The Experts below are selected from a list of 315 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Idit Weiss-gal - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Social Workers and the Policy Process: When Does Opportunity Knock?
Journal of Policy Practice and Research, 2020Co-Authors: John Gal, Idit Weiss-galAbstract:Social Workers’ policy engagement has been the subject of growing interest in the Social work discourse in recent years. In order to contribute to theoretical and empirical knowledge for Social Workers and Social work organizations seeking to undertake their policy role, this article will seek to better understand one of the types of factors that determines this engagement, particularly on the macro level. The focus of much of the discussion on the factors associated with Social Workers’ policy engagement has been on Social Workers’ motivation to engage in policy practice and the degree to which their workplaces facilitate this type of activity. However, the discourse tends to ignore the impact of the policy environment on this. Drawing on the concept of “opportunity structures” and insights from the neo-institutionalist literature, this article suggests that Social Workers’ access to the policy-making process is crucial if we seek to better understand their policy practice. On the basis of examples from different countries and historical periods, and a more in-depth examination of Israeli case studies, we underscore the ways in which opportunity structures deriving from institutional or temporal factors lead to divergences in the form and level that policy engagement by Social Workers takes in different contexts.
-
Social Workers’ policy engagement: A review of the literature
International Journal of Social Welfare, 2016Co-Authors: Idit Weiss-galAbstract:The notion that Social Workers should engage in the policy process to further Social justice is embedded in the professional discourse. However, little is known about Social Workers’ actual engagement in policy processes. This article presents a scoping review of the research literature published in English in order to understand the nature of current research and ascertain what is known about three modes of Social Workers’ policy involvement: voluntary political participation, holding elected office, policy practice. The review identified 51 studies published between 1964 and 2015. The studies focus mainly on Social Workers’ levels of involvement, their activities and the factors associated with the level of engagement. The review describes the main findings emerging from the research and underscores some methodological limitations in the existing studies and the continuing gaps in our knowledge on the policy engagement of Social Workers. Implications for future research, practice and education are presented. Key Practitioner Message: • Social Workers’ engagement in policy processes in order to further Social justice and the well-being of service users is a core mission in the Social work profession. However, it is much less clear whether and how Social Workers, both as citizens and professionals, have heeded this call; • The article offers a scoping review of the research on three modes of Social Workers’ policy involvement: voluntary political participation, holding elected office, policy practice; • The review identifies 51 studies that shed light on the levels of engagement, the wide range of policy activities undertaken by Social Workers and the individual, organisational and macro factors associated with the level of engagement.
-
‘Money makes the world go around’: Social Workers in parliamentary finance committees in Israel:
Journal of Social Work, 2015Co-Authors: Idit Weiss-gal, Hani NoumanAbstract:SummaryThe study examined Social Workers’ participation in two powerful parliamentary committees in Israel: the Finance Committee (FC) and the Economics Affairs Committee (EAC). It sought to better understand the characteristics of Social Workers who participated in these committees, their inputs, and to uncover differences between these findings and those on Social Workers in other parliamentary committees. Qualitative and quantitative content analyses were conducted on the minutes of the committees’ sessions between 1999–2013.FindingsAt least one Social worker spoke in 50 of the FC sessions and in 26 of the EAC sessions. These sessions dealt with a wide range of subjects, including national and local Social services budgets, Social problems, and vulnerable populations. The Social Workers expressed opinions on deficiencies in Social policies and made recommendations for dealing with Social problems. Their opinions conveyed support for Social provision in a period in which the neo-liberal discourse was in...
-
Social Workers and volunteers in Israel
Journal of Social Work, 2014Co-Authors: Idit Weiss-gal, Aviva CaduriAbstract:SummaryThis study examines factors associated with Israeli Social Workers’ investment of effort in, and inclusion of, volunteers in their work. The variables are drawn from three theories: status characteristic theory, psychological contract theory, and organizational culture theory, and from claims regarding training in working with volunteers. The sample consisted of 118 randomly selected direct Social Workers in 26 municipal Social service departments in Israel. The instruments were designed specifically for the study.FindingsSocial Workers’ effort investment and inclusion increased when they: (a) viewed volunteers as contributing to Social Workers and the organization; (b) expected themselves to invest effort in their volunteers; (c) believed their volunteer met their expectations with regard to service users and Social Workers; (d) trusted their volunteer; (e) perceived their managerial culture, peer culture, and artifacts as encouraging effort investment and inclusion; and (f) received training in w...
-
Social Workers as Policy Actors
Journal of Social Policy, 2013Co-Authors: Idit Weiss-gal, John GalAbstract:AbstractThis article offers an empirical analysis of the role of Social Workers as policy actors in parliamentary committees. Based on an initial finding that Social Workers participated in 14 per cent of all the deliberations of parliamentary committees in the Israeli parliament, the article examines the actual inputs of these Social Workers in the committee discussions. In order to examine the inputs of Social Workers in these committees and to identify the links between organisational affiliation and committee type and the inputs, the study provides a close analysis of the recorded minutes of three parliamentary committees. It reveals that Social Workers tended to facilitate and enrich the Social policy formulation process. However Social Workers, particularly those employed by not-for-profit organisations, also challenged policy makers and placed matters on the agendas of committees. The findings of the study show that Social Workers are policy actors who offer diverse inputs into a complex policy formulation process.
John Gal - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Social Workers and the Policy Process: When Does Opportunity Knock?
Journal of Policy Practice and Research, 2020Co-Authors: John Gal, Idit Weiss-galAbstract:Social Workers’ policy engagement has been the subject of growing interest in the Social work discourse in recent years. In order to contribute to theoretical and empirical knowledge for Social Workers and Social work organizations seeking to undertake their policy role, this article will seek to better understand one of the types of factors that determines this engagement, particularly on the macro level. The focus of much of the discussion on the factors associated with Social Workers’ policy engagement has been on Social Workers’ motivation to engage in policy practice and the degree to which their workplaces facilitate this type of activity. However, the discourse tends to ignore the impact of the policy environment on this. Drawing on the concept of “opportunity structures” and insights from the neo-institutionalist literature, this article suggests that Social Workers’ access to the policy-making process is crucial if we seek to better understand their policy practice. On the basis of examples from different countries and historical periods, and a more in-depth examination of Israeli case studies, we underscore the ways in which opportunity structures deriving from institutional or temporal factors lead to divergences in the form and level that policy engagement by Social Workers takes in different contexts.
-
Social Workers as Policy Actors
Journal of Social Policy, 2013Co-Authors: Idit Weiss-gal, John GalAbstract:This article offers an empirical analysis of the role of Social Workers as policy actors in parliamentary committees. Based on an initial finding that Social Workers participated in 14 per cent of all the deliberations of parliamentary committees in the Israeli parliament, the article examines the actual inputs of these Social Workers in the committee discussions. In order to examine the inputs of Social Workers in these committees and to identify the links between organisational affiliation and committee type and the inputs, the study provides a close analysis of the recorded minutes of three parliamentary committees. It reveals that Social Workers tended to facilitate and enrich the Social policy formulation process. However Social Workers, particularly those employed by not-for-profit organisations, also challenged policy makers and placed matters on the agendas of committees. The findings of the study show that Social Workers are policy actors who offer diverse inputs into a complex policy formulation process. In liberal democracies, Social policy formulation is a long, messy and often convoluted process that takes place in a number of arenas and in which diverse policy actors participate (Kingdon, 2003; Birkland, 2005 ;C ochranet al., 2009). In the case of Social policy at the national level, legislative bodies will tend to be a crucial arena along the route to the formulation (or re-formulation) of policies. The focus of this article will be upon a crucial policy juncture within this arena, that of parliamentary committees (Hazan, 2001a). It will offer an empirical analysis of one type of policy actor engaged in the policy process at this juncture - Social Workers. While members of different professional groups are involved in the Social policy process, the involvement of Social Workers is of particular interest. Social Workers are members of a profession most associated with the welfare state and its Social policies. In recent years, there has been growing emphasis on a better understanding of what has been termed the 'policy practice' of Social Workers. This term refers to activities undertaken by Social Workers, as an integral part of their professional activity in diverse fields and types of practice, that focus
-
Social Workers as Policy Actors
Journal of Social Policy, 2013Co-Authors: Idit Weiss-gal, John GalAbstract:AbstractThis article offers an empirical analysis of the role of Social Workers as policy actors in parliamentary committees. Based on an initial finding that Social Workers participated in 14 per cent of all the deliberations of parliamentary committees in the Israeli parliament, the article examines the actual inputs of these Social Workers in the committee discussions. In order to examine the inputs of Social Workers in these committees and to identify the links between organisational affiliation and committee type and the inputs, the study provides a close analysis of the recorded minutes of three parliamentary committees. It reveals that Social Workers tended to facilitate and enrich the Social policy formulation process. However Social Workers, particularly those employed by not-for-profit organisations, also challenged policy makers and placed matters on the agendas of committees. The findings of the study show that Social Workers are policy actors who offer diverse inputs into a complex policy formulation process.
-
Policy Practice in Action: Social Workers and Parliamentary Committees
2006Co-Authors: Idit Weiss-gal, John Gal, Shirley AvramiAbstract:Policy practice has enjoyed growing interest in Social work discourse in recent years. However, only limited numbers of studies have actually examined the involvement of Social Workers in Social policy formulation processes. The current study seeks to enhance our understanding of the involvement of Social Workers in policy practice. It does so by examining Social Workers' involvement in one of the main arenas in which Social policy processes occur – Knesset committees. More specifically, the study aim is to answer these specific questions: What is the level of participation of Social Workers in the deliberations of parliamentary committees? In the meetings of which parliamentary committees did Social Workers tend to participate? In which types of discussions did the Social Workers participate? What were the topics of these meetings? What were the socio-demographic characteristics and the affiliation of the Social Workers who participated in parliamentary committee meetings? How frequent was the participation of Social Workers in parliamentary committee meetings? The study concentrates on the 15 th and 16 th Knessets, between the years 1999-2006, and consists of a quantitative content analysis of all the minutes of parliamentary committees in which at least one Social worker appeared on the list of participants. The findings showed that 667 Social Workers participated in 1,013 parliamentary meetings of around 20 different committees. In some of them the proportion of participation was of one third or more. These findings suggest that Social Workers take an active role in the meetings parliamentary committees in Israel.
Laura Varžinskienė - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
The expression of Social Workers professional values in practice
Social Work, 2007Co-Authors: Violeta Ivanauskienė, Laura VaržinskienėAbstract:Values are one of the main parts of competence in Social work. This area is very important as Social Workers work with the most vulnerable members of the society and the quality of Social Workers practice, his/her honesty, personal and professional values may be crucial for his/her client’s further life and the quality of his/her life. The purpose of this article is to define the expression of Social Workers’ values in the Social work practice. The main values in Social work are those that have something in common with the dignity and worth of a person. Social Workers work with people having multiple problems and often face the most vulnerable sides of their clients. So the importance of humanitarian values becomes evident: inebriate, poverty-stricken, dirty, irrationally thinking, not communicating person is still a human being and that makes him valuable. Professional values of Social work acknowledge both strong and weak sides of a person. Social worker must pay attention both to the values of the society, client and his/her personal values. He/she cannot perform his/her job well if he/she ignores personal values and principles. The act of ignoring may influence emotional and psychological feeling of Social worker and that may affect Social worker’s duties. Taking into consideration his/her personal values, professional cannot forget about value differences and has to accept people with different personal values. In 2006 a quantitative descriptive research was performed at Vytautaas Magnus University that analyzed Social work values in the context of Social Workers’ competence. Social Workers-practitioners, working in Social service agencies in Kaunas region participated in the qualification courses at VMU. 57 of 70 Social Workers, who participated in the courses filled in the questionnaires. The research faced several limitations. It was performed after the qualification courses, during which they obtained fresh knowledge about Social work. That might have caused a systematic mistake, when the respondents might have pointed out not what they really do in practice, but how it should be like or how respondents think it should be. The research revealed several aspects of Social Workers’ professional values: 1. Values in Social work direct and guide Social Workers/ everyday practice so they should be properly internalized and applied in practice. 2. Social work practice of Social Workers-practitioners who do not have Socials work education is based on values (professional and personal). 3. The respondents acknowledge Social work values as important and urgent for Social work practice and for the helping process for the clients.
Mahmoud M. Mounier - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Group work training program to develop Social Workers' knowledge of creative methods in maintaining elderly people's life quality
Egyptian Journal of Social Work, 2018Co-Authors: Mahmoud M. MounierAbstract:The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the group work training program to develop Social Workers' knowledge of creative methods in maintaining elderly people's life quality. Eighteen Social Workers were assigned as one group pre- posttest design, (intentional sample from Social Workers at the association) working at the Social care association in Karmouz, Alexandria which has twenty four residents. The 18 Social Workers were asked to complete three forms of measurement (pre, post and following). Firstly, a measurement was used to assess the Social Workers’ knowledge of the creative methods to maintain elderly people's life quality. Secondly, the observation form assessed the changes inresidents at the elderly care home during the experiment. The Social Workers in the experimental group were introduced to the group work training program to develop their knowledge of creative methods in maintaining elderly people’s life quality. The intervention lasted for 15 weeks. The results emphasise the success of the group work training program to develop Social Workers' knowledge of creative methods in maintaining elderly people's life quality
Paula Salo - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Job-strain and well-being among Finnish Social Workers: exploring the differences in occupational well-being between child protection Social Workers and Social Workers without duties in child protection
European Journal of Social Work, 2017Co-Authors: Andreas Baldschun, Juha Hämäläinen, Pertti Töttö, Otso Rantonen, Paula SaloAbstract:ABSTRACTWork-related mental distress and its impact on employees’ working life is a mounting issue among Finnish Social Workers. This article focuses on identifying the factors associated with child welfare Social Workers’ occupational well-being. The occupational well-being of Finnish child welfare Social Workers (N = 364) and Social Workers whose duties do not include child protection work (N = 524) was explored and compared with each other using t-test statistics and logistic regression analysis. The data, collected in 2014/2015, were obtained from an ongoing longitudinal cohort study on work-related well-being among Finnish public sector employees. A multi-dimensional and holistic approach to occupational well-being was used as the outline for the analysis and comparison of the two groups. Child protection Social Workers reported higher levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress than Social Workers without child protection duties. Despite these burdens, both groups showed a similar level of gene...
