Against the backdrop of a continuously changing situation, the aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of COVID-19 crisis in Italy, the government response to cope with the crisis and the major lessons learned during its management. The analysis shows how Italy’s response has been characterised by some rapid measures to tackle the health crisis, but few plans in the mitigation stage and a lack of community involvement. This contribution stress the importance of a cultural shift, through the effort to apply in practice the principles already indicated in the main global policy frameworks to guide disaster management. A community social development approach can help to build concrete actions in this direction.

This article analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marginal migrant populations, and the Italian response to cope with the crisis. The first section uses different sources of data to highlight social, political, and economic processes, already present in the pre-emergency stage, that contributed to the exposure of migrants to higher levels of vulnerability. The second part analyzes the impact of the crisis and its management in the response stage, focusing in particular on the perspective of front line professionals and migrants advocates. The discussion shows how some attempts have been made to unveil processes that preserve mainstream ideologies, benefiting those who are interested in the maintenance of migratory inflows of migrants with no rights, and some improvements have been achieved. Nevertheless, even if the COVID-19 crisis has created the possibility to make structural problems more visible, and indicated the direction to “build back better,” the cultural and structural variables that create a condition of hyperprecarity for more marginalized migrants seem to be unchanged.

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The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated socioeconomic crisis are posing unprecedented challenges both globally and locally, raising many unknowns and imposing difficult trade-offs. One of the side effects of this pandemic, with the ensuing physical distancing rules and quarantine, has been the condition of isolation that is affecting vulnerable populations disproportionately across the world. Against this background, one of the major tasks for social work is to keep up connections, find new ways to sustain relations and networks, and mitigate against inescapable feelings of loneliness and their consequences. Social workers themselves are affected personally and professionally by this crisis, facing new living and working conditions. They experience feelings of uncertainty, fear, and the risk of isolation. The aim of this paper is to present examples of practices intended to promote a sense of community, as such a shared emotion can support present and future social workers. These examples serve to underline how, now more than ever, a central challenge for social work is to strengthen the professional community, find ways to overcome isolation and 'to take care of those who care'.

Summary Client violence in social services is perceived as constantly increasing in Italy, raising deep concern. This article presents the results of the first online survey on the phenomenon. Involving 20,112 social workers, the aim was to determine the prevalence and forms of client violence towards social workers and to identify key factors associated with such events. Findings The results suggest that the vast majority of Italian social workers experience client violence during their careers. Verbal aggression and threats were most common forms of violence, followed by physical attacks and property damage. Young and less experienced social workers appeared more likely to be victims of violence, as well as those who more frequently work in isolation or without their colleagues’ support. Social workers in child protection services, services for adults and municipality services accessible to the entire population were found to be at higher risk of client violence. The social workers considered the quality of the client/professional relationship and communication skills to be critical in preventing and dealing with aggression by users. Unfulfilled clients’ expectation was considered to be one of the main factors contributing to frustration and the consequent hostile behaviour. Applications Violence against social workers is a ‘wake-up call’ that makes the weakening of welfare services, and therefore of professional social work, more visible. The first nationwide study on service user violence reported by this paper may significantly contribute to raising awareness about the phenomenon in Italy and to the devising of effective prevention programmes.