Servants of a ‘sinking titanic’ or actors of change? Contested identities of social workers in Sweden

Jönsson, Jessica H.

doi:10.1080/13691457.2018.1529659

Cited by 29 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…However, it is important to recognise how quickly these programmes were introduced and have expanded in England, and there are a number of contemporary developments that mean that this experience could be replicated elsewhere without adequate resistance. Fast-track social work education models stem from a neoliberal ideological perspective (Jones, 2019), and the increasing influence of neoliberalism in social work and social work education across Europe could gradually create a climate that is more amenable to these models (Albuquerque, 2019;Herrero & Charnley, 2019;Jonsson, 2019). The fact that both Think Ahead and Frontline were introduced following reports by the Institute for Public Policy Research, a self-described think tank, should also be considered significant within the contemporary European policy context, where think tanks are seeing an upsurge in influence (Bajenova, 2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘The best and the brightest’: widening participation and social justice in contemporary English social work education

Hanley

2019

European Journal of Social Work

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@joeehanley Social work education in England has a long track record of success in widening participation to disadvantaged student populations. However, more recently these successes have instead been cast as a burden that is negatively impacting on the calibre of students entering the profession. Alongside this reconceptualization, new fast-track models of education have been introduced, providing a quicker and more financially supported route of entry to the profession. This article critically examines the changing nature of widening participation in social work education and how fast-track social work programmes are perpetuating the inequalities that are inherent at all levels of the English educational system. This discussion is shown to have implications for widening participation policy agenda beyond social work. The concerns that are raised should be of interest to any other jurisdictions considering the possibility of a fasttrack approach to social work education. A social justice approach based on mixed-ability student education is proposed as an alternative and preferable model of social work education.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘The best and the brightest’: widening participation and social justice in contemporary English social work education

Hanley

2019

European Journal of Social Work

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“…Medan kritiska perspektiv begränsar sina förändringsambitioner till reformer inom ramen för det rådande kapitalistiska, strukturella och institutionella sammanhanget, syftar radikala perspektiv till grundläggande och revolutionära förändringar av samma strukturella och institutionella sammanhang. Radikalt socialt arbete kan utövas av socialarbetare i vardagliga praktiker (Fenton 2019a;Jönsson 2014Jönsson , 2019 och inkluderar antirasistiska, antidiskriminerande, antiförtryckande och emancipatoriska teorier, metoder och praktiker. Trots att det finns vissa potentiella vetenskapsfilosofiska konflikter inbäddade i en ambition att förena kritiska och radikala perspektiv, ser vi pragmatiskt på saken.…”

Section: Teori: Kritiska Och Radikala Perspektiv I Socialt Arbeteunclassified

Rustad för morgondagen?

Lauri

Jönsson

2021

SVT

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During the last couple of decades, the state of the Swedish welfare society has deteriorated. Political decisions concerning the labour market, housing and education have significantly increased precarious conditions for many people. Income inequality and economic difficulties have increased. Changes in the welfare system make it harder to receive adequate support, while the repressive elements have also increased. We argue that critical and radical perspectives in social work can help reverse this negative development. What students learn in their social work education will affect their ways of understanding social problems, their practice, and their ability to work for change. We therefore regard social work education as an important arena for social change. But what is the state of such perspectives at our Swedish universities? This article examines the presence of critical and radical perspectives in the Swedish social work curriculum and attempts to answer the question ”How well equipped are future social workers to work in a critical and radical way?” The study shows that a critical perspective is common in the social work curriculum of some universities, but that critical and radical perspectives in general are absent. We argue that this

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“…With neo-liberal changes, particularly with the introduction of new public management within social services during the 1990swith its emphasis on the intensification of work, the measurement of performance in service delivery, and cost efficienciessocial work in Sweden has become predominantly focused on evidence-based clinical practice at individual level (Herz and Johansson, 2011;Jönsson, 2019;Righard and Montesino, 2012). In several European countries (such as Sweden, Finland and Germany), social work is therefore 'entangled in neo-liberal and neo-bureaucratic structures of governance which treat people rather as objects' (Matthies, 2009, p. 326).…”

Section: Students' Reflectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental social work

Rambaree

2020

IJSHE

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Purpose -Environmental social work (ESW) is an approach and a perspective in social work focusing on ecological and environmental sustainability and justice within the context of sustainable development (SD). This study aims to analyse students' reflective tasks on challenges for ESW education and practice from a critical theory perspective. The purpose of this study is to discuss the implications of the findings for accelerating the implementation of SD in social work curricula.Design/methodology/approach -The research participants comprised 49 master level students from four different cohorts studying the course "Social Work and Sustainable Development" at the University of Gävle, Sweden. The sample comprised only those students who had completed at least one of the three nonmandatory reflective tasks that were set within the course. The reflective tasks of the research participants were gathered as data for this study. A qualitative methodological approach with the help of ATLAS-ti V8.4 was used to analyse the gathered data.Findings -This study discusses three primary results, which are categorised as "Being Boxed", "Safe and Saviour Sweden" and "Politics and Power". Based on the results, this study argues for a transformative and emancipatory pedagogy (TEP) in the teaching and learning of ESW to accelerate the implementation of holistic SD within the social work curriculum.Research limitations/implications -This study is mainly based on the analysis of "problematic" discourses of some of the students. The majority of the students and their respective discourses are not considered. Moreover, it would have been interesting, and probably enlightening to explore the background of the students (such as gender, ethnicity and religion) and any concomitant beliefs or prejudices (whether consciously held or otherwise) that would need to be addressed for an effective social work outcome. For ethical reasons, the background of the students was not recorded and analysed in this study.Practical implications -Based on the results, this study argues for TEP in catalysing environmentalism within the social work curricula.Social implications -Social workers have a political mandate from their professional ethics to work for the protection of the planet and for the well-being of allincluding non-humans. This study therefore argues for ESW education within social work curricula in promoting SD through social work practice.Originality/value -Within the context of SD, there is a global call for social work education to shift from an anthropocentric to an eco-centric paradigm. However, ESW education is still in its infancy stage and very © Komalsingh Rambaree. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen...

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Servants of a ‘sinking titanic’ or actors of change? Contested identities of social workers in Sweden

Cited by 29 publications

References 34 publications

‘The best and the brightest’: widening participation and social justice in contemporary English social work education

‘The best and the brightest’: widening participation and social justice in contemporary English social work education

Rustad för morgondagen?

Environmental social work

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