Looking at field through a structural lens

Claudia Lahaie; Martha Wiebe; Karen Schwartz

doi:10.1921/jpts.v14i3.1012

Authors

Claudia Lahaie Carleton University
Martha Wiebe Carleton University
Karen Schwartz Carleton University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1921/jpts.v14i3.1012

Abstract

Many objectives of the Canadian Association of Social Work Education (CASWE) Accreditation Agreement (CASWE, 2013) relate to the field component of social work programs. Among these objectives are the promotion of human rights and social justice; the support and development of diversity, a consideration of the structural sources of inequalities and the application of critical thinking within the framework of the profession. Many of these objectives are related to a structural approach. As suggested by Drolet et al. (2012) it is crucial that students learn to make links between theoretical approaches studied in the classroom and their experience while in placement. While in placement, students need to understand how theories inform their actions (Drolet et al., 2012).

Author Biographies

Claudia Lahaie, Carleton University

Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Affairs, Faculty of Public Affairs and Associate Professor, School of Social Work

Martha Wiebe, Carleton University

Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Karen Schwartz, Carleton University

Retired Instructor

References

CASWE-ACFTS (2013) Standards for Accreditation. Retrieved from http://caswe-acfts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/CASWE.ACFTS_.Standards.Oct2013.pdf, [12 November 2013

Canadian Association of Social Workers (2005) Social Work Code of Ethics. Ottawa: Canadian Association of Social Workers

Carniol, B (1992) Structural social work: Maurice Moreau’s challenge to social work practice. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 3, 1, 1-20

Dhemba, J. (2012) ‘Fieldwork in social work education and training: Issues and challenges in the case of Eastern and Southern Africa’. Social Work and Society International Online Journal, 10(1) http://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/310/651

Drolet, J., Clark, N. & Allen, H (2012) Shifting Sites of Practice: Field Education in Canada, Toronto: Pearson

Dudziak, S. & Profitt, N.J. (2012) Group work and social justice: Designing pedagogy for social change. Social Work With Groups, 35, 235-252

Ferguson, I. & Smith, L. (2011) Education for change: Student placements in campaigning organisations and social movements in South Africa, British Journal of Social Work, http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/10/11/bjsw.bcr143

George, P & Marlowe, S (2005) Structural social work in action: Experiences from rural India. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 16, 1, 5-24

George, P., Coleman, B., Barnoff, L. (2010) Stories from the field: Practicing structural social work in current times: Practitioners’ use of creativity, Critical Social Work, 11(2), http://www1.uwindsor.ca/criticalsocialwork/sites/uwindsor.ca.criticalsocialwork/files/storiesfromthefield_pdf.pdf

Goldberg-Wood, G. & Tully, C. (2007) The Structural Approach to Direct Practice in Social Work: A Social Constructionist Perspective. New York: Columbia University Press

Gray, M. & Webb, S.A. (2009) The return of the political in social work. International Journal of Social Welfare, 18, 1, 111-115

Harlow, E. (2003) New managerialism, social service departments and social work practice today. Practice Social Work in Action, 15, 2, 29-44

Hashizume, Y. (2000) Gender issues and Japanese family-centered caregiving for frail elderly parents or parents-in-law in modern Japan: From the sociocultural and historical perspectives. Public Health Nursing, 17, 1, 25-31

Jasper, C., Munro, L., Black, P., & McLaughlin, H., (2013) Is there a future for the use of non-traditional placement settings for the final year social work students? Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning, 12, 1, 5-25

Johnson, E. J., Bailey, K-R., and Padmore, J. (2012) Issues and challenges of social work practicum in Trinidad and Tobago and India, Caribbean Teaching Scholar, 2, 1, 19-29

Lager, P.B., & Robbins, V.C. (2004) Field education: Exploring the future, expanding the vision. Journal of Social Work Education. 40, 3-11

Lecomte, R. (2004) The Evolution of Professional Identity in Social Work: The Experience of an Alumnus of the School of Social Work at Carleton University. Ottawa: The Centre for Social Welfare Studies. School of Social Work. Carleton University

Lecomte, R. (1990) ‘Connecting Private Troubles and Public Issues.’ In B. Wharf ed. Social Work and Social Change in Canada. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 31-51

Lundy, C, (2012) Social Work, Social Justice and Human Rights: A Structural Approach to Practice. 2nd Ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press

Lymbery, M. (2001) Social work at the crossroads. British Journal of Social Work, 31, 3, 369-384

McLaughlin, H., Scholar, H., McCaughan, S., Coleman, A., (2014) Are non-traditional social work placements second-best learning opportunities for social work qualifying students?, British Journal of Social Work, 1-20

Middleman, R.R. & Goldberg-Wood, G. (1974) Social Service Delivery: The Structural approach to Social Work Practice. New York: Columbia University Press

Moreau, M. (1979) A structural approach to social work practice. Canadian Journal of Social Work Education, 5, 1, 78-94

Moreau, M. (1990) Empowerment through advocacy and consciousness- raising: Implications of a structural approach to social work. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 17, 2, 53-67

Moreau, M. & Leonard, L. (1993) Introduction: Empowerment Through a Structural Approach to Social Work. Ottawa: Carleton University Press

Mullaly, R. (2002) Challenging oppression: A critical social work approach. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press

Ornellas, A., Spolander, G., & Engelbrecht, L. (2016) The global social work definition: Ontology, implications and challenges, Journal of Social Work, 0, 0, 1-19

Razack, N. (2002) Transforming the field: Critical antiracist and anti-oppressive perspectives for the human services practicum. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing

Reza, H, & Ahmmed, F., (2008) Structural social work and the compatibility of NGO approaches: a case study of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), International Journal of Social Welfare, 18, 173-182

Sakamoto, I. and Pitner, R. (2005) Use of critical consciousness in anti-oppressive social work practice: Disentangling power dynamics at personal and structural levels, British Journal of Social Work, 35, 435-452

Scholar, H., McCaughan, S., McLaughlin, H., & Coleman, A. (2012) ‘Why is this not social work?’ The contribution of ‘non-traditional’ placements in preparing social work students for practice. Social Work Education, 31, 7, 932-950.

Scholar, H., McCaughan, S., McLaughlin, H., & Coleman, A. (2014) Learning to be a social worker in a non-traditional placement: Critical reflections on social work, professional identity and social work education in England, Social Work Education, 33:8, 998-1016

Schwartz, K., O’Brien, A. M., Morel, V., Armstrong, M., Fleming, C., & Moore, P. (2011) Community treatment orders: The service user speaks exploring the lived experience of community treatment orders. The International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 15, 1, 41-52

Snyder, C., May, D.J., & Peeler, J. (2008) Combining human diversity and social justice education: A conceptual framework. Journal of Social Work Education, 44, 145-161

Todd, S., Barnoff, L., Moffatt, K., Panitch, M., Parada, H., Mucina, M., Williams, D. & Pyne, J., 2012) Progressive social work as doing the ‘good work’ of the ivory tower. Presented at the CASWE-ACFTS 2012 Conference, May 28–May 31, Waterloo, ON. Retrieved from http://www.newmanagerialism.com/friend-or-foe-progressive-social-work-and-the-neoliberal-university-in-canada.html Accessed November 5th, 2013

Todd, S. & Schwartz, K. (2009) Thinking through quality in field education: Integrating alternative and traditional learning opportunities. Social Work Education, 28, 4, 380-395

Van de Sande, A. & Schwartz, K. (2011) Research for Social Justice: A Community Based Approach, Halifax: Fernwood Publishing

Weinberg, M. (2008) Structural social work: A moral compass for ethics in practice, Critical Social Work, 9, 1, http://www1.uwindsor.ca/criticalsocialwork/structural-social-work-a-moral-compass-for-ethics-in-practice

Wiebe. M. (2010) Pushing the boundaries of the practicum: Rethinking sites and supervision toward radical practice. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 21, 66-82