept of boundaries and decision-making in the two sets of case studies. This discussion will concentrate on initial conditions, bifurcation and adaptation as key CAS factors in relation to boundaries. We conclude with a brief discussion on the benefits of a CAS lens to an analysis of boundaries in public management decision-making.
References:

Agranoff, R. and McGuire, M. (2003) Collaborative Public Management: Strategies for Local Government. Washington, DC: Georgetown Univ. Press.

Currie, G., Lockett, A. (2007) “A critique of transformational leadership: moral, professional & contingent dimensions of leadership within public services organizations”. Human Relations 60: 341-370.

Fitzsimmons and White, (1997) "Crossing boundaries: communication between professional groups", Journal of Management in Medicine, Vol. 11 Iss: 2, pp.96 – 101

Kaboolian, L. (1998) “The New Public Management: Challenging the Boundaries of the Management vs. Administration Debate” Public Administration Review Vol. 58, No. 3 pp.189-193

Levi-Faur D. and Vigoda-Gadot Eran (eds) (2004) International Public Policy and Management: Policy Learning Beyond Regional, Cultural and Political Boundaries, Marcel Dekker,
Midgley, G. (ed) (2003) Systems Thinking. London: Sage Publications

Midgley, G. (2000) Systemic Intervention: Philosophy, Methodology and Practice. New York, NY: Kluwer.

Murtagh, B. (2002). The Politics of Territory: Policy and Segregation in Northern Ireland. Basingstoke, Palgrave.

Rhodes, ML, Joanne Murphy, Jenny Muir, John Murray (2011) Public Management & Complexity Theory: Richer Decision Making in Irish Public Services, UK: Routledge

A proposed systems approach to the evaluation of integrated palliative care

Background. There is increasing global interest in regional palliative care networks (PCN) to integrate care, creating systems that are more cost-effective and responsive in multi-agency settings. Networks are particularly relevant where different professional skill sets are required to serve the broad spectrum of end-of-life needs. We propose a comprehensive framework for evaluating PCNs, focusing on the nature and extent of inter-professional collaboration, community readiness, and client-centred care. Methods. In the absence of an overarching structure for examining PCNs, a framework was developed based on previous models of health system evaluation, explicit theory, and the research literature relevant to PCN functioning. This research evidence was used to substantiate the choice of model factors. Results. The proposed framework takes a systems approach with system structure, process of care, and patient outcomes levels of consideration. Each factor represented makes an independent contribution to the description and assessment of the network. Conclusions. Realizing palliative patients' needs for complex packages of treatment and social support, in a seamless, cost-effective manner, are major drivers of the impetus for network-integrated care. The framework proposed is a first step to guide evaluation to inform the development of appropriate strategies to further promote collaboration within the PCN and, ultimately, optimal palliative care that meets patients' needs and expectations. © 2010 Bainbridge et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Bolivian health and social care professionals' experiences of decision-making in oncology and palliative care

In the UK, end-of-life care strategies recommend patients and families are involved in decision making around treatment and care. In Bolivia, such strategies do not exist, and access to oncology services depends on finance, geography, education and culture. Compared to more developed countries, the delivery of oncology services in Latin America may result in a higher percentage of patients presenting with advanced incurable disease. The objective of this study was to explore decision-making experiences of health and social care professionals who cared for oncology and palliative care patients attending the Instituto Oncológico Nacional, Cochabamba (Bolivia). Patients were predominantly from the Quechua tradition, which has its own ethnic diversity, linguistic distinctions and economic systems. Qualitative data were collected during focus groups. Data analysis was conducted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three interrelated themes emerged: (i) making sense of structures of experience and relationality; (ii) frustration with the system; and (iii) the challenges of promoting shared decision making. The study uncovered participants' lived experiences, emotions and perceptions of providing care for Quechua patients. There was evidence of structural inequalities, the marginalisation of Quechua patients and areas of concern that social workers might well be equipped to respond to, such as accessing finances for treatment/care, education and alleviating psychological or spiritual suffering.

The Biospheric Project - Manchester International Festival 2013:Technical food systems

The Biospheric Project is a nested multi-scalar urban agriculture project that aims to develop sustainable food systems in disadvantaged communities, though not only physical interventions, such as the urban masterplan and neighbourhood design to the building and its roof and façade, but also through social and commercial interventions, such as community involvement, businesses and a distribution system.

The project is focused around the Biospheric Foundation, a community interest company and research think-tank whose aim is to hasten our transition to a closed cycle, low-carbon economy. Its home is Irwell house, that houses a large-scale aquaponic-based food production system, which is directly linked to a whole-food shop (78 Steps, named after the distance from the productive system) and a whole food distribution system (the Whole Box). The building sits within a post-industrial landscape which is being developed into a new productive landscape, utilizing the the technologies developed by the Biospheric Foundation and Prof Greg Keeffe of Queens University Belfast. The collaboration links designer, academics and activists across the disciplines of Urban design, Architecture, Permaculture, landscape design, environmental science and business and community.

Consensus in organizations:Hunting for the social choice conundrum in APA elections

According to the axiomatic literature on consensus methods, the best collective choice by one method of preference aggregation can easily be the worst by another. Are award committees, electorates, managers, online retailers, and web-based recommender systems stuck with an impossibility of rational preference aggregation? We investigate this social choice conundrum for seven social choice methods: Condorcet, Borda, Plurality, Antiplurality, the Single Transferable Vote, Coombs, and Plurality Runoff. We rely on Monte Carlo simulations for theoretical results and on twelve ballot datasets from American Psychological Association (APA) presidential elections for empirical results. Each of these elections provides partial rankings of five candidates from about 13,000 to about 20,000 voters. APA preferences are neither domain-restricted nor generated by an Impartial Culture. We find virtually no trace of a Condorcet paradox. In direct contrast with the classical social choice conundrum, competing consensus methods agree remarkably well, especially on the overall best and worst options. The agreement is also robust under perturbations of the preference prole via resampling, even in relatively small pseudosamples. We also explore prescriptive implications of our findings.

Explaining the multiparty systems of Western Europe prior to the adoption of proportional representation

The literature has difficulty explaining why the number of parties in majoritarian electoral systems often exceeds the two-party predictions associated with Duverger’s Law. To understand why this is the case, I examine several party systems in Western Europe before the adoption of proportional representation. Drawing from the social cleavage approach, I argue that the emergence of multiparty systems was because of the development of the class cleavage, which provided a base of voters sizeable enough to support third parties. However, in countries where the class cleavage became the largest cleavage, the class divide displaced other cleavages and the number of parties began to converge on two. The results show that the effect of the class cleavage was nonlinear, producing the greatest party system fragmentation in countries where class cleavages were present – but not dominant – and smaller in countries where class cleavages were either dominant or non-existent.

Reducing Child Protection Error in Social Work: Towards an Holistic-Rational Perspective

Social work in the United Kingdom remains embroiled in concerns about child protection error. The serious injury or death of vulnerable children continues to evince much consternation in the public and private spheres. Governmental responses to these concerns invariably draw on technocratic solutions involving more procedures, case management systems, information technology and bureaucratic regulation. Such solutions flow from an implicit use of instrumental rationality based on a ‘means-end’ logic. While bringing an important perspective to the problem of child protection error, instrumental rationality has been overused limiting discretion and other modes of rational inquiry. This paper argues that the social work profession should apply an enlarged form of rationality comprising not only the instrumental-rational mode but also the critical-rational, affective-rational and communicative-rational forms. It is suggested that this combined, conceptual arsenal of rational inquiry leads to a gestalt which has been termed the holistic-rational perspective. It is also argued that embracing a more rounded perspective such as this might offer greater opportunities for reducing child protection error.

In Defiance of Duverger: The Class Cleavage and the Emergence of District-Level Multiparty Systems in Western Europe

At its core, Duverger’s Law—holding that the number of viable parties in first-past-the-post systems should not exceed two—applies primarily at the district level. While the number of parties nationally may exceed two, district-level party system fragmentation should not. Given that a growing body of research shows that district-level party system fragmentation can indeed exceed two in first-past-the-post systems, I explore whether the major alternative explanation for party system fragmentation—the social cleavage approach—can explain such violations of Duverger’s Law. Testing this argument in several West European elections prior to the adoption of proportional representation, I find evidence favouring a social cleavage explanation: with the expansion of the class cleavage, the average district-level party system eventually came to violate the two-party predictions associated with Duverger’s Law. This suggests that sufficient social cleavage diversity may produce multiparty systems in other first-past-the-post systems.

Electoral Systems, Ethnic Cleavages, and Experience with Democracy

Recent studies show the effects of electoral systems and ethnic cleavages on the number of parties in emerging democracies differ from those effects observed in more established democracies. Building on recent arguments maintaining the quality of democracy improves with experience, we argue the reason for the differences in the findings between established and emerging democracies is that the effects of these variables on the number of parties differ according to a country’s experience with elections. To test this argument, we analyse party system fragmentation in 89 established and emerging democracies and the conditioning effects experience with elections have on the effects of district magnitude, ethnic cleavages, and variables relating to the presidential party system. The results show the effects of institutional and social cleavage variables differ substantially between emerging and established democracies, but these effects begin to approximate those seen in more established democracies with additional experience with elections.

Review of Legislation and Policy Guidance relating to Adult Social Care in Northern Ireland

Introduction and Background

This research was undertaken by an international team of academics from Queen’s University, Belfast, Leeds University and Penn State University (USA) who have examined models of adult social care provision across thirteen jurisdictions. The aim of this research is to present the Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland (COPNI) with possible options for legal reform to adult social care provision for older people in Northern Ireland.

Project Objectives

The agreed objectives of this research were to provide:
• Identification of gaps and issues surrounding the current legislative framework including policy provision for adult social care in Northern Ireland.
• Comparison of Northern Ireland with best practice in other jurisdictions to include (but not be limited to): England and Wales, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and at least two other international examples; Recommendations, based on the above, as to whether there is a need for legislative reform – provision of suggestions other than legislative change (if applicable).
• Recommendations or options based on the above, on how to best change the current framework in Northern Ireland to provide better support outcomes for older people.
• Stakeholder engagement via roundtable event to discuss outcomes/ recommendations.

Structure of Report

The findings from this research are based on an international review of adult social care in the local, national and international contexts. The report will, therefore, firstly present the key recommendations for Northern Ireland which have emerged from a systematic examination and review of adult social care in diverse jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction is then examined in the context of legislative and policy provision and examples of best practice are provided. The final section of the report then compares Northern Ireland to best practice from each of these aforementioned jurisdictions and the discussion entails the background to the report’s final Recommendations. The recommendations in this report are thus directly linked in with the evidence we have gathered across different countries with contrasting systems of welfare.

Between Tradition and Modernity: Determining Spatial Systems of Privacy in the Domestic Architecture of Contemporary Iraq

The notion of privacy represents a central criterion for both indoor and outdoor social spaces in most traditional Arab settlements. This paper investigates privacy and everyday life as determinants of the physical properties of the built and urban fabric and will study their impact on traditional settlements and architecture of the home in the contemporary Iraqi city. It illustrates the relationship between socio-cultural aspects of public/private realms using the notion of the social sphere as an investigative tool of the concept of social space in Iraqi houses and local communities (Mahalla). This paper reports that in spite of the impact of other factors in articulating built forms, privacy embodies the primary role under the effects of Islamic rules, principles and culture. The crucial problem is the underestimation of traditional inherited values through opening social spaces to the outside that giving unlimited accesses to the indoor social environment creating many problems with regard to privacy and communal social integration.

Towards a general framework for social media research using big data

The increasing adoption of cloud computing, social networking, mobile and big data technologies provide challenges and opportunities for both research and practice. Researchers face a deluge of data generated by social network platforms which is further exacerbated by the co-mingling of social network platforms and the emerging Internet of Everything. While the topicality of big data and social media increases, there is a lack of conceptual tools in the literature to help researchers approach, structure and codify knowledge from social media big data in diverse subject matter domains, many of whom are from nontechnical disciplines. Researchers do not have a general-purpose scaffold to make sense of the data and the complex web of relationships between entities, social networks, social platforms and other third party databases, systems and objects. This is further complicated when spatio-temporal data is introduced. Based on practical experience of working with social media datasets and existing literature, we propose a general research framework for social media research using big data. Such a framework assists researchers in placing their contributions in an overall context, focusing their research efforts and building the body of knowledge in a given discipline area using social media data in a consistent and coherent manner.