No abstract

No abstract

This study explores immigrant parents’ emotional experiences in child welfare services as well as parents’ emotional management and their interpretations of the role of emotions in the child welfare system. The analysis revealed that strong negative emotions dominate parents’ experiences and correspond to immigrant-related challenges and factors associated with child welfare involvement. The study suggests that parents perceive that the way child welfare workers interpret their emotions affects the decisions the workers make and how the parents are perceived during the case. The study further highlights ways that parents manage their emotions during cases to prompt favourable outcomes.

This critical reflection is based on my encounter with a disabled woman in a district in Malawi, and how I have reflected and analyzed the encounter using social work theories. The essay reflects on the story of the disabled woman and my own perception at that time, in addition to my analysis of these perceptions using different perspectives in social work based on my current understanding of these perspectives. In line with Fook’s (2002; 68) critical reflection techniques, social work theories will be applied to deconstruct and reconstruct the critical incident. The essay highlights the challenges and dilemmas I encountered in attempting to make meaning out of this encounter, which left me helpless and powerless, as I could not offer her any sustainable help at the time.

This article discusses professional discretion in relation to placing a child outside the family, as understood by Malawian social workers. The article is a product of an exploratory study covering different aspects of social work practice with children and families in Malawi. It is based on focus group discussions with practicing social workers that were conducted using a vignette. This article describes how social workers handle child protection cases, in which a child has to be placed outside the home or family. The article points out different solutions and the reasoning behind certain decisions on placing children outside their home. The study explores issues of patriarchy, intervention methods into families and the cooperation between social workers, community members and other professionals when helping families. The study found that a number of different factors affect the decision of placing a child outside the home. Social workers in this study put an emphasis on the importance of helping children within the immediate- and extended family to help cope with the lack of financial resources that would provide alternative options.