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Reflexivity is acknowledged as a crucial concept and is pivotal in the methodology of qualitative research. Various practices of reflexivity are adopted in the social science disciplines. However, the concept is difficult to pin down and the challenge for researchers is to address how to become reflexive and do reflexivity in research practice. In social work, reflexivity has further been developed and applied in practice contexts. The practice terms, critical reflection and reflection or reflectivity are interrelated in ways that aim to explain reflexivity in the profession which, in turn, can offer an enhanced understanding of reflexivity applied in research. This exploratory article promotes practising reflection – questioning, analysing and evaluating oneself in employing reflexivity in all the research stages: methodological construction, data collection and data analysis by undertaking three key self-focused activities: (1) thinking about one's own thinking; (2) observation of emotions/thoughts, role boundaries and power dynamics in research relationships; and (3) exploration of perceptual experiences. Maintaining the reflexive stance is achieved through reflectivity. The article is largely descriptive but draws on experience in a doctoral study of cultural competence and promotes the effective use of reflexivity in qualitative social work research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Indonesian Child Protection Law, Number 35/2014, the group of children that should receive special protection are minorities and isolated children; this includes Indigenous children who mostly live in remote areas. Under this law, Indigenous children gain special protection, including facilities to share their cultural practices, practice their beliefs, and use their language. This article aimed to describe how Indigenous children have been represented in selected policies in Indonesia. The first step of a policy analysis approach known as "What's the problem represented to be" (WPR), introduced by Carol Bacchi in her book "Analysing policy: What's the problem represented to be?" in 2009, was applied to examine how Indigenous children in Indonesia are represented in six significant policies. Findings from the analysis indicate that the government of Indonesia acknowledges Indigenous rights. However, the policies describe Indigenous children as vulnerable and linked to social welfare problems. Social work core values state that respect for the dignity and worth of all human beings, promotion of welfare or well‐being, and social justice should be extended to Indigenous children. To promote well‐being, it is argued that social workers must be given more opportunities to be involved in policymaking and advocacy for implementing Indigenous children's policies in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document summarizes articles published in the Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Review in 2023. It covers a wide range of topics related to social work in Aotearoa New Zealand, including justice for Palestine, the impact of neoliberal managerialism on social work practice, and the experiences of Pasifika people and social workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The articles provide valuable insights and recommendations for improving social work practice and cultural understanding, addressing issues such as wellbeing, disabilities, trauma-informed care, and the intersectionality of care-experience and mental health services. The text also discusses the need for community-based education, social and legal aid programs, and reform in the health and disability sector. [Extracted from the article]

In Aotearoa New Zealand, approximately 3000 people are enrolled in a recognized social work education programme at any one time. A collaboration between researchers at two social work education providers sought to understand the experiences of student financial hardship, and its impact on wellbeing, amongst current social work students and recent graduates. In total, 346 students and recent graduates participated in a survey that gathered information Glossary of te reo Māori terms regarding financial circumstances, caring responsibilities, mental health and social wellbeing. As social work qualifications require a significant component of unpaid field education, this study reflects growing interest in the financial impact of studying for a social work qualification. This article explores some of the findings with particular focus on the impact of financial hardship on mental and social wellbeing. In particular, the study found that nearly one in four respondents reported experiencing moderate or severe financial hardship while studying, and that this had a significant impact on their mental and social wellbeing. In addition, those with caring responsibilities, especially accumulative caring responsibilities for children and others, were more likely to experience financial hardship. These results add weight to the call for greater support for those preparing to enter the social work workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the absence of a profession-wide response for facilitating the transition of transnational social workers (TSWs) into the host country. TSWs work with various racial, ethnic, and cultural groups and often in unfamiliar socio-political, policy and practice contexts. A qualitative study was undertaken in New Zealand, which involved six focus groups, three with managers of TSWs and three with TSWs themselves and a face-to-face semi-structured interview with a manager who was also a TSW. Coding and analysis of data were informed by critical realism (CR). We found that TSWs' transitions are framed within an employer-employee relationship in the absence of a profession-wide response and TSWs encounter structural barriers in their transition. A suggestion has been made that the profession's leadership acknowledge responsibility that attends to the transitional space and an emotional concern about the wellbeing of TSWs. The transnational nature of the profession demands greater accountability regarding inclusion, sustainability, safety and discrimination. It can positively impact on the overall wellbeing of TSWs and the client groups they serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with intellectual disabilities face difficulties in realising their reproductive rights in different countries and may face challenges to their parental rights in child protection systems. Some studies have explored how parents with intellectual disabilities became involved in their parenting roles, the barriers faced, their needs and types of support they received, the developmental outcome for their children, and further research has evaluated supporting interventions. However, these studies were primarily generated in high-income countries, likely due to the social development of these countries and affected by how people with intellectual disabilities are perceived by each society. Assuredly, this issue needs to be explored in other cultural contexts because previous studies have shown that gender, traditional beliefs, family structure, and religious beliefs all affect the experience of parenting with disabilities. In this article, we first focus on reproductive justice and the rights of parents with intellectual disabilities. Secondly, we explain current reproduction-related demographic data and studies of people with intellectual disabilities in Taiwan. Finally, we discuss reproductive justice and its contributions to social work in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supervision is a core component of professional support and development in social work. In many settings, and perhaps particularly in children's services, it is valued as crucial in safe decision-making, practice reflection, professional development and staff support. Research has demonstrated that supervision and staff support also contribute to social worker retention in child welfare services. Drawing on data gathered in a 15-month ethnographic, longitudinal study of child protection work that included observations of supervision, we were able to observe the impact of supportive supervisory relationships on social workers' decision-making about staying in their current workplace. This article presents a single case that demonstrates the potential impact of effective relationship-based supervision on retention and calls for a more humane approach to social work supervision against dominant managerial themes that have increasingly burdened the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Emerging research suggests that students who care for children, the sick, disabled or the elderly are a marginalised and hidden group in social work education. A recent study explored how the wellbeing of 16 female social work student caregivers was impacted by their engagement in tertiary studies and considered the factors that motivated and sustained these students on their educational journey. METHODS: From a mixed-method study investigating the social and financial impacts of study on the wellbeing of social work students in Aotearoa New Zealand, data were extracted relating to the needs and experiences of social work students and recent graduates who are also caregivers. Data from semi-structured interviews were thematically analysed to produce an overarching theme that contained three sub-themes. FINDINGS: Findings reveal that, for some caregivers, studying social work was a journey that required considerable sacrifice to their personal and financial wellbeing. Findings also point to the remarkable capacity student caregivers had to overcome adversity, and even thrive through their experiences, by drawing on their collective strengths and sense of purpose. CONCLUSIONS: Social work practice rests on the foundational principle of social justice. This research challenges social work education providers and governing bodies to apply this principle when considering the inequities that are faced by students who are also caregivers. Students with caregiving responsibilities need to be prepared for the significant personal and financial costs of their education, particularly about field placement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on linking theme of social work education and learning. Topics include engagement in continuing professional development and higher education being crucial for maintaining a critical perspective and ensuring contribution to knowledge building; and contributions about social workers' continuing education and development in 2023.

This qualitative study conducted three focus groups with transnational social workers (TSWs) in three cities of Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim of the study was to examine the transitional experience of TSWs, particularly in relation to any strategies and mechanisms existing in the host country to facilitate their personal and professional transition. A significant finding is that a coherent profession-wide programme for facilitating the transition is absent as the existing practices are mostly within the employer–employee relationships. Transitional experiences of TSWs are explained using the metaphor of 'territory' and some strategies for effective transition are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supervision is promoted as an essential element of effective professional practice in social work. Its benefits include promoting reflective social work and assisting with the management of the emotions generated in challenging practice. This article reports on the observations of supervision in a 15-month ethnographic study of social work teams on two very different sites in England, one using hot-desking the other a small team design. Our findings show how supervision is constituted by temporal, spatial and relational elements and that some current organisational designs do not create the ideal environment for reflective supervision to flourish. Far from providing an opportunity for containment of challenging emotions, supervision was sometimes a source of stress. It was experienced as reflective and containing where managers were accessible and space was made for thinking in a context of openness that encouraged regular deep conversations about current work. By experiencing the atmospheres of supervisory encounters and organisational cultures, this study has enabled us to produce new insights into the embodied nature of supervision as it is lived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationship-based practice has become an influential theory through which social work practice is understood. However, much more critical attention needs to be given to the kinds of relationships involved. This paper is based on an ethnographic study of long-term social work that spent 15 months observing practice with service users and organisational life to find out how social workers establish and sustain long-term relationships with children and parents in child protection cases, or don't. The paper introduces into the literature the concept of a 'holding relationship', which was present in several of the cases we studied, especially where therapeutic change occurred. The aims of the paper are to document the nature of a holding relationship and to develop it as a concept. A 'holding relationship' involved social workers being reliable, immersing themselves in the service user's day-to-day existence and developing their life-skills, getting physically and emotionally close to them, and practicing critically by taking account of power and inequalities. The concept of a 'holding relationship' draws on psycho-dynamic and sociological theory to provide new ways of thinking that can help make sense of the practical and emotional relating involved in social work and promote the development of such helpful relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]