foundations of social work

This article sets out reflections regarding the researcher’s role within the context of a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project experience conducted by researchers from the Department of Social Work and Sociology at the University of Deusto on San Sebastian/Donostia campus. This methodology, capable of generating relational dynamics and reciprocity practices, makes it possible to link research in social work to professional practice, overcoming the potential dichotomy existing between both dimensions.

The following article sets out a host of reflections on the problematic situations that constitute the foundation of the processes for intervention by social work professionals. In this respect, the characteristics acquired by the category “situation” become particularly relevant when it comes to approaching the objective and subjective aspects of social processes and their underlying structural factors and contemporary expressions. Lastly, discussions delve deeply into everyday thought and the implications of the objectivity/subjectivity tension in professional intervention processes.

This article contributes to the reflection on state policies from their twofold perspective as a facilitator of citizens’ rights and, at the same time, a breeding ground for social inequalities, taking the National Pension Inclusion Plan for the Elderly (2005), implemented in Argentina, as a point of reference and an empirical tension for the purposes of considering these state actions.

In this article we explore the theoretical connection between studies on care and the proposals offered by the social disability model. The aim is to highlight the scientific knowledge generated by the group of people with functional diversity to incorporate it into the various approaches to care. Our ultimate goal is to forge a model of care that meets the demands of the movement for independent life in terms of functional diversity.

Families in situations of chronicity and dependency on social services constitute just one of the profiles professionals forming basic social care services deal with. The risk of dependence on the part of these families often stems from two aspects: firstly, the gradual delegation of basic functions onto institutional and professional structures; and, secondly, lack of knowledge or difficulties for professionals when it comes to determining the most suitable models and methods for intervention.

This article strives to contribute to the informative work of the project for the recovery and conservation of the historical archive of the University of Barcelona School of Social Work. The archive conserves documentation dating from before the school was officially set up, i.e., 1953.

A professional perspective of social work concerning what is happening in courts helps judges and prosecutors to understand the complexity of this reality. However, jurists ask for socio-family reports to incorporate a diagnosis of that reality. This diagnosis shall set out the variables that go hand-in-hand with the situations and could suggest solutions to the crisis.

The aim of this short paper is to outline the context, meaning and identity of the Fabian movement through Sydney and Beatrice Webb, its original nature compared to the remaining left-wing movements and its link with the social reform and charity movements, an issue that is of primary significance to social work.

The purpose of this article is to link the reasons for the poor theoretical and methodological foundations of social work to the thesis of (de)professionalisation. This paper offers an analysis of the discontentment felt by social workers in their professional activity, which affects their identity and their social recognition. The first part of the article sets out a conceptual framework on the system of professions, the thesis of de-professionalisation and the risks affecting social work in Spain.

Variability in decision-making with regard to child protection is gaining traction in social work. This article presents the findings of a quantitative study carried out with child protection professionals in the Basque Country. The goal is to analyse variability in decision-making for child protection based on the personal characteristics of the professionals involved in such cases.