| Description |
1 online resource |
| Contents |
Foreword: Emeritus professor Viviene E. Cree, MA BA PhD FAcSS Emerita Professor of Social Work Studies Introduction (Preface or new Ch. 1? TBD): Linda Lane & Michael Wallengren-Lynch Chapter One: The importance of narratives by Linda Lane & Michael Wallengren-Lynch In the introductory chapter, the authors draw out broader background issues that the book will cover. Starting with a brief discussion of the development of social work education and practice in Sweden, the chapter links the emergence of the profession to international social movements that sought to understand, combat, and eradicate social problems. The aim of the chapter is to provide a context upon which the narratives can be understood; i.e., to link them to theories, methods, and practices. In the chapter, the authors argue that narratives as a method of enquiry have distinctive features that make it useful for generating new insights in social work practice. The chapter concludes with brief introductions to the other book chapters and identifies which social work theories and practices they relate to. Chapter Two: We Live In A Political World: Between Needs and Money by Kristina Alstam This chapter outlines a classical conflict within the domain of social work; that between clients exposing a need and budget cuts regulating or de-emphasizing that very same need. Beginning with a personal memory of having turned down a vulnerable elderly client's application for a place in a residential home, the chapter continues to expose this conflict through examples taken from the domain of social work for the elderly and that of schooling. The author argues that the way we institutionally deal with the needs of the elderly and that of children in certain aspects seem to conflate; especially notable in the way that needs are made to be reduced in the face of financial austerity. Closing with a discussion about how these matters may position the research field of social work, the chapter asserts that practitioners and academics need to join forces to combat this false dichotomy. The chapter furthermore argues that a large part of the responsibility for that task lies with the academy, which is outlined as an important agent in the undertaking to educate future social workers, to arm them with the necessary skills to accomplish the disclosure of the ideology that urges us to make do with what we have. Kristina Alstam has a PhD in Social Work and is currently engaged as a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Social Work at the University of Gothenburg. Her field of interest revolves around issues of social class and the redistribution of resources, discourses about families and parenting as ways of mediating a commonsense understanding of social class, and the manner in which ideologically connoted discourses about welfare regimes and austerity cut-backs are circulated, defended, and contested within the domain of social work. She has also directed attention towards questions close to social work practice, such as prevention/promotion programs or social work in the interface between supervision and community work in disadvantaged residential areas. Chapter Three: A day in the life of a school counsellor by Michael Wallengren-Lynch This chapter starts with the author's reflections on his school time and fast forwards to the current time of recently moving to a new country and setting up a new life. The chapter explores his role as a school counsellor by presenting 'artefacts' from that time. The role of reflection is important for the author, and the chapter offers the reader an example of how this author connected his own narrative with the role of school counsellor and the profession of social work. Michael Wallengren Lynch has a doctorate in social work from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. He has practiced social work from 2004 to 2015 and since then has worked as a lecturer at the department of social work, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Chapter 4: The Problematic Labor Market Situation of Immigrants to Sweden -- Consequences and Causes by Björn Gustafsson This chapter describes the immigrant population and discusses how immigrants in the Swedish labor market are faring. It reports that as a category immigrants nowadays are not employed to the same extent as native-born persons. The weak employment situation is not limited to the first generation of such immigrants but also applies to their children even if native born. However, the employment problems are concentrated among persons from LMICs, who by physical appearance and name are distinguishable from the majority. The author discusses several consequences of this situation. These include a larger use of social assistance and disability pensions than among natives, as well as increased pressure on the public sector budgets. The weak employment situation of immigrants also has led to many of them living in less-advantaged neighborhoods, aggravating problems of residential segregation which has far-reaching social consequences. Furthermore, the author also discusses factors explaining the weak employment situation of immigrants to Sweden. Drawing on empirical research, the author suggests that some explanations for the low employment rate of immigrants in Sweden are linked to characteristics of the immigrants: periods of residency, education, language skills, and health. There are also possible explanations that relate to access to networks used in the job search. Supplementing this, there are explanations that focus on the demand for foreign-born labor. Empirical research indicates that employers use the name of the job applicant when screening applications and that it pays off for immigrants to change their name to a native-sounding one. Still another type of explanation deals with the fact that minimum wages are relatively high in Sweden and therefore certain immigrants are not attractive to employ. The weak situation on the labor market for many immigrants can also be the outcome of bad policy or policy implementation. Finally, there is the issue of admission policy to integrate immigrants into the Swedish labour market and has been one of the largest political issues in Sweden for some time. Björn A Gustafsson has a PhD in Economics and is now professor emeritus at the Department of Social Work, University of Gothenburg. He is also a research fellow at the Institute of Labor (IZA), Bonn, Germany. His research covers the distribution of income, poverty, and the situation of international migrants in Sweden. Since the 1990s, he also has taken part in the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) and studied earnings, income, poverty, and ethnic minorities in the People's Republic of China. Chapter 5: Tackling the paradoxical nature of social work by Tobias Davidsson This chapter highlights some paradoxes within social work and deals with the question of how social work research and teaching can address these. The point of a departure is a personal account of the author's gnawing feeling of unrest, stemming from certain clashes between his professional social work experiences and his ideas of how the social world functioned and was ordered. The chapter examines how these conflicting feelings became manageable and even a starting point for serious reflection, once critical social theory was introduced to the author. Applying critical theories of power, discipline, and political economy was instrumental in transforming the sense of a dissonance within the author to redirect the analytical gaze towards the historical and political nature of social work. This, in turn, led to a research focus on the paradoxes of social work. In the chapter, two distinct ways of researching this problem is accounted for: 1) the interconnectedness between social work and capitalism, exemplified by a study of how contemporary workfare policies in Swedish early-21st century draws on and refines arguments and assumptions that guided the problematizations of Swedish poor relief in the period 1847-1875; 2) the concept of social exclusion, exemplified by a number of research studies where the political conceptualisation of exclusion is critically scrutinized, and another study that proposes an alternative analytical framework, where social exclusion is conceptualised as dynamic actor-oriented processes based on given times and spaces, initiated and carried out by specific actors acting out of certain motives |
| Summary |
This book brings a novel approach to issues of connecting social work practice to theory and the personal life narrative. The authors each find their own unique way of integrating the self, theory, and practice, in different social work practice and education settings. Contributors use the methodology of narrative to tell their story about their social work journey, be that in research, teaching, or practice. The backdrop for this book is Sweden. The country's rich heritage of welfare provision but also recent cultural diversity offers a unique Nordic context to the subject matter. The contributors engage with these new conditions for Swedish social work through an intersectional lens. Topics explored include: Digging in the present: A day in the life of a school counsellor We live in a political world: Between needs and money The problematic labour market situation of immigrants to Sweden: Consequences and causes Tackling the contradictory nature of social work Using anti-oppressive practice to promote social inclusion in social work education The result is a book that is personal and reflexive, and positions the contributors' narratives as a window to understand and address social problems. Narratives of Social Work Practice and Education in Sweden should engage those interested in the Swedish welfare state, and who want to learn about how social work is taught and practised in this country. Intended to be a general introduction, the book provides guidance to those considering working in the field and for those newly qualified. It also provides examples for students of social work to connect personal narratives to social work settings. Uses personal narratives as a way to understand social work practice Shares views of Swedish society and the welfare state via the stories of those involved in social work Features narratives from people who have moved to Sweden and gives the reader insight to integration to a new country |
| Notes |
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on September 01, 2020) |
| Subject |
Social service -- Sweden
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Social service -- Study and teaching -- Sweden
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Social work education -- Sweden
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Social service
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Social work education
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Sweden
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Lane, Linda, editor
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Wallengren-Lynch, Michael, editor
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| ISBN |
9783030458744 |
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3030458741 |
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