Building health promoting work settings : identifying the relationship between work characteristics and occupational stress in Australia

Occupational stress is a serious threat to the health of individual workers, their families and the community at large. The settings approach to health promotion offers valuable opportunities for developing comprehensive strategies to prevent and reduce job stress. However, there is evidence that many workplace health promotion programs adopt traditional, lifestyle-oriented strategies when dealing with occupational stress, and ignore the impact that the setting itself has on the health of employees. The aim of the present study was to address two of the barriers to adopting the settings approach; namely the lack of information on how psycho-social work characteristics can influence health, and not having the confidence or knowledge to identify or address organizational-level issues. A comprehensive occupational stress audit involving qualitative and quantitative research methods was undertaken in a small- to medium-sized public sector organization in Australia. The results revealed that the work characteristics ‘social support’ and ‘job control’ accounted for large proportions of explained variance in job satisfaction and psychological health. In addition to these generic variables, several job-specific stressors were found to be predictive of the strain experienced by employees. When coupled with the results of other studies, these findings suggest that work characteristics (particularly control and support) offer valuable avenues for creating work settings that can protect and enhance employee health. The implications of the methods used to develop and complete the stress audit are also discussed.

The social construction of child maltreatment: the role of medical practitioners

• Summary: This paper explores how medical knowledge in child protection practice operates, in conjunction with social work knowledge and legal knowledge, as a social process of constructing meaning as ‘maltreatment’ (or not) in which the physical body of the child and perceived abnormalities represent ‘evidence’. Through discourse analysis of two case studies, this paper makes explicit and problematizes the social processes by which meanings are given by medical practitioners, social workers, police and parents to material experiences, the preference given to some meanings over others, and the econsequences of particular meanings for children and families and social work practice.

• Findings: Medical, social and legal knowledge are not neutral but embedded in power relations. The case studies show, through a sociological analysis of professional practice in child protection, how preferred versions of knowledge and meaning may override or dismiss alternative meanings, with particular consequences for parents and children and for practice outcomes.

• Applications: The case studies offer opportunities by which critically to engage with child protection knowledge, policy and practice in keeping with contemporary approaches that advocate dialogue, critical reflection and reflexivity, so that professional knowledge and professional power may be deployed constructively rather than oppressively.

Beyond the silo effect : the challenges of collaboration

Women entering the maternity arena in Australia and other Western regimes have suffered incidentally from what is known as the' silo effect'. This refers to a clash between the training regimes of the 'old' professionalism and the 'new' professionalism. Under the 'old' professionalism, hierarchies were erected between medicine and the so-called semi-professions such as nursing and social work (Tully and Mortlock 2004) resulting in what Degeling et al (1998; 2000) have documented as oppositional modes of decision-making, styles of working, roles and accountabilities. Within the last decade, a 'new professionalism' has emerged in many Western regimes, including Canada, NZ, the UK and The Netherlands. (Romanow Report 2002; Street, Gannon and Holt 1991; Victorian Department of Human Services, Australia 2004) depicted by a flatter more egalitarian structure of multidisciplinarity .. An example in Australia is the Future Directions in Maternity Care document released in mid 2004 by the Bracks Victorian Labor government. In Australia, the move towards the 'new professionalism' can be attributed to a confluence of macro economic factors including the swing away from hospital-based training and towards university-based training for nurses and midwives, the ripple effects of three decades of feminism, the professionalisation of midwifery, the attrition of midwives from the workforce, the rise of health consumerism from the late 1980s and the crippling costs of professional indemnity health insurance for obstetricians leading to a crisis in recruitment.

The Australian Association of Social Workers and social policy debates: a strategy for the future?

It has been argued that the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) not only has a mandate, but also an important role to play in influencing social debates for the benefit of the users of social services and, further, that as a professional association, it is ideally positioned to do so. However, the AASW has been criticised for failing to meet this mandate and have any lasting impact on the formulation of social policy. In the present article, the author considers the process by which the AASW engages in social policy debates and speculates on the historical, cultural, and structural factors that may impede its ability to do so. From this analysis, strategies are suggested for the AASW to increase its impact on the formulation of social policy.

Is it worth the effort? How feedback influences students' subsequent submission of assessable work

This paper explores the extent to which students appear to their assessors to act on feedback they have received, and questions the assumption that providing feedback alone is sufficient to effect higher standards of work by students. Feedback provided to 51 undergraduate social work students, on two consecutive assignments involving a similar task, was examined to ascertain the number of problem areas noted from seven predefined categories. While the greatest increase in marks was associated with the greatest reductions in the number of problem areas identified in the comments, overall two-thirds of all students (66.7%) were awarded marks for both assignments within four percentage points. As such, this study found only limited support for the idea that students respond to feedback by making changes which are consistent with the intent of the feedback received. Hence the assumption that providing feedback alone is sufficient to effect higher standards of work by students was not supported. These findings invite educators to critically reflect on their own practices in providing feedback to students.

A guide to interviewing children : essential skills for counsellors, police, lawyers and social workers

This book has been written by two people who really understand children. [They show how to] create opportunities to reduce the trauma of the interview and significantly improve the quality of the information obtained. Chief Constable A.J. Butler Gloucestershire Constabulary A few years ago, a Chief Justice said that it was unnecessary to educate lawyers and judges in the techniques of interviewing children because it was 'just common sense'. The authors show that successful interviewing requires much more than 'common sense'. Freda Briggs, Professor of Child Development, University of South Australia...an excellent book for students and professionals in forensic psychology, policing and social work.Helen Westcott, PhD, The Open UniversityIt is critical that children are interviewed properly in cases of suspected abuse or where the children may be witnesses to or victims of a crime. Poor questioning can upset the child further and contaminate evidence that may be needed in court. Interviewing Children is a practical guide to interviewing techniques for a range of professionals including welfare workers, psychologists, schoolteachers and counsellors, police officers and lawyers. Step by step, it outlines the key stages of an interview, and how to respond to the child's needs during an interview. It explains how to deal with children of different ages and from different backgrounds, and also how to work with their parents. Particular attention is paid to the sensitive issue of sexual abuse, and the problems created by multiple interviews.Clare Wilson lectures in the Department of Psychology at the University of Sydney. Martine Powell lectures in the School of Psychology at Deakin University. Both have trained police officers, social workers and legal professionals in interviewing techniques in Australia and the UK.------------------Full quotes to go on half-title page:This book has been written by two people who really understand children. In passing on their knowledge to professionals who engage with children in the interview room, they create opportunities to reduce the trauma of the interview and significantly improve the quality of the information obtained. Writing in a clear and fresh style, the authors have produced a book which is valuable as a point of reference, a day to day tool and as a training aid to develop skills.Chief Constable A.J. Butler Gloucestershire ConstabularyThis book should be read by all professionals who work with children and could findthemselves receiving disclosures of abuse. It is practical, easy to read and full of examples and hints. It should be a compulsory text for social work studen

Learning from the margins : young women, social exclusion and education

This collection of ground-breaking international essays address the educational, social, work and biographical experiences of young women who are routinely constructed as ‘at risk’ and on the margins. Drawing on research from an international range of scholars, this book brings together important new perspectives on the gendered dimensions of social exclusion and educational marginalisation.

What can Arendt's theorising add to critical social workers empowerment practice?

Empowerment is one of the most frequently invoked concepts in critical social work theory and practice. Critical social work theory tends to privilege the concept of “power” as the central concept in em-power-ment. However over the last two decades postmodern and poststructural thought has discredited how power was understood in critical social work. Some leading critical social workers have re-thought the notion of “power” with Foucault’s early and middle work. One of the key problems raised by leading social workers is about how to re-think “allowance for difference” in empowerment practice (Fook 2002; Healy 2000). I argue that to re-think power in relation specifically to problems with “allowance for difference” using Foucault’s early and middle work is not possible because he is still conflating power with domination. Hence I turn to Hannah Arendt’s theorising on power. For Arendt power is understood as the capacity of people to “act in concert” and to create something new. Arendt’s concepts of “plurality”, “natality” and “publicness”, I argue can add a much to critical social work empowerment practice by re-thinking the notion of “allowance for difference” in critical empowerment social work.

Organising inclusion work : key factors for success

This paper presents the findings of research conducted by Scope in 2007-2009. It proposes a way of categorising the dominant modes or orientations to inclusion work in the disability sector in Australia and identifies the barriers and enablers to it. The research engaged with seventeen ‘inclusion workers’ or managers in Victoria and Perth, Western Australia and sought examples of successful practice along with the ingredients of success, and outcomes of the work. Coincidently, the majority of examples provided related to inclusion work with people with intellectual disability, and a minority of these relating to people with severe intellectual disability. This data was analysed to identify key organisational factors required for successful inclusion work. Most importantly, respondents were also asked to identify the outcomes of inclusion work for individuals with a disability and their families, as well as for services, and for the communities with whom they engaged. The paper offers a way of conceptualising the breadth of inclusion work, including work focused on presence and participation, as well as the larger scale activities of social engineering or social change. The paper presents key ingredients for successful organisational approaches to such work.

Belonging, connectedness and social exclusion

Promoting connectedness and/or a sense of belonging are strategies used in addressing social exclusion. While belonging and connectedness are often used interchangeably, this paper demonstrates that while they may be co-existent, it is equally possible to have one without the other. Hence, this paper contends that these two concepts need to be carefully distinguished by those planning and delivering social work services. Furthermore, consideration of both connectedness and belonging enables a more nuanced understanding of social exclusion which challenges the assumption that inclusion and exclusion are binary opposites, and that it is possible to be both included and excluded at the same time.

Building professional capital : New Zealand social workers and continuing education

In a qualitative study of the engagement of New Zealand social workers in continuing professional education the construct "professional capital", a form of symbolic capital, explains complex links between perceived status within institutional settings and the aspirations of practitioners. Strategies for developing greater engagement in scholarship and research are recommended.

The rise of the 'silver surfer' : online social networking and social inclusion for older adults

As the proportion of older adults continues to grow in many Western countries, there are increasing concerns about how to meet their needs. Ensuring social connectedness and inclusion is one way to support older adults’ wellbeing. Online social networking has become common place amongst younger age groups, suggesting its possible usefulness for older adults, in order to combat isolation and loneliness. Some quantitative studies have already explored the amount and degree of online social networking amongst older adults. To add further understanding of how older adults experience social inclusion via the internet, the current qualitative study aimed to explore older adults’ subjective experience of online social networking. Findings demonstrated a number of supports and barriers to social inclusion which reflect barriers to social inclusion of older adults in the non-virtual world. Recommendations to support social inclusion of isolated older adults via online social networking are suggested.

Helping others or a rewarding career? Investigating student motivations to train as social workers in England

• Summary: Understanding why people want to be social workers is important both for developing social work education and for the profession as a whole. This article presents evidence about the motivations of students enrolled on social work degree programmes in England and draws on data from 3000 responses of three successive intakes of students responding to six online surveys and 26 focus group interviews involving 168 students from nine different social work programmes in six case study sites. The article locates these data in the context of earlier studies of social workers’ motivations, the changing policy context and the changes introduced by the new degree.

• Findings: Similar to previous studies, the current analysis shows that altruistic motivations dominated, but students were also influenced by career issues and the day-to-day aspects of social work. The data highlight continuities with the former qualification in social work in the UK (the DipSW) and provide evidence that the introduction of the social work degree has not dramatically changed the underlying motivations of social work students.

• Applications: Understanding student motivations is important in terms of recruitment to social work qualifying programmes and subsequent retention within the profession. Social work educators and employers need to pay attention to the consequences of mismatches between motivations and expectations about what professional practice involves.

Sticking around : why and how some social workers stay in the profession

Although much is known about why social workers leave the profession, much less is known about what enables some social workers to remain working in highly stressful situations for many years and retain a passion for their work. Based on in-depth interviews with six Australian social workers with at least 10 years practice experience, factors associated with retention included self-awareness, a sense of perspective, having a strong professional identity, a sense of humour, the ability to recognise and respond to the emotional impact of the work, clear separation of work and home, and a mental interlude of some intermediate activity between leaving work and arriving home. Whereas previous research has depicted job change as a sign of burnout, for participants in this study changing jobs was regarded as a preventive measure which enabled them to continue in social work.

Writing skills for social workers

Book review of: Writing Skills for Social Workers, by Karen Healy & Joan Mulholland, 2009