Beautiful stranger: Voices from the front lines of community practice in Israel

Abstract

Over the past few decades, significant changes in the economy, demographic composition, ideological perspectives, political culture and urban landscape have altered the development of social policies and affected the life circumstances of oppressed com

“No matter what, I will not give up”: Community practice on the front lines of COVID-19.

“…Thus, community social workers were very valuable. However, when the local system became more accustomed to the crisis situation, the perception of community social workers seemed to return to the perception that was held prior to the pandemic: being unable to see their professional expertise beyond their organizational capabilities (Feldman et al, 2021). As support from management is crucial for coping in times of crisis, such as the pandemic (McFadden et al, 2021), not receiving recognition from their supervisors of their professional abilities led to a sense of disappointment among the community social workers.…”

“…Although the findings emphasize the challenges with which community social workers must cope, participants made only limited reference to their feelings in regard to their coping during this stressful situation. In light of the lack of literature regarding community social workers’ feelings during their work in general (Feldman et al, 2021), future studies should focus on their feelings and the way they cope with them, especially in times of emergency, similar to studies that have been conducted among other health care workers (Liu et al, 2020; Sun et al, 2020). Moreover, whereas most of the literature regarding the “politics of pandemics” in the age of COVID-19 has focused on the impact of political issues on marginalized communities (e.g., Taylor, 2020), future studies should investigate the impact of political aspects on the functioning and feelings of other health care workers, such as nurses and medical teams.…”

Let's talk about our feelings: Emotional labour of community practice in times of pandemic

“…Yet there are very few studies, if any, examining the emotions of community social workers and the emotional labour associated with community practice, especially in times of pandemic. This is surprising, given that research highlights the stressful and frustrating situations community social workers confront in their daily work (Feldman et al, 2021). We therefore argue that fully understanding community practice today means devoting attention to the emotional aspects of this practice.…”

“…The literature on community practice in social work settings covers different areas. Studies have examined the history of community practice in different countries (Chen & Ku, 2017; Gutiérrez & Gant, 2018; Sadan, 2019); various theoretical models for community practice (Boehm & Cnaan, 2012; Rothman, 2007; Sawyer & Brady, 2020); the on‐the‐ground experience of differently positioned community social workers (Ardle, 2020; Feldman et al, 2021; Itzhaki‐Braun et al, 2021); their involvement in the social policy arena (Weiss‐Gal & Gal, 2020); and the place of community practice in social work education and how to train students in this field (Liddell & Lass, 2019; Robinson et al, 2020).…”

If Anti-Racism Is the Goal, Then Anti-Oppression Is How We Get There

“…Additionally, in the social work profession, the division between direct practice social workers -such as clinical, case management, or direct client care positions -and community practice social workers -such as community organizers and policy advocates -is an additional facet of social groups that can further group social workers in academic settings (Feldman et al, 2021;Liddel & Lass, 2019;Robinson et al, 2020). Thus, dominant social groups in an oppressive regime will differ based on social context and are more dynamic and complex than simple ranking of faculty from assistant to full professor.…”