Practising social work in a context of austerity: experiences of public sector social workers in Greece

Social workers: a new precariat? Precarity conditions of mental health social workers working in the non-profit sector in Greece

“…Its purpose is to introduce the discussion of the experiences and consequences of precarity in the lives of mental health social workers as an all-encompassing experience that affects both them and the service users, within the context of neoliberal capitalism. This aim is congruent with the critical tradition of the international tradition of social work, which seeks to unravel global oppressive structures and how they impact on the social work profession (Pentaraki, 2017b).…”

“…One of the countries that has been most seriously affected by neoliberal reconfigurations is Greece (Pentaraki, 2013(Pentaraki, , 2015(Pentaraki, , 2017a(Pentaraki, , 2017b. Despite evidence that the crisis in Greece and in other countries, e.g.…”

“…Although, these issues are often presented by the mainstream media as being exceptional to Greece in order to make an argu-ment that Greece brought this upon itself (Pentaraki, 2018a), there is no evidence to support this (Pentaraki, 2013). Fundamentally, the issues that Greece faces reflect wider socio-economic trans-formations experienced world-wide (Pentaraki, 2013(Pentaraki, , 2015(Pentaraki, , 2017a(Pentaraki, , 2017b(Pentaraki, , 2018a(Pentaraki, , 2018bPentaraki & Speake, 2015). For example, the context of rising global inequalities is reflected in the concentration of wealth in the hands of few.…”

“…However, even though public sector social workers' lives have been adversely affected materially, the major issues identified centred around an existential insecurity related to the insecure social reproduction conditions that their children and their parents faced and their inability to help them out effectively. These experiences were con-structed by the implementation of neoliberal austerity policies imposed to Greece by the TROICA, (a transnational decision making body comprised by the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund) which reflected wider socio-economic global transformations (for a more detailed analysis see Pentaraki, 2013Pentaraki, , 2015Pentaraki, , 2017aPentaraki, , 2017b.…”

A Paradigm Framework for Social Work Theory for Early 21st Century Practice

“…Theorisation of social work in Greece, focuses on new structures of poverty beyond simple socio-stratification systems and the impact of chronic economic stress and disadvantage on both clients and social workers in the region(e.g. Pentaraki, 2017) Students and practitioners need some scaffolding around which to make sense of such a range of theories applicable to the understanding of individual and social problems and the development of actions and interventions to address these in this context. Yet the question of how one might 'organise' this diversity of theory in and for social work may seem at odds with the very notion of postmodernism.…”