Recognising the Other, understanding the Other: a brief history of social work and Otherness

Chambon, Adrienne

doi:10.1080/2156857x.2013.835137

Cited by 32 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Wimmer and Glick-Schiller (2002) conclude that the binary relation between migrants and citizens influences not only the social sciences but also politics and public officers' work with migrants within the context of the liberal nation states in North America and Europe. Hence, processes of 'othering' of migrants are constantly present as the nation state, through politics, welfare systems and public officials, intervenes in migrants' lives (Chambon 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective parenting programs for parents with foreign backgrounds: cultural imperialism or democratic practices in social work?

Gustafsson

2019

Nordic Social Work Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In focus of this article are two selective parenting programs, both developed locally by Social Services and by a Women´s Shelter organisation in Sweden. Parents with a foreign background is the target group. Their needs are formulated in terms of`change values based on patriarchal beliefs in honour´. In the article the programs are described in relation to universal evidence-based parenting programs and a also a three-part dilemma of 1; offering preventative but also normative interventions to 2; selected target groups and 3; based on the idea that migrant parents have special needs due to cultural differences. The aim is to investigate in what ways the practices of conducting parenting programs for this target group could be framed as cultural imperialistic practices or democratic practices in social work. Cultural imperialism leads to oppression while democratic practices are emancipatory. A conclusion is that both practices are apparent and concurrent. Yet the dualism dismantles the risk of reproducing oppression of the selected target group. Another conclusion is that instead of defining parents with foreign backgrounds as culturally different the target group could be defined as a group with migration experience e. g. experience of leaving the home country and family and finding ways of resettlement in a receiving country. Selective parent programs are relevant but an alternative definition would promote democratic practice, where authorities and social workers meet the demands of the participating parents on their own terms, and with the goal, not to change 'unwished cultural differences' but to support empowerment.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective parenting programs for parents with foreign backgrounds: cultural imperialism or democratic practices in social work?

Gustafsson

2019

Nordic Social Work Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although social workers are trained to work with inter-group social conflicts, hostility towards asylum seekers should be acknowledged and dealt with by the state, in order to allow social workers to contribute to a gradual change in attitudes among communities in particular and society as a whole (Lyons, 2017). Israeli social workers who are involved with the community of asylum seekers should acknowledge the perils of a traditional professional approach to social work that emphasises the distance between the professional (the self) and the client (the other), thus exacerbating the discrimination and oppression that clients have already experienced (Beresford, 2013;Chambon, 2013;Oliver, 2013;Nuttman-Shwartz, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asylum Seekers in Israel: Challenges to Social Work

Nuttman‐Shwartz

Levanon

2019

The British Journal of Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The challenges facing social workers in addressing the migration crisis are myriad and complex. Against this background, the current article presents a case study on the response of Israeli social work to the asylum seekers, which allows us to identify gaps between the social work profession’s global agenda and its implementation. The article examines how recent immigration policies have impacted Israeli social workers’ responses to these challenges. Following a brief description of Israel’s policies for controlling and limiting the entrance of asylum seekers to the country, the article offers insights into social workers’ involvement in some of the main social services that aim to assist asylum seekers in Israel. Insights are also offered into the response of Israeli social workers to the community of asylum seekers, which focuses on individual needs and on urgent needs. Several explanations for these emphases was offers, noting that they may reflect a more general gap between repeated statements about the significance of human rights for the social work profession on the one hand and the professional reality on the other. Finally, several strategies for social work in the community of asylum seekers and in society as a whole are recommended.

show abstract

“…The findings from the survey suggest that social workers’ practices in the keeping of records do not embody the principles they espouse relating to participation and partnership in the helping process. Some of the survey participants’ responses reflected a strong professional/expert approach to client access to records, where professional discretion and what Chambon (2013: 120) referred to as ‘professional distance of the expert position’ took precedence over client rights.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These are often presented as ‘neutral intermediary for the reporting of events’ and facts (Taylor, 2008: 30). In the process, the creation of case records has become the prerogative of the practitioner, highlighting what Chambon (2013: 124) described as ‘[t]he power of inscription that is ubiquitous in bureaucracies’ that can be seen in ‘how we name, how we characterize, how we present and represent selves and Others in our professional discipline’.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Midgley (2012) bemoaned the preponderance of ‘professional imperialism’, questioning social workers’ construction of expertise over others’ lives. Chambon (2013: 127) highlighted social work’s ‘long-standing heritage of Othering’ and how social work maintains professional/expert power through exercising distance between social workers and their clients. Rossiter (2001) and Weinberg (2015) expounded on the notion of ‘ethical trespass’, developed by Hannah Arendt and elaborated by Melissa Orlie.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Who owns the case record? Client access to case records in Canadian social work practice

Morgenshtern

2018

International Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study looked into client access to their case records routinely maintained by social workers in the course of professional practice. An online survey and semi-structured interviews were undertaken with Canadian social workers. The study found that while the majority of the participants indicated that they granted clients access to their case records, clients were not effectively granted such access in practice. Client access to their case records is a core issue in social work, and social workers need to proactively grant such access if they are to live by the core values of social work.

show abstract

Recognising the Other, understanding the Other: a brief history of social work and Otherness

Cited by 32 publications

References 16 publications

Selective parenting programs for parents with foreign backgrounds: cultural imperialism or democratic practices in social work?

Selective parenting programs for parents with foreign backgrounds: cultural imperialism or democratic practices in social work?

Asylum Seekers in Israel: Challenges to Social Work

Who owns the case record? Client access to case records in Canadian social work practice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About