Social Work

Proposal to include Bethany Home within the remit of Senator Martin McAleese’s investigation of state interactions with Magdalene institutions

by Niall Meehan

Submission to Minister of State, Justice, Equality & Law Reform Kathleen Lynch (14Jul11) by Niall Meehan and Joe Costello TD

Since 1917, according to Mary Raftery (writing in the Irish Times, 4 Nov 2004), ‘Protestant children in need of care’... more Since 1917, according to Mary Raftery (writing in the Irish Times, 4 Nov 2004), ‘Protestant children in need of care’ were ‘essentially dealt with by private institutions’. She suggested that the state’s attitude was one of ‘hands-off’. Indeed, in the 1937 Cussen report on the ‘Reformatory and Industrial School System’ and the 1970 Kennedy report on the same subject and again in the 2009 Ryan Commission report on institutional child abuse, it is stated that problematic Protestants were dispersed by the Courts among Protestant clergy who were expected to deal with matters privately.

Hence, there is a large gap in official knowledge as a result of implementing a sectarian welfare and detention system, albeit one in which the dominant confessional community was regulated more so than its smaller Christian counterpart. This practice had no statutory basis but statute law was used to enforce it, often against the stated intent of the law. Research into Bethany Home indicates that this is one reason for neglect and death in the Bethany Home.

Official records explain why officials decided not to interfere when confronted with evidence of unusually high child mortality and medical neglect in the Bethany Home. We mainly summarise them here.

Direct State involvement

Bethany was a place of detention for women convicted of crimes from the trivial to the most serious. There appears to be no statutory basis for the directing of offending Protestant females into the Bethany home until 1945, but then only in the case of female Protestant children and teenagers. Incarceration of women generally in the Bethany Home was, however, an official practice.

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See also,
Church & State and the Bethany Home
http://gcd.academia.edu/NiallMeehan/Papers/277737/

The Irish State & the Bethany Home - submission to Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn (24 May 2011)

by Niall Meehan

Submitted to Ruairi Quinn TD, Minister for Education, at Leinster House meeting, 24 May 2011, by delegation consisting of Derek Leinster, Noleen Belton, Patrick Anderson McQuoid, Niall Meehan, Joe Costello TD, Robert Dowds TD.

‘The institution is kept very well is clean & comfortable… It is well recognised that a large number of... more ‘The institution is kept very well is clean & comfortable… It is well recognised that a large number of illegitimate children are delicate… from their birth’

Winslow Sterling Berry, Deputy Chief Medical Adviser, Department of Local Government and Public Health, Ireland, after visiting Bethany Home, Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin, 25 January, 6 October 1939 (see p. 8).

‘A beautiful institution…, seemed to be well-run and spotlessly clean… I closed the place down and sacked the matron, a nun, and also got rid of the medical officer. The deaths had been going on for years. They had done nothing about it.’

JamesDeeny, Chief Medical Adviser, Department of Health, Ireland, after visiting Bessborough Mother and Babies Home, Cork, in the mid to late 1940s (see p.11).

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See also,
Church & State and the Bethany Home
http://gcd.academia.edu/NiallMeehan/Papers/277737/

Risk, responsibility and reconfiguration: Penal adaption and misadaption

by Cyrus Tata

The Interpretation and Use of Pre-Sentence Reports in the Sentencing Process

by Cyrus Tata

QUALIFIED INTERVENTION/QUALIFYING FORMATION: THE SOCIO-CULTURAL ANIMATOR IN A SCIENCE BASED SOCIETY

by Paulo Maurício

Co-authored with Ana Teodoro. Published in ICERI2011 Proceedings: ISBN: 978-84-615-3324-4; Presented in Madrid ICERI 2011.

An education promoting scientific literacy (SL) that prepares the citizens to a responsible citizenship has persisted... more An education promoting scientific literacy (SL) that prepares the citizens to a responsible citizenship has persisted as an argument across discussions on curricula design. The ubiquity of science and technology on contemporary societies and the ideological requirement of informed democratic participation led to the identification of relevant categories that drive curriculum reforms towards a humanistic approach of school science. The category ‘Science as culture’ acquires in the current work a major importance: it enlightens the meaning of scientific literacy.
Looking closely to the French term, culture scientifique et tecnologique, turns science simultaneously into a cultural object and product that can be both received and worked at different levels and within several approaches by the individuals and the communities.
On the other hand, nonformal and informal education spaces gain greater importance. Together with the formal school environment these spaces allow for an enrichment and diversification of learning experiences. Examples of nonformal spaces where animators can develop their work may be science museums or botanical gardens; television and internet can be regarded as informal education spaces. Due to the above mentioned impossibility of setting apart the individual or community-based experiences from Science and Technology (S&T), the work in nonformal and informal spaces sets an additional challenge to the preparation of socio-cultural animators. Socio-scientific issues take, at times, heavily relevance within the communities. Pollution, high tension lines, spreading of diseases, food contamination or natural resources conservation are among the socio-scientific issues that often call upon arguments and emotions.
In the context of qualifying programmes on socio-cultural animation (social education and community development) within European Higher Education Area (EHEA) the present study describes the Portuguese framework. The comparison of programmes within Portugal aims to contribute to the discussion on the curriculum design for a socio-cultural animator degree (1st cycle of Bologna process). In particular, this study intends to assess how the formation given complies with enabling animators to work, within multiple scenarios, with communities in situations of socio-scientific relevance. A set of themes, issues and both current and potential fields of action, not described or insufficiently described in literature, is identified and analysed in the perspective of a qualified intervention of animators. One of these examples is thoroughly discussed. Finally, suggestions are made about curriculum reforms in order, if possible, to strongly link the desired qualified intervention with a qualifying formation.

Social Ecological Constraints to Park Use in Communities with Quality Access

by Deepti Adlakha

Praxis Intervention: Towards a New Critical Social Work Practice

by P Madhu

Are the Teachings of Jesus Relevant for Today?

by Daniel Keeran MSW

by Daniel Keeran, MSW

In this brief review of the Sermon on the Mount and Sermon on the Plain, the teachings of Jesus are categorized as... more In this brief review of the Sermon on the Mount and Sermon on the Plain, the teachings of Jesus are categorized as Peace and Nonviolence, Psychological Well-Being, and Social Teachings.

From academic achievement to service tasks: An attempt at finding a reliable tool for evaluating the quality of education at Polish universities

by Ryszard Stocki

Stocki, R. 2002
This paper appeared in Journal for Mental Changes, 7, 1-2, 43-73

300 social service employees were individually interviewed with a survey which started with a question minimal... more 300 social service employees were individually interviewed with a survey which started with a question minimal competence to perform the job. They were also asked to evaluate university courses in the light of the most important tasks they had to perform in their work. In general, the graduates learnt more from the institutions they worked for than from the universities. With a few exceptions, the university courses were evaluated below 4 on the scale from 1 to 6. It has also been found that the university studies differ significantly from the future work as regards concern for quality and order, initiative, interpersonal understanding, customer-service orientation, directiveness, team work and cooperation, developing others, team leadership. Some proposals are formulated how university studies in Poland could be improved.

Wiring the HIV/AIDS System: Building Interorganizational Infrastructure to Link People, Sites, and Networks

by David Rier

D. Indyk and D. Rier, 2006. Social Work in Health Care 42 (3/4):29-45.

Co-published in The Geometry of Care: Linking Resources, Research, and Community to Reduce Degrees of Separation Between HIV Treatment and Prevention; Debbie Indyk (ed.). NY: Haworth Press; 2006.

This paper presents a case example of the new “geometry of care” (Rier & Indyk, 2006), by examining selected... more This paper presents a case example of the new “geometry of care” (Rier & Indyk, 2006), by examining selected examples from several facets of a program developed by the lead author and in operation since 1989. This program is designed to understand, build, revise, and maintain the organizational infrastructure with which to link diverse players and sites, and combine these into a web for producing, assessing, and exchanging the information needed to combat HIV/AIDS. Each example demonstrates how opportunities were exploited for developing and linking resources within and between systems of care and prevention. The program began as an iterative and systems approach to improve access of high-risk, hard-to-reach inner city New York populations to HIV/AIDS services, treatment, and research. The approach is also currently being further elaborated and applied in Argentina and India, and is adaptable to other local and global public health challenges.
KEYWORDS: AIDS; organizations; service delivery; networks; inner city.

The Rationale of Interorganizational Linkages to Connect Multiple Sites of Expertise, Knowledge Production, and Knowledge Transfer: An Example from HIV/AIDS Services for the Inner City

by David Rier

D. Rier and D. Indyk, 2006. Social Work in Health Care 42 (3/4):9-27; 2006.

Co-published in The Geometry of Care: Linking Resources, Research, and Community to Reduce Degrees of Separation Between HIV Treatment and Prevention; Debbie Indyk (ed.). NY: Haworth Press; 2006.

This paper presents the rationale for a long-running project in which various community-based and tertiary-based... more This paper presents the rationale for a long-running project in which various community-based and tertiary-based providers are being linked to each other in order to understand, reach, and engage high-risk, hard-to-reach inner-city residents for prevention, treatment, and management of HIV/AIDS. Not simply a program to link disparate actors, the work has developed into a more fundamental approach through which to build and maintain the infrastructure required to generate and sustain knowledge development and integration within and between systems. This work is grounded in the recognition that each type of provider, as well as patients and clients themselves, has a particular type of expertise. All forms of expertise are necessary to fight HIV/AIDS. Different forms of expertise are necessary to diagnose, treat, prevent, and cure HIV/AIDS and its sequelae. This work suggests revisions in traditional approaches to expertise and to the content and geometry of dissemination networks, and ultimately challenges the very concepts of dissemination and the lay/scientific boundary.

Keywords:

AIDS; Organizations; Dissemination; Networks; Sociology of Science; Sociology of Knowledge

Requisites, Benefits, and Challenges of Sustainable HIV/AIDS System-Building

by David Rier

D. Indyk and D. Rier, 2006. Social Work in Health Care 42 (3/4): 93-110.

Co-published in, The Geometry of Care: Linking Resources, Research, and Community to Reduce Degrees of Separation Between HIV Treatment and Prevention; Debbie Indyk (ed.). NY: Haworth Press; 2006

This paper is the third and final of a series that has previously presented the rationale (Rier and Indyk, 2006) and... more This paper is the third and final of a series that has previously presented the rationale (Rier and Indyk, 2006) and major program elements (Indyk and Rier, 2006) of an approach to link community and tertiary sociomedical providers, clients/patients, sites, and systems into an integrated response to HIV/AIDS. The primary goal has been to improve sociomedical HIV/AIDS services for a hard-to-reach inner city population. The current paper first summarizes the main advantages (e.g., greater efficiency; more realistic, effective programs with greater credibility among the community; stimulation of knowledge production and dissemination amongst players rarely formally engaged in such activities; creation of a platform useful for other applications) of this work. It then examines some of the main organizational challenges in conducting the work (involving issues such as personnel, coordination, funding, turf conflicts, sustainability). From this discussion emerge organizational requisites to conducting this work (e.g., development of key boundary-spanning figures; attention to the specific interests of potential linkage partners; translation efforts to demonstrate the value of participation; a continuous quality improvement approach featuring wide distribution of feedback in user-friendly form; flexibility, tact and patience), so that others can adapt and apply the linkage approach to manage HIV/AIDS or other problems. Finally, we explain how theory and practice have driven one another in this work.

Keywords: AIDS services; inter-organizational linkages; sustainability; knowledge production and dissemination.

Flexible Rigidity: Supporting HIV Treatment Adherence in a Rapidly-Changing Treatment Environment

by David Rier

D. Rier and D. Indyk, 2006. Social Work in Health Care 42 (3/4):133-50.

Co-published in The Geometry of Care: Linking Resources, Research, and Community to Reduce Degrees of Separation Between HIV Treatment and Prevention; Debbie Indyk (ed.). NY: Haworth Press; 2006.

This paper examines adherence to AIDS treatment, focusing on the challenges posed by rapidly changing treatment... more This paper examines adherence to AIDS treatment, focusing on the challenges posed by rapidly changing treatment protocols. We examine the evolving views of treatment adherence, and endorse the "concordance" approach. This emphasizes collaboration and negotiation between provider and patient to formulate and maintain a manageable treatment regimen tailored to what the patient is ready, willing, and able to tolerate. Given the extreme rapidity with which treatment guidelines are revised or even reversed, the persistent uncertainty surrounding treatment risks and benefits, and the great variability in individuals' ability to tolerate a given regimen, we propose the term "flexible rigidity" to describe the type of adherence best suited to AIDS treatment. We present an organizational approach to supporting the type of provider-patient relationships needed to improve treatment adherence that features treatment-readiness assessment and custom-tailoring of treatment for those at all stages of the treatment-readiness continuum. We note that this model could be applied as well to prevention and management of other chronic diseases.

Keywords: AIDS treatment; adherence; concordance; chronic illness; clinical treatment guidelines.

Moving the Boundaries of Feminist Social Work Education with Disabled People in the Neoliberal Era

by Karen Soldatic

Risk Factors Associated with Child Abuse and Mitigating Services: A Conceptual Framework

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Ledesma, Andreana Denise, "Risk Factors Associated with Child Abuse and Mitigating Services: A Conceptual Framework" (2007). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 264.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/264

Evidence demonstrates that the incidence of child abuse is higher in families who experience certain risk factors,... more Evidence demonstrates that the incidence of child abuse is higher in families who experience certain risk factors, such as domestic violence, poverty, and substance abuse disorders. In addition, research indicates that parenting attitudes and values are indicators of abuse. These problems often occur simultaneously, and can reinforce each other. For example, poverty and the stress it produces can lead to a need to escape that can result in drug/alcohol abuse. Or, substance abuse can lead to bad decisions, poor work history, and poverty. Substance abuse can also lower inhibitions and lead to domestic violence and/or child abuse. The purpose of this paper is not to determine the causal sequence. Rather, the purpose is to identify services that address and alleviate these problems. The factors and services are classified in a conceptual framework. Subsequently, this information is used to develop a handbook identifying Texas agencies and organizations that provide services that may reduce the risk factors.

“Understand my side, my situation, and my story:” Insights into the service needs among substance-abusing homeless mothers

by Gizem Erdem

Dashora, P., Slesnick, N., & Erdem, G. (accepted manuscript). “Understand my side, my situation, and my story:” Insights into the service needs among substance-abusing homeless mothers. Journal of Community Psychology.

Beyond coping: An empowerment perspective on stressful life events

by Lorraine Gutierrez

Child Protection in Texas: Caseworkers Attitudes and Perceptions Towards CPS Services

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Zarate, Emilia Maria, "Child Protection in Texas: Caseworkers Attitudes and Perceptions Towards CPS Services" (2007). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 210.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/210

Purpose: The purpose of this applied research project is to explore caseworkers’ attitudes and perceptions towards... more Purpose: The purpose of this applied research project is to explore caseworkers’ attitudes and perceptions towards services provided to children and families in the state of Texas. The research uses working hypotheses as the conceptual framework.

Method: Six working hypotheses were created that examine services provided by Child Protective Services (CPS). All working hypotheses and sub hypotheses were tested using group interviews. The sample size included 30 CPS caseworkers (Investigators, Family Based Safety Service workers, or Conservatorship workers). Five group interviews were conducted with 6 caseworkers in each group. The interviewees’ responses were recorded and categorized using a Likert scale, from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree and a Not Always response. The interviewees also gave their opinion and experiences about working for CPS.

Findings: The interviewees generally agreed that family based safety services have a positive impact on family preservation. The majority of interviewees disagreed that CPS places less emphasis on kinship care. Most interviewees agreed that foster care is fraught with safety concerns. A large number of interviewees agreed that children who are placed in institutions and group homes are there due to extreme behavioral or emotional problems and the children are often medicated, regardless of their ages. The majority of interviewees agreed that permanency planning teams act in the best interest of the families and children. Lastly, most of the interviewees disagreed that parental rights are often terminated unnecessarily.

Direct social work with disabled children: The experiences of a specialist team

by David Wilkins

Co-authored with Loren Goodman and Rhiannon Hooper

This article is a follow-on from the “Tools social workers can use to talk to children” (Shemmings et al, 2011) and... more This article is a follow-on from the “Tools social workers can use to talk to children” (Shemmings et al, 2011) and discusses how the tools can be used or adapted for use with disabled children.

An Ideal Model of Inter-organizational Collaboration: Evaluating the Collaborative Relationship of Domestic Violence Service Providers and Child Welfare Agencies in Texas

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Griffin, Guinevere, "An Ideal Model of Inter-organizational Collaboration: Evaluating the Collaborative Relationship of Domestic Violence Service Providers and Child Welfare Agencies in Texas" (2011). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 386.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to 1) describe components of an ideal model of inter-organizational... more Purpose: The purpose of this research is to 1) describe components of an ideal model of inter-organizational collaboration based on the scholarly literature and the Strategic Alliance Formative Assessment Rubric (SAFAR), to 2) use the ideal-type categories to assess the collaborative relationship between domestic violence service providers (DVSPs) and child welfare agencies (CWAs) in Texas, and to 3) provide recommendations to improve the collaborative relationship between the organizations. A review of the literature identified the ideal elements of a successful inter-organizational collaboration within the following four categories: purpose, strategies and tasks, leadership and decision-making, and communication and interpersonal conflict.

Methods: The elements within the ideal categories of inter-organizational collaboration identified in the literature are used to construct the conceptual framework. To assess existing inter-organizational collaboration, a self-administered email survey was created from the conceptual framework. The survey was distributed to program directors of 81 domestic violence service providers and 118 child welfare agencies.

Findings: Only twenty-two of the 199 self-administered email surveys distributed were returned. A descriptive analysis of the returned surveys explains the degree to which participants collaborations have followed the practical ideal type. The overall assessment of the surveys revealed they did not meet the ideal model of inter-organizational collaboration established by the literature. The study concludes with recommendations to improve the collaborative relationships of the participants surveyed and their assessment.