Poverty‐aware social work practice: service users' perspectives

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in scholarly writing on the theory and practice of critical social work with people living in poverty. Yet there is a lack of research on the experiences and perspectives of service users regarding this kind of practice. This paper presents a qualitative study that explored the practice of a special poverty‐aware social work programme in Israel, through the experiences of women who took part in it. Using an interpretative interactionist approach, in‐depth interviews with nine women were held three times over a 2‐year period. Findings reveal a high degree of satisfaction with the programme on the part of the women. The satisfaction was derived from four main experiences: the experience of visibility, the experience of the active partnership in the fight against poverty, the experience of close, hierarchy‐challenging relationships, and the experience of responsiveness to material and emotional needs. The findings are discussed in terms of three principles of practice: intervention in a real‐life context, relationship‐based intervention and the focus on both the material and emotional needs and their fulfilment.

Social workers' emotional labour with families in poverty: Neoliberal fatigue?

“…Social work is the profession most commonly associated with families living in poverty (Parrot, ; Saar‐Heiman, Lavie‐Ajayi, & Krumer‐Nevo, ). In many countries, social workers are mostly engaged in direct practice, providing impoverished families with both material and emotional support (Featherstone, White, & Morris, ).…”

Poverty‐aware social work in the child protection system: A critical reflection on two single‐case studies

“…First, the intervention took place in Danit's real‐life context (Saar‐Heiman, Lavie‐Ajayi, & Krumer‐Nevo, ). The author's understanding of the emotional price and the concrete difficulty of bringing additional documents to the Social Services Department motivated his decision to leave the meeting setting, drive to Danit's home, and accompany her in the process.…”

“…The PAP is a developing paradigm that offers a theoretical, ethical, and practical framework for critical social work with people living in poverty (Krumer‐Nevo, , ; Saar‐Heiman, Lavie‐Ajayi, & Krumer‐Nevo, ). The paradigm evolved in Israel against the background of an accelerated process of neoliberalization and privatization of the public sector, including social services, alongside a steep increase in poverty and inequality rates (Lavee & Strier, ).…”

“…The harsh consequences of this reality for children at risk and public criticism of social services (Gottfried & Ben‐Arieh, ) prompted the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services to seek innovative practice frameworks for the child protection system. For this reason, the paradigm was recently embraced in several intervention programs in the Israeli child protection system (see, e.g., Saar‐Heiman, Lavie‐Ajayi, & Krumer‐Nevo, ).…”

“…These three principles form the basis for an array of PAP practices that include, for example, intervention in a real‐life context, active mediation and advocacy, the combination of micro and macro policy practices, and a combined focus on emotional and material needs (Krumer‐Nevo, ; Saar‐Heiman, Lavie‐Ajayi, & Krumer‐Nevo, ). Currently, there is no research that examines the application of PAP in the child protection system.…”