Suchergebnisse

"This volume draws on a trove of unpublished original material from the pre-1940s to the present to offer a unique historiographic study of twentieth-century Methodist missionary work and women's active expression of faith, practised at the critical confluence of historical and global changes. The study focuses on two English Methodist missionary nursing Sisters and siblings, Audrey and Muriel Chalkely, whose words and experiences are captured in detail, foregrounding tumultuous socio-political changes of the end of Empire and post-Independence in twentieth century Kenya and South India. The work presents a timely revision to prevailing postcolonial critiques in placing the fundamental importance of human relationships centre stage. Offering a detailed (auto)biographical and reflective narrative, this 'herstory' pivots on three main thematic strands relating to people, place and passion, where socio-cultural details are vividly explored. The book will appeal to a wide range of readers, both the interested public and the academic alike, where a lively, entertaining, literary style introduces readers to the politics of women's lives, and principle and professional service foreground ethno-class-caste oppression, emancipation, conflict, commitments and religious tensions. It reveals the human, vulnerable qualities of these women, illuminating their stories and courageous choices"--

Social workers, whatever their specialism, practise with people at the margins of society. It is therefore essential that all social work students not only understand the powers and processes that lead to disadvantage and marginalisation but develop the knowledge and skills needed to bring about change and uphold social justice in all aspects of their professional practice. Split into three parts, this book considers what is meant by disadvantage and marginalisation, how this can come about and the impact this may have on lives, before unpicking the key knowledge and skills needed to practice effectively with individuals and groups. It then goes on to show what good ethical and reflective practice looks like, going step-by-step through the ins and outs of using the law and policy to bring about change before considering key ethical dilemmas in practice.

The modernising agenda, which characterised New Labour social policy in the early 2000s, engendered significant change in the social and health care sector in the UK. Since then, social work practice education has been significantly affected by this striving for improvement and transformation that continued through inquiries into tragedies, enhanced learning and overt political interference. Ostensibly, the intention of the changes was to enhance the quality of practice and competence of practitioners. However, the necessity of practice education is not often questioned nor is a clear explication of its purposes presented. Rather, it has been accepted as integral to social work education and represents an unquestioned 'given'. The nature of 'practice learning' is also rarely explored and the various types, models, duration and so on are often assumed rather than clearly stated. After reviewing some of the changing historical policy context for social work education and practice learning in the UK, this chapter begins to explore the some of the reasons suggesting that practice education is necessary and posits some reasons that require further exploration and research if we are to develop and maintain a robust justification for this major requirement in social work education.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of the paper are to subject the ontologies of social welfare in Britain to critical scrutiny, in respect of examining political ideologies of neoliberalism and austerity; and the impact of these upon the value-driven role and remit of professional social work, which has developed as an essential arm of the post-War, British Welfare State. THEORETICAL BASE: Although the erosion of the Welfare State has been subject to a number of social policy critiques, here the authors offer an alternative understanding of social welfare, as inspired by the Islamic principle of zakāt. METHODS: This paper offers a conceptual, discursive analysis. OUTCOME: Operating as a socio-religio-political concept, zakāt provides a sharply contrasting alternative understanding to social weald, capitalism and the State, serving to reframe prevailing political rationalisations and policy measures as that which are fundamentally harmful to social cohesion in generating rising social need. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: Growing social need, artificially inflated through political ideology, carries ruinous implications for social work provision in terms of State (un)accountability for social welfare and overtly politicised social work mandates.

Purpose– This paper aims to consider the contentious issue of covert research in studying the social contexts of vulnerable groups. It explores its potential utility in areas where overt strategies may be problematic or denied; and examines and problematises the issue of participant consent.Design/methodology/approach– Using a literature-based review and selected previous studies, the paper explores the uses and abuses of covert research in relation to ethics review proceedings governing social research, with an especial focus on vulnerability.Findings– Findings indicate that although the use of covert research is subject to substantial critique by apparently transgressing the often unquestioned moral legitimacy of informed consent, this carries ethical and practical utility for research related to safeguarding concerns. Arguably covert research enables research access to data likely to reveal abusive and oppressive practices.Research limitations/implications– Covert research assists in illuminating the hidden voices and lives of vulnerable people that may otherwise remain inaccessible. Such research needs to be subject to rigorous ethical standards to ensure that it is both justified and robust.Practical implications– Emphasising the need to consider all angles, questions and positions when addressing the social problem of adult protection and safeguarding.Originality/value– Increasingly social research is treated as being as potentially harmful as medical research. Ethics review tends towards conservative conformity, legitimising methodologies that may serve less social utility than other forms of investigation that privilege the safeguarding of vulnerable people.

Inclusive education in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Arab societies is at a developmental stage with a paucity of research data recording this process. To clarify an obscure topic an online survey was conducted targeting 48 agencies in the GCC offering rehabilitation for children with disabilities and their families. Although the response rate was statistically disappointing, the outcome of the study nevertheless offers insights into the changing perceptions towards disability and education in Arab societies. However, crucially the study also generated an in-depth exploration of the ethical and geopolitical dimensions underpinning research initiatives in this region.

This paper offers an ontological and literary review of Muslim women's religious practices across the Muslim ummah, in considering the development of an epistemology of faith and feminism within the Islamic schema. Our aim is to explore the diverse constructions of autopoiesis in reference to feminism, faith and spirituality in relation to Islam as both a religious and a cultural phenomenon. To this end, global examples of faith-based practice are reviewed, where issues of dominant and minority cultures and values refer to how Muslim faith practices are enacted within the local context. The authors use a dyadic, auto-ethnographic methodology to explore their own personal, political and spiritual positioning as feminists from a Muslim, immigrant and secular British background. The significance of women's spiritual and feminist dimensions in the context of faith, nationhood and embodiment of ideological positions are analysed. Additionally, religious, cultural and geo-political implications of feminism and Islam are considered regarding identity, culture and tradition, and religious resurgence, together with forms of feminist resistance to religious doctrine. Finally, the search by women for spiritual authority and authenticity is discussed.

In March 2020 virtually all UK universities were suddenly thrown into an unprecedented and sudden closure of campus and facilities owing to the British Government's Covid-19 pandemic lockdown policies. Further evidence suggests that this exacerbated existing gendered differences. This paper reports on UK academic responses from an international survey examining the work-life balance of academics under Covid-19 lockdown. The aim of the study was to examine the experiences and perceptions of academics, using these to inform how universities can improve the work-life balance of academics during the current and post-lockdown scenarios, as well as in the longer term, given a pandemic-prone future. Rich in qualitative comments, primarily derived from women academics, gendered contrasts in work-life balance appear magnified under conditions of lockdown. Key lessons for HE internationally emerge from the findings.