Abstract
This issue of International Social Work contains nine articles focusing on the second pillar of the Global Agenda: ‘Promoting the Dignity and Worth of the People’. This theme provided a great platform for discussions during the enormously successful World Social Work Day (WSWD) and will also be the intellectual epicenter of the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development in Korea. Both occasions offer a unique opportunity for reflection. The social work profession should feel proud about its multi-level and formidable contribution to the promotion of people’s dignity across the world. Articles published in our journal are a testament to the rigorous, creative, and resourceful work educators and practitioners do while defending human rights and promoting social justice. Clearly, both the WSWD and the Joint World Conference are suitable spaces for us to celebrate this contribution and confidently think about the future of social work education and practice. However, when discussing the issue of Dignity and Worth of the People, we should always remember the enormous discrepancy between the rhetoric of states/international organizations, and the grim realities facing the majority of the world’s population. The year 2016 has so far been one of stark contradictions. The migrant crisis, a rapid increase in armed conflicts, natural and human-made disasters, the rise of Islamophobia, and the securitization of societies are only a few examples of the current challenges facing humanity. These challenges, however, do not affect all of us in similar ways and intensity. As social workers know all too well, it is the most vulnerable and poorest communities who experience the most brutal and devastating consequences of global problems. Here lies the main paradox social workers’ witness in their practice: although modern societies in the 21st century have been able to create enormous wealth and technological innovations that could eliminate poverty, never before have inequalities been so stark and violent. As an Oxfam (2016) Report states, ‘The richest 1 percent now have more wealth than the rest of the world combined’ (p. 1). This why we believe that, while celebrating the rich contributions of our profession to the promotion of people’s dignity, we should be mindful of the structural and political reasons behind the unjustified and colossal contradictions that hinder the prospect of sustainable and socially just global development.
The issue begins with a paper from Lambert Engelbrecht, Gary Spolander, Linda Martin, Marianne Strydom, Francis Adaikalam, Päivi Marjanen, Irina Pervova, Alessandro Sicora and Petri Tani, who seek to reflect on knowledge and experiences gained from an International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES). The authors explore the challenges and opportunities inherent in the development and management of a large-scale international research project in social work. Through a synthesis of conceptual frameworks, a process model for international research collaboration is constructed based chiefly on the stages of group development, a conceptual framework for cross-national research, an interdisciplinary teamwork process, and collaborative knowledge building. Collaborative research values and respects the contributions of all.
Jacob Mugumbate, in his very timely article, reflects on WSWD celebrations in Zimbabwe. The author argues that WSWD should be used as an opportunity to promote social justice at a global and regional level. The article discusses how Zimbabwe celebrated its first WSWD in 2012 at Bindura, a small rural university near Harare, to raise social work’s profile in Zimbabwe. Celebrations provide occasions for valuing different contributions.
In the next article, Angeline Barretta-Herman, Patrick Leung, Brian Littlechild, Henry Parada and Gidraph G Wairire discuss the changing status and growth of social work education worldwide. The authors reflect on findings from the International Association of Schools of Social Work’s (IASSW) 2010 census of institutions offering at least one degree program in social work. The census gathered data on program structure, personnel, student enrollment, and curriculum from 473 respondents in the five IASSW regions. Half of the respondents reported requiring course content in social work history, values, or ethics, and 20 percent of required courses are taught by non-social work educators. The expansion of social work programs is indicative of social work’s untapped potential for delivering social justice content on the international stage. Social justice is key to affirming the rights and dignity of all.
Chak Kwan Chan and Kinglun Ngok examine the problems caused by workfare in China. The authors argue that China’s public assistance scheme is managed mainly by volunteers and government officials who do not necessarily possess relevant qualifications. As a result, welfare claimants’ benefits can be ceased without going through a rigorous procedure; they can hardly challenge the decisions of the authority because central and local senior officials interfere with China’s judicial system. The article concludes that workfare, a Western product, is likely to increase power abuses among welfare bureaucrats and threatens the rights of claimants, when used out of context. Such action has the potential of undermining the dignity and worth of those on benefits.
In the following article, M. Rezaul Islam and Ndungi wa Mungai assess a very contentious and politically charged issue: forced eviction in Bangladesh. The authors argue that forced evictions should be considered as a human rights violation. The main research question used in this article focused on how forced eviction from homes is related to poverty and violation of human rights. The article concludes that forced eviction arises from poverty but is also a cause of poverty and human rights violations. Evictions also become sites in which the value, worth, and dignity of people are trampled underfoot.
Teresa Victoria Crowe, Bhupendra Gimire and Stephanie Trollo in their article report the findings of the mental health needs and community support systems for deaf and hard of hearing (HOH) adults in Nepal. Overall, 99 deaf Nepali adults completed a household-by-household, researcher-administered survey. The results indicated that 38 percent of the sample met the threshold score for the presence of mental health problems; 24 percent met the threshold for the presence of negative environmental influences. Respondents indicated that basic needs, assistive devices, such as hearing aids, job, and educational opportunities, and supportive community programs are lacking. Several indicators also suggest that they are somewhat isolated from the surrounding community. Implications for social work and future research are noted. Isolation is also a human rights violation and undermines people’s sense of self and worth.
In the next article, Mary L Held and Yolanda C Padilla provide a profile of the financial responsibilities of Mexican and Central American immigrants to their families back home. The authors outline the patterns of US immigrant remittances to Latin America, describe the toll on both immigrants and their families, and review research evidence on the provision and impact of immigrant support. The article concludes that immigrant remittances are the sole source of household income for large proportions of families back home and are typically used to meet basic needs. The multiple responsibilities faced by immigrants, however, come with substantial hardship. The fact that in a rich country like the United States people suffer the indignity of not being able to earn sufficient income is also an assault on their dignity and worth.
Gregory Neocleous and Menelaos Apostolou in their article also discuss the issue of happiness and well-being among elderly Cypriots living in their own home environments and in nursing homes. The authors found that the elderly living in their own home are significantly happier than the elderly living in nursing homes. On the basis of these findings, Neocleous and Apostolou suggest that the role of social workers could be valuable in assuring the happiness of older Cypriots. Within the frame of their current results, they also highlight a lack of alternative housing options in Cyprus that would combine home environment with adequate health and social care for older people. Housing is a basic human right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and yet, this is violated daily across the globe, again undermining people’s sense of security and worth.
In the final article of this issue, Javiera Navarro, Ricardo Pulido, Christian Berger, Mauricio Arteaga, Howard J Osofsky, Monica Martinez, Joy D Osofsky and Tonya Cross Hansel explore children’s disaster experiences and psychological symptoms. Their article compares findings between the recent Chilean earthquake and Hurricane Katrina in the United States. The purpose of this exploratory study was to compare the disaster experiences and psychological symptoms of children, aged 8–17 years, following the Chilean earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Over one-third of all students (N = 827) met the symptom cutoff for mental health referral. The authors conclude that the Chilean earthquake and tsunami sample reported more direct disaster-related losses, and the Hurricane Katrina sample reported more recovery-related issues. The findings suggest that even with differences in culture and the type of disaster experienced, children’s responses to disasters are similar across cultures and that mental health services are needed to support recovery. Children’s rights are violated when their needs are not met, and they are accorded less dignity as autonomous individuals with rights that are their own as declared in the Convention on the Rights of the Child which recognized children’s dignity and worth as people.
A key lesson from this issue is that ‘Promoting the Dignity and Worth of the People’ not only requires that social workers possess rigorous analytical and methodological tools but also that the profession fully understands and challenges the political nature of the concept of ‘human dignity’.