International Social Work

The significance, objectives and process of implementing the project in Asia-Pacific countries are discussed. The evaluation looks at successful and unsuccessful aspects, lessons learned and the expected impact of the target groups for the project. It examines strategies to implement follow-up plans, draws implications for developing professional networks and offers insights for replicating similar exercises elsewhere.

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is a fast-growing model of providing services to people with disabilities. This article introduces the underlying philosophy and structure of the CBR model; the strengths and weaknesses of the model; and its implications for social workers in the field of disability services throughout the world.

This article examines the successes and shortcomings of international intervention in child welfare in Romania, highlighting the importance of an empowerment approach. Implementing such an approach brings its own challenges, and the authors debate the possibilities and potential pitfalls. They identify key principles and essential personal qualities for putting empowerment into practice in situations of economic, political and social difficulty.

This study explored the relationship among family, peer and school factors on delinquency among Chinese adolescents. Interviews were conducted with 718 Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. At-risk adolescents had more family problems, negative peer relations and a poorer school environment. Negative peer influence was the most salient predictor of delinquency.

This article is based on two studies conducted in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It argues that many managerial women in these two Chinese cities rely mainly on an individual approach to reduce their social exclusion and simultaneously use implicit actions to challenge structural inadequacies in the family and the work place.

A comparison of social work practice in rural areas of the United States and Australia reflects similar characteristics. Findings add support to the assertion that there are particular qualities to practice in the rural context that are embedded in the subtleties of shaping social work roles to fit into rural culture.

The European trend away from welfare statism and towards consumerism is usually regarded as a shift from social development to social delimitation. However, consumerism has the potential to promote procedural rights, to be responsive to individual needs and to treat service users as rational agents.

The research studies the relationship between theory and practice in the context of an agency. Eight social workers from an agency were recruited for in-depth interviews. Results showed that the conception of theory and practice was influenced by the self, the client and the agency.