Download Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global

Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Social Work Around the World V:
Building the Global Agenda for
Social Work and Social Development
Nigel Hall (ed.)
1
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
2
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS
© International Federation of Social Workers, 2012
Published by IFSW
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the
purpose of criticism or review, or use of individual chapters for academic
purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
permission from the publishers.
ISBN-13 978-3-9522396-0-5
Designed and produced by: Nexus Total Print Solutions Limited
3
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapters
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Editorial
Chapter 1 .....................................................................................Page 15
Ebony and Ivory - Sharing Colour and Cultures... as Trusted Friends
and as National Assessors for the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of
Social Workers
Emma Webber-Dreadon and Merrill Simmons Hansen
Chapter 2......................................................................................Page 27
Global Agenda on Social Work and Social Development: Voices from
South Asian Social Work
Bala Raju Nikku
Chapter 3......................................................................................Page 41
Workplace Stress in the Aftermath of a Natural Disaster (New Zealand)
Kate van Heugten
Chapter 4......................................................................................Page 53
Crossing Borders: Migrant Social Workers as Global Professionals (New
Zealand)
Christa Fouché & Liz Beddoe
Chapter 5......................................................................................Page 65
The illusion of Universalism: Persistent Inequality in Uganda’s Education
Sector Amidst a Universal Primary Education Policy
Janestic M. Twikirize
Chapter 6......................................................................................Page 75
The Impact of Community Soccer on Community Development in
Nigeria
Sunday Ofili Ibobor
Chapter 7......................................................................................Page 89
Reading the Past, Understanding the Present and Predicting the Future:
the Cypriot Social Work Case
Stefanos Spaneas
Chapter 8....................................................................................Page 103
Developing Child Protection Groups in Remote Island Communities of
the Maldives
Ahmed Hussain, Mohamed Agleem, Mariya Ali and Michael O’Dempsey
4
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 9....................................................................................Page 115
Human Rights and Social Work in Post-Communist Lithuania
Dalija Snieškienė
Chapter 10..................................................................................Page 125
Violence Against the Elderly. Challenges for Social Workers (Portugal)
Maria Irene Lopes Bogalho de Carvalho
Chapter 11..................................................................................Page 135
Participatory Research with the Women of Thabong, Mazenod, Lesotho
Karen Dullea
Chapter 12..................................................................................Page 153
An Overview of the Public Policy to Combat Violence Against Children
and Adolescents in São Paulo, Brazil
Josiane Moraes
Chapter 13..................................................................................Page 165
Immigration and Labor: An Expression of the Social Question in Flexible
Capitalism (Brazil/Portugal) (in Portuguese)
Maria Augusta Tavares
Chapter 14..................................................................................Page 175
Alliance for the Defence of the Social Services: Spanish Network in
Defence of Social Rights and a Public System of Social Services (in
Spanish)
Ana Isabel Lima Fernández
Chapter 15..................................................................................Page 187
Building Social Equity (in Spanish) (Argentina)
Laura Acotto & Viviana Guardia
Chapter 16..................................................................................Page 203
Democracy and Social Inequality in Latin America (in Spanish)
(Argentina)
Silvana Martínez & Juan Agüero
Chapter 17..................................................................................Page 213
Sustainable Geographical Development in Uruquay (in Spanish)
Claudia Kuzma
Author Profiles...........................................................................Page 225
5
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Acknowledgements
The Editor wishes to thank the contributors to this book for their insights,
research and experiences which will contribute to our understanding of the
Global Agenda. We also wish to thank the following social work practitioners
and academics for having agreed to review chapters submitted for this book:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Geeta Balakrishnan, Principal, College of Social Work, Nirmala
Niketan, Mumbai, India
Shahana Rasool Bassadien, Lecturer, Department of Social Work
University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Jean Burke, Lecturer & Assistant Head of School, School of Social
Work, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Australian Catholic University
Maria de Carvalho, University teacher and researcher, Portugal
Dr. Lambert Engelbrecht, Department of Social Work, Stellenbosch
University, Matieland, South Africa
Dr. Johnnie Hamilton-Mason, Professor, Simmons College School of
Social Work, Boston, USA
Dr. Kate van Heugten, Associate Professor, Department of Human
Services and Social Work, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Dr. Saraswati Raju Iyer, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Sociology &
Social Work, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur. India
Janine Joyce, ANZASW Governance Board member, New Zealand
Makalo Marite, Lesotho Social Workers Association, Lesotho
Zohreen Murad, Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, Certified
Hypnobirthing Educator, Pakistan
Nikku Bala Raju, Head, Department of Social Work, Kadambari
Memorial College, Purbanchal University , Kathmandu, Nepal
Sâmya Rodrigues Ramos, President of CFESS, Brazil
Dr. Tien Ung, Assistant Professor, Simmons College School of Social
Work, Boston, USA
Acknowledgement and thanks also to Dr. Rory Truell, IFSW SecretaryGeneral and René Schegg, IFSW Communications and Policy Officer, for
their assistance in bringing this book to publication.
6
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Foreword
- Gary Bailey, MSW, ACSW
President IFSW
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The social work profession which has existed for over a century and has
enriched many lives requires skills which are broad and applicable in a variety
of settings and which make the profession unique and vitally important.
Globally social workers’ training, experience, and professional ethics prepare
them to provide a diverse range of services within communities and across
the life span.
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social
Work and Social Development coincides with the development of the Global
Agenda for Social Work and Social Development (the Global Agenda) and
the Stockholm Conference 2012. The intent of the Global Agenda is to
recognize the shared mission and values of the social work profession and
that of social development. These core values, which have been embraced
by social workers, social work educators and policy practitioners and those
individuals who develop social policy are integral to the foundation of social
work’s unique purpose and perspective. It is our belief that the development
of a Global Agenda will provide us with opportunities to reflect upon our past
experiences and successes, and to articulate a new and crucial vision for
engagement which we can use to mobilize our members and partners, both
now and into the future.
7
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
During the 2010 Hong Kong Global Conference the three global social
work organizations (IASSW, ICSW and IFSW) collectively agreed that the
fields of social work, social work education and social development, were
often marginalized in our own countries and in many relevant international
organizations. There also continues to be an incentive for qualified and
skilled people to go into and continue in the fields of social work, social work
education and social policy development, while at the same time, there are
challenges of funding, which are largely due to the current global financial
situation and the worldwide response which has endorsed greater austerity
on the part of those most vulnerable and little to no responsibility on part of
those responsible for this worldwide economic collapse.
The decision to organize a common “Congress” with our sister organizations
was a ‘political’ decision to bring together social work practitioners, social work
educators and social development practitioners who wanted to work together
to articulate a set of common goals. The challenges which we collectively
face are many and call for a united voice and more solidarity. Current global
situations are calling for more social work unity and engagement. Beyond the
shared understanding of the necessity to be organized and of being relevant
in the international arena, we have to develop more clear and effective ways
of promoting strategies and actions which will influence the setting of an
international agenda. There are five overarching themes I would like to draw
our attention to, and they are:
1. The social work profession is necessary for creating healthy families
and communities.
2. Globally social workers are trained professionals with unique education
and experience.
3. Social workers provide a wide range of services across the human life
span and in a wide variety of settings.
4. The profession is facing serious threats, which affect its ability to fulfil
its societal purpose.
5. Governments have a responsibility to support the social work
profession.
The Hong Kong Global Agenda was envisioned as the beginning of a
larger movement that we would lead as international organizations. Since
the Hong Kong conference in June 2010, numerous initiatives have taken
place across the globe. These initiatives are part of the first consultation
process following the development of the draft document in Hong Kong.
The initiatives encouraged the leadership of the three organizations to
reaffirm their commitment to the process by dedicating more resources
to the development of the Global Agenda. All over the world, social work
practitioners, educators and policy and development workers organized
conferences, discussion groups/forums;
8
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
And The three organizations, worked collaboratively in a process that would
enhance the work which began during the Hong Kong Conference, and later
corresponding strategies were identified and agreed to by the three partner
organizations (IFSW, IASSW and ICSW) in their Global Agenda statement as
detailed below.
The Global Agenda statement
The consultation process identified four main themes which were developed
and elaborated upon over the course of the next year culminating in the
Global Agenda. It was also intended that the Global Agenda would provide
continuity for the program for the Stockholm global conference which again
is being hosted by the three organizations in Stockholm in July 2012. These
themes are:
1. Social and economic inequalities within countries and between
regions
The recent and continuing economic crises and the modalities chosen by
world leaders to deal with them (e.g. using resources to support the financial
systems while cutting resources for social support and social development)
have led to:
•
•
•
•
Growing inequalities and their implications
The worsening marginalization of populations and of the working poor
Increased vulnerability of poor people in countries which do not have
an adequate social protection floor
Community disintegration.
2. Dignity and worth of the person
•
•
•
•
•
•
Human rights issues in relation to social, economic, cultural and
political situations
Respect for diversity and different belief systems, especially
indigenous and first people’s voices
Political instabilities, violence, dominations, and the erosion of peace
building processes
Terrorism and modes of response by states and the modalities of
handling global conflicts
Migration, refugees, trafficking, immigrants, immigration and ways of
handling these issues
The role for social work practice, education and social development.
9
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
3. Environmental Sustainability
•
•
•
•
•
Disasters of natural and human origin, management and prevention
Involvement of local communities in developing responses
Implications for sustainable social development
Protecting the physical environment
Proactive engagement with social, human and ecological development.
4. Importance of human relationships
Family and relationship issues and challenges across the lifespan emerge as
a major concern in relation to the transformation of the world. For example
the needs of:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Children and families
People with disabilities
People needing health and mental health services
People who are ageing
People with drugs and substance abuse problems
People suffering from violence within domestic and intimate
relationships.
This book brings together contributions that I believe will advance our
understanding of these themes. Its primary aim is to summarize the current
state of knowledge about the different themes and areas addressed by the
Agenda and to further examine the myriad of possibilities inherent in these
themes. Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights activist, the late Dr.
Martin Luther King Junior said “the time is right to always do what is right”;
authors have been invited to contribute articles for this publication, which
it is hoped will further energize the work of the international social work
community as we continue to develop ways to make the commitments of the
Global Agenda a reality.
In Solidarity Gary Bailey
10
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Editorial
Publication of this book - the fifth in the series Social Work Around the World coincides with an ongoing international strategy to develop a Global Agenda
in social work and social development. Like the previous issues of Social
Work Around the World, the focus of this book is on social work practice or
education in different countries and cultures - and for this publication related
specifically to the Global Agenda process. At the Global Conference in Hong
Kong in 2010, key themes (and corresponding strategies) were identified and
agreed by the three partner organizations - the International Federation of
Social Workers (IFSW), the International Association of Schools of Social
Work (IASSW) and the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) - in
their Global Agenda statement. These comprised four key themes that
broadly focused on: (1) social and economic inequalities within countries
and between regions; (2) dignity and worth of the person; (3) environmental
sustainability; and (4) the importance of human relationships.
This book has as its aim to collate selected scholarly and academic
contributions that will advance our understanding of these themes.
Contributors were invited to work on articles for this publication, with the hope
that it would help the international social work community clarify this strategy
and provide stimulus for building the Global Agenda. An international team
of reviewers scrutinised this material and offered their considered opinions
which led to review and resubmission in the usual academic way.
This Agenda - and the chapters representing this in this book - recognise that
the mission of the social work profession and social development are rooted
in a set of core values. These core values, embraced by social workers, social
work educators and policy practitioners and developers, are the foundation of
social work’s unique purpose and perspective. The development of a Global
Agenda gives us the opportunity to take stock of our past experiences and
to articulate a new and crucial vision for engagement that can mobilize our
members and partners - and beyond.
This collection of chapters features a surprising variety of viewpoints and
perspectives on the Global Agenda. While the majority are published in
English, some chapters are in Spanish and Portuguese, reflecting both the
variety of member associations of IFSW and their particular language and
cultural nuances. In Chapter 1 Simmons-Hansen and Webber-Dreadon
consider the importance of human relationships and how their own differing
ethnic and cultural backgrounds have shaped their perceptions. Working
as national competency assessors for the New Zealand/Aoteoroa practice
standards they consider the relevance of values, culture, ethnicity and use
of self in social work identity. In Chapter 2 Bala Raju Nikku considers the
development of professional social work and social development in South
11
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Asia and how the voices of the “South” can be meaningfully included in the
Global Agenda discussion. He concludes that social work and development
professionals do have potential to assume leadership roles and responsibilities
in social development and should be able to contribute positively to the task
of tackling poverty, injustices and inequities in their respective countries.
In Chapter 3 Kate van Heugten considers the workplace stressors that
occurred in the city of Christchurch following the two major earthquakes that
occurred there recently. Social workers are well placed and have the right
‘holistic’ perspective needed to engage in post-trauma work following a natural
disaster even of this magnitude, but this piece of research demonstrates
areas for improvement, further up-skilling and better understanding of the
demanding nature of this kind of work on the helping professionals. Also
writing from New Zealand, Fouché and Beddoe in Chapter 4 continue this
workplace theme with a research study into migrant professionals who have
moved to that country and consider the implications for professional mobility
in an increasingly globalised world. Although migrants may need to develop
familiarity and competence with the local population, they bring their own
strengths and assets to the new situation. Respect for diversity demands
that migrant social workers be provided with opportunities for induction and
an appreciation of the local, regional and professional cultures.
Twikirize in Chapter 5 considers the perpetuation of social and economic
inequalities within countries and regions through a consideration of the
education system in Uganda and the extension of free universal primary
education to all children in the country. While the intentions of such a
policy are laudable, in practice this equality of opportunity does not exist
and particular measures need to be taken by social workers and others to
bring about more accessible provision and tackle poverty, exclusion and
vulnerability. Ibobor in Chapter 6 considers the role of community soccer in
developing community cohesion in a Nigerian community practice context.
Following on from a research study he suggests that community soccer
promotes opportunities for building effective relationships, integration and
democratic problem solving capacity among youth. Activities such as this
have profound implications for building a sense of community and social
solidarity which outweigh the actual activities themselves.
Spaneas in Chapter 7 considers the concept of indigenization of social work
and relates this to the country-specific situation of Cyprus. He notes the
difficulties encountered in developing localised social work with models of
social work developed in and imported from Western countries. However
models of practice supporting explicit and tacit knowledge are essential if
due respect, dignity and critical understanding is to be given to local people
and the strengthening of Cypriot social work theory and practice is vital.
Chapter 8 by Hussain, Agleem, Ali and O’Dempsey continues the similar
12
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
theme of the importance of human relationships in a localised context in their
study of Maldivian Child Protection Groups, where the local social, political,
economic and religious aspects of the Maldives culture is respected by social
workers guided by a consultant in a culturally appropriate manner. This is a
very significant development from the viewpoint of the Global Agenda.
Snieškienė in Chapter 9 considers how the situation in Lithuania has changed
since the days of Soviet rule and how the struggle to entrench human rights
is an ongoing reality. Much is still the same and to some extent there is a
continuation of oppressive culture in the post-communist society and a lack
of space for the values of human rights and social justice. Snieškienė explains
some of the difficulties and potential of teaching a course on human rights
in this situation and suggests positive ways forward. Lack of human rights
in relation to the elderly from the perspective of Portugal is a topic covered
by Carvalho in Chapter 10. She considers the complexity of elder violence
in the country and undertakes a small scale qualitative study that examines
the phenomenon. She suggests that social workers need to develop training
to identify risk indicators, with prevention measures and other supportive
initiatives promoted.
Dullea in Chapter 11 undertakes some very interesting participatory
research with market women in Lesotho. She reflects on her own experience
in working with these women which provides an interesting insight into
how the expectations of outsiders may not match those of the participants
themselves who may have completely different objectives. Dealing with local
people on their own terms and helping build on their own self-chosen goals
is a highly recommended strategy in any development initiative. In Chapter
12 Moraes examines public policy initiatives in São Paulo, Brazil, to tackle
sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. Through a series of focus
groups she collates opinions regarding how seriously the authorities are
dealing with this issue, and generally finds much improvement required.
Tavares in Chapter 13 examines the situation faced by immigrants in their
country of destination, where they are easily subject to exploitation. She
calls for more concern from the social work profession for people in this
situation and developing academic research into the plight of immigrants.
Fernández in Chapter 14 considers key ideas for the strengthening of
social services in Spain through an initiative of the General Council of Social
Workers of Spain - the Alliance for the Defence of the Public System of Social
Services, a network of representatives from different institutions and various
organisations - to improve social service response to social need.
Chapter 15 by Acotto considers social inequalities in Latin America and
in particular how policies in the province of Mendoza, Argentina related to
work and education have attempted to reverse this situation. She notes
their contribution towards the MDGs goal of eradication of extreme poverty
13
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
and hunger, and reports on the obstacles and possibilities of extending the
model to the region as a whole. Martínez and Agüero in Chapter 16 reflect
on the democratic experiences of Latin American countries which have been
quite varied and complex - and which have been the subjects of domination
and exploitation. Democracy in a sense is both fictional and a paradox as
in reality urgent structural transformation is required to reverse poverty
and marginalisation. Finally in Chapter 17 Kuzma examines “sustainable
geographical development” as a social policy strategy in Uruguay, which
hopefully should result in collaborative developments based on the protection
and promotion of human rights in the country.
It is my hope that you find these chapters both interesting and stimulating
and that you feel as I do that they contribute substantially to the international
debate on the Global Agenda.
Nigel Hall, Editor &
IFSW Rep. to Sage Publications
June 2012
14
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 1
Ebony and Ivory - Sharing Colour and Cultures...
as Trusted Friends and as National Assessors for the Aotearoa New
Zealand Association of Social Workers
Merrill Simmons-Hansen & Emma Webber-Dreadon
National Competency Assessors of the Aotearoa New Zealand
Association of Social Workers
Emma
Merrill
Global Agenda theme 4:
The importance of human relationships
Many Voices, Many Communities, Social Justice for All
E ngaiwi, e nga reo,
E ngakaranga/tangamaha, o ngahau e wha,
Tenakoutou, tenakoutou, tenakotoukatoa.
15
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
This paper is created out of an enduring relationship between two women
of different cultures, of different backgrounds and of different thinking that
has been developed in discussion over a period of eight years. We have
struggled and explored ways in which we may work within the dignity and
worth of people and to be part of an environment that attends to ‘how
human rights are formed and informed within respectful human relationships’
- relating to the Global Agenda 4 The Importance of Human Relationships
(IFSW; IASSW; ICSW, 2010). Through this article we would like to share our
work as two National Competency Assessors of the Aotearoa New Zealand
Association of Social Workers (ANZASW), one who is a descendant of tribal
parents RongomaiWahine and NgatiKahungunukiWairoa origins and one of
Celtic and Pakeha origins.
Generations of Stories...
This article was formed by two women of indigenous cultures in moments
of a true relationship that allowed both of us a ‘place to stand’ which further
generated conversations and research of indigenous women by indigenous
women. By incorporating generations of stories from each of our tribal
parents, we are able to name and claim our human rights and the rights of
others so as to move beyond the limitations of conventional legal frameworks
for social work and social work practice.
Our work is a process that we believe enables the social work profession here
in Aotearoa New Zealand to illustrate best practice and to generate a broader
understanding of human rights, and culturally appropriate practice that is
centred on compassionate social work and community development that
includes a broader human and social service. The argument extends beyond
the idea of human rights and the realm of theoretical analysis or spiritual
grounding. Rather, it moves into an arena of our everyday conversations,
exploring our professional practice and social action by the use of critical
theory and an eclectic approach to social work. The contexts of current
debates about the reality of globalisation and the need to increase global
relationships and global cultures can provide an explanation that ‘this is such
a small world’ - and this brings us back to incorporate a critical, indigenous,
and internationalist viewpoint of social work practice, because it adds a vital
new perspective to the richness of identity informed by women’s stories,
such as ours.
We begin locating ourselves in our indigenous identity that informs the basis
by which we locate ourselves and engage in our own place and space.
Here we both begin to write individually and collectively that shows in our
reflections similar mirrored patterns that were informed by our cultural selves
and the multiple relationships we have.
16
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Emma:
HuianuiteMaunga
WairoaHopupuHonenganengaMatangiraute Awa
RongomaiWahine me NgatiKahungunukiWairoa, ngaIwi,
NgatiKahu, NgatiApatari, Te Uri o Te-O-TanekiWairoangaHapu,
Takitimu, teWaka
KihituteMarae
TeRauhinateWharenui
Oku MatuaTane - RewiTimanaKamara - Webber
Oku MatuaWhaea, TePaeaAhuriri O’Keefe
Ko Emma Webber-Dreadonahau.
I have begun with a greeting to you, and am also allowing you to know
who I am, where I come from, who I belong to and who belongs to me.
This positions me within my own tribal area – but it does not alleviate my
responsibility to other tribal peoples and other cultures of this land and
beyond, but this greeting is an approach that assists me to reclaim my unique
cultural heartbeat and rhythm of life.
Colonisation, assimilation and urbanisation have created an abyss of colonial
dominance of the tribal peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, where we are
recognised as the indigenous peoples of this land. Proportioned to this is
life itself and the need to live together, not as one people, but as partners
acknowledging differences and respecting the Treaty of Waitangi, which was
signed by the Colonials and Maori, over one hundred and seventy years ago.
Maori see this as a living document and contract.
This document is a gift of engagement where we recognise the obligations
and responsibilities we all have, to each other and to all people that reside
on this beautiful land. As Maori, we have been reclaiming our own unique
cultural heartbeat, and rhythm, inclusively of the right to be seen, heard,
and acknowledged as (indigenous) Maori of this land, and to accept the
responsibilities that are generated within those rights, as responsible social
workers and social work assessors.
Merrill:
Do mocaidre a tug, foscadagussolas
I acknowledge the land and the ancestors of the
land, as a framework to see the world, because
words open up worlds.
Merrill Simmons-Hansen 2009
This acknowledgement is assembled on and protected
by the infinity within a Celtic Knot. I know who I am and
where I come from.
17
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
We identify no single discipline that can provide the basis for identity or indeed,
social work practice. I, Merrill, have begun in the Gaelic acknowledging of
my ancestry and the manner where I am engaged in principles that have
shaped my life, knowing who I am. These engagements link me to land and
ancestors, and to Emma, in ways similar and distinct, but we dance in unison.
I am of an indigenous culture. My ancestors suffered in being lost to
themselves, their culture, their land and their patterns of moving within and
amongst traditional relationships in different lands. De Certeau (1984) well
describes the notion of belonging, while steeped in ancestry. It enables those
everyday activities of appropriation over time, belonging and attachment so
as to establish and build on through memory, knowledge and experiences of
everyday activities. Some of my forebears became repositioned to these, for
example the freedom to utilise their language, as words form ‘doorways’ into
their world, where language remains as beacons to the indigenous tradition’s
distinct capacity to think and respect relationships.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, my responsibility as a Gaelic woman,
engaged as a social work assessor remains responsive in a relationship with
the people of this land under TeTiriti O Waitangi, and by knowing the history of
Maori, my obligations and responsibilities are to my relationship to and with
the Maori. This acknowledgment is informed by my knowledge of racism that
continues to occur here in Aotearoa New Zealand. For me, TeTiriti o Waitangi
and its Articles offers me a place to stand within the integrity of my Gaelic
ancestry, where my relationship with land and ancestry is fundamental to my
life; knowing that the way we use words, shapes the way we think and our
capacity for respect. (Gaelic refers also to Celtic tribal peoples along the Irish
west coast and Scotland).
Merrill & Emma
To name who we are, who we belong to and who belongs to us has assisted
us to share ‘words’ that we have been able to weave into our own individual
meanings and thoughts. This can be likened to us climbing an ancestral
mountain, we both want to reach the top, but we just take different pathways.
Social Work and Competency Assessments
As social workers and National Competency Assessors, our practice is
held within a multiple of accountabilities, not only to the applicant for an
assessment, but also to their family or whanau (family), hapu (sub-tribe) and
iwi (tribe), and a further relationship with mother earth (Papatuanuku) and
TeAo Maori (the people). It is all of these things that motivate our sense of
justice to each other and TeTiriti o Waitangi and the ANZASW Code of Ethics
(2008). Such is our relationship; it informs our integrity, our tinorangatiratanga
(absolute integrity) and self-determination to live and work together within a
principled relationship of responsibility and reciprocity.
18
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
This then brings about another interesting dimension, that we believe relates
to the Global Agenda Themes, given that we both support the importance
of social justice and human relationships, but it comes with a question. Are
our professional competencies more than a mechanical process? Today we
invite ethical reflections of our practice around social work competency,
while honouring the relatedness of the applicant, and their family or whanau
(two or more generations, possibly sharing care of children), but more so
acknowledging that ancestry is what has shaped us, and the people we
serve as applicants, panellists, community members, kin, work colleagues,
whanau, hapu and iwi and the ANZASW, to whom we are accountable.
We, as two National Assessors, look at our own philosophical selves, when
we invite an applicant to take part in an assessment process that maintains
the applicant in their cultural being, thereby supporting the applicant to a
positive outcome, and then invite them to be a part of the ANZASW as a
professional social worker. The ANZASW offers itself as the professional
body of social work in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Power
Social workers are particularly positioned to link into the world of policy
makers and the ‘disadvantaged’ (Ife, 1997; O’Brien, 2005). This link has a
complexity of rights and responsibilities that inform our profession.
Competency in Aotearoa New Zealand has been traditionally set by the
ANZASW, where a panel invite the applicant to share and reflect, as a
provisional member, on their practice. If they successfully evidenced safe
practice through our ten practice standards, then they are able to move on
to full membership, and from there they are able to apply for registration as
a social worker.
The competency itself invites ‘best and safe ethical social work practice’
by the use of ten practice standards (see ANZASW practice standards).
These occur through a considered, planned and scheduled meeting or hui
of two peers and the Competency Assessor. The process then moves into
a two way dynamic, one of power and one of competency. It is at this time
a change in relationships occurs between the assessors and the applicant.
Importantly and interestingly Everiit, Hardiker, Littlewood & Mullender
(1992) describe social work as an activity that is accountable to people;
however there are significant pressures in workplaces that lose sight of the
relationship between knowledge and power. A social worker is called to be
mindful of oppression and power, so an invitational response is to seek ‘open
spaces’ with the applicant, where differences enable an understanding about
power, professional relationships, and reciprocities. The oppression through
ethnicity and gender is seen by socialist feminists as a situation where male
values are assumed to be the norm, and then applied to all people. This
19
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
results in a subjugation of female voices, and their nourishing role (Radney,
1993; Mikaere, 1994).
Here it is proposed that a fair and just process in relationship to an applicant
being assessed is to understand how history may shape a person and how
important it is for them to have space to enable them to locate their own
voice and stories. This may be expressed through an invitation to choose
how, when and where the applicant might want their competency to be
assessed, how they might want it to look like, and to also have the space to
raise questions that enables them to maintain their integrity.
Here are two assessment processes.
Emma
A Tangatawhenua Competency
Tikanga Maori is enacting custom and obligation (policy), and Kaupapa
Maori is the action, the way we do things are founded on traditional belief
systems, which are made up from a set of ideals and values that personified
principled conduct according to Maori ancestral laws (Pohatu & Pohatu,
2004). However, they do not only operate by these rules or law alone; they
also lived and operate by principles, values and ideals that informed us as a
whanau (extended family), hapu (can be up to 20 or 40 whanau groups) and
iwi (tribe). Maori relied and still rely heavily on collective efforts, in order to
survive, and as a result certain values and ideals have been developed, and
they became part of tikanga and kaupapa Maori. These assisted to regulate
and guide behaviour, and in particular allow a collective responsibility of
belonging, that assists in the maintenance of social harmony.
Given such an approach here in Aotearoa New Zealand, the nihotaniwha
competency process for tangatawhenua (people of this land) is an important
model for social justice and social change. An elder TuroaHarongo (1996)
gifted and enabled Maori Assessors to be trained in the use of this model for
Maori and by Maori. Maori social workers however are also able to complete
their competencies in the generic model of competency on paper or face to
face.
The following is a model is the ‘nihotaniwha’, a Maori model of assessment.
This process begins with the arrival of the Assessment Panel, taking care
of time, so not to be ‘late,’ as this may show disrespect, not only for the
applicant, but also for their whanau, hapu and iwi. Whether it is on the Marae,
at the work place and or at the applicant’s home, the rituals of encounters
are the same. It is the delivery that is different. Whanau are also invited to
take part, to hear what their daughter, son, mother, father, aunty, uncles,
and grandparent are doing. This also gives the professionals and the
whanau a ‘kanohikitekanohi’ (face to face) of not only the process, but also
20
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
a glimpse into what their whanau member does. These allow the participant
to exercise their own tinorangatiratanga (self-determination) which guides
the process. This process belongs to the participants and their whanau, not
the Assessor(s). Tinorangatiratanga means that power and control must rest
within Maori cultural understanding and practices. See the following:
Niho Taniwha
Matauranga
(Knowledge)
NGA TAUMATA
(Ethic)
NGA WAIARO
NGA PUKENGA
(Attitude)
(Skills)
Ma tini ma mano ka rapa te Whei
This Niho Taniwha model depicts knowledge, skills, behavior
and experience that links the ANZASW Practice Standards
(see appendix) to a Kaupapa Maori Model of safe and
competent practice. This model of assessment was gifted
by Turoa Haronga, a Kaumatua (Elder), to the ANZASW
Tangata whenua Takawaenga Caucus in 1998.
21
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
A Journey inclusively, but together:
WHAKAWHANAUNGATANGA
Ranginui
(Knowing who we are, who we belong to
and who belongs to us)
(Sky Father)
WHANAUNGATANGA
(Hapu: Sub Tribe)
WHANAUNGA
(My Bones: Cousins)
WHANAU
(Larger than Family)
Papatuanuku
AU is ME
(Mother Earth)
Fig 1 Awhiwhio - Belonging
There are many journeys that the Au (me) can take one on, and when working
with people social workers need to find safe and accessible pathways
(Pohatu & Pohatu, 2004). Following such a pattern does not just include the
participant (au), it involves whanau in which the participant is a member of
and thereby makes connections with their ‘bones’ whanaunga, a relationship
that incorporates whanaungatanga. Knowing who you are and others is a
ritual of knowing and finally knowing who you are, who you belong to and
who belongs to you - whakawhanaungatanga. Note you are incorporated in
all aspects of the structure set before you. From mother earth, from what you
are made of, into a family that is larger than a nuclear whanau, recognising
that your forty second cousin is your whanau (Metge, 1995), thereby linking
to those ‘bone’ (relatives) on into whanaungatanga (belonging), and lastly
whanaungatanga (knowing yourself).
Merrill
Integrity
This second assessment reflects its process within the importance of human
relationships and justice. This is a notion that words have immense power.
It is in the way one thinks and speaks that shape ones’ capacity for loyalty,
love, and respect (Dowrick, 2007). It is therefore important to consider the
way one thinks and speaks in the assessment discussion. When a non-Maori
applicant acknowledges connection to a place and space, there is a synergy
to how they also (re-)position people of this land (Fredericks, 2010). This
22
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
draws on our responsibilities as non-Maori towards our relationship with the
Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of this country.
Relationships form shelters that contribute to integrity and draw on the
applicant’s relationship to theories and models, of applied learning that are
often shaped by one’s own experiences. Certainly my own Celtic people are
well known for their skills with words in the way that they ‘sing and shape’
their capacity to have respect not only for the land, but for the people of the
land. Given the language of business management encountered by the work
environment coupled by use of the 10 ANZASW Practice Standards, how
then do we reclaim the assessment process to liberate the spirit and emotion,
because the notion and management of an ‘assessment’ is burdened down
with the ‘file, the portfolio, the panel and the interview’ that are languages of
constant scrutinisation, of being judged.
Similarly social workers are invited to be mindful of the power that shape
and disable people’s participation in the competency relationships (Everiit,
Hardiker, Littlewood, & Mullender, 1992). To begin we need to seek an
invitational approach that differs from conformity and compliance, and
instead extend an open invitation at the initial contact to create opportunities
for the applicant to provide their own ‘paintings and pictures’. This is an
opportunity to participate and co-create questions that could also develop
a collective voice, supported by our ancestral notion of integrity that links to
the struggle for social justice and social change.
This considered approach within a competency assessment generates
meaningful membership, and an opportunity to apply some civil action
which informs accountability. Such action connects an applicant’s history,
traditions and current relationships that then generate ‘shelter’ for the future.
I have found that by working in process of ‘the circle’ for assessment
meetings, there is opportunity to acknowledge the right to be heard and
belong within one’s life and work; this is an experience that has in past times
strengthened connections, and integrity. This act of political activism invites
opportunity for presence, mindfulness, respect and a compassioned heart
of human rights (Vaughan Milner, 2008; Ife, 2001).The panel animated, may
then ask relevant questions that both extend the applicant’s experiences and
helps rebuild their own experience of belonging, engages their understanding
and generates knowledge and sharing.
Working within these relationships, the panellists and the applicant are called
to engage beyond singular workplace prescriptions on roles where they
develop a consciousness of awareness within their own value patterns and
ethical preferences. Personal values, ethics and belief systems interchange
and are challenged within ‘being’ and ‘doing’, which can be explained
as an integrated practice model described by Prasad (1989), quoted by
23
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
O’Donoghue (2002). Together, in the assessment and through shared
evidence, they seek more and indicate the readiness for full competency.
Radical theory, feminist theory and kaupapaMaori theory, offer structural
analysis of values, beliefs, and power structures that oppress or empower
people. We intend this be counter hegemonic; that difficult exciting journey
driven by outrage at increasingly uncaring environments, where work is both
redefined, yet workers seek social justice and a solidarity with the oppressed
(Ife 1997). Work must clearly be creative, link to passion, neither being value
free or politically neutral; any resulting social work synthesises generations of
human rights, enabling integrity and growth in reclaiming of the (social work)
community through compassion (Ife, 2001).
That assessment offers transformative links to critical analysis of power
through antiracist theory, which explores the presence of colonisation on
peoples and moves them from relationships that hold them, offering instead
a space for differences that may start to redress the pervasive and invasive
colonisation of peoples within workplaces. By re orientation of their integrity
to another’s values such process would confirm them as objects to be
acted upon and regulated (O’Brien, 2005). Rather that the applicant’s and
participant’s knowledge is recognised, to enable their step into subjectivity,
in the assessment; to be active agents in analysis with their unique and
conscious rites of identity through their profession. From relationships we
look then for the evidence of the 10 practice standards (Appendix 1), which
the applicant is also seeking to evidence in practice, including statements
and references.
In conclusion we have raised questions about engagement and mobilization
and invited reflections about choices around engagement in the profession.
We have also invited you the reader, to re-imagine social work assessment
beyond a singularly mechanical process. We suggest a social worker’s
membership mediates a pathway into and out of a bureaucratic paradigm.
This later paradigm may include courageous analysis and deconstruction on
calls for mandatory reporting criteria, and a state regulation of social workers.
May our questions companion you, just as the land and the ancestors hold
you.
References
Aotearoa/New Zealand Association of Social Work (2008) Code of Ethics,
ANZASW, Christchurch: xPress Printing House.
De Certeau, M. (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life, Berkley CA: University
of California Press.
Dowrick, S. (2007) The Almost Perfect Marriage: one minute relationship
skills, Crowsnest New South Wales, Australia: Allen and Unwin.
24
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Everiit, A., Hardiker, P., Littlewood, J., & Mullender, A. (1992) ‘Epistemology
and theory in social work’, Series Editor Jo Campling, Applied research for
better practice (pp.16-34). London: The Macmillan Press.
Fredericks, B. (2010) ‘What health services within rural communities tell us
about Aboriginal people and Aboriginal health’, Rural Society Vol 20, Issue
1, Dec.
Ife, J. (1997) Rethinking Social Work-Towards Critical Practice, Melbourne
Australia: Longman Press.
Ife, J. (2001) Human Rights and Social Work; Towards a Rights based
practice, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
IFSW; IASSW; ICSW (2010) A discussion to develop a Global Agenda
for social work and social development, Hong Kong, China: International
Federation of Social Workers(IFSW),The International Association of
Schools of Social Work (IASSW), the International Council of Social Welfare
(ICSW), June.
Metge, J. (1995) New Growth from Old; the whanau in the modern world,
Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press.
Mikaere, A. (1994) Maori women; Caught in the contradictions of a
colonised reality, Waikato Law Review, 125.www.waikato.ac.nz › ... ›
Waikato Law Review › Volume 2, 1994 (retrieved 9.March.2012).
O Brien, M. (2005) A Just Profession or Just a Profession: Social Work and
Social Justice? Social Work Review, Vol XV11 No 1.pp. 13-22.
Donoghue, K. (2002) Global Vision: local voices, personal visions and social
work supervisions. Conference paper for Local and Global Visions Aotearoa
New Zealand Association of Social Workers Christchurch 31 Oct-2 Nov.
Pohatu, T. & Pohatu, H. (2004) NgaTakepu Unpublished paper.
Radney, J. (ed.) (1993) Feminist Messages Coding in Women’s Folk Culture,
University of Illinois, Urbana & Chicago, USA.
Note: THE ANZASW Practice Standards can be downloaded from www.
anzasw.org.nz/user/file/15/ANZASW%20Practice%20Standards.doc
and the ANZASW Code of Ethics (2008) from
www.anzasw.org.nz/publications-2/code-of-ethics/
25
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
26
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 2
Global Agenda on Social Work and Social
Development: Voices from South Asian Social
Work1
BALA RAJU NIKKU
Nepal School of Social Work and School of Social Sciences, Universiti
Sains Malaysia
Global Agenda themes 1-4:
All themes
27
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
The development of a Global Agenda gives us an opportunity to take stock of
experiences of the past, look at current social work practices and articulate
a new vision for engagement of various stakeholders. However, to achieve
the agenda on the ground, this chapter argues that global organisations
and professional associations have to play further strategic and proactive
roles considering the immense professional challenges that all countries in
the South Asian region are facing. The chapter presents a brief history of
development of professional social work and social development efforts in
South Asia and Nepal in particular. Social work in South Asia is diverse and
divided, but professional social workers are active in the region, struggling
to seek state and society’s recognition for their professional services. Based
on e-interviews and author’s work experience, this chapter contributes to the
vision of Global Agenda building from a South Asian social work perspective.
Introduction
Abraham Flexner in 1915 raised a critical question: Is social work a profession?
Since then many social work academics, institutions and practitioners
have contributed their working lives to the development of the social work
knowledge base, skill development and practice standards that transformed
social work from a status of avocation to a global profession. However, social
work continued to receive internal and external criticisms. Kendall in 1950
argued that in each country, social welfare, social service, social work, social
development - whatever you name it - is a dynamic activity, and that ‘no one
definition of social work would be acceptable in all these countries and might
be put forward as an international definition’ (p106). Similarly, Hammond
(1998) also documented the possible value conflicts across social workers
internationally due to cultural and political differences.
The global social work community has been continually involved in self
critiquing and revisiting of concepts and theory building right from its inception.
These processes are a rejoinder to create a robust professional identity for
social work worldwide and hence should be welcomed. The previous and
current initiatives by the IASSW and IFSW include: the social work review
definition and setting global standards for social work education. The joint
aspiration of setting up a Global Agenda by the IASSW, IFSW and ICSW is
another landmark initiative leading to continued debates, self reflections and
critique. These processes are vital for social work to survive, be resilient and
relevant, despite global changes.
This chapter benefited from the comments received on an earlier presentation by the author at the
International Conference on Social Welfare Issues in the ASEAN Region, held on October 27-31, 2011 at
Sultan Hotel (Jakarta), Bandung and Bali, Indonesia.
1
28
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Method
The intent of this chapter was to document the perceptions of the
respondents with a view to analysing the ways in which they interpret the
relevance and need for an initiative like the Global Agenda on Social Work
and Social Development. I used the Constructivist research paradigm
whereby the researcher becomes immersed in the research process and
seeks to construct meaning (Morris, 2006). Content analysis was carried
out on the emails exchanged, telephonic and web communications and
key conversations with colleagues in social work education and with
representatives of professional associations and civil society in the region
during 2010 and up until the end of 2011. In addition, I drew from my own
social work experience in the region for the last ten years. Since the study
has an advocacy agenda, I received informed consent from the respondents
and took steps to ensure that privacy, confidentiality and anonymity were
protected. This was a challenge and may be a limitation given the open
nature of the data collection process (Morris, 2006: 254).
Global Initiatives
Global social work definition and standards
The arguments about setting up Global Standards for the Education and
Training of the Social Work Profession by the IASSW and the IFSW generated
controversy from the start (Barretta-Herman, 2008). Hutchings and Taylor
(2007:382) argue that ‘Global social work defies concise definition’. They
have argued that this definition cannot claim to be ‘universal’ given the
assumptions on which it is built and the rapidly changing global society in
which social work is undertaker.
Gray et al. (2008) claim that 21st century social work represents a number
of parallel and related discourses that co-exist, of which many social work
educators are not aware, while Leung (2007) notes that there are differing
opinions on how far the international values and internationally understood
practice of social work, as epitomised by the international definition on social
work, can apply universally to all countries, notably China.
Sewpaul (2007) argues that all discourse, whether universalistic and/
or particularistic, must be subject to contestation, so that we are held
accountable for the thinking that we articulate in our writings, and so that
we do not reinforce much of the ‘taken for granted’ assumptions about the
world. In this context the social work definition review project initiated by
IASSW and other organisations is apt and timely but the processes need to
be critically reviewed.
The ongoing Definition of Social Work review initiative will have an
influence on the Global Agenda process. The new definition that the world
29
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
organisations will adopt will have legal and professional implications on
developed, developing and poor countries in which social work development
is at different stages.
Global Agenda: the debate and discourse
The International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), the
International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) and the International Federation
of Social Workers (IFSW) initiated a discussion to develop a Global Agenda
for Social Work and Social Development in Hong Kong, China in June 2010
during the Joint World Conference. The Hong Kong 2010 Global Agenda
process has provoked an unprecedented level of engagement and debate
around the world (IFSW, 2011).
While the current world situation requires an increased level of social
work unity and engagement, it seems that social work voices are
fragmented and our contributions are not often acknowledged...We
need to organize ourselves around major and relevant social issues
that connect within and across our profession (Yuen et al., 2010:734).
The question is not ‘the what and why’ of the Global Agenda but how to
achieve the stated four goals of the Global Agenda in regions like South Asia.
We need to ask how can the process ensure that the voices from the global
south, especially from countries in which social work is struggling to get an
identity and countries in which social work has been controlled and co-opted
by the state, be equally represented and included?
This chapter argues for a common base of social work knowledge and
practice for the South Asia region, as a distinct political and cultural region,
and aims to raise a discourse on how social work institutions, academics,
development practitioners and the countries themselves can further promote
the process of academic and professional renewal in the region. By doing
so, this chapter aims to suggest major steps to ensure a robust and vibrant
future for social work education and the profession generally in the South
Asia region.
Global Agenda: South Asian Social Work Voices
Social and economic inequalities
Reducing social and economic inequities within countries and between
regions is one of the core agenda commitments of the Global Agenda. The
question is how to achieve this in diverse, poor and fragmented regions like
South Asia? The South Asia region has the world’s largest conflict-affected
population - around 71 million. Given the vast population of this region
subjected to exploitation, natural disasters, and marginalization induced by
the various structural inequalities and less in the way of resource entitlements,
the challenges are immense.
30
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Welfare systems in the South Asia region differ from country to country. Social
welfare objectives need to be formulated in accordance with the underlying
basic value assumptions of communities in each country. These basic values
might be very different in different parts of the world and sometimes they
may even differ within one country like Nepal. India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
and Nepal have all had an average annual growth rate exceeding five per
cent in the period since 1995. As part of the Social Protection Floor Initiative
of the United Nations, Nepal has introduced a food-for-work programme
with an objective to improve rural infrastructure and increase employment
opportunities for the poor through public work schemes. Although leakages
have been reported, most of the food-for-work programmes have adopted a
social auditing system to improve transparency and reduce these leakages.
In addition, Nepal has been implementing an Old Age Allowance programme
that was introduced as early as in 1994 and revised in 2008, and conditional
cash transfer programmes are in place.
South Asian social workers can enhance these social protection initiatives
and should work towards creating further safety nets in their own countries
and in the region. The Global Agenda process should facilitate these voices
and efforts.
‘The consensus of opinion of the social workers who had gathered to
commemorate the World Social Work Day was that the global agenda
was a meticulously prepared comprehensive document and that the three
organizations that initiated the agenda should be congratulated’ (SLSSW &
SLPASW, 2011).
Comments made by professional social workers and social work educators
in Sri Lanka are as follows in relation to the themes of the Global Agenda:
1. Distribution of resources unequal
• Refer to area of social and economic differences among and within
countries and region
2. Multiculturalism and internally displaced persons
• Refer to area of dignity and worth of the person
3. Human-animal conflict (particularly elephant) and environmental social
work
• Refer to area of environmental sustainability
4. Spiritual development and youth unrest
• Refer to area of importance of human relationships.
31
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Similarly, the final version of the re-definition endorsed by all Sri Lankan
participants is as follows:
“the social work profession promotes social change, helps to improve human
relationships within the cultural context of that society and the empowerment
of people to enhance wellbeing. It utilizes evidence-based knowledge derived
from research and practice. Principles of human rights and social justice are
fundamental to social work to promote peace and harmony” (Statement
issued on 25.04.2011 and signed by A. Ranaweera, Director, Sri Lanka
School of Social Work and President of Sri Lanka Professional Association of
Social Workers).
Promoting Social Work Education and Profession in South Asia: Can the
Global Agenda become a catalyst?
South Asia is a diverse region with six out of eight countries in the region marked
as least developed countries (LDCs). Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan are land
locked. Nepal and Sri Lanka are in transition and struggling with post conflict
issues. Afghanistan is facing continued internal war and displacements. This
context means that social work education and the profession generally need
to provide evidence of their relevance in this region. Social work education
has enjoyed respect and recognition in the West especially for the first half of
the 20th century. Nevertheless, in a vigorously changing South Asian region,
for various reasons it will take a few more years/decades for social work to
be recognised as a full profession by the respective countries.
Social work education in the South Asia region was introduced in India as
early as 1936 but in Nepal only in 1996 (Nikku, 2009, 2010). Palattiyil and
Sidhva (2012) in their recent editorial summarised the status of social work
in India. They state:
“major Schools of Social Work are teaching structural social work within
the radical paradigm, but practice occurs within the community arena,
thus lacking the depth and vigour that social activism strategy entails...
Conversations with academics and practitioners point also to an emerging
paradigm where new applied courses such as development studies, human
rights, law and community management programmes are edging social work
practitioners on to the margins... Against this backdrop, there is a need to
rethink social work education and practice in India. When social workers
are produced en masse, concerns can be raised about their standards and
quality. What standards are they following, what codes of practice are they
signed up to, what placement opportunities do they have, what mechanisms
exist to ensure high standards of practice?” ( 2012: 75-76).
In Bhutan and Maldives fully fledged social work programs are yet to
begin. The Ministry of Gender and Family of Maldives and the University of
Newcastle, Australia, supported by UNICEF, helped the Maldives College of
32
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Higher Education to offer a one year advanced Certificate in Social Service
Work in 2007 (Plath, 2011).
Pakistan came into existence in 1947. In 1951 UN advisors came to Pakistan
to assist in the social welfare sector. The first in-service training course,
sponsored by the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations Technical
Assistance Administration (UN-TAA), trained the first 65 social workers in
1953 (Rehmatullah, 2002). Short courses and Diplomas in Social Work and
the postgraduate program were introduced in 1955 at Punjab University.
Subsequently social work programs were introduced at the University of
Karachi in 1961, University of Sindh in 1968, and University of Balochistan
in 1974 and in 1978 at the University of Peshawar. At present nine public
Universities offer post graduate programs in social work (Rafiq, 2003;
Siddiqui, 2011).
Social work education travelled to Bangladesh in 1971 with its independence
from Pakistan, and social work as an optional subject has been taught at
Higher Secondary level for the last 35 years. The National University of
Bangladesh was established in 1992. Affiliated colleges under this university
currently are offering BSS (Hons) and MSS in social work. Since 1958, the
Institute of Social Welfare and Research (ISWR) at Dhaka University has been
running a two year Master degree in social welfare and a three year Bachelors
(Hons) degree (Taher and Rahman, 1993; Islam, 2011).
Social work as a tertiary discipline is new to Sri Lanka. Social work education
as a professional vocational activity started in Sri Lanka in 1952 but remained
at the undergraduate level until 2004. In 1992 a semi autonomous institute
named the National Institute of Social Development (NISD) under the Ministry
of Social Welfare formed and has been offering social work courses that
are recognized by the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka. Fighting
the Ministry bureaucracy, all the way right from the beginning over many
issues, the NISD managed to teach a cohort of around 100 diploma students
each year. The discipline was awarded university status only in early 2000
(Chandraratna, 2011).
As the evidence shows, external social work agencies and UN consultants
largely have implanted social work education in the South Asian region. As a
result, it is facing an uncertain future within the academy as it has to compete
with other market-oriented disciplines. The social work programs are yet
to gain public and state support and perceived relevancy. In an academic
environment, these differences should be serving as a springboard of ideas
rather than as hurdles. Despite these tensions social work education has
contributed to the training of human resources directly or indirectly and to
addressing social issues in the region.
33
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
To conclude, social work education and practice in the region have been
shaped by different forces like religion, political situations, availability of
trained human resources and donor influences in particular countries in
the region (Nikku, 2010b). Social work knowledge and skills are socially
constructed. As a result, social work in the South Asia region is diverse and
divided, yet precisely for the same reasons South Asian social work has
much to offer to the knowledge base of global social work and practice.
What is needed is a scholarly analysis and documentation of growth of social
work in the region in order to contribute to the Global Agenda.
Characteristics of social work education and profession and the role of
international organisations
After more than seven decades of social work presence and a combined
population of some 1.4 billion, South Asia is still home to half of the world’s
poor (Table 1). There seems to be no possible correlation in countries of
the region, when we compare the population of a particular country, the
availability or non-availability of social work programs, civil society presence
and recognition of social work as a profession. It is also difficult to say there
is a relationship between the establishment of the social work profession in
a particular country and its stage of social development. It is interesting to
note that the first school of social work was initiated way back in 1936 in
India, but Afghanistan, Bhutan and the Maldives are yet to introduce schools/
departments of social work.
Social work education in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh has both its colonial
origin and its basis in the partition of countries and communities linked to
religion and regional preferences, while social work in Nepal and Sri Lanka
is very nascent and struggling to spread its wings in post conflict situations.
It is also very evident that the presence and contribution of international
organisations (IAASW, IFSW and ICSW) is also very weak in almost all
countries, irrespective of the beginnings of social work education and civil
society development in the region.
All this suggests that social work is not yet recognised as a legal profession
in the region and how social work takes firm roots in the region is an open
question. Given this historical analysis, the implementation of the Global
Agenda in this region is both a necessity and an opportunity.
34
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Table 1: Social Work Education and Profession and Presence of IASSW,
IFSW and ICSW
Countries
in South
Asia and
population
(in millions
2009
midyear)
Status of Social Work Education
and Profession
Afghanistan
29.8m
Bangladesh
162.2m
Bangladesh’s history of social work
originated in the Pakistan regime
under the slogan ‘a new profession
for a new nation in a new age’. An
introductory course in social work
of three months’ duration was
first started in East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh) in 1953
Bhutan
0.70m
Maldives
0.31m
IFSW
membership
ICSW
membership
2011 report
From South
Asia:
Social work does not yet exist as
a ‘profession’. There is neither
a school of social work or other
accredited training programme,
nor standardised tools, quality
benchmarks for service delivery,
or established minimum standards
of care. Relevant legislation and
policy is outdated at best, absent
otherwise (www.crin.org/doc)
India
1,155,3m
IASSW
membership
None
None
Only one
institutional
member:
University of
Rajshahi
Association of
Social Workers
(ASW) Bangladesh
(full member)
No programs
None
None
1936: Tata Institute of Social
Sciences was the first institution of
social work education started with
20 students. Currently more than
300 social work programs are being
offered in India under universities
and their affiliated colleges and
distance programs
Only 7
institutional
members:
1. Anbagam
Institute
2. Jamie Milia
Islamia
3. Madras
Christian
College
4. Marian
College
Kuttikkanam
5. School of
Social Work Mangalore
6. Tata Institute
of Social
Sciences
7. Walchand
College of Arts
& Science
National
-Coordinating
Committee of
Professional
Social Workers
(NCCPSW)
- provisional
member status
Maldives College of Higher
Education (upgraded as the
Maldives National University) offers
a one year advanced certificate in
Social Service Work since 2007.
35
None
India, Sri Lanka,
Maldives are
represented
by Category
A members:
Indian Council
of Social Welfare
(ICSWInd) and
National Peace
Council of Sri
Lanka and
Maldives NGO
Federation
(MNGOF)
respectively
No ‘A’
membership
representation
from
Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Pakistan
and Nepal
Afghanistan is
represented
by a ‘C’ class
member
Bromand
Research,
Educational and
Development
organization
(BREDO).
(ICSW maintains
4 different types
of memberships:
Category A National Member
organisations,
None
Category B International
Member
organisations),
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Nepal
29.3m
1996 : first Department of Social
Work in an affiliated college of
Kathmandu University
2005: First School of Social Work
at Kadambari College affiliated to
Purbanchal University
Only one
member
institution:
Kadambari
Memorial
College( Nepal
School of
Social Work)
None
Pakistan
169.7m
The first in service Training Course,
sponsored by the Government
of Pakistan and United Nations
Technical Assistance Administration
(UNTAA), trained the first 65 social
workers in 1953
None
None
Only one
member:
National
Institute
for Social
Development
Sri Lanka
Association of
Professional
Social Workers
- Full member
statusEstablished in
with 24 district
branches and
750 members
(www.slapsw.
org)
Sri Lanka
20.3m
Founded in 1952, Sri Lanka School
of Social Work is the oldest and
the largest division at the National
Institute of Social Development - an
independent Institute established
on the recommendation of the
University Grants Commission
Category C (other member
organisations)
and Category
D - (Associate
member
organisations
- newly
introduced).
Status of Social Work Education in Nepal: multiple opportunities and
abundant challenges
The initiation of social work education in Nepal was mainly urban-centric. As
of now social work programs are offered only at the affiliated colleges and
are yet to be offered at the University campuses. Most all these colleges
are located in the Kathmandu area resulting in less access to social work
education for students from poor and disadvantaged rural areas of Nepal.
One of the main issues of social work education and training in Nepal is the
focus on the promotion of social work values. The social work training of the
three different universities promotes a different focus and values of social
work. For example Purbanchal University (PU) affiliated Kadambari College
promotes rights-based social work, Kathmandu University (KU) affiliated St.
Xavier’s College focuses more on clinical social work and Tribhuvan University
(TU) affiliated colleges are offering social work as one of the two majors of
Bachelors in Arts program. The lack of national code for social work practice
and coherence in the curricula needs to be addressed urgently (Nikku, 2009).
Another important issue is crafting indigenous social work approaches and
updating the social work interventions that suit the current needs of Nepalese
society that is in transition. In 2005 Purbanchal University constituted a
subject committee to prepare the social work curricula for both Bachelors
and Masters Programs. The subject committee (the author of this chapter
36
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
is a member of this committee) is aware of the discourses on indigenous
and western models of social work and utilized the opportunity to reflect
on these models. Over many discussions and debates a curricula that is
suitable to the country’s current needs have been prepared and approved
by the University. Nepal School of Social Work (NSSW) - a joint initiative
of Kadambari Memorial College (Purbanchal University affiliate) and Nepal
College of Development Studies (Tribhuvan University affiliate), both offering
social work courses - started the initiative in 2007 to bring coherence among
social work teaching and also to decolonize and indigenize the training
(Nikku, 2010a).
The title ‘social worker’ is rather loosely used and abused in the context of
Nepal (and in the South Asia region). To promote understanding, the Nepal
School of Social Work (NSSW) with other colleges started celebrating World
Social Work Day in Nepal since 2008. This is to bring about awareness of the
social work profession among the public and also use the occasion to bring
all social workers, practitioners and policy makers to a common platform to
discuss issues of social welfare and development in Nepal and how social
workers can make a difference. NSSW was a genuine and pioneering effort to
professionalise social work with the objective of bringing social development
in Nepal through academic excellence.
Way Forward: Building the Global Agenda for Regional Renewal
In spite of considerable progress, four major challenges confront professional
social work development in the South Asia region: first, the lack of state
recognition and the low image of the social work profession; second, the
need to develop integrated social work education and training opportunities;
third, the importance of institutionalizing professional social work practice
standards; and fourth, employment of social workers in different government
service delivery institutions to reach the poorest of the poor.
It is important to build a discourse in national and international arenas
by questioning how social work institutions, academics, development
practitioners, and international agencies like IASSW, IFSW and ICSW
can further promote the process of academic and professional renewal in
the South Asian region. In addition, regional bodies like the IFSW (AsiaPacific), Asian and Pacific Association of Social Work Education (APASWE),
International Consortium for Social Development ( ICSD, Asia Pacific Branch),
ASEAN Social Work Consortium and national associations of social workers
can and should play a vital role in building new linkages and lobbying with
the governments to recognize the social work profession. There is a need
for crafting a South Asian Association of Schools of Social Work (SASSW)
as a sub regional association of APASWE and linking with IASSW to further
strengthen the social work education and training in the region.
37
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Social workers in the South Asia region as competent professionals (should)
possess the ability and the potential to assume leadership roles and
responsibilities in social development and be able to deliver direct practice.
Their contribution should be included in the Global Agenda and this should
further catalyse social work education and training in the region, based on
decolonization and indigenisation principles.
Conclusion
The social work profession in South Asia must respond and answer to the
claim that it has become so steeped in country-specific religious traditions
and western structures that innovation and ability are strangled. The
expansion of social welfare in this region means not only more services to
more people, but a greater variety of services to a greater variety of people.
To meet these demands countries in this region need to educate and train
different levels and degrees of social work professionals with skills that are
required to meet the ever-growing demands and needs of their citizens in
the region. Social work concepts are derived from essential human values
and comprise the frame of reference for social work practice. To meet these
goals, this chapter argues for the creation of a common base of social work
knowledge for South Asia as a distinct political and cultural region.
In South Asia, the social welfare mechanisms and systems are different and
hence the role of social worker is different from their counterparts in the
west. In the context of Asia and South Asia in particular, the primary focus of
social workers may have to be addressing poverty, injustices and inequities
in society, compared to individual assistance and extending therapeutic help
as in the west. In the countries where social work education is at a nascent
stage like in South Asia, a critically reflective framework based on studentcentred field practice is crucial to professional development. To make the
global agenda a reality it should encompass the voices from South Asia and
contribute to social work renewal in the region.
References
Barretta-Herman, A. (2008) ‘Meeting the expectations of the Global
Standards: A status report on the IASSW membership’, International Social
Work 51(6): 823–834.
Chandraratna, D. (2011) ‘Social Work and Social Development: Perspectives
from Sri Lanka, in S. Stanley (ed.) Social Work in countries of the East, pp.
487-507. USA: Nova Science.
Flexner, A (1915) Is social work a profession? In Proceedings of the National
Conference of Charities and Corrections (pp. 576-590). Chicago: Hildmann
Printing.
38
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Gray, M., Coates, J. and Yellow Bird, M. (2008) Indigenous Social Work
around the World. Towards Culturally Relevant Education and Practice,
Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Hammond, H.R (1988) ‘Social Work Education in Developing Countries:
Issues and Problems in Under-graduate Curricula’, International Social Work,
32(3):195-210.
Hutchings, A. and Taylor, I. (2007) ‘Defining the profession? Exploring an
international definition of social work in the China context’, International
Journal of Social Welfare, 16 (4): 382–390.
IFSW website (2011) ‘Global Agenda on Social Work and Social Development’,
accessed at http://www.ifsw.org/f38000378.html, on 13 December 2011.
Islam, F. (2011) ‘Social Work Education and Practice in Bangladesh: Past
Effort and Present Trends’ in S. Stanley (ed.) Social Work in countries of the
East, pp. 27-45. USA: Nova Science.
Kendall, K. (1950) United Nations Study on Social Work Training in the World
in United Nations Training for Social Work: An International Survey, 106. Lake
Success, N.Y.: United Nations.
Leung, J. C. (2007) ‘An international definition of social work for China’,
International Journal of Social Welfare 16 (4): 391–397.
Morris, T. (2006) Social work research methods: Four alternative paradigms.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nikku, B.R. (2009) ‘Social Work Education in South Asia: A Nepalese
Perspective’, chapter 16, in Noble et al. (ed.). Social Work Education: Voices
from the Asia Pacific, pp. 341-362. Victoria, Australia: The Vulgar Press.
Nikku, B.R. (2010a) ‘Social Work Education in Nepal: Major Opportunities
and Abundant Challenges’, Social Work Education: the International Journal,
29(8): 818–830. Special Issue on Challenges for Social Work Education in the
Asian context.
Nikku, B.R. (2010b) ‘Social Work in South Asia: Opportunities and Challenges
for Human Resource Development’, SAARC Journal of Human Resource
Development (SJHRD), Islamabad: SCHRD.
Nikku, B.R (2011a) ‘Evolution of Social Work in Nepal: Opportunities and
Challenges in a Transition Society’, chapter 19, in S. Stanley (ed.) Social
Work in Countries of the East, pp. 327-345. USA: Nova Science.
39
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Nikku, B.R. (2011b) ‘Nepal: Can a Falling Leaf tell the coming of the Autumn?
Making Sense of Retrospective Views on international Social Work in Nepal’
pp. 40-46 in International Definition of Social Work Review, APASWE and
IASSW Asian and Pacific Regional Workshop Proceedings, Tokyo: Social
Work Research Institute, Asian Center for Welfare Society, Japan College of
Social Work.
Palattiyil, G. and Dina, S. (2012) ‘Guest Editorial – Social Work in India’,
Practice: Social Work in Action, 24(2): 75-78.
Plath, D. (2011) ‘Social Work Capacity Building in the Maldives, in S. Stanley
(ed.) Social Work in Countries of the East, pp. 347-367, USA: Nova Science.
Rafiq, S.Z. (2003) Community Development Concept and Practice, Peshawar:
Saif Printing Press.
Rehmatullah, S. (2002) Social Welfare in Pakistan. London: Oxford University
Press.
Sewpaul, V. (2007) ‘Challenging East–West value dichotomies and
essentialising discourse on culture and social work’, International Journal of
Social Welfare, 16: 398–407.
Siddiqui, G. (2011) Development of Social Welfare and Social Work In
Pakistan, in S. Stanley (ed.) Social Work in countries of the East, pp. 303325, USA: Nova Science.
SLSSW & SLPASW (2011) A statement issued regarding the Agenda by the
Sri Lankan School of Social Work and Sri Lanka Professional Association of
Social Workers, dated 25.04.2011.
Taher, M. and Rahman, A. (1993) ‘Social Work in Bangladesh: Problems and
Prospects, Indian Journal of Social Work, Vol 4, Mumbai: Tata Institute of
Social Sciences.
Yuen, Angelina; Rollet, Christian and Bailey, Gary ( 2010) ‘News and Views
from IASSW – The agenda for social work and social development: A new
beginning’, International Social Work 53(5): 737–740.
40
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 3
Workplace Stress in the Aftermath of a Natural
Disaster
Kate van Heugten
Department of Human Services and Social Work at the University of
Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Global Agenda theme 3:
Environmental sustainability
41
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
This chapter discusses impacts of natural disasters on human service
workers and organisations, drawing on preliminary themes emerging from
research undertaken after earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, 20102011. Key issues for workers include the stress of undertaking “emotional
labour” in a context of “shared trauma”. Resilience is fostered by practical,
social and psychological support that continues after the immediate impact
of a disaster recedes. Human service organisations are particularly vulnerable
to socio-economic and political consequences of community disasters, with
many facing increased demands for support, coupled with constraints on
social spending. Understanding these interlinking issues is crucial to building
sustainable human services.
Introduction
As the incidence of both natural and human caused disasters has risen,
disaster management has come to be of increasing interest to social work and
human service workers, organisations and associations. This growing interest
is also evident at conferences, as coverage of the topic has progressed from
incidental discussions to inclusion amongst themes in calls for presentations,
such as for the International Federation of Social Workers’ conference in
Stockholm 2012. This paper responds to that conference’s thematic topic
“Environmental Sustainability: Disasters of natural and human origin,
management and prevention”, by considering the impact of earthquakes on
workplace stress in human services. In the wake of disasters, human service
workers and their managers often turn their attention to the needs of service
users, rather than considering the impact on their own functioning and that
of their staff. Research about the impacts of such events on human service
workers and their employing organisations remains scarce.
A “‘natural disaster’ clearly involves some rapid, sustained or profound impact
of the geophysical world upon human lives and socio-economic means of
support” (Alexander 1997, pp. 290-291). Although human caused disasters
often result in complex and long term traumatic consequences (Eidelson,
D’Alessio & Eidelson, 2003; Gregerson, 2007), large scale natural disasters
are also vastly disruptive, damaging basic amenities such as sewage
systems, water supply, road structures and housing; impairing the provision
of health, education and social services; and potentially fragmenting the
social and spiritual cohesion of a community.
In the early hours of Saturday September 4, 2010, an earthquake measuring
7.1 on the Richter scale struck the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, and
surrounding townships. The multiple aftershocks came as a particular
surprise. Local citizens benefitted from research that had been conducted
internationally, and the message that it was normal to be shocked,
42
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
slowed down, jumpy or sleepless was well promulgated. Counsellors and
psychologists as well as medical practitioners emphasised that social
support, rather than any forced debriefing, is most beneficial in the aftermath
of a community disaster (Rose et al., 2002; Todd, 2010). Although some
assistance was flown in, by and large the local population relied on its own
resources. Most workplaces were able to continue to function, and staff
members were most often told that they needed to look after their own
families first before attempting to tend to the needs of others. Human service
organisations did note negative impacts, such as increases in reports of
family violence, and an increased demand for food parcels. Although a poll
(n=378) estimated that nearly 80% of residents in Christchurch experienced
significant stress, 65% expected to recover within a year. Only 3% of those
polled did not expect to recover at all (Greenhill 2010).
However, in the early afternoon of Tuesday February 22, 2011, when many
people were at work, a 6.3 earthquake wrought far more destruction. The
epicentre was close to the city’s centre, which was also the central business
district, and a great many buildings, some already weakened, were unable
to withstand the severe ground shaking. There were multiple deaths (185)
and many injuries. People who worked in high rises and in the city centre
streamed onto the streets. Masonry crashed around them and dust clouds
rose. Mothers and fathers hiked through streets covered in silt to reach their
school-aged children. Others found themselves cast into situations where
their workplaces were suddenly turned into emergency centres, and they
triaged the injured or sat with dazed relatives. The widespread destruction
of buildings, land and infrastructure became evident over the ensuing hours,
days and months.
As time went on, it became clear that the impact of this earthquake had
been intense and the physical and psychological repercussions would be
ongoing for a long time. Thousands of aftershocks left people uncertain, and
the unpredictability of future events was brought home by major aftershocks
on June 13, 2011. For some residents these were the last straw, provoking a
decision to leave the area, or even the country.
Method
The research project was conceived as an exploratory qualitative study
involving conversational interviews and situational analysis. Situational
analysis is akin to grounded theory, but involves a much broader
conceptualisation of dialogue as incorporating interactions between humans
and things; attends to relationships of power; and considers the contexts in
which exchanges take place (Clarke, 2005). The use of situational analysis
is well suited to exploring the far reaching dynamic changes occurring at
individual, group and organisational levels in the post natural disaster
environment.
43
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
I decided to proceed with interviews as quickly as possible, before the end of
2011, as I expected that, whilst impacts dragged on, memories would decay
or become confused over time. I obtained human ethics approval from the
Human Ethics Committee of the University of Canterbury. The Aotearoa New
Zealand Association of Social Workers agreed to email letters of information
to members of its Canterbury Branch. Approximately 50 expressions of
interest arrived over the next few weeks. The anonymity of participants was
particularly important, and I was alert from the outset that its protection would
place some limits on how data could be reported because Christchurch is a
relatively small city with a population of approximately 370,000. Participants
were informed of their right to withdraw information at any stage prior to
publication. I also identified a risk that interviews might cause distress
for some participants. Whilst I had a list of support services at hand, all
participants had their own means of accessing supervision, counselling and
other support.
Forty-three people were interviewed once during the two months leading
up to Christmas 2011. Several participants suggested that they would like
to be reinterviewed in another year because there continued to be major
aftershocks, and recovery in the aftermath of the earthquakes is an ongoing
journey. It is likely, therefore, that I will make a repeat request to interview the
same participants in late 2012, which will eventually provide a longitudinal
aspect to the research.
All participants were engaged in human service work, but not all were social
workers. Seven were men and 36 were women. Twenty-nine identified as New
Zealand European, seven as New Zealand Maori, and two as New Zealand
Samoan. Three were immigrants from English speaking countries, and two
were from continental Europe. Reflecting an ageing human service workforce,
only three participants were aged between 25 and 35, nine between 36 and
45, and the majority (30) were aged 46 to 65. They were employed across
a wide range of public and non-government general health, mental health,
child protection, justice, welfare and educational organisations. Twenty-eight
people primarily identified as front line workers and 15 were managers or
practice advisors. An opening prompt, inviting participants to talk about
the challenges and stresses of working in the aftermath of the Canterbury
earthquakes, was all that was needed for participants to talk about how their
roles or their organisation’s work had been impacted by the earthquakes; what
they had found helpful and unhelpful in dealing with these consequences;
and how their health and wellbeing were affected. As expected in qualitative
research, interviews developed over time and emerging themes were
considered in subsequent interviews, however, not until participants had an
opportunity to elaborate upon their own experiences. When the September
4, 2010, earthquake struck, participants had been at home in bed, but on
February 22, 2011, most were at work, many in the centre of the city. Almost
44
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
all began their accounts by describing the moment of impact of the February
earthquake and the hours that followed.
Emerging Themes
At the time of writing this paper, the analysis of data was in its very
preliminary stages. Nevertheless some themes had emerged in reflection on
the interviews, facilitated by memo writing following those. These emerging
themes are discussed below, and placed in the context of international
literature about work in the aftermath of natural disasters.
Shared trauma
Many participants had found they functioned on autopilot during and
immediately after the February earthquake. If they were at work, they settled
clients, but their most immediate anxiety was for family. They were unable
to become calm until they had completed their endeavours to contact their
family members. Most, but not all, participants were able to prioritise this
search. Some participants, especially managers, were torn by the need to
assist staff and service users.
Some participants joined emergency response teams in the immediate
aftermath, often at their own initiative, and sometimes at the behest of
their employers. Some also reported working extremely long hours during
that time. Whilst their background as human service workers might have
appeared to prepare them for this work, some later questioned whether
their lack of specialist training and knowledge about what to expect might
be the cause of ongoing detrimental impacts. Whilst most felt pleased they
had found active means to contribute to the relief effort, some participants
were left with enduring distressing images and memories, and they became
visibly distressed as they recalled those in the interviews. Other researchers
(Berger, 2002; Guo, et al., 2004; Karakashian, 1994) have noted that knowing
what to expect is an important part of emergency work preparation and that
professional rescuers and emergency personnel may be less likely to develop
posttraumatic stress disorder than non-professional rescuers.
In many interviews, perhaps especially earlier interviews, participants
reflected on their extreme weariness, and how this was common across the
affected population. Self care, such as more regularly taking time off was not
enough. Many had viral infections or coughs they were unable to shake. Few
participants had visual flashbacks, but many noted they found themselves
quickly distressed, more prone to crying, sleepless or suffering from memory
lapses. There was evidence of compassion fatigue, where participants were
becoming excessively wearied by the demands of empathically attuning to
clients. Other researchers have noted that whilst health care professionals
are exposed to traumatic sights and sounds, they tend to quickly focus on
other people needing their help rather than on their own needs. Vicarious
45
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
trauma is a risk in all human service workers, including those who have not
witnessed events but have merely heard them described. Minimising impacts
by thinking others are worse off may lead to inadequate attention to self care
and worsen this risk (Sullivan & Wong, 2011). In Christchurch, moreover, most
human service professionals have personally experienced the earthquakes,
and so have been directly as well as vicariously exposed. Their roles could
be well described as involving “emotional labour” (Dwyer, 2007) in a context
of “shared trauma” (Tosone, 2007). Signs of vicarious trauma appeared to be
most prominent in participants who had directly experienced or witnessed
severely traumatic events on the day of the earthquake and during the
emergency response time.
Respite can reduce the risk of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.
Participants in the later interviews noted there had been fewer recent
aftershocks, the weather was warming approaching summer, and they were
looking forward to Christmas and New Year leave.
Environmental stress
As a consequence of the February earthquake, many people’s customary
living and working spaces were altered. Some workplaces were able to assist
staff by installing freezers to store food, or by providing washing machines
and showering facilities. Others were forced to operate out of garages or to
ask staff to work from home, using personal cell phones.
Whilst working from home can be a lifestyle preference, when this is not
chosen but forced upon workers it is often quite stressful (Hartig, Johansson
& Kylin, 2003). Because the home was not an established locale for work,
there was often no dedicated space, and work was squeezed into living areas.
When children were at home, they had to be constrained from interrupting
work, and from normal activities such as talking whilst the participant was
on the telephone. Resourcing of the home for work was often lacking, for
example printing and internet facilities were inadequate. Overall, work and
home boundaries became more difficult to maintain and so the home was no
longer a place to which one could escape (Hartig et al., 2003).
Organisations that had relocated were often in cramped spaces. Those
who had kept their rooms might be sharing with others who had been less
fortunate. I was shown small rooms, in which staff “hot desked”, meaning
they shared limited available desk space, often on a first-come first-served
basis, and shared computers. Teams had become fragmented, either
because they had been separated, or because they had absorbed too many
other workers. Aggression was noted to be on the rise. It was difficult to
undertake phone calls and to deal with the public with any privacy. Visiting
service users at home had become commonplace. Most organisations had
safety measures in place that, for example, required more than one worker to
46
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
make home visits. However, if the organisation was short staffed, it was not
always felt to be practical to call on support.
Work environments should ideally provide a restorative function by providing
opportunities to relax and take time out (Berger, 2002). It is generally
thought to be beneficial if workers can have some personal belongings
in the workspace to remind them of loved ones and comfort them. It was
particularly perturbing to hear that some workers were now not allowed to
leave any personal items, nor to decorate walls or have toys available for
children. They found the environments in which they worked to have become
austere and oppressive.
Increased demands and lack of resources
Hochwarter, Laird and Broue (2008) considered the impact of the balance
between demands and resources in the aftermath of hurricane disasters
in the Gulf of Mexico, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They found
that after disasters, workers may experience job satisfaction in the face of
increased demands if they are well resourced. If they are badly resourced,
demands will lead to dissatisfaction.
For the human service workers in my research, increased demands were not
always due to increased client numbers. Indeed, for several organisations,
especially those working with inner city or eastern city poorer populations,
numbers had dropped as service users who did not own their own homes
and were without steady jobs left town. However, those who remained often
came with complex needs. In the first weeks, many workers had undertaken
tasks outside their normal roles as they endeavoured to meet basic needs,
ferrying people, water and food, and purchasing medicines out of pocket.
This was a city wide phenomenon - many citizens helped out in this way.
As time went on, most returned to their more usual functions. But some
resources, such as time and staff were in short supply. For example, travel
took longer as streets were in poor repair or blocked off, volunteers stopped
volunteering and instead tended to their own families, and staff members left
and were harder to replace.
Over time, in particular in organisations with national headquarters or funders
based outside Christchurch, some difficulties arose in relation to negotiating
expectations such as reporting requirements. Outside of Christchurch
and nearby affected townships, people appeared to expect life to have
returned to normal after a few weeks or months, but this was not the reality
experienced by residents. Many participants noted it was difficult for those
from outside the city to apprehend the demands on locals. By contrast, when
external managers had kept in touch, set up buddy systems, and provided
practical support over an extended period of time, this built organisational
loyalty. Sensitive inquiries into wellbeing and reduced expectations were
47
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
commended, and the helpfulness of such approaches is also supported by
findings from other research (Boullion, 2007).
By contrast to the diminished resources discussed above, for several
organisations resources had increased, via funding to undertake earthquake
related work. If this work was in the area of speciality of the organisation,
this provided exciting new challenges. If the new work threatened to sideline
usual activities that the workers believed to be equally or more important
than, for example, providing supportive earthquake related counselling, this
could pose ethical dilemmas.
Ethical dilemmas
In the immediate aftermath of the disaster of February 2011, human service
managers were required to make decisions for which they had no clear
templates. Several participants believed that at times these decisions
had been made with too much haste, and without adequate consultation
with service users or the professionals working with them. The moving of
vulnerable people from residential care facilities within Canterbury to other
cities without, it was thought, adequate explanations for reasons, and
without due attention to the right to self determination still caused distress.
Participants were particularly upset about the impact on older persons
and their families. Failure to allocate resources according to present need
rather than regulations, frustrated many, as did some apparent misuse or
wasteful allocations of funds whilst other people suffered cold and had to
come begging for food. Several participants spoke of being “under orders”,
whereby they were required to undertake work in a manner that disturbed
them. Most had networked, and at times banded together in protest, to find
more appropriate means of achieving ends.
In the aftermath of an earthquake that devastates large tracts of land and
infrastructure, basic resources such as water, food, power and medical
care may be in short supply. Difficult decisions need to be made when not
everyone’s needs are able to be met to the standard that the people in that
community would normally expect. The need to make decisions that result
in some people receiving insufficient care, gives rise to ethical dilemmas to
which there are no readymade answers (Linzer, Sweifach & Heft-LaPorte,
2008), causing moral distress (van Heugten, 2011). There is a need to provide
more specific education to social workers and other human service workers
about ethical decision making in the context of disaster relief, drawing also
on ethical codes of conduct established by organisations long involved in
such work such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(Soliman & Rogge, 2002).
48
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Practical and social support and resilience building
There is good evidence that, in the aftermath of a disaster, resilience is
fostered by practical, social and psychological support that continues after
the immediate impact recedes (Matthieu et al., 2007; Phelps et al., 2009;
Rothschild & Rand, 2006; Saari, 2005).
Front line workers in my research wanted clear communication from
managers, including about risk and safety in relation to buildings. In
Christchurch, buildings that were considered safe after the September 4,
2010 earthquake collapsed in February 2011. Hochwater et al. (2008) also
noted that workers who had been impacted by hurricanes wanted clear risk
and safety communication. In addition, Christchurch workers wanted to be
kept up to date about future plans including with respect to where they would
be located, and any intentions to restructure. They wanted unnecessary
changes to be put on hold. When decisions could impact on their work
with service users they wanted to be consulted and to have input into those
decisions.
Being taken care of in practical ways, especially by being offered opportunities
to take more leave, and being provided financial and material assistance, was
appreciated. Most participants who received supervision valued this. It was
notable that not all were receiving consistent supervision in the aftermath
of the earthquakes. Some participants noted that their supervisors and
managers were unwell or struggling with stress. Whilst for some participants,
workplace relationships with colleagues had become strained, most in fact
felt strongly supported by their colleagues. They enjoyed having fun together
and appreciated organisations that endeavoured to facilitate that.
Family support has an important stress-reducing function and workers
in stressful occupations should be encouraged to spend time with family
(Berger, 2002). Managers appreciated when they, as well as other staff, had
been assisted to do this. In smaller non-government organisations that could
be difficult to achieve. Managers found local professional networks served
an important function in helping them to overcome isolation and stress and
to share information and tips for working in the new post quake environment.
Being allowed to talk about earthquake experiences and concerns with other
workers was thought to be helpful, although a small number found this talk
could also become overwhelming or unconstructive. Being prevented from
talking about earthquake experiences (fortunately rarely reported) was not
considered helpful and led to distress. Formal counselling was rarely sought
and not deemed likely to be helpful except by a small number of significantly
distressed participants or those who had previously sought help for other
personal matters and were therefore accustomed to using this avenue to
boost resilience. Maintaining healthy eating habits and undertaking regular
49
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
exercise were thought to be very important, but it had been difficult to keep
up routines, especially exercise routines because gyms and swimming pools
were closed, and roads and footpaths were hazardous to bikers and runners.
Conclusions: Implications and Further Research
It is not possible at this early stage in the research project, to do more
than foreshadow potential implications. Certainly, human service workers,
including social workers, have a major role to play in disaster preparation
and in the post disaster environment. They are charged with protecting
vulnerable populations, including children, older persons, physically and
mentally ill persons, and people lacking economic or social resources, who
are often disproportionately impacted (Rock & Corbin, 2007). Although they
have valuable skills and knowledge, and take an ecological perspective
that enables them to see a broader picture and to advocate for necessary
changes in policies and approaches (Javadian, 2007), their preparation is
usually non-specific. Nor does it take sufficient account of the demanding
nature of that work. The present research aims to fill a knowledge gap in
relation to the management of workplace stress in the human services in the
aftermath of a natural disaster. A very preliminary consideration of emerging
themes, suggests that there are opportunities for organisations to enhance
workers’ experiences, and thereby ultimately optimise service delivery.
References
Alexander, D. (1997) ‘The study of natural disasters, 1977–97: Some
reflections on a changing field of knowledge’, Disasters, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp.
284-304.
Berger, S. (2002) ‘Surviving the repelling events and staying sane:
Understanding and controlling stress in the fire service. An applied research
project submitted to the School of Fire Staff and Command’, accessed 1
December, 2011, <http://ebookbrowse.com/surviving-the-repelling-eventsand-staying-sane-pdf-d122900122>
Boullion, M.T. (2007) Workplace implications for hurricane affected Gulf Coast
region industrial companies. PhD, Louisiana Tech University, accessed 1
December, 2011, <http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04032007-163739/
unrestricted/Boullion_dis.pdf>.
Clarke, A.E. (2005) Situational analysis: Grounded theory after the postmodern
turn, Sage: London.
Dwyer, S. (2007) ‘The emotional impact of social work practice’, Journal of
Social Work Practice, Vol. 1, No. 21, pp. 49-60.
Eidelson, R.J., D’Alessio, G.R. & Eidelson, J.I. (2003) ‘The impact of
September 11 on psychologists’, Professional Psychology-Research and
Practice, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 144-150.
50
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Greenhill, M. (2010) ‘Staunch Cantabs sure of recovery’, The Press, 27
September, p. A5.
Gregerson, M.B. (2007) ‘Creativity enhances practitioners’ resiliency and
effectiveness after a hometown disaster’, Professional Psychology: Research
and Practice, Vol. 6, No. 38, pp. 596-602.
Guo, Y-J., Chen, C-H., Lu, M-L., Tan, HK-L., Lee, H-W. & Wang, T-N. (2004)
‘Posttraumatic stress disorder among professional and non-professional
rescuers involved in an earthquake in Taiwan’, Psychiatry Research, Vol. 127,
No. 1-2, pp. 35-41.
Hartig, T., Johansson, G. & Kylin, C. (2003), ‘Residence in the social ecology
of stress and restoration’ Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 59, No. 3, pp. 611636.
Hochwarter, W.A., Laird, M.D. & Brouer, R.L. (2008) ‘Boardup the windows:
The interactive effects of hurricane-induced job stress and perceived
resources on work outcomes’, Journal of Management, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp.
263-289.
Javadian, R. (2007) ‘Social work responses to earthquake disasters: A social
work intervention in Bam, Iran’, International Social Work, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp.
334-346.
Karakashian, M. (1994) ‘Countertransference issues in crisis work with natural
disaster victims’, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, Vol.
31, No. 2, pp. 334-341.
Linzer, N., Sweifach, J. & Heft-LaPorte, H. (2008) ‘Triage and ethics:
Social workers on the front line’, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social
Environment, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 184-203.
Matthieu, M.M., Ivanoff, A., Lewis, S. & Conroy, K. (2007) ‘Social work field
instructors in New York City after 9/11/01: Impact and needs resulting from
the World Trade Center disaster’ The Clinical Supervisor, Vol. 25, No. 1-2,
pp. 23-42.
Phelps, A., Lloyd, D., Creamer, M. & Forbes, D. (2009) ‘Caring for carers in
the aftermath of trauma’, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, Vol.
18, No. 3, pp. 313-330.
Rock, L.F. & Corbin, C.A. (2007) ‘Social work students’ and practitioners’ views
on the need for training Caribbean social workers in disaster management’,
International Social Work, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 383-394.
Rose, S., Bisson, J., Churchill, R. & Wessely, S. (2002) ‘Psychological
debriefing for preventing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)’, Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews 2002, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD000560.
51
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Rothschild, B. & Rand, M.L. (2006) Help for the helper: The psychophysiology
of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma, WW Norton: New York.
Saari, S (2005) A bolt from the blue: Coping with disasters and acute traumas,
Jessica Kingsley Publishers: London.
Soliman, H.H. & Rogge, M.E. (2002) ‘Ethical considerations in disaster
services: A social work perspective’, Electronic Journal of Social Work ISSN,
1537, 422X.
Sullivan, S. & Wong, S. (2011) ‘An enhanced primary health care role following
psychological trauma: The Christchurch earthquakes’, Journal of Primary
Health Care, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 248-251.
Todd, R. (2010) ‘Doctors issue ‘hype’ warning’, The Press, 11 September, p.
11.
Tosone, C. (2007) ‘Therapeutic intimacy: A post-9/11 perspective’, Smith
College Studies in Social Work, Vol. 76, No. 4, pp. 89-98.
van Heugten, K. (2011) Social work under pressure: How to overcome stress,
fatigue and burnout in the workplace, Jessica Kingsley Publishers: London.
52
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 4
Crossing Borders: Migrant Social Workers as
Global Professionals
Christa Fouché & Liz Beddoe
School of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work, The University
of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Christa
Liz
Global Agenda theme 3:
Dignity and worth of the person
53
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
Social work has joined other professions in having members navigate the
opportunities and challenges posed by working and living in countries other
than where they qualified. Research in New Zealand and elsewhere has
found challenges faced by migrant practitioners in practising ‘global’ social
work include the collision with previous perceptions of professional roles.
This chapter explores the professional implications for social worker global
mobility and offers strategies to maintain the self-worth of this population.
Respect for diversity demands that migrant social workers be provided with
opportunities for induction and an appreciation of strengths in local, regional
and professional cultures.
Introduction
Workforce mobility has become an increasingly familiar phenomenon over the
previous two decades. Challenged by labour shortages, recruitment experts
and the agencies they serve have had to respond with creative strategies to
meet the variety of challenges and opportunities in today’s global world. One
of the more popular strategies to help resolve staff shortages and meet the
demand from ageing populations, is to turn to the availability of international
workers. This holds true for many industries, including the professional
workforce, and more particularly for the health and social services sectors.
This movement of people between countries also includes social work
practitioners and social work educators and although not the focus of this
chapter, also potential or actual social work service users.
Research suggests that social work agencies have over the last decade
aggressively marketed to migrants the benefits of moving to their country, in
the hopes that this labour pool will fill gaps in its social care system (White,
2006; Welbourne, et al., 2007; Van Lanen, 2008; Simpson, 2009). Countries,
such as England, Australia and New Zealand (NZ) have been actively
recruiting social workers from abroad to fill a critical labour shortage that
cannot be met internally. Between 2003 and 2004 there was an 82 percent
increase in the number of overseas qualified social workers entering the UK,
with the greatest numbers coming from Australia, South Africa and the USA
(Welbourne, et al., 2007: 29). Due to the changes in policies for migrants
from outside the EU, this demand has now reduced, but in certain parts
of the UK where labour shortages within the profession are most acute
(particularly in London and south east UK), migrant social workers still make
up almost half the workforce (Simpson, 2009). The NZ Department of Labour
regularly publishes reports on the present and future labour market situation
for NZ (New Zealand Immigration Service, 2011). These reports consistently
highlight shortfalls in the social work workforce that were to continue into
the foreseeable future, and claims that it would be necessary to encourage
foreign social workers to migrate to NZ and practice within their discipline to
meet this labour shortage.
54
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
With the increasing reliance on recruitment of migrants, increasing attention
to the experiences of the migrant workforce and the perspectives of their
colleagues, clients and employers is required. A number of research
initiatives are emerging internationally around practitioner mobility and the
practice and education needs of the social work workforce. Recent studies
from the UK report the implications and challenges facing both migrant
social workers in seeking work, and prospective employers in hiring such
individuals. The ‘International Social Care Workers Survey’ (Weiss-Gal and
Welbourne, 2008) compares the professional features of social work in 10
countries, while a study of ‘International recruitment in social care in England’
(Hussein, Manthorpe and Stevens, 2010) considers the UK recruitment and
employment of ‘international’ social workers. While the overall well-being of
migrants is implicit in many of the publications on specific populations (such
as child migrants and those with special needs, such as HIV-infected or elder
migrants), the well-being of professional migrants is rarely addressed in the
literature and is an area worthy of further study.
Evidence exists of human services professional migrants from developing
countries being subjected to unfair working conditions, lower pay and
discrimination by their employers because of their employment disadvantage
(Pemberton and Stevens, 2006). Research findings have begun to reveal the
tenuous positions that some employees experience and challenges such
as bullying and mistreatment in the sector, are highlighted (Hussein, et al.,
2011). However, few employers seem to make specific accommodation to
“acculturate” social work migrants into the workplace. Physically resettling
and finding employment in a new country is only part of the challenge for
social workers and other highly skilled migrants crossing borders. In the
same way that learning about a culture, language and social norms are
part of the general acculturation process, adjusting to the professional
and workplace culture in a new country poses challenges of its own. Even
though the challenges they face in settling into a new country and a new
work context may impact on the effectiveness of their role, limited support
only is provided.
This chapter aims to highlight two of the most prominent and inter-related
themes on the professional implications for migrant social workers and
draws from a combined qualitative and quantitative study undertaken by
the authors from 2009 to 2011. It is not possible within the scope of this
publication to discuss all the themes arising in that research project, nor is it
the focus to present the views of local professionals on this issue.
55
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Methodology
The combined qualitative and quantitative study on which some of the
arguments in this chapter is based aimed to explore the profile of the migrant
social work workforce in NZ and the key professional issues experienced by
this specific cohort of the migrant workforce. Ethics approval was obtained
from the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee
for a three-phased project. Firstly, an examination of key features of 234
registered social workers in New Zealand with an overseas social work
qualification was undertaken and reported locally (Bartley et al., 2011). This
examination was then followed by a series of key informant focus groups
with a total of 18 overseas-qualified social workers recruited via personal
and professional networks of the research team. The focus group data were
analyzed using general inductive thematic analysis. These highlighted eleven
themes related to the views and reported experiences of overseas qualified
social workers in New Zealand. The third phase comprised an online survey
of 294 migrant social workers, derived from the themes of the focus group
data. A range of scales and response options including coded answers and
free text options were incorporated in the survey, which remained active for
a period of four months. While the focus group participants were recruited
via snowball sampling, the survey participants were recruited via an e-mail to
the membership of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers
(ANZASW) and an advertisement in the New Zealand Federation of Voluntary
Welfare Organisation’s (NZFVWO) newsletter.
Core themes emerged from the analysis of the survey related to the challenges
faced in a new country and conflicts arising from previous experiences of
practising social work. A control of the literature on these issues highlighted
similar themes. Two of the most prominent and inter-related themes, namely
perceptions of the context of social work, and of professional roles and public
recognition are outlined next before strategies to address these challenges,
namely induction and ongoing support, and the utilisation of the strengths of
migrant social workers are discussed.
The Professional Implications for Social Worker Global Mobility
Contextual factors
In acknowledging the existence of an increasing mobile workforce, a number
of international organisations concerned with social work practice and
education, such as the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW)
and the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) have
led attempts to create a more coherent international identity, including the
standardisation of content studied as part of a social work degree. Global
definitions of social work and a set of Global Qualifying Standards (IASSW,
2005) have been developed to ensure consistency within and between
56
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
qualifications - partly with the aim to facilitate portability. However, this has
not happened without some tension and critique. The Global Agenda (IFSW,
2010) includes as one of its main themes ‘The dignity and worth of persons’.
Included in this strand is a call to respect diversity and belief systems.
Greater movement of social workers globally creates both opportunities and
challenges to meeting the goals of the agenda; social workers in receiving
countries need to recognise the special contributions migrant professionals
bring, while those social workers new to a country, need to seek understanding
of local practices, including indigenous beliefs and practices.
There is wide acknowledgement that the nature of social work knowledge
is based on its capacity to find local solutions not only to local issues, but
also to global problems (Simpson, 2009). Crisp (2009) suggests that without
a cognisance of differences in the way social services are organised and
delivered, and recognition of the legal and historical context as it differs in
varying contexts, foreign-trained social workers may lack the necessary
grounding to effectively do their job. A wide body of research suggests that
a central set of values and ethics particular to social work are interpreted
through the lens of national or regionally-specific historical, social, political
and cultural norms (Simpson, 2009; Welbourne, et al., 2007). As a result,
some of these terms have distinct meanings in different contexts, potentially
leading to dilemmas for practitioners who have trained overseas (Welbourne,
et al., 2007). Similarly, the legislative framework underpinning social work
policy, and informing how the profession is practised is also an important
area of difference internationally. Migrant professionals encounter workplace
and professional cultures that may differ markedly from their previous country
(Beddoe, et al., 2011).
The significance of these differences may not be acknowledged or recognised
as an issue by local social workers (Simpson, 2009: 661). Transferability of
skills to a foreign context is complex and despite acquiring a transferable
skill set, migrants may be regarded as lacking in understanding of local
knowledge and of the demands of the host society (Simpson, 2009). These
concerns may lead to migrant professionals experiencing discrimination and
prejudice, fuelled by perceived incomparability of qualifications and barriers
with regards language and culture (Larsen, 2007), resulting in a diminished
sense of self-esteem in the professional role. Studies in the UK have found
that many highly qualified migrant social workers end up working in social
care related professions as a result of the difficulty in getting registered,
often filling positions for which they are over-qualified and underpaid (Cuban,
2008).
A significant finding of the NZ study is that orientation to social work in a
new country requires more than the provision of information about legal
frameworks and policies. Migrant social workers need to become more
57
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
acculturated - not only in terms of aspects such as language and culture,
but also professionally in terms of aspects of registration, ethics and
legislation (Hanks and Sims, 2009). However, what such acculturation to
‘local knowledge’ entails, and how and by whom this is provided, is unclear.
NZ-based research suggest that highly skilled migrants immigrating to the
country found access to necessary training or practical experience to ‘upskill’
their prior experience as often untenable or expensive (Beddoe, et al., 2011;
North and Trlin, 2004; North, 2007). Hurdles surrounding registration have
led White (2006: 637-38) to conclude that for social workers hoping to cross
borders, “…the comparability of qualifications [is] a major hurdle requir[ing]
tenacity, resourcefulness, and fiscal resources to overcome.”
As one way around these tensions, many social care agencies and recruiters
in the UK have been reported to actively recruit migrants from countries
where social work education and practice is perceived to be similar, such
as Australia, NZ, Canada and parts of Eastern Europe (Evans, et al., 2007;
Hussein et al., 2010). At the same time, they have expressed reluctance
to employ social workers coming from countries like the Philippines and
India, where their perceptions are that social work is less professionalised
and regulated than in the UK (Hussein, et al., 2011). In the NZ study survey
participants were generally positive about the extent to which their overseas
training helped to prepare them for practice in NZ. However, focus groups
and survey participants reported that it was difficult to find information about
NZ-specific social work. Some participants recounted positive experiences
of being welcomed into their workplace and feeling secure in their orientation
process but more felt they were left wanting.
Professional roles and status
The professional status and related roles and expectations as well as public
recognition of a profession may differ markedly globally (Weiss-Gal and
Welbourne, 2008). In many countries social work is still poorly understood
amongst the public with high degrees of ambivalence or negativity (Davidson
and King, 2005). Similarly, the regard by other professionals on multidisciplinary teams might be varying in different contexts (Jones, 2001). For
social workers crossing borders, the challenge occurs when initially adjusting
to their new professional role and differing professional status.
Many social workers migrating to the UK from countries where the role of
social workers is not so tightly prescribed, or where there continues to be
a greater role for such individuals in social policy formation have found this
transition to be difficult (White, 2006; Evans, et al., 2007; Simpson, 2009).
Likewise, for social workers used to being held in high esteem within the
community care environment and/or general society, working in a country
where social work is poorly regarded or its role diminished is often a shock to
such individuals (Jones, 2001). In the NZ study (Fouché, et al., forthcoming)
58
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
several questions were posed to survey participants, related to their
professional roles and public recognition of NZ social work. In one of the
questions, participants were asked how strong particular aspects of social
work practice in NZ were compared to where they qualified. In terms of the
relationships between social work and other professions, about a third of
the respondents found this to be worse than their country of origin, while
37.5% view the profession as valued by the general public worse than in
their country of qualification. The profession as valued by social workers
themselves was similar with 35% believing that this was worse in NZ. Having
to adjust to these differing roles, perceptions and experiences of professional
status has the potential to impact significantly on the professional self-worth
of global professionals.
Integral to the role and status of practising a profession, is the opportunity
to utilise a particular skill set. As stated by Hussein, et al. (2011), based on
their research findings, the opportunity to use existing skills is regarded
as very important for migrants and professionals may often feel their skills
are underutilised. In the NZ study, there was much discussion of lack of
opportunity to use skills previously acquired and practised. One respondent
passionately conveyed that foreign social workers are treated “as if they
know nothing and their experience abroad is not valuable”. Some participants
expressed generalised frustration with the organisation of practice often
linked to under-utilisation of valuable social work skills brought by migrants,
to the extent that one participant reported making the decision to move back
to her country of origin due to her previous experience in Care and Protection
‘wasted’. Concerns about the under-utilisation of skills engendered a sense
of suppressed outrage, that the profession seemed less than their previous
experience of it. In contrast to culture shock, normally transitory, participants
experienced professional dislocation - a profound, long-lasting sense of
unease, linked to diminished status and feeling constantly undermined
(Fouché, et al., forthcoming).
Discussion
The importance of induction and ongoing support
Induction and support have frequently been judged insufficient for the specific
needs of migrant social workers (Experian, 2007; Khan and Dominelli, 2000;
Simpson, 2009; Welbourne, et al., 2007; White, 2006). Where induction and
orientation is provided, professional motivation can be maintained, and
workforce attrition rates reduced (Simpson, 2009: 659-60).
According to research conducted in the UK, induction programmes are
available for new social workers. These however show wide variation in terms
of their scope and duration and are often judged inadequate for the specific
needs of migrant social workers (Evans, et al., 2007; Experian, 2007; Khan
59
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
and Dominelli, 2000; Simpson, 2009; Welbourne, et al., 2007; White, 2006).
While many social care agencies are reported to provide initial settlement
support in the form of monetary payments, free housing or practical aspects
of living in a new country, there is less of a systemic effort put into ongoing
professional support of social work practice for these individuals (Experian,
2007). Employers are often constrained by a lack of time and appropriate
resources to invest in such efforts, as well as the immediate need of filling
critical gaps in service delivery to clients. An underlying assumption of
many employers is that migrant social workers will ‘adapt in time’, yet the
Social Care Association of the UK believes that more systemic support is
necessary if the intent is to build a quality and long-term workforce. For
the few employers who have offered such support, in the form of assigning
migrants mentors or placing them in cohort groups, research indicates that in
the long-term, professional motivation has been maintained, and workforce
attrition rates reduced (Simpson, 2009: 659-60).
The need for orientation and induction processes that can successfully
impart local knowledge to migrant social workers has also been highlighted
in the NZ study (Beddoe, et al., forthcoming). Survey participants were
asked how much advanced knowledge they had of the wider cultural and
socio-political context in NZ when they first arrived. Results identified that
more than half of them had absolutely no to very little prior knowledge,
while a quarter described their knowledge as adequate. Only 17.3% (n=36)
felt confident that they knew quite a lot or very much. This indicates that
many migrant social workers begin practising in local agencies feeling ill
informed about the wider contextual and historical issues that will impact
their practice. The focus groups reported similar findings. Most understood
that NZ had a social welfare system but very few arrived well informed
and in fact some participants admitted that they knew absolutely nothing.
Again, the lack of organised information available to migrant social workers
when exploring their professional opportunities was highlighted and where
available, induction packages were experienced as highly variable in terms
of delivery, structure, timeliness, content and quality from agency to agency.
The participants in the NZ study suggested a much greater role for the
professional bodies - both the professional association and the regulatory
body - in providing information before migration and broad orientation to the
profession in NZ.
In light of the gaps that must be bridged in practising professionally across
national borders, we argue the importance of initial and ongoing induction
support for migrant social workers. While employers may report to offer
some form of support, the nature of these programmes and their perceived
value to the migrant social workers themselves is largely unknown. The need
is seemingly for induction programmes to meet the needs of the workers
in terms of more advanced contextual professional development, while
60
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
validating the prior experiences of these individuals to maintain or restore
their sense of professional competency.
Appreciation of migrants’ strengths
Brown, et al. (2008) as well as Findlay and McCormack (2005) eloquently
make the case that both the overseas qualified social worker and local
colleagues need to appreciate the assets, strengths and opportunities that
each brings to professional practice. In so much as being a migrant can
require a certain degree of acculturation into the norms and behaviours
governing the practice of social work in a new context, employers and
colleagues can also stand to learn from the perspectives and experiences of
these individuals. Professional acculturation in social work should involve a
two way exchange between the foreign social worker and local colleagues,
where both come to understand the assets, strengths and opportunities that
each groups’ background brings to professional practice (Brown, et al.). As
migrant populations and cultural diversity increase within many countries,
an international social worker may actually have a greater understanding of
ways of approaching or working within this plurality. Yet a study of Australianborn and practising social workers in Australia suggests that for many social
workers, they are yet to see the global dimensions of their local practices,
and the possible lessons they can garner from their foreign born colleagues
(Findlay and McCormack, 2005).
A critical component of practice for any migrant social worker is to become
cross-culturally competent in their newly adopted professional situation.
Although cultural specificity has led some practitioners to question the
credibility of ‘foreigners’ in social work or social work education, the ethnic
background and/or language abilities of migrants can be advantageous.
However, their cultural knowledge and skills are under-utilised by their
employers (Nash and Trlin, 2004: 35). Crisp (2009: 675) for instance, concedes
that, being a ‘foreigner’ to the UK meant that she had some definitive deficits
in local knowledge, but also argues that as an outsider, she was able to “make
contributions that a UK national may not have been able to make”, including
being the ‘naïve observer’. This latter point is of importance, given that it has
been argued that the exchange of ideas, good practice, understanding and
evidence is critical to the development of social work as a global profession
(Manthorpe, 2005). Whether migrant social workers see their ‘outsider status’
as an asset or a liability varies across individuals, cultures and host countries.
The majority of those surveyed in Nash and Trlin’s (2004: 35) study believed
that their ethnic background and/or language abilities were an advantage to
them in their present position, including being able to more effectively deal
with diversity and providing appropriate services to their own cultural groups,
yet many reported that their cultural knowledge and skills were not utilised
effectively by their employers.
61
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
A focus on migrants’ deficits of ‘local’ knowledge of skills may risk ignoring
the range of strengths and assets they bring to their new professional
context. Hussein, et al. (2011: 12) have noted that career progression
was problematic in particular with participants feeling “they were ‘hitting
a glass ceiling’”. Where previous skills and experience were thought to be
insufficiently recognised, there was a feeling of “having to start afresh”.
Migrant social workers who found their career development thwarted or
stalled reported “finding it difficult to settle for less” (Hussein, et al., 2011:
12). Further research is needed to explore the impact of migration on social
work careers. As a global workforce, we need to acknowledge that being a
migrant requires the responsibility to achieve an understanding of the norms
and behaviours governing the practice of social work in a new context. The
NZ study has confirmed much of the research that suggests however that
there is a significant ‘host’ responsibility to ensure that migrants’ skills are
respected and valued. Efforts made to welcome and orient new colleagues
from abroad will contribute to maintaining the self-worth of social workers,
and as employers and colleagues we can also stand to learn from their
perspectives and experiences. We need to clarify the role for social work
practitioners and managers in welcoming them, for educators in preparing
them and for professional bodies and organisations in supporting their
transition.
References
Bartley, A., Beddoe, L., Duke, J., Fouché, C., Harington, P. & Shah, R. (2011)
‘Crossing Borders: Key features of migrant social workers in New Zealand’,
Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work 23(3): 16-30.
Beddoe, L., Fouché, C., Bartley, A. and Harington. P. (2011) ‘Migrant Social
Workers’ Experience in New Zealand: Education and Supervision Issues’,
Social Work Education 1-20. doi:10.1080/02615479.2011.633600.
Beddoe, L., Fouche, C., Bartley, A. and Brenton, N. (In Review) ‘Strengths and
struggles: Overseas qualified social worker’s experiences in Aotearoa New
Zealand’.
Brown, K., Bates, N. and Keen, S. (2008) Supporting the recruitment of
international social workers in the UK: a guide for employers, Birmingham:
Learn to Care.
Crisp, B. R. (2009) ‘Is There a Role for Foreigners as Social Work Educators?’,
Social Work Education: The International Journal 28(6): 668-77.
Cuban, S. (2008) ‘Home/work: The roles of education, literacy and learning in
the networks and mobility of professional women migrant carers in Cumbria’,
Ethnography and Education 3(1): 81-96.
62
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Davidson, S. and King, S. (2005) Public knowledge of and attitudes
to social work in Scotland.
Edinburgh: Scottish Executive Social
Research. Retrieved December 2, 2011 from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/
Publications/2005/09/15142511/25120
Evans, S., Baker, C., Huxley, P., White, J. and Philpin, S. (2007) International
recruitment of social care workers and social workers in Wales-Final Report.
Swansea: Centre for Social Carework Research, Swansea University.
Experian (2007) Overseas Workers in the UK social care, children and young
people sector. London: Skills for Care and Development.
Findlay, M. and McCormack, J. (2005) ‘Globalisation and social work: A
snapshot of Australian practitioners’ views’, Australian Social Work 58(3):
231-43.
Fouché, C.B., Beddoe, L., Bartley, A. and de Haan, I. (forthcoming) ‘Enduring
professional dislocation: Migrant social workers’ perceptions of their
professional roles’, In review.
Hanks, S., & Sims, D. (2009). Intercultural Consolidation? Exploring the
Experiences of Internationally qualified social workers and the Post Qualifying
Framework. Paper presented at the 11th UK Joint Social Work Education
Conference and the 3rd UK Social Work Research Conference (8-11th July
2009).
Hussein, S., Manthorpe, J. and Stevens, M. (2010) ‘People in places:
A qualitative exploration of recruitment agencies’ perspectives on the
employment of international social workers in the UK’, British Journal of
Social Work 40(3):1000–16.
Hussein, S., Manthorpe, J. and Stevens, M. (2011) ‘The experiences of migrant
social work and social care practitioners in the UK: findings from an online
survey’, European Journal of Social Work doi: 10.1080/13691457.2010.513962.
IASSW. (2005) Global Standards for Social Work Education. Joint Statement
by IASSW and IFSW. Retrieved December 8, 2011, from http://www.ifsw.org/
cm_data/GlobalSocialWorkStandards2005.pdf
IFSW (2010) Global Agenda on Social Work and Social Development.
Retrieved January 12, 2012 from http://www.ifsw.org/f38000378.html
Jones, C. (2001) ‘Voices from the front line: state social workers and New
Labour’, British Journal of Social Work 31(4): 547-62.
Khan, P. and Dominelli, L. (2000) ‘The impact of globalization on social work
in the UK’, European Journal of Social Work 3(2): 95-108.
63
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Larsen, J. A. (2007) ‘Embodiment of discrimination and overseas nurses’
career progression’, Journal of Clinical Nursing 16(12): 2187-95.
Manthorpe, J. (2005) ‘The evaluation of the new social work degree
qualification in England: wider perspectives’, European Journal of Social
Work 8(3): 343-46.
Nash, M. and Trlin, A. (2004) Social Work with Immigrants, Refugees and
Asylum Seekers in New Zealand, Palmerston North: New Settlers Programme,
Massey University.
New Zealand Immigration Service. (2011) Long term skill shortage List – INZ
1093. Wellington, NZ: Department of Labour, Retrieved December 8, 2011
from http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/063ECB35-F5D5-44D88325-7041A727A9D5/0/INZ1093December2011.pdf
North, N. (2007) The Employment of Immigrants in New Zealand: The Attitudes,
Policies, Practices and Experiences of Employers. Palmerston North: New
Settlers Programme, Massey University.
North, N. and Trlin, A. (2004) Immigrants in Business: a Study of Self-Employed
Immigrants and their Businesses in New Zealand. New Settlers Programme
Occasional Paper Publication Number 10. Palmerston North: New Settlers
Programme, Massey University.
Pemberton, S. and Stevens, C. (2006) Supporting Migrant Workers in the
Northwest of England. Liverpool: Merseyside Social Inclusion Observatory,
University of Liverpool.
Simpson, G. (2009) ‘Global and Local Issues in the Training of˜Overseas Social
Workers’, Social Work Education: The International Journal 28(6): 655 - 67.
Van Lanen, M. (2008) ‘Peeping at peers: a cross-national study of
professionalism in social work’, European Journal of Social Work 11(4): 46973.
Weiss-Gal, I. and Welbourne, P. (2008) ‘The professionalisation of social
work: A cross-national exploration’, International Journal of Social Welfare
17: 281–90.
Welbourne, P., Harrison, G. and Ford, D. (2007) ‘Social work in the UK and
the global labour market: Recruitment, practice and ethical considerations’,
International Social Work 50(1): 27-40.
White, R. (2006) ‘Opportunities and challenges for social workers crossing
borders’, International Social Work 49(5): 629-40.
64
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 5
The Illusion of Universalism: Persistent Inequality
in Uganda’s Education Sector Amidst a Universal
Primary Education Policy
Janestic M. Twikirize
Lecturer in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration,
Makerere University, Uganda, East Africa.
Global Agenda theme 1: Social and economic
inequalities within countries and between regions
65
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
Uganda introduced the policy of Universal Primary Education in 1997; where
all children of school going age have access to basic education free of charge.
A key policy objective was to increase enrolment and reduce inequalities
in education based on socio-economic status. While it is true that gross
enrolment in primary school has tremendously increased over time, severe
disparities in access, retention and educational outcomes persist. This paper
critically examines the impact of universal primary education on equality in
access to education. The ethic of universal (free) social service provisioning
in a resource-constrained environment is interrogated. Prospects for
strengthening the social work roles in education in Uganda are highlighted.
Introduction
Education is a fundamental human right and a major pillar of human
development. It is critical for individuals’ participation in the economic and
political processes, leads to better health outcomes and generally higher
levels of socio-economic development and better quality of life. Education
as a human right was first affirmed in the 1948 United Nations Universal
Declaration on Human Rights. During the 1990 World Conference on
Education For All (EFA) in Jomtien, Thailand, universal access to education
was endorsed as not just a right but a development goal. This was further
reaffirmed in the Dakar EFA conference in 2000. The United Nations Millennium
Declaration of 2000 further underscored universal primary education as a
development goal and set a specific target of achieving this goal alongside
other development targets by 2015.
At the national level, the importance of education is affirmed by the
Government of Uganda (GoU) through its 1995 constitution; and it forms a
primary component of the national development plan and poverty reduction
strategy paper (GoU, 2010b).
An underlying principle in all the international and national frameworks on
education is Universalism. Emphasis has been put on universal provisioning
of primary education as a key strategy for removing barriers to access,
especially for the poor. Hence, universalism can be seen in principle as a
significant tool for reducing socio-economic inequalities which plague many
nations and societies.
Universalism vs. Neoliberalism and Selectivism in Service Delivery
Universalism is founded on egalitarian principles of social justice and it
has been advocated for as the most equitable approach to social service
delivery (Hsiao, 1995; Filc, 2007). It is based on the ethic of universal moral
equality; an argument that human beings are of equal worth and should
therefore have an equality of condition where everyone alike, to the fullest
66
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
extent possible, has his or her needs and wants satisfied. According to the
2006 World Development Report, equity is defined in terms of a level playing
field on which individuals have equal opportunity to freely pursue chosen life
plans and are spared from extreme deprivation in outcomes. Based on this,
universal service provision is considered the most equitable policy option for
access to services and opportunities, as opposed to neoliberal approaches
as well as targeting, which are seen to exclude sections of the population
from social benefits. Universalism emphasizes the role of the state as a
social service provider. Hsiao (1995) notes that universalism relies on the
belief that the national government has the ability to advance the welfare of
its entire population as well as manage public sector operations efficiently.
Universalism, equality and non-discrimination are also central pillars of
rights-based social policy (Kohler and Keene, 2006) where the population
receives services as entitlements and not as a favour from government. For
universalism to lead to transformation it should consider not only access to
but also the quality of the social services and the universal services should
be both politically and financially sustainable in order to create conditions for
long term change (Kohler and Keane, 2006). This means that there has to be
sustained commitment from the government, but also adequate resources to
back up that commitment.
A key aspect of education delivery is the quality of the service. Faller (2008)
rightly contends that the efficiency of the education system has as much to
do with the quality of provision as with the quantity of places available and
filled. Similarly it has been argued that enrolment per se cannot be a measure
of equality if some children who are in school are still unable to read and
write (UWEZO, 2011) or if only a small proportion of those entering school
complete the primary cycle with a significant number dropping out and
lapsing into illiteracy or semi-illiteracy (Muwanika, 2008). This perpetuates
the overall socio-economic inequalities in a given society.
Delivery of Education in Uganda
Formal education in Uganda was introduced by the British colonialists and
missionaries in 1877. From the onset the education system was marred
by social inequality since it was selectively targeted to a few people who
the colonial government was interested in training as clericals in their
administrative set up (Syngellakis and Arudo, 2006). Others enrolled were
children from the royal families of the local kingdoms. Even with regard to
gender, males were the first choice for enrolment while the major motivation
for educating the girls was to prepare them as wives of local princes that
had received an education. After attainment of independence in 1962, the
national government sought to expand social services in general including
education. More schools were opened but because of varying socioeconomic factors, only a few people would access education. While inability
67
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
to pay played a major factor, the limited value attached to education was
significant in keeping a number of children from school.
A major stride in education reform in Uganda was achieved in 1987 when
the Education Policy Review Commission recommended universalisation of
primary education. The argument was that it is possible to ensure that all
citizens have access to basic education only if every child is enrolled and
completes a full cycle of primary education (Syngellakis and Arudo, 2006).
Equitable access to quality and affordable education was also seen as a
significant tool in fighting poverty.
Uganda introduced Universal (free) Primary Education in 1997. The major
objective of the UPE policy was to make education equitable in order to
remove disparities and inequalities and enable every child to enter and remain
in school until they complete primary education. Hence, in tandem with the
recommendations of the policy review commission and later on the Dakar
Framework for Action on Education for All (World Education Forum, 2000),
the policy objective underscored not only access but quality education for
all.
UPE and equality of access to education
The immediate achievement of UPE was a soaring in enrolment rates signifying
increased access to education by groups of the population that had hitherto
had limited access due to financial constraints. Enrolment increased from 2.5
million pupils in 1997 to 8.7 million in 2009, reaching a level of 82% of eligible
pupils (Uganda Bureau of Statistics [UBOS], 2011). UPE also significantly
reduced the gender gap in enrolment, with the proportion of girls enrolled
at primary level increasing from 44.2% in 1990 to 50.6% in 2010 (ibid). As
argued in the World Development Report 2012, with free education, parents
no longer had to choose between sending a girl or boy to school (World
Bank, 2011). However, as indicated subsequently, other underlying factors
have perpetuated gender inequality where girls are more likely to drop out of
school and therefore fail to benefit from a complete cycle of education.
Persistent inequalities in the education sector
The fact that UPE tremendously increased enrolment and subsequent
access to education for the poor is not debatable. What is in contention is
if indeed the increased access has translated into equitable distribution of
education services and associated opportunities. A recent report on primary
education in East Africa indicated that in Uganda, 65% of children aged 6 to
16 who have never enrolled in school come from the poor to poorest wealth
quintiles and similarly 50% of those who drop out are from the lowest wealth
quintiles (UWEZO, 2011); signifying persistent socio-economic inequalities
in access to education. In addition, the rates of completion of a full course of
primary education have remained very poor and even some reversals have
68
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
been noted. For example, between 2004 and 2009, the completion rate fell
from 72% to 54% for boys and from 54% to 51% for girls (UBOS, 2010).
The introduction of UPE severely affected the quality of education in Uganda
and this has placed the ethic of universalism in education services in particular
and social services in general into public debate. Inadequate infrastructure
and materials commensurate with the surge in enrolment, ill-motivated
teachers, and the dwindling individual and community responsibility in
education have combined to affect the quality of education and subsequently
the learning outcomes.
The birth of UPE seems to have led to the proliferation of private schools
instead of reducing their numbers since there was availability of free education.
Recent statistics indicate that nationally, 38% of community primary schools
are privately owned and this increases to 51% in the urban areas (UBOS,
2011). This increase in private schools has created almost parallel categories
of the education infrastructure with differing degrees of service quality. On
the one hand, there is the public school that is accessible to all free of charge
(the UPE school); on the other there is the private school that is accessed on
the basis of ability to pay. One could argue that the proliferation of private
primary schools reduces pressure in public schools and therefore releases
government resources to improve the quality of education. However, this
does not seem to have taken place. Instead, the presence of private schools
especially in the urban areas has served to reveal shortfalls in the quality
of education in public primary schools. The private schools consistently
exhibit better performance and the Government of Uganda acknowledges
this disparity. In 2010, an assessment of primary school performance
indicated that 90% of pupils in private schools reached the required level of
proficiency in literacy and numeracy compared to less than 50% of those in
public schools (Uganda National Examination Board [UNEB], 2010). Given
that private schools are accessed by children from wealthier households,
it implies persistent inequalities in access to education based on socioeconomic status. In addition to having relatively better learning environments,
private schools attract better qualified teachers because they offer them a
relatively higher salary than what the government offers. The public schools
also fall into two major categories, namely the purely free rural UPE school
and the urban UPE school which in most cases still charges a nominal fee. In
situations where children from relatively wealthier households attend public
schools, they are subjected to extra tutoring which demands extra payment.
The low quality education in public schools has been attributed to lack of
adequately trained and motivated teachers, insufficient resources within the
education sector, and inadequate support supervision (GoU, 2010a), all of
which result in low completion and retention and ultimately poor learning
outcomes.
69
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Disparities in retention and completion rates by gender, region, and
rural-urban divide
Uganda’s education system is also still characterized by regional and gender
disparities in access, retention and learning outcomes. In terms of regional
and rural-urban disparities, for example, the Northern region has the lowest
proportion of primary schools located within community residence at only
53.4% (UBOS, 2010). It also has the lowest Net Enrolment Ratio at only 74%
and the lowest retention rate at 26.5% (GoU, 2010b, Muwanika, 2008). In
terms of learning outcomes, recent surveys, while indicating a generally poor
performance at the national level, revealed that districts in the North and
Eastern regions have a failure rate of over 90% in numeracy and literacy in
primary school compared to 60% for districts in the Western and Central
regions (UWEZO, 2011). Locality also continues to determine retention levels;
with children in rural schools having a 29% reduced likelihood of completing
the cycle of primary education than their urban counterparts (Muwanika,
2008).
Another direct manifestation of persistent inequality is the literacy rates. The
Northern and Eastern regions exhibit lower levels of literacy at 59% and
64% respectively, which is below the national average of 69%. By 2009, only
69% of the rural population aged 10 years and above could read and write
compared to 88% in the urban areas (UBOS, 2010).
With regard to gender, apart from enrolment where gender parity appears to
have been achieved, gaps in education persist as reflected in disproportionate
levels of retention (completion rates), illiteracy and other learning outcomes.
For example, in aggregate terms, only one third of girls who enrol in primary
education continue in school up to the age of 18 compared to a half of the boys
(UBOS, 2010). Documented causes of school drop-out for girls include early
pregnancy and marriage, sexual harassment; cultural practices particularly
female genital mutilation, and lack of proper sanitation facilities in UPE
schools (GoU, 2010b). Persistent inequalities are also reflected in learning
outcomes. According to a national survey of school performance conducted
in 2009 there were persistent low learning outcomes for girls at different
levels of schooling relative to boys. The report showed for example that only
48.1% of the girls in primary six were proficient in numeracy compared to
58.7% of the boys (UNEB, 2010). Similarly, only 69% of adult women are
literate compared to 76% of the adult men (UBOS, 2010). The same report
indicates that the percentage of women with no formal education (24%) is
more than double that of men (10%) showing unequal education outcomes.
The fact that where one lives and attends school, as well as their gender
still affects learning outcomes attests to continuing inequalities in education
amidst universalisation.
70
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Illusion and disillusionment
The government of Uganda promised universal primary education and while
it has kept its promise, the quality of education and the continuing disparities
based on regional and socio-economic status have led to disillusionment
among the recipients. This has not only manifested in the education sector
but also in the health sector where free health care turned out to be ineffective
due to severely compromised quality. This has led some parents and other
stakeholders to find other alternatives while in some local governments,
district councils have voted to suspend UPE in their districts (Kaaya, 2011),
a vote of no-confidence in the system.
While increased enrolment access to education is seen as a significant tool
in bringing about equity in development, the pre-existing socio-economic
situations in an area impact on the learning environment and create a
complex situation where inequality becomes manifest even in the education
sphere. As noted by Higgins (2008), while UPE can be an effective approach
to addressing regional inequalities in terms of access, it may lack an
equalizing effect in the broader socio-economic contexts; and as concluded
by Zuze and Leibbrandt (2008), equality of access to formal education does
not necessarily translate to equality of outcomes.
This paper has presented a case example to illustrate that it is not enough to
have good intentions if they are not backed by the ability to translate them
into reality for the whole population. In the end, the universality of services
remains an ideal, appearing in principle but not delivering to the expectation
of the population. Those who have the resources still seek relatively better
services from the private sector where they pay for the service of a relatively
acceptable quality. This has in essence perpetuated socioeconomic
inequalities since quality education, not just enrolment in school, has a
direct bearing on human development and socio-economic wellbeing of the
individuals.
Based on the above, it would appear that wholesale universalism may not
be effective in a resource poor environment. Achieving equitable distribution
of services and opportunities must go beyond removing financial barriers at
entry into school to consider the wider social environment in which children
and their households operate since it is particularly such environments that
perpetuate inequalities. While this paper does not recommend neoliberal
approaches in service provision, adjustments can be made to wisely target
limited resources to where they are needed most while at the same time
taking advantage of the liberalized education services to save resources in
order to improve the quality of public education so that no single group of the
population is disadvantaged.
71
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Prospects for Social Work Intervention in the Education Sector
Social and economic inequalities within countries and between regions are
of great concern and constitute a major theme in the global agenda for social
work and social development. In Uganda, social workers have not been
assigned concrete roles in the education sector either through public policy
or civil society. Given its skill base, social work has a key role to contribute to
equitable development and ensure that policies and programmes designed
to tackle poverty and inequality through various sectors equally benefit the
disadvantaged groups in society.
Children from poorer families and communities are most likely to drop out of
school and miss out on their right to education despite the universal primary
education policy. Social work intervention in education should therefore be
closely linked to poverty eradication strategies. Social work can play a role
in mobilising communities for development, enabling the communities to
use their resources to come out of poverty. Social work can also take on
an advocacy role, engaging relevant state institutions such as parliament,
the national planning authority, and the Ministry of Education to cause
them to allocate adequate resources and monitor their use to achieve
equitable access to quality education. Other duty bearers such as parents
and teachers need to be brought back on board to commit to fulfilling their
obligations to children’s right to quality education. Advocacy should also
address the creation of enabling school environments which can enhance
retention especially for vulnerable children. A diagnostic role will enable the
social workers to understand and document all factors that hinder realisation
of UPE.
Equity in education calls for promotion of interventions that empower
individuals and groups to take charge of their own development. Hare (2004),
notes that people are affected by their environment, but people also have the
capacity to change their environments and social work has a role to empower
people to change their environment for the better. Social workers can engage
with communities to support meaningful participation of the local and
especially marginalized groups in the education of children. Participation has
an empowering effect and can ultimately lead to improvements in learning
outcomes for all children instead of the privileged few.
Social workers should also engage in more evidence based research to
reveal the plight of under privileged and vulnerable populations in education.
The results of such research should be disaggregated for specific categories,
to ensure that the unique needs of particular groups are appreciated much
as there is the umbrella policy of universal primary education. The education
interventions should be packaged in a manner that addresses/ responds to
the unique needs of specific categories.
72
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Many impediments in equitable access to education go beyond financial to
social-cultural, behavioural and organizational issues. As such strategies to
ensure equitable access need to go beyond the economic to address other
factors that perpetuate inequality in the education sector. Social workers
need to intensify efforts to address the social structure of most Ugandan
communities to modify negative cultures, mindsets and beliefs that promote
poverty, inequality, exclusion and vulnerability.
References
Faller, F. (2008) ‘Universal primary education in Africa. Achievable or impossible target?’ In Nwonwu, F. (2008) Millennium Development Goals: achievements and prospects of meeting the targets in Africa, pp. 37. Pretoria: Africa
Institute of South Africa.
Filc, D. (2007) ‘The Liberal Grounding of the Right to Health Care: An Egalitarian Critique’, Theoria, 54 (112), 51-72.
Government of Uganda (2010a) Education and sports annual performance
report, 2009/2010. Kampala: Ministry of Education and Sports.
Government of Uganda (2010b) National Development Plan (2010/112014/15. Kampala.
Hare, I. (2004) ‘Defining social work for the 21st Century. The International
Federation of Social Workers’ definition of social work’, International Social
Work, 47 (3): 407-424.
Higgins, K. (2008) Regional inequality and primary education in Northern
Uganda, Policy brief No. 2. Prepared for the World Development Report,
2009.
Hsiao, W. C. (1995) ‘Abnormal Economics in the Health Sector’, Health Policy, 32, 125-139.
Kaaya, S.K. (2011) ‘Bukomansimbi to scrap free education’, The Observer [online]. Available at: http://www.observer.ug (Accessed on 18 October
2011).
Kohler, G. and Keane, J. (2006) Social policy in South Asia. Towards universal coverage and transformation for achieving the Millennium Development
Goals [online]. Available at http://www.unicef.org/rosa/Social_Policy_Workshop_Report.pdf (Accessed on 12 October 2011).
Muwanika, F.R. (2008) Inequalities in retention on universal primary education
in Uganda. Economic Policy Research Centre, Kampala.
Syngellakis, K. and Arudo, E. (2006) Uganda education sector policy overview paper. Kampala: Energy for Water, Health and Education (ENABLE).
73
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
UBOS (2010) Uganda National Household Survey, 2009/10. Kampala: Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
UBOS (2011) Statistical abstract. Kampala: Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
UNEB (2010) The achievement of primary school pupils in numeracy and
literacy in English and local languages: a summary of the 2010 NAPE report.
Kampala: Uganda National Examination Board.
UWEZO (2011) Are our children learning? Numeracy and literacy across East
Africa. Available at: http://www.twaweza.org/uploads/files/ALA_UWEZO.pdf
(Accessed 18 October 2011).
World Bank (2005) World development report, 2006. Washington DC.
World Bank (2011) World development report, 2012. Washington DC.
World Education Forum (2000) Dakar Framework for Action; Education for
All. Available at: http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/en-conf/dakframeng.
shtm. (Accessed on 12 October 2011).
Zuze, T.L. and Leibbrandt M. (2008) UPE and Social inequality in Uganda. A
step backward or a step in the right direction? Working paper series no. 37.
Cape Town: Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit.
74
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 6
The Impact of Community Soccer on Community
Development in Nigeria
Sunday Ofili Ibobor
Department of Social Work, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State,
Nigeria
Global Agenda theme 4:
The importance of human relationships
75
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
Over the years, a number of residents in Umuebu community in Nigeria have
deserted their community due to constant communal wars with neighbouring
communities. This paper describes how Umuebu Neighborhood House
(UNH) used community soccer to build support for community development
and engaged the community in a process of visioning and planning for the
community. This project draws on the football team as a social structure
and system to demonstrate how the community can solve the problems of
goal attainment, adaptation, integration, tension management, and pattern
maintenance. This phase of the project focused on youth in Umuebu
community in Nigeria.
Introduction
Several articles have reported on communal conflicts in Nigeria: the causes
and consequences (Akpan, 2010, Onwuzuruigbo, 2010). A couple of other
articles have also documented the development of ethnic militia groups
(Guichaoua, 2010; Ikelegebe, 2006). There is very little research on how to
reduce communal conflicts and promote community integration through
activities such as community soccer. In Umuebu, unity between the extended
households and family lineages has been lacking. Similarly, competition and
distrust between sections of the community had prevented people from
undertaking communal projects. The aims of this study are: (i) to explore the
extent to which participation in community soccer affects the development
of relationships, community integration and democratic problem solving
capacity among youth in Umuebu community; and (ii) to evaluate the
community soccer project including the development of relationships and
community development. The research question for this study is: To what
extent did relationships develop during the community soccer competition?
Community Work and Community Development
There are different approaches to community work. Thomas (1983) outlines
five approaches to the study of community work: community action,
community development, social planning, community organization, and
service extension. Thomas defines community development as the process
of self-help, communal support, building up of the democratic problem
solving capacities of neighborhoods, self-representation and the support of
cooperative action to draw the attention of political policy makers to the
priority of the community. Popple (1995) outlines eight models of community
work practice: community care, community organization, community
development, social/community planning, community education, community
action, feminist community work, and black and anti-racist community work.
Popple maintains that community development is a process of assisting
groups to acquire the skills and confidence to improve their quality of life and
facilitate active participation.
76
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
In addition, Mendes (2008: 3) defines community development as: “The
employment of community structures to address social needs and empower
groups of people”. Community development in this paper is considered
in the context of current initiatives of the Nigerian government aimed at
transforming rural communities in Nigeria to improve their overall wellbeing.
The Social Development Policy for Nigeria (FGN, 2004: 33) adopts the
United Nations definition of community development and defines community
development as: “The process by which efforts of the people themselves
are united with those of governmental authorities to improve the economic,
social and cultural conditions of communities, to integrate them into the life
of the nation and to enable them to contribute fully to national progress”.
The specific objectives for the community development initiative in the Social
Development Policy for Nigeria include to encourage the spirit of community
self-help, and to assist in the organization for self-help.
Community development in social work practice dates back to the Settlement
House movements in the mid-19th century in England. The concept of
Settlement House was developed by Samuel Barnett and his wife Henrietta
Roland in 1885. In 1931, Jane Addams took the settlement concept to the
USA by setting up the Hull House in Chicago (Hare, 2004). The spread of
settlement houses in North America started in Chicago and New York and
spread all over the eastern United States and Canada. Some of the settlement
houses came to be known as Neighborhood Houses (Heinonen & Spearman,
2010). A similar vision for community organization has been tried in Nigeria.
Umuebu Neighborhood House (UNH), Nigeria
In June 2011, the author founded Umuebu Neighborhood House in Nigeria.
It is located in Umuebu: a small forest community in Delta State, Nigeria. The
people of Umuebu depend on the forest for their survival. The community
has an estimated population of 5,000 (2006 estimate), while critical issues in
the community include communal conflicts, competition and distrust. There
are no recreation resources in the community.
UNH Model of Community Development
The Umuebu Neighborhood House Model of Community Development is a
process that uses community soccer as the backdrop to mobilize the different
groups in the community to engage in community development. Therefore,
the first phase of this process is the provision of community soccer.
Soccer dates back to 206 BCE in China (Goldblalt, 2006) and has several
uses. It serves as a tool for social change such as communicating HIV/AIDS
behavioural change skills as in South Africa (Collucci, 2010). It also serves as
a tool for facilitating peace and reconciliation as in Cote Ivoire, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Liberia and Burundi (Collucci, 2010).
77
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
In Umuebu, community soccer was non-existent, although youth engaged
in soccer for fun. Umuebu Neighborhood House introduced community
soccer in 2010 to organize the efforts of youth towards the development
of the community. It has now become an annual event since 2010. In this
project, community soccer demonstrates tackling the functional problems
inherent in Umuebu because participants will have to face the challenge of
working together as team in order to win the competition. Ability to work
as a team in order to protect and build the community has been lacking in
the community. This has resulted to several abandoned projects. Therefore,
the four participating teams are expected to demonstrate how their ability
to work together as a team can help to meet the functional prerequisites
of the community. The expectation is that community soccer provides the
opportunity to demonstrate to the community the challenges facing the
community and how these challenges can be resolved by building effective
relationships, integration (team spirit), and by working together.
Theoretical Orientation
This study draws on Parsons’ (1964) idea of functional prerequisites,
Habermas’ (1989) idea of communicative action and Paulo Freire’s (1970)
idea of empowerment and liberation. Parsons (1964) identified four functional
prerequisites of society: adaptation, goal attainment, integration and pattern
maintenance. These prerequisites refer to problems that a society must solve
if it is to survive; Parsons maintains that the functions of any component of
the social system can be understood in terms of its contribution to solving
the problem of meeting its functional prerequisites.
The study also draws on Habermas’ (1989) Theory of Communicative Action,
which created a communicative space that facilitated transformation through
a process of collaborative mutual inquiry by participants for the purpose of
making a critical appraisal of the social environment and collaboratively
creating an agenda for change in the community (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2005).
Drawing on Habermas’ communicative rationality provided opportunities to
create contradictions between the consequences of existing and alternative
ways of doing things arising from practical critique of the existing ways of
doing things. These contradictions manifested the irrationalities, injustices
and dissatisfactions associated with the former that needs to be overcome
by the praxis of new ways of doing things. For instance, in the community,
the leaders with little input from community members make decisions that
are binding on the community members. In this project, participants were
encouraged to explore alternative ways of making decisions that derives
from the collective input of the team members.
Paulo Freire’s (1970) idea of empowerment and liberation are processes that
provide opportunities for people to acquire knowledge about the institutional
environments that influence their experience as well as the ability to reflect on
their daily experience and to take action against oppressive social conditions.
78
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Methods
This study took place between August and October 2011 (twelve weeks)
during the annual community soccer event known as Umuebu Community
Development League in Umuebu, Nigeria. Community soccer is one of the
many events and activities organized by Umuebu Neighborhood House. The
aim of the competition is to promote the development of team spirit, stronger
relationships, and an integrated and cohesive community that can support
and sustain a bottom-up community development programme. The event
was run by volunteer youth in the community, volunteers and staff of UNH.
This study adopted a participatory action research method for data collection.
This method is consistent with the Habermas’ Theory of Communicative
Action and Paulo Freire’s true dialogue or critical thinking.
Population and Sample Size
There were about two thousand (2,000) youth in Umuebu at the time of this
study. Sixty-six (66) youth participated in the competition and were invited
to participate in the study. The rationale for this is that the researcher also
wanted to know how the participants in the competition would translate their
experience during the competition to community development.
Sampling Procedure
This study used a voluntary sampling technique. Those who enjoyed soccer
were invited to participate in the community soccer competition and the
sixty-six youth who responded to the invitation were selected for the Umuebu
Community Development (UCD) League and for this study.
Data Collection
The researcher collected data for this study by observation and personally
interviewing the participants involved in the community soccer initiative.
Data collection started in August and ended in October 2011, a period of
twelve weeks, followed by the final evaluation. Different questions were
asked in the course of this project. The questions focused on what worked
well, what did not work well and what the teams and organizers could do
differently. Questions included what were the shortcomings of any previous
decisions, what would be the way forward, what could be done in order for
the competition to attract development to Umuebu and what is the impact of
the competition on the players and on the community?
Ethical Issues and Limitations of the Study
The participants were informed about the purposes of the study and their
rights to participate or withdraw from the competition and study at any time.
They were also informed that their non-participation or withdrawal from the
competition and the study would have no effect on their future participation.
79
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
The key limitation of this study is that the sample for this study was not
representative of the population as a whole. The findings represent the views
of the participants in the community soccer activity and exclude the views of
other stakeholders who did not participate in the competition. Therefore, the
findings reported in this paper must be considered as preliminary.
Intervention Procedure
In 2011, between August and October, Umuebu Neighborhood House (UNH)
provided six meetings with members of the Board of Trustees, four meetings
with the youth of the community, while representatives of UNH had a meeting
with the youth in the community. Data collection occurred during these
meetings. The aims of the meeting were to evaluate the implementation
of the community soccer in 2010; to make suggestions for improvement
in the games; and to encourage the teams to register new members into
their clubs. The four clubs in the community: Ogbe Iso Football Club, Ogbe
Umugbo Football Club, Ogbe Onya Football Club, and Rising Stars Football
Club of Ogbe Ofu were formed at the request of UNH in 2010. Following a
second meeting between representatives of UNH and the teams the rules
for the UCD league were established. When the games started in October
2011, it was obvious that all the teams needed some support from players
outside the community. Some teams had gone ahead to invite a couple of
key players from Obiaruku. This generated intense argument in the first game
but was resolved by applying the collective decision that only residents will
participate in the league.
At the end of the qualifying stage of the league, it was noted that the fixtures
for the league provided opportunity for match-fixing: buying-off of one team
during the league. This generated so much tension that it almost ruined the
2011 UCD league. However, the tension was also resolved by applying the
collective decision reached in August. 2011.
At a further meeting in October 2011, representatives of UNH and the teams
reviewed the rules made in August 2011. In that meeting, the rule that
excluded non-residents was amended to include them in the UCD League.
The justification for this amendment was that the experience of non-resident
participants can make a difference in the community. They also decided to
play the knock-out games at the same time in different venues to avoid future
incidences of match-fixing.
The participants in this project had the opportunity to individually and
truly decide for themselves what they considered to be suitable, ethically
right, appropriate and practicable under their circumstances. They had the
opportunity to set goals for their teams, collectively make rules, implement
the rules, critique them and try different ways of doing things arising from
this. In contrast, the social worker facilitated the efforts of the participants
80
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
and provided assistance to them to help themselves through the several
stages of the community soccer. The social worker participated in the team
meetings to ensure that no member dominated the processes of decisionmaking. The social worker who worked with the teams was there to help
the participants make the connection between the soccer competition and
the development of the community. This process guaranteed a collaborative
sense of agency, legitimacy of decisions and actions taken together by
participants, confirming the view of Habermas (1969) that legitimacy is
guaranteed only through communicative action.
Findings
Table 1 shows that 18 (27.3%) of the participants are from Ogbe-Onya, 17
(25.8%) are from Ogbe-Iso, 16 (24.2%) are from Ogbe-Ofu, while 15 (22.7%)
of the participants are from Ogbe -Umugbo. (See Appendix 1).
Table 2 and Fig. 1 suggest that the community soccer had a positive impact
on the relationships of the participants: 13 (76.6%), 14 (93.3%), 11(61.1%)
and 12 (75.0%) of the participants from Ogbe- Iso, Ogbe Umugbo, Ogbe
Onya and Ogbe-Ofu respectively claim that the community soccer made
their relationships stronger (See Appendix 1).
Fig. 1: Impact of the community soccer on relationships among the
participants
Bar Chart
Team
ISO FC
12.5
UMUGBO FC
ONYA FC
RISING STARS FC
Count
10.0
7.5
5.0
2.5
0.0
No Impact
Increased
Relationship
81
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
The excerpts below also suggest that the community soccer had a positive
impact on the relationships of the participants:
“The way we related during the competition has made us to develop self
consciousness in the way we talk to our fellow team members. That has
helped us in a very long way. Most of us have become friends through the
coming together to play as a team and in unity” Elvis
“During the competition, we developed good relationships within the four
teams and the coordinators of the league. Our team members interacted
with members of other teams before each game. The competition provided
opportunity for us to develop good relationships among the team members
and members of other teams” Ossai
“Through the community soccer, we developed relationships and connections.
The community soccer provided me with the opportunity to relate with some
high class people who would not have listened to me in a different setting.
We have carried the positive relationships into our businesses” Louis
“There was social enlightenment, upbringing, intimacy, development of ideas,
and good relationships among the youth. The league has facilitated the spirit
of cordial relationships among the youth in the community” Olile
Table 3 and Fig. 2 shows that participants from Ogbe-Umugbo reported a
one hundred percent increase in their team spirit: i.e. all the team members
reported that their team spirit increased compared to what it was during the
2010 edition (See Appendix 1). This accounted for their performance during
the competition and their coming out as winners of the 2011 community
soccer competition (UCD League). Evidence from Tables 2 and 3 suggest
that there is a positive association between the level of relationships and the
team sprit developed during the soccer competition.
82
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Fig. 2: Impact of the community soccer on the team spirit of the
participants
Bar Chart
Team
15
ISO FC
UMUGBO FC
ONYA FC
RISING STARS FC
Count
10
5
0
Decreased
No Impact
Increased
Team Spirit
The excerpts below also suggest that the community soccer had a positive
impact on the team spirit developed during the competition.
“The community soccer increased unity among the youth. We learnt to
work together as a team and we won in 2011. This is important because the
only way the community can survive is by working as a team. We can set
development goals collectively and strive to achieve them” Azuka
“We learned from the community soccer that ‘united we stand and divided we
fall’. The only way the community can get a vision and plan for development
is by working together as a team” Ilome
“From our experience, we succeeded in 2010 because we were united. For us
to actualize our vision and plans for the community, we must work collectively
towards one goal, because, united we stand and divided we fall”. Jere.
83
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Outcomes
The community soccer has generated a strong sense of connectedness
among youth, and children in the community. The children have indicated
their interest to participate in the junior category of the community soccer on
27th May 2012 to celebrate the Children’s Day in the Community.
Similarly, about forty (40) community members are already engaged in the
process of visioning and planning for the community. The community leaders
have also demonstrated their support for the project by donating a large
parcel of land for the development of a community sports centre. In order
to guarantee the sustainability of the community soccer, UNH produced
exercise notebooks and calendars from the events and the sale of these
provided some employment for some members of the community.
Challenges
Finance is an issue in this project. There is no other source of financial
support except funds from the project initiator, collections from sales of
annual calendars, exercise notebooks and a couple of donations during the
final matches. The concept of neighborhood house is new in Nigeria and
people are sceptical about their ability work together to produce knowledge
and change that the community needs.
The way forward
The way forward in this project is to engage in community education and to
mobilize more stakeholders in Umuebu to participate in the Planning and
Implementation Committee. More community group members - youth, men,
women, and the Council of Chiefs - will be invited to nominate representatives
to participate in the committee.
Conclusion
This study is consistent with one of the Global Agenda themes: the
importance of human relationships, which is one of the core values of social
work. The corresponding ethical principal is that social workers recognize the
fundamental significance of human relationships in all components of social
work practice: casework, group work and community practice. Evidence
from this study suggests that community soccer promotes opportunities for
building effective relationships, integration and democratic problem solving
capacity among youth. Without genuine human relationships, community
development practitioners will be unable to unite the efforts of the government
with those of the people.
84
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
References
Akpan, N.S. (2010) Governance and communal conflicts in a post-democratic
Nigeria: A case of the oil- producing Niger-Delta Region. Journal of African
Studies and Development, 2(3), 065-074.
Colucci, E.C. (2010) Fun with Freire: Grassroot soccer, participatory learning,
and HIV and AIDS prevention in South Africa. (Masters thesis). Ryerson
University and York University.
Federal Government of Nigeria [FGN] (2004) Social Development Policy for
Nigeria. Lagos: Federal Ministries of Culture and Social Welfare.
Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed. (30th Ed.) New York: Continuum.
Goldblalt, D. (2006) The ball is round: A global history of football. London:
Penguin Books.
Guichaoua, Y. (2010) How do ethnic militias perpetuate in Nigeria? A microlevel perspective on the Oodua Peoples’ Congress, World Development.
38(11), 1657-1666.
Habermas, J. (1989) Theory of communicative action, Vol. 2: Life world and
system: A critique of functionalist reason. Boston: Beacon Press.
Hare, I. (2004) Defining social work for the 21st Century: The International
Federation of Social Workers’ revised definition of social work. International
Social Work, 47(3), doi: 10.1177/0020872804043973.
Heinonen, T. & Spearman, L. (2010) Social work practice: Problem solving
and beyond. Toronto: Nelson Education.
Ikelegebe, A. (2006) Beyond the threshold of civil struggle: Youth militancy
and the militia-ization of the resource conflicts in the Niger Delta Region of
Nigeria, African Study Monographs 27(3), 87-122.
Kemmis, S. & McTaggart, R. (2005) Participatory action research:
communicative action and the public sphere. In N. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln
(eds.). The Sage book of qualitative research (3rd Ed.). (pp. 559-603). London:
Sage Publications.
Mendes, P.P. (2008) Teaching community development to social work
students: A critical reflection. Community Development Journal, 44(2), 248262, doi: 10.1093/cdj/bsn001
Onwuzuruigbo, I. (2010) Researching ethnic conflicts in Nigeria: the
missing link. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 33(10). 1797-1813,
doi:
10.1080/0149871003763304.
Parsons, T. (1964) The social system. New York: Free Press.
Popple, K. (1995) Analysing community work- Its theory and practice,
Buckingham: Open University Press.
Thomas, D. N. (1983) The making of community work. London: George Allen
and Unwin.
85
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Appendix 1: Analysis Tables
Table 1: Distribution of participants by teams
Teams
Number
Percent
Iso Football Club
17
25.8
Umugbo Football Club
15
22.7
Onya Football Club
18
27.3
Rising Stars Football Club of
Ogbe-Ofu
16
24.2
Total
66
100
Source: Field Data
Table 2: Distribution of participants by impact of the community soccer
on their relationships
Team
ISO FC
UMUGBO FC
ONYA
FC
RISING
STARS
FC
Total
Count
4
1
7
4
16
No Impact
% within
Team
23.5%
6.7%
38.9%
25.0%
24.2%
Count
13
14
11
12
50
Increased
% within
Team
76.5%
93.3%
61.1%
75.0%
75.8%
Count
17
15
18
16
66
% within
Team
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
Relationships
Total
Source: Field Data
86
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Table 3: Distribution of participants by impact of the community soccer
on their team spirit
Team
Team Spirit
Relationships
ISO FC
UMUGBO FC
ONYA
FC
RISING
STARS
FC
Total
Count
0
0
7
0
7
Decreased
% within
Team
0%
0%
38.9%
0%
10.6%
Count
6
0
4
7
17
No Impact
% within
Team
35.3%
0%
22.2%
43.8%
25.8%
Count
11
15
7
9
42
% within
Team
64.7%
100.0%
38.9%
56.3%
63.6%
Count
17
15
18
16
66
% within
Team
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
Increased
Total
Source: Field Data
87
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
88
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 7
Reading the Past, Understanding the Present
and Predicting the Future: the Cypriot Social
Work Case
Stefanos Spaneas
Social Work Programme Coordinator, PhD, Lecturer in Social Work,
University of Nicosia,
Global Agenda theme 2:
Dignity and worth of the person
89
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
This paper discusses the nature, context and evolution of social work within
the Cypriot context. It addresses the definition of indigenization in social work
and describes the challenges and opportunities of developing a localized
model that will respond to the issue of transferring patterns of social work
theories from one culture to another. It points to certain factors that have
affected the formation of Cypriot social work and shaped its character. It
finishes with a critical reflection, which reveals that a new type of professional
social worker is needed, equipped with abilities to plan, direct, and manage
social change on both the micro- and the macro-level of the social system.
Introduction
Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean. It has been conquered
numerous times throughout its history by several major powers, including
the Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Venetians, and Ottomans (Solsten,
1991). From 1878 until 1960, it was a British colony. In 1960, Cyprus became
an independent state and the age of prosperity and social and economic
development began. During the last 100 years social work and the welfare
system have been inextricably linked to the country’s socio-political situation.
The provision of social welfare has been evident since the 19th century, when
the main characteristics were concern and sympathy for each other amongst
community members (Triseliotis, 1977). A rather systematic effort to provide
social welfare has been observed since the 1920s onwards, when political
conditions and the processes of social development and change shaped
the character of social work towards professionalisation. There was actually
an attempt to develop a welfare model for those who were most vulnerable,
such as women, children, the disabled and people who were in extreme need
of care and protection mainly because of their socio-economic background.
As the island was under-developed, emphasis was given to the social
development cohesion of the local population.
Political situations and extreme social conditions in the 1970s fundamentally
shifted the aims of social work. Community development programmes and
personalised services established under the wings of public social welfare
services were the main activities of the profession. In the 2000s, a significant
point was the establishment of relevant legislation for professional social
workers followed by a code of ethics which guides professional practice
and protects service users from malpractice. It was also the period in which
tertiary education began to be offered by local institutions.
A common characteristic of the above mentioned chronological periods
was the influence of the colonial experience and the Western theories of
modernisation and economic growth. It is argued that no meaningful
attempts have been made to ensure that the profession fits into the social
90
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
and economic environment in which it operates. Those elements have led to
the lack of fit between traditional social norms and the Western processes
of social welfare, resulting in changes that do not take into consideration the
cultural differences and social norms.
Following the tradition of questioning the process and attempting to refocus
social work, this chapter explores some of the basic, but fundamental
issues which the profession has to resolve in order to be responsive and
more relevant to the needs of the local population. It begins by defining
indigenization, and framing social work practice. A brief illustration of Cypriot
social welfare history policy follows to inform the reader about the evolution
of welfare in the island and is succeeded by a discussion pointing to the
current challenges within the profession, to highlight the need for change.
Certain areas that affect the field of social work in Cyprus are also portrayed,
such as the characteristics, skills and qualifications of the professional social
worker. In this respect it ends with some general suggestions for a type of
indigenous model that will focus on the quality of services provision.
Defining indigenization for social work
Social work emerged following the breakdown of traditional systems that
supported and provided cohesion to the social systems which may include
families, neighbourhoods and local communities (Shardlow, 2002). Though
social work began in Western countries, industrialisation and urbanisation
led other countries also to import specific types of social work (generally
referred to as the Western model) to solve their emerging social problems
(Midgley, 1981). The maturity of the educational system in those countries (in
particular in the USA and the UK) had an additional role, as many scholars
or professionals studied in Western countries and were influenced by it
(Nimmagadda & Cowger, 1999). Transforming those influences to processes,
these were adopted as a means of coping within the social consequences
of accelerating economic change (Walton and Abo El Nasr, 1988). However,
practice revealed different results from those expected. The service users did
not respond effectively when practitioners attempted to align the adopted
models to local needs, due to the differences in culture, history and economic
development. Owusu-Bempah (2003) refers to fundamental differences
among societies, as the main factor in this situation. He argues that, in
Western societies, the individual as a unit per se embraces self-knowledge to
understand their place and position in the world. This worldview perception
also guides the individual’s aspirations and shapes the kind of communication
with others. However, in collective or communal societies, priority is given to
the interdependence and obligations towards the community and their role
in it (Owusu-Bempah, 2003).
91
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
A suggested solution to cope effectively with unclear situations, maintaining
the scientific character of the profession, is, in practice, to adopt and utilise
the characteristics of indigenization in social work. Indigenization attempts to
respond to the issue of transferring patterns of social work from one national
culture to another (Walton and Abo El Nasr, 1988). The roots are found in
Latin America, emerging from the difficulty professional social workers
experienced when they attempted to utilise universal models of theory and
practice in that region (Ferguson, 2005). It is argued that, as societies define
the terms of social problems, religion and social attitudes differently, so
there is a need for radical modifications to the ideas, values and methods of
responding adequately to their needs and daily difficulties (Resnick, 1995;
Walton and Abo El Nasr, 1988).
The expressed dissatisfaction with the imported models is, at some
point, transformed into actions towards adjustment or modification of
the incongruous components of the Western model to fit to the country’s
socio-cultural environment and the civilisation’s principles (Ferguson, 2005;
Walton and Abo El Nasr, 1988). The language, local knowledge and belief
systems are utilised to reach an adaptive balance which fits to the local
context (Walton and Abo El Nasr, 1988). It is also perceived as a process
of developing necessary modifications to enable an imported model to be
applied in a different cultural context (Yunong and Xiong, 2008). In addition,
it includes adaptation to the political and socio-economic conditions and
cultural patterns in the receiving country. It is actually supported by the need
to develop a blended system and a theory able to be pro-active and respond
to the required contemporary social work interventions.
Indigenization does not contradict the internationalization effort of social
work (Gray and Coates, 2010). The latter is understood to be an attempt to
extend the sense that social work as a profession is useful in solving personal
and communal difficulties wherever it is applied. For Gray and Coates (2010)
the solution is to point to the need to promote and support the process of
indigenization along with that of internationalization. They proceed to discuss
the balance that needs to be adopted between commitment to a culture
while being open to incorporating external theory and practice, which can be
effective and culturally relevant.
These theoretical frameworks underpin the situation of the Cypriot case. In
addition to the political, economic and social conditions that have affected
the country, the absence of tertiary education until 2000 also had a major
impact. To begin the discussion, the historical background of social welfare
and a description of the characteristics of the profession, together with
the current problems and challenges facing social work in Cyprus, will be
outlined.
92
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Evolution of Welfare State and Social Work Practice in Cyprus
The first signs of systematic social welfare begun under the administration
of Governor Storrs (1926-1932), who introduced laws to regulate the
employment of young persons and children (1928 and 1932), to protect
female domestic servants (1929) and to provide rehabilitation services to
people who suffered from mental disorders (in line with the Mental Patients’
Law 1931). Juvenile courts were also established during the same period
to regulate the supervision of juvenile offenders, and the protection of the
deprived children (Juvenile Offenders Law, 1935). It is imperative to note, that
although the general social conditions were improved, radical changes were
not observed due to insufficient inspection on behalf of the State.
A second phase of social welfare policy development occurred in the late
1940s. Systematic efforts were adopted to improve the post-war conditions;
to fight poverty, to promote human rights, to endorse social justice and
to support community development. Urban planning and developmental
projects were also designed and implemented (i.e. the Ten Year Development
Programme 1946-1956). However, the majority of the laws were copied from
the UK, without giving any consideration to the local conditions and character.
Triseliotis (1977) argued that the British failed to export their technological
advantages and know-how to Cyprus, as they did not follow an inclusive
policy and ignored the local characteristics and poor conditions of the island.
He adopted a view that the political pressure for union with Greece led the
British administration to prepare the initiation of limited welfare programmes
and progressive social legislation (Triseliotis, 1977).
As part of this wider strategy, the Public Welfare Department (1952) was also
set up in that period. It was an all purpose department responsible for a
range of services provided to individuals, families, groups and communities
(Stampolis, 1963; Social Welfare Services, 2003). Social workers were
considered to be generic practitioners, able to deliver a range of services
for a wide range of individuals and groups, from children to the elderly.
The initial recruits to the service were teachers followed by policemen
and administrative officers (Triseliotis, 1977). Regardless of their academic
degrees, specialisations or any other qualifications, priority was given to their
personal communication, ability and skills. However, as more responsibilities
were added on over the years, the need to employ qualified staff and/or to
provide proper training to unqualified staff was acknowledged. As there was
no tertiary social work education on the island, social workers were trained
abroad. In light of the belief that social work is an international or universal
profession, Greece, the UK and/or the USA were the places to study social
work. Moreover, in-service long-term training programmes were quite often
provided, while professionals were also seconded to selective training
schemes overseas (Clifford, 1955; 1956).
93
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
The daily practice of social work was influenced by psychodynamic theories.
Emphasis was given to the individual, adopting Western practices, such
as personality assessments (Triseliotis, 1977). However, since the Cypriot
social and cultural environment was ignored, the results of such practice
were rather ineffective and negative. Group and community work was
limited and the strong family and collective (cooperative) strong bonds
were ignored. It could be argued that the vast need for social planning and
advocacy to undertake social responsibilities was underestimated. It may be
suggested that the dominant model of social work development, based on
universal values, excludes variations of modernity (Jönsson, 2010). Adopting
approaches that are focused on different societies, instead of local settings,
may result in failure to assess and interpret the local factors that characterise
and shape a society. It could also prohibit the construction of indigenous and
heterogeneous models of social development.
Social development was interrupted by the fight for independence from
British colonialism. During the early stages, the Cypriot government lacked
any significant commitment to social welfare. Policies and plans about
social services were absent and considerable scepticism also surrounded
ideas of welfare. In 1966, six years after the independence, new community
and welfare programmes appeared . It was a period in which a number of
conventions were signed with European and International Organisations
such as WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO. Social work focused on interventions in
individuals’ lives to help solve social problems based either on individualist
theories or on engaging in long-term changes through institutional and
structural changes (Triseliotis, 1977).
The Turkish invasion in 1974 caused considerable transformation to the
structure of the social welfare system and policy targets. Social work practice
was influenced by the political instability and human tragedy. Primary aims
became the development of an organised system of welfare benefits for the
displaced. The multi-dimensional and long-term needs of internal refugees
(around 200,000 Greek - Cypriots were forced to be relocated) gave emphasis
to re-building society by focusing primarily on community development
schemes and programmes that could accommodate two groups in need,
children and the elderly.
The State undertook the primary responsibility for providing welfare
services. An over-centralised system was developed and even in cases in
which voluntary organisations would establish similar or parallel services,
the State exercised close monitoring by financially supporting them with an
annual public assistance scheme (Social Welfare Services, 2003). Although
someone may interpret the crisis as a unique opportunity that promoted and
pointed to the development of social work, the social work vacancies were
filled once again with personnel who did not have any proper professional
94
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
qualifications. They were people qualified in accounting, literature, primary
education, biology etc.
The decade of the 1990s was characterised as a new era for social welfare
policy. For example, there was an amendment to the Public Assistance and
Services Law (August 1991), which secured a minimum standard of living
for all persons residing legally in Cyprus, provided in the form of money
and/or services to persons whose resources did not meet their basic and
special needs as determined by relevant legislation (Christofides, 2007). This
specific scheme was used as the basic vehicle to promote social welfare
programmes.
The decade of the 2000s found social work practice under pressure. Although,
social policy agenda had been modified to improve access to and choice
of social welfare services, to modernise professional roles and to review
the skill mix to support role developments that benefit service users, the
debates about the best way of dealing with them are still continuing (Social
Welfare Services, 2003; 2004; 2007; 2008). Concerns have emanated from a
variety of stakeholders and perspectives. Some have sought ways to reduce
fragmentation and service gaps in social organisations’ systems to improve
access and continuity of care. Others have been intent on redundancy and
reducing duplication in order to diminish costs, utilise scarce resources more
effectively, and achieve greater accountability. These developments played
a significant role in placing social care practice under scrutiny: managing
constraints, time constraints, dealing with conflict demands, setting priorities,
stress and frustration.
The author argues that the State still controls the majority of the programmes
provided which are based on the British colonial system of the 1950s, where
all services are provided under one roof. It might be said that, though this
was effective in the past, currently there is a general dissatisfaction with the
quality of service provision and their limitation in effectively handling cases
that may vary from common situations. The generalist social work practice
model (Johnson, 2010) is coming under question.
Questioning Cypriot Social Work: Myths and Realities
The relevant literature revealed that the political and social conditions affected
the formation of social work and shaped its character. A primary effort to
respond to an underlying discrepancy in the transfer of appropriate social
work ideas and to modernise the social welfare system was observed in the
1990s. A shift from reliance on external theoretical models to respond to the
country’s needs seemed to mark that period. For example, in 1994 the model
of the organisation’s hierarchical structure and the administration’s methods
were evaluated for their efficiency. Suggestions to develop operational levels
were adopted, for example, additional layers of administration were added,
95
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
and supervision was introduced as a personal development method, parallel
to the establishment of a decentralised decision making process (Social
Welfare Services, 2002). However, the influence of the dominant model of
Western style development was apparent. Despite good intentions, a gap
appeared in the knowledge regarding the local socio-economical framework.
All the administrative and practice methods were borrowed from a context
different from that of Cyprus. The senior managers had been educated
abroad, in addition to the fact that there were no local think-tank institutions
to support and/or critically analyse that re-organisation. The need to setup a
local based educational school/institution was apparent.
The first social work programme in tertiary education was introduced in
2001. Due to the absence of academically qualified social workers from the
local market, help and support was sought in Greece. A private institution
established a 4-year Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work. The curriculum
was heavily influenced by the Greek educational system, not only because
of its designers but also as a result of several accreditation committees
consisting of Greek academics. The lack of fostering of the local culture’s
principles and practical paradigms in contrast to the heavy academic
teaching, at least for the first years, was identified as a major weakness by
visiting faculty members.
In the same period the Registration Law for Social Workers, (173(I)/2000) was
also introduced. For the first time, academic and professional qualifications
were set. No one could pursue a related job, without holding a social work
degree from a recognised tertiary education institute. Moreover, the Cyprus
Registration Council for Professional Social Workers was introduced. It is
the legislative body that provides the professional licence to practice social
work and assesses its quality. It can be argued that, as the law identified and
provided assurance, so practitioners have to be equipped with the requisite
knowledge and expertise to undertake decisions, particularly in situations
involving risk.
Since that time, as social work research and professional and student
development were acknowledged, two more academic programmes have
been established. The second was established in 2005, and the third in
2008. Those programmes followed a rather different pathway, most probably
influenced by local needs, other educational systems and the fact that they
were designed by academics living on the island. However, as all of them
are based in private institutions and are subject to continuous evaluation
and accreditation from committees that have different traditions, priorities
and expectations, none has actually managed to avoid replicating the
curriculum and/or managed to develop a different character from the Western
theoretical models. Nevertheless, it has to be recognised that they attempted
to challenge the adequacy of traditional policies, to promote social policy
96
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
and social protection and to bring cultural sensitivity and diversity into their
curricula.
Another area for discussion is the level of collaboration between academic
programmes and the statutory Social Welfare Services. The collaboration
is problematic and inadequate. It seems that the State does not yet trust
the local institutions to jointly design social research or to shape the
characteristics of the future professional social worker.
Other critical issues have not yet been included in the discussion agenda.
Currently, in the political agenda, a primary topic of discussion is the
reunification of the island. There are two communities living one next to
each other, barely communicating. Following the hostilities of 1974, a UN
peacekeeping force maintains a buffer zone between the two sides to avoid
further intercommunal conflicts. Thus, communication and free access to
all areas of the island were not allowed until 2004. In addition, all these
years, the younger generations have been taught to identify cultural, religion
and civilisation’s differences and discard any commonalities. There is no
systematic plan for social welfare if there would be a resolution and the
two communities would have to live together. In both sides there are social
services but they do not communicate and/or exchange any information.
In the curricula of social work programmes there is no course dedicated to
reunification. Currently in one of them, in which the author is employed, there
is an effort to include these aspects in critical discussions with students.
Students are challenged to simulate conditions in which they have to
accommodate the needs of people from the other community. This difficulty
is extended to the professional practice as there is no preparation for training
to become culturally competent practitioners.
The above mentioned issues can and should shape the indigent social work
theory and practice. Gray and Coates (2010), cite that, usually, the voices
for indigenization come from professionals who wish to bring change and
promote a fruitful understanding of social reality. Such interpretations direct
the professional to a shift from viewing only the micro systems to the wider
macro and structural systems. It is then argued that Cypriot social work has
to rediscover community work, by first of all giving new meaning to terms
such as ‘locality’, ‘inhabitants‘ and ‘social cohesion‘, which will include all
groups regardless of their social status and/or country of origin.
Looking at the future: Challenges and Obstacles
The social work profession has had a presence on the island for almost 60
years. Its contribution to the growth of the welfare state and especially to the
community development of rural areas is undisputable. Unfortunately, the
lack of a social work education tradition and the small numbers of qualified
social workers led to the over employment of social services by professionals
97
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
who had neither the proper social work training nor the tacit experience and
related skills to work with a range of problems. Social workers still fight to
strengthen their position in the welfare arena and to prove their differentiation
from other disciplines. Although professional registration can be viewed
as a source of strength (McDonald et al., 2003), the formal title of ‘welfare
services officer’ for professional social workers who are employed by the
State Social Welfare Services, infers unclear duties compared to the rest of
the employees. Such perception also has a direct and indirect influence on
the voluntary sector. Furthermore, in order to overcome legal restrictions, a
number of social sciences professionals are employed with the title of ‘social
advisor’.
The above examples and critical analysis reveal that a new type of
professional social worker is needed, equipped with the ability to plan, direct,
and manage social change on both the micro- and the macro-level of the
social system. The challenges for the profession are to pursue a changing
focus while performing its assigned social roles and to ensure that the wellbeing of individuals is perceived as a community asset. They also need to
reposition themselves and to prove their real value within the framework of
the problems that Cypriot society has faced in recent years. They need also
to elevate the status of the profession in the wider society as currently priority
seems to be given to economic issues rather than to the exploration of social
factors and interdependent relations.
Another important issue, which arises in relation to the indigenization of social
work in Cyprus, is life-long training and continuing professional development.
The role of training is considered as critical in developing such conditions
that allow and promote shared responsibility and a common approach in
the delivery of services. However, there is no established culture to promote
professional development through life-long training. There is no such design
or plan to continuously improve professional standards, nor to enhance
appreciation of the processes of intervention, roles of other agencies and
confidence in the work done. Systematic planning and implementation to
strengthen Cypriot social work theory and practice is vital, in order to secure
the existence of the profession in the years to come.
The socio-political and economic circumstances in Cyprus differ from those
of other countries and this creates an additional difficulty in imitating the
pattern of another society. The imitation of any system ignores the nature
of the local society and the different environmental factors that affect it. In
the light of those circumstances prevailing in the country, it is important to
search for a social work model, and then, critically reflect on the society’s
needs, so as to work towards effectiveness. In essence, it is expected that all
the involved parties (professionals and agencies in this case) collaborate as
co-participants in circulating successful adaptations of existing theories and
98
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
methods and disseminating the constructed explicit and tacit knowledge to
others. Indigenization needs to be seen as a movement to ensure that social
work practice appreciates the different thinking, incorporates theoretical
knowledge into local settings and triggers a productive reflection on and
critical understanding of how to respond effectively and efficiently to new
social situations.
Finally, it is claimed that similar challenges exist for several countries around
the world. The Cypriot case may be used as an example to attempt to fit
social work practice, education and social development to the local contexts,
by developing social and cultural knowledge and sensitivity along with skills
for a socially and culturally appropriate and more effective practice (Yunong
and Xiong, 2008). A number of countries have similar stories to illustrate.
A difficulty to develop different and indigenous models of practice is often
based on the absence of institutional bodies to create and support explicit
and tacit knowledge. However, a positive note from this study is that despite
practitioners being taught several and even foreign models of practice,
they realise the necessity to proceed to adjustments for interventions to be
succeed. A cross-country collaboration, then, may be activated to promote
and sustain changes, by matching the global initiatives and those that
originate in each country.
References
A Ten Year Programme of Development for Cyprus (1946), Nicosia: Govt.
Printing Office.
Christofides, L. N. (2007) Unemployment Insurance and Social Welfare in
Cyprus: Statements and Comments, report for Mutual Learning Programme,
European
Communities,
1995-2009,
http://www.mutual-learningemployment.net/uploads/ModuleXtender/PeerReviews/27/Cyprus_DE_07.
pdf [accessed on 23/02/2011].
Clifford, W. (1955) Cyprus Annual Report on Social Development for the year
1955, Nicosia: Government Printing Office.
Clifford, W. (1956) Cyprus Annual Report on Social Development for the year
1956, Nicosia: Government Printing Office.
Cyprus Annual Report (1933) Annual report of the government analyst for the
year 1933, Nicosia: Government Printing Office.
Ferguson, K.M. (2005) ‘Beyond indigenization and reconceptualization:
Towards a global, multidirectional model of technology transfer’, International
Social Work, 48(5), pp. 519–535.
Gray M. and Coates, J. (2010) ‘“Indigenization” and knowledge development:
Extending the debate’, International Social Work, 53(5), pp. 613-627.
99
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Government of Cyprus, (1952) Review of the Ten-Year development
programme for Cyprus, printed by the Government Printer, Cyprus,
http://www.kypriana.eu/82/1/DEVELOPPROGR1946.pdf
[accessed
on
23/02/2011].
Jönsson H. J. (2010) ‘Beyond empowerment: Changing local communities’,
International Social Work, 53(3), pp. 393–406.
McDonald, C., Harris, J. and Winterstein, R. (2003) ‘Contingent on Context?
Social Work and the State in Australia, Britain and the USA’, British Journal
of Social Work, 33(2), pp.191–208.
Midgley, J. (1981) Professional Imperialism: Social Work in the Third World.
London: Heinemann Educational Books.
Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance (1966) Second Five Year Plan (19671971), Nicosia: Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance.
Nimmagadda, J. and Cowger, C.D. (1999) ‘Cross-cultural practice: Social
worker ingenuity in the indigenization of practice knowledge’, International
Social Work, 42(3), pp. 261–276.
Owusu-Bempah, K. (2003) ‘Cultural Values and Community Support Systems:
Libertaranism Versus Communitarianism’, Journal of Social Work Theory
and Practice, 8, http://www.bemidjistate.edu/academics/publications/
social_work_journal/issue08/articles/1_Cultural_Values.htm [accessed on
4/07/2011].
Resnick, R. (1995) ‘South America’, in T. Watts, D. Elliott and N. Mayadas
(eds.) International Handbook on Social Work Education, pp. 65–85. Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press.
Shardlow, S.M. (2002) ‘Values, Ethics and Social Work’, in Adams, R.,
Dominelli, L. and Payne, M. (eds.) (1998 & 2002) Social Work: Themes,
Issues and Critical Debates, London: Palgrave in association with the Open
University.
Social Welfare Services, (2002) Annual report for 2002, Nicosia: Ministry of
Labour and Social Insurance.
Social Welfare Services (2003) Annual report for 2003, Nicosia: Ministry of
Labour and Social Insurance.
Social Welfare Services (2003) Historical background, http://www.mlsi.
gov.cy/mlsi/sws/sws.nsf/dmlhistory_en/dmlhistory_en?OpenDocument
[accessed on 24/06/2011].
Social Welfare Services (2004) Annual report for 2004, Nicosia: Ministry of
Labour and Social Insurance.
100
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Social Welfare Services (2007) Annual report for 2007, Nicosia: Ministry of
Labour and Social Insurance.
Social Welfare Services (2008) Annual report for 2008, Nicosia: Ministry of
Labour and Social Insurance.
Solsten, E. (ed.) (1991) Cyprus: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for
the Library of Congress. http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/, [accessed on
15/11/2011].
Stampolis, A. (1963) An analysis of the industrial relations system, the social
legislation and welfare services of the island, Nicosia: U.S. Educational
Foundation in Cyprus and Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance.
The Registration Law for Social Workers (2000) 173(I)/2000, Nicosia: Republic
of Cyprus, 29th December.
Triseliotis, J. (1977) Social Welfare in Cyprus, London: ZENO, Booksellers
and Publishers.
Trygged, S. (2010) ‘Balancing the global and the local: Some normative
reflections on international social work’, International Social Work, 53(5),
pp.644–655.
Yunong, H. and Z. Xiong (2008) ‘A Reflection on the Indigenization Discourse
in Social Work’, International Social Work, 51(5), pp. 611–22.
Walton, R. and M. Abo El Nasr (1988) ‘Indigenization and Authentization in
Terms of Social Work in Egypt’, International Social Work 31 (2), pp. 135–44.
101
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
102
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 8
Developing Child Protection Groups in Remote
Island Communities of the Maldives
Ahmed Hussain1, Mohamed Agleem2, Mariya Ali3, and Michael
O’Dempsey4 (5)
1 Ahmed Hussain manages the Family and Child Service Centres in a province of the
Maldives.
2 Mohamed Agleem was also a manager of Family and Child Service Centres in the
Maldives. He is now continuing his social work studies.
3 Mariya Ali was the Deputy Minister of the Department of Gender and Family in the
Maldives. She is currently completing her PhD in the UK.
4 Michael O’Dempsey was a Child Protection Consultant with UNICEF in the Maldives.
He is currently a Social Worker/ Counsellor in Christchurch New Zealand.
Michael
Mariya
Agleem
Global Agenda theme 4:
Importance of human relationships
5 Authorship: This chapter was composed by Michael O’Dempsey and Mariya Ali. Ahmed Hussain
and Mohamed Agleem are credited as without their contribution the project would not have been
possible.
103
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
Island states face many challenges addressing child protection issues due
to the dispersed nature of communities that are separated by the sea. The
development of informal child protection mechanisms provides a platform
that links child protection concerns from the remote communities to the
formal child protection process and vice versa. This chapter describes the
approaches adopted by a team of social workers in various communities
and the strategies used to enable the groups to continue. It highlights
the importance of the contribution from communities to support the child
protection process in isolated communities with limited governmental
financial resources.
Introduction
All forms of abuse, especially sexual abuse committed against children is
a worrying phenomenon in the Maldives, as 1 in 3 women aged between
15-49 have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual abuse during
their lifetime1. Child protection has been given significance since the country
became a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC) in 1991, in response to various awareness activities and high
profile cases had led to an increase in referrals to the child protection system.
It has also increased the demand for easier access to the system. To date,
the formal child protection system has proved challenging in many aspects
and expensive to run given the archipelagic nature of the country. Hence,
this paper describes the development of informal Child Protection Groups
(hereinafter referred as CPGs) based on islands that can connect to the formal
system on a regular basis. In doing so it will illustrate the importance of the
contribution from island communities to support the child protection process
to meet the growing demand for these services. Firstly, the paper will look at
the context of the Maldives in which the CPGs were developed. It will cover
social, political, economic and religious aspects of the Maldives and will also
provide a background to the development of the child and family protection
system. Secondly, it will describe the process in which the developments
of the CPGs on the islands were carried out by social workers guided by a
consultant in a culturally appropriate manner. It will highlight the challenges
faced by the team, processes, and the strategies that were employed to
create a mechanism that would function and support an overburdened
formal child protection system. The chapter also highlights goals and future
challenges for the newly set up child protection groups. Finally, the chapter
concludes by reflecting on the experiences gained from the process and
highlighting the importance of CPGs on remote communities.
1 Fulu, E., (2007). Also see other studies by: Michaelson, R., (2003); Fulu, E., (2004); Narcotics Control Board, (2003); IODA (1999).
104
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Maldivian Society and Culture
The context in which the development of child protection groups are discussed
is important to get a clear picture of the dynamics that exist in the interaction
of social processes with social institutions and structures. The Maldives
converted to Islam in 1153 AD and since then its inhabitants have practised
a moderate version of Islam. The legal and political systems are based on the
principles of Islam2 and the islands remain largely homogeneous.
The Maldives until 2008 was under autocratic rule, however, in February
2012 the first democratically elected president was deposed in what has
been described as a coup (Bryson Hull, 2012). This could have devastating
consequences for child protection processes as these can become
politicised. The Maldives is an archipelago of 1190 coral islands in the
Indian Ocean off the southwest coast of Sri Lanka. The islands form 26 ring
shaped coral atolls3, but for administrative purposes they are grouped into
seven provinces headed by Province Ministers4. Atoll Councillors support
and monitor Island Councillors of each island; usually these figures hold a
lot of power in the island community. The total population of 315,885 are
spread over these 199 islands, although 103,693 reside on the capital Malé5.
The tsunami in 2004 has affected the population with thousands of people
displaced from their own homes.
The Maldives has experienced impressive economic growth, with per capita
GDP reaching US$6,041 in 2010 with the booming tourism industry6. It
has exposed the inhabitants to capitalist values, such as individualism
and competition (Fegan & Bowes (1999). It has also introduced a more
conservative expression of Islam. Conflicting ideologies of Islam and
capitalism are causing tension and social challenges as some are embracing
liberal values and lifestyles while some embrace a more rigid and segregated
lifestyle7. Additionally, increased use of alcohol and drugs can be observed
with the most vulnerable falling into addiction (UNDOC, 2011).
Although the country has largely benefited from tourism-based development,
vulnerabilities of families and especially of children and adolescents have
increased. This has in part been due to workers moving to resort islands, but
it has also been due to families migrating in order for their children to attend
2 Article 2 of the Constitution of the Maldives, 2008, http://www.maldivesinfo.gov.mv/home/upload/
downloads/Compilation.pdf
3 The word “atoll” is derived from the Maldivian word “atholhu”.
4 Provinces (3-4 atolls grouped together) were created under the Decentralization Act. Prior to this Act
26 Atoll were not grouped together.
5 Country Profile of the Maldives (2012); Analytical Report - Population and Housing Census (2006).
Only three islands have more than 5,000 inhabitants, 54 islands have between 1,000 and 5,000
people, 66 islands house 500 to 1,000 inhabitants and 76 islands have a population less than that
of 500 people.
6 World Bank data.
7 Browning, G., (27 November 1999), “The Maldives”, The Guardian, England, pp. 2-3.
105
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
better schools largely concentrated in urban centres8. It is not uncommon for
fathers not to see their families for years at a time9. This has challenged the
social structure as many work away on resorts.
Child Protection Services
The welfare and protection of the child was given legal recognition under
the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child Law 9/91. In its still
formative stages, the child protection system mainly buttresses on this law
and the Regulation on Conducting Trials, Investigations, and Sentencing
Fairly on Offences Committed by Minors 2005. These laws are aspirational
rather than directive and hence they miss “the mechanism that operates
and executes these laws for the purpose of child protection under various
circumstances”10. As a result, social service workers tend to rely on their
ability to influence and negotiate, which is not always so easy, rather than
being able to rely on clear legislation to underpin and direct their practice.
This being said, there is a strong commitment among social service workers
to addressing child maltreatment and challenging abuse.
Child and Family Protection Services (CFPS) is run under the umbrella of
a Ministry, based in the Capital Malé, providing overall management to 20
Family and Child Protection Centre (FCSC) teams based on the capital
of each atoll11. Social service workers respond to requests for assistance
throughout the atoll, which their FCSC serves. It is only in very recent years
that these services have become available and the communities are not yet
clear as to what they can expect from the FCSC staff.
Process of setting up of CPGs - Understanding the Strengths and
Limitations
There is a huge demand on child protection services resulting in the FCSCs
being overwhelmed with referrals of a less urgent nature such as truanting.
Being overburdened, workers came to follow up on these referrals months
later, when the families met them with anger. This was having a negative
effect on the self-esteem and feeling of competence of the workers.
Therefore, setting up CPGs would relieve the workers to attend to serious
child protection cases and leave the communities to handle less urgent
matters.
Process of Designing a Sustainable Model
Given the smallness of island communities the societal dynamics had to be
taken into account for the CPGs to work. Our meetings with these leaders
8
Midgley highlights the disparities that can be observed in developing countries in relation to the
provision of services.
9 Not uncommon as in the past Maldivian men use to work as merchant seamen.
10 Eldakak, S., (2000), The Application of CRC in the Republic of Maldives from the Perspective of
Islamic Law, UNICEF Malé Office, p. 21 (unpublished).
11 Ministries change with government changes.
106
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
were largely to gain their blessing and support. Therefore, the first steps taken
in establishing the CPGs were to connect with the local government officials,
particularly the Provincial, Atoll and Island leaders. We also consulted with
the major stakeholders, local government officials, Island Councillors, Police,
the Education Department and the Health Department. The latter group had
a more direct involvement in our work. The third sector we engaged with was
the local Non Government Organisations, or as they describe themselves in
the Maldives ‘Civil Society’. In the light of the fact that it is only in recent years
that democracy has replaced thirty years of autocratic rule, the expression
Civil Society carries particular weight. In helping to achieve their commitment
we shared illustrations of mobilizing local communities to assist families in
need.
Getting Buy-in from the Island Community
Given that there were no extra resources to bring to this project and that the
outcome relied on gaining the buy-in of such a wide group, it was important
that the stakeholders be inspired with a vision of the possibilities of how
CPGs might work in practical terms. Fortunately, we had a uniquely Maldivian
example; this arose out of the work of a team of social service workers led by
Ahmed Hussain. Ahmed shared a success story:
On the island where Ahmed and his team were based there was a family
living in dire poverty; their home was very dilapidated and overcrowded. The
mother had a reputation as a prostitute and her children had reputations
for theft. The family was highly stigmatised. One of the local senior men
approached a UNICEF worker attached to the local FCSC and complained
that the children should be removed from the family and sent to the children’s
home in the capital Malé. In a series of discussions covering the implications
of sending these very young children to Malé and the practical needs of
the family, the senior man suggested that the community could address the
families’ housing needs. He then set about mobilizing the community to do
this. Through meeting with the Island Councillor the resources were found
with which a new house was built for the family. Not least challenging was
the community’s extremely negative view of prostitutes. This prejudice was
shared by some of Ahmed’s team members and addressing this required
exploring the context of poverty in which the family lived. Ahmed and his
team remained involved, monitoring the safety issues.
Recounting this experience was useful as it redefined the nature of the
relationship between the local community and the FCSC, emphasising the
need for collaboration.
The story described above illustrated how the community and the FCSC
could resource each other on islands with easy access to social service staff.
However, given that the FCSCs are based in the larger population centres and
107
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
that the majority of island communities are some distance from the centres,
and that the FCSC workers do not always have easy access to suitable boats
when required, it was necessary to develop an island-by-island model.
In this model, local community members would be equipped to be able
to provide information regarding issues such as child safety and advice
on accessing support to address domestic violence. The intention was to
promote a local awareness with ongoing discussions within the communities
with the aim of increasing community awareness, thereby eroding the
perceived tolerance of violence, abuse and neglect. This model was
influenced by the approach taken by Tanzania in the 1970s to address
problems in delivering health services within a very limited budget (Kopoka,
2000). Tanzania was faced with either using their resources to train a very few
doctors to an international standard, or to train a great many health workers
to a less sophisticated level in order to deliver basic health services to a great
many people. Tanzania chose the latter and this approach could be adopted
in the Maldives until the country is able to train more staff at tertiary level.
Finding a Model to Suit Each Island
Due to their isolated nature, the island communities have grown to have
subcultures that differ from even nearby islands. Hence each island has
different sets of needs. Some islands found their own ways of dealing with
child protection needs that arise.
There already existed a CPG on one of the islands in the atoll in response to
concerns regarding sexual abuse of younger boys by older boys. When the
group became aware of a concern regarding a family they would nominate
two of their members to visit the family and discuss the concerns. They also
addressed issues such as the practice of some parents leaving their children
unattended but chained up. They reported some success in addressing these
issues and they also reported they had heard of no instances of domestic
violence on the island in recent times.
This group was a good example of the initiative of a community addressing
its own child protection issues. Their success showed the team that creating
interest and giving the responsibility to the island communities was an
important aspect of the task at hand. However, our attempts to mobilise
communities were not always successful.
On one island it was learned that there was family of five children whose main
caregiver was a 10-year-old girl. She told us that she loved school but was
unable to go because she was caring for her young siblings. However, every
day she made sure that her younger sister got to school. The family lived in
the direst poverty: had no access to clean water and their house was badly
in need of rebuilding to make it secure. Furthermore, from time to time men
on the island attempted to get access to the 10 year old and were only driven
108
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
away by the screams of her mother. The family relied on a single electric light
bulb and had very few possessions. The mother was frequently absent and
rumour had it that she worked as a prostitute. Later, we learned that she had
been the victim of violent sexual assaults.
Consideration was given to removing the children; however no suitable
alternative childcare was available. Initially we attempted to build a support
group around the family on the island. However, these attempts were very
poorly received. It was as if the family had become invisible to almost the
whole community, which only numbered around 600. When it was recognised
that it would not be possible to adequately monitor or support the family
on their home island, plans were made to arrange for them to move to the
regional capital where the FCSC staff were based. These plans included using
an approach in which the family would have a very high level of social service
input and community support in order to up skill the mother to adequately
care for the children (Scott & O’Neil, 2003). Local officials were invited to a
meeting to help prepare for the family’s arrival. To our surprise the group at
the meeting were concerned that an active prostitute might be placed on
their island and suddenly we found ourselves with very senior members of
local government putting their authority and resources behind maintaining
and protecting the children on their own island.
This case illustrates how a family could be marginalised so much so that
the Islamic ideals of helping a neighbour is superseded by their negative
view of someone’s alleged or perceived negative behaviour. In order to assist
the community to understand that the importance of assisting people rather
than marginalising them can eventually benefit the community itself, a good
knowledge of Islam is helpful.
Moreover, having a good understanding of the island dynamics is central
for the success of CPGs. Mohamed Agleem was part of the team and the
manager of the local FCSC in the atoll where these groups were being
piloted12. His home island was in the atoll and he had a great understanding
of the issues facing each of the islands. This project certainly benefitted from
experienced team members, Agleem and Ahmed.
With their experience, in the smaller centres we adopted an approach where
interested parties were invited to meet with and help us to understand their
local concerns from their perspective. Frequently, the community response
was that it felt poorly resourced by the FCSC. We then described our vision for
a greater community engagement in addressing child welfare and domestic
violence issues, explained what we were trying to achieve in establishing a
local group and how the FCSC would support the group. We returned some
12 Mohamed Agleem also had experience of establishing groups to address social issues from his
previous posting albeit that he was then working in one of the larger urban centres in the Maldives.
Ahmed Hussain had experience of developing a small NGO in his home atoll.
109
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
weeks later to follow up on the concerns raised in the meeting and to reexplore the idea of the groups.
On this visit the CPG co-ordinators and deputy co-ordinators were nominated.
This left us with an interesting problem regarding gender. It was necessary
to ensure that at least one co-ordinator of the group was a woman, based
on the understanding that for women experiencing abuse it would be easier
for them to speak with a woman. In the more conservative centres the
nominated co-ordinator would invariably be male. This was not unexpected
given the patriarchal nature of Maldivian society. However, given that one of
the goals of this project was to address and challenge domestic violence that
involved issues of power and control, it was necessary to find an approach
that was non-offensive. Consequently, a gender-mix principle was used. The
model that was developed was one of co-ordinator and deputy co-ordinator
in which after six months the co-ordinator stepped down from the role and
the deputy assumed the role.
Five CGP groups were set up in the Southern Province of the Maldives yielding
successful results. These groups have enhanced the connection between
remote island communities with the FCSCs allowing immediate intervention,
better monitoring of cases and prevention of serious incidences. This brings
us to the issue of support and supervision aspects of CPGs.
Support for the CPG Co-ordinators - Impact on Policy and Practice
We recognised that the co-ordinators would require support and supervision
The practice of social work supervision and a supervision policy is in the
process of being established in the Maldives and only a few workers have
experience of providing supportive social work supervision. Bridget Proctor
describes the educative and restorative functions of social work supervision,
and these are the aspects that would be employed in supervising the CGPs
(Proctor, 2000). It was recognised that it would be unrealistic to assume that
Agleem as FCSC Manager would be able to provide this support himself.
Furthermore, to place all the supportive functions with an individual would
make the system vulnerable should he leave. A process was designed by
which a male member of the FCSC staff would support the male coordinators
and a female staff member would support the female coordinators. The
FCSC manager would continue support staff members through their usual
supervision practice. The support to the co-ordinators of the CPGs would
generally be via phone calls.
It is intended that the FCSC staff would visit the islands and connect with
the CPGs on a regular basis (three or four times a year) and that initially the
process of conducting community awareness programmes would be led by
FCSC staff. Over time it is hoped that members of the local CPG would
become confident and skilled enough for them to lead the programmes
110
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
themselves. Indeed, several people who would be ideally suited to this
role were identified. Our intention was to promote the sense of community
ownership of the issue of children’s welfare and grow the community’s ability
to take a preventative role.
Therefore, it is important that the Maldives continue to reflect on the
functioning of these groups and explore other examples worldwide of CPGs.
It will assist in strengthening these efforts to protect children in remote
communities.
Conclusion
In many ways this article skims the surface of our work in establishing these
groups in a culturally appropriate manner. It illustrates that CPGs linked the
remote communities to the formal child protection system and vice versa. It
also gave island communities the confidence that they can take the initiative
to address the welfare of children themselves. The process of developing the
CPGs highlighted that it is crucial to take time to listen to the concerns of
community members, and to provide educational resources that meet their
concerns. It is important that in a patriarchal society women are able to voice
their concerns separately from men. We did this by arranging for a female
staff member to consult the women separately. It is also important that
awareness (education) programmes are of good quality and be respectfully
and engagingly delivered.
Communities began to accept that they had to take some responsibility in
the child protection process and had an important role to play in assisting
families that are in difficult circumstances. In some ways, it was easier to
establish the groups in the smaller and medium sized communities. The
larger communities tended to have the option of deferring to the FCSCs as
they were based there. Members of the smaller communities recognised the
problem of distance and once they had reconciled themselves to the fact that
it would not be possible to have Social Service staff based on their island,
they quickly accepted that if abuse was to be addressed in their community,
then it was the community that would have to lead this.
CGPs require long-term support for motivation, as child protection is not
easy, especially in an island state like the Maldives. Therefore, it is important
to visit the CPGs regularly and maintain consistent contact with them
between visits to prevent the groups from withering. It is vital that the social
services continue to have energetic and creative leaders actively committed
to the development and maintenance of local CPGs.
111
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
References
Analytical Report – Population and Housing Census (2006) Ministry of
Planning and National Development, Maldives, p. 11-41, Unicef, (2003),
Master Plan of Operations 2003-2007, Unicef Malé Office, Maldives, Vol.1,
p. 6.
Bryson Hull, C. (2012) Crisis in paradise in Maldives’ New Democracy,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/23/us-maldivesidUSTRE81M0J220120223 (Accessed 10 March 2012).
Country Profile of the Maldives http://data.worldbank.org/country/maldives,
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-bycountry/country-profile/asia-oceania/maldives/ (Accessed 8 March 2012).
Eldakak, S. (2000) The Application of CRC in the Republic of Maldives from
the Perspective of Islamic Law, UNICEF Malé Office, p. 21 (unpublished).
Fegan, M. & Bowes, J. (1999) ‘Isolation in Rural, Remote and Urban
Communities’, in Bowes, J.M. & Hayes, A. (eds.) Children, Families and
Communities, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Australia.
Fulu, E. (2004) Gender Based Violence in the Maldives, UNFPA and Ministry
of Gender, Family Development and Social Security.
Fulu, E. (2007) The Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences:
Initial Report on Prevalence, Health Outcomes and Women’s Responses to
Violence, Ministry of Gender and Family.
IODA – Individual & Organisational Development & Assessment (1999)
Final Report on Child Protection Investigation Skills Training in Maldives,
Nottingham.
Kopoka, A.J. (2000) Provision of Health Services in Tanzania in the Twenty
First Century: Lessons From The Past, http://www.fiuc.org/esap/DAR/
DAR11/General/nyerere.pdf (Accessed 10 March 2012).
Maldives; IODA – Individual & Organisational Development & Assessment
(1999) Final Report on Child Protection Investigation Skills Training in
Maldives, Nottingham.
Michaelson, R. (2003) Violence Against Children in Schools and Families
in the Maldives with Focus on Sexual Abuse: A Qualitative Investigation,
UNICEF Malé in collaboration with the Unit for the Rights of Children.
Midgley, J. (1998) Social Welfare in the Global Context, Thousand Oaks,
California Sage Publications, p. 119.
Narcotics Control Board (2003) Rapid Situation Assessment of Drug Abuse in
the Maldives 2003, Maldives.
112
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Proctor, B. (2000) Group Supervision: A Guide to Creative Practice, Sage,
London.
Scott, D. & O’Neil, D. (2003) Beyond Child Rescue: Developing FamilyCentred Practice at St Luke’s, Solutions Press Bendigo.
UNDOC (2011) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2010/February/maldives-joinsunodc-to-strengthen-drug-response (Accessed 10 March 2012).
Unicef (2003) Master Plan of Operations 2003-2007, Unicef Malé Office,
Maldives, Vol.1, p. 6.
113
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
114
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 9
Human Rights and Social Work in Post Communist Lithuania
Dr. Dalija Snieškienė
Vytautas Magnus University, School of Social Welfare, Department of
Social Work - Lithuanian Association of Social Workers
Global Agenda theme 2:
Dignity and worth of the person
115
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
This chapter presents reflections about the development of social work and
human rights in Lithuania, one of the Baltic countries and a former member
of the Soviet Union. The social work profession has been developing since
1992. Personal dignity, the identity of social work as a profession, as well
as human rights issues, are all closely interrelated with cultural and societal
development. The continuation of the Soviet culture strongly relates with
neoliberal ideology and affects the understanding and implementation of
human rights in the country. Intensive collaboration with IFSW helped the
author to understand the importance of human rights issues in social workers’
education and professional social work and these issues are explored in the
chapter.
Introduction
Lithuania is one of the Baltic countries - a former member of the Soviet
Union. The first time Lithuania was proclaimed an independent national state
was in 1918, but in 1940 it was occupied by the Soviet Union and after World
War II became a part of it together with two other Baltic countries (Latvia and
Estonia). Gorbachov’s Perestroika let the civil movement Sajūdis flourish and
re-establish the national state of Lithuania in 1990, which today comprises
approximately three million people (Lietuvos Statistikos Departamentas,
2011).The education of professional social workers began in 1992 (Utena
School) with an undergraduate programme and graduate programmes
at Vytautas Magnus and Vilnius Universities. The author of this article is a
member of the first group of the graduates of the Social Work School at
Vytautas Magnus University.
The Soviet Context and Human Rights
No social professions existed at the time of the Soviet Union (USSR)
as totalitarian communist ruling declared that there could not be social
problems in the proletarian state. The USSR did not sign the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 as in accordance with the ideology of
the communist regime all human rights in the Soviet Union were observed.
However in reality the expression and education of religion was forbidden
and inhibited, censorship of publication and free speech was so strong
that during decades it was entrenched in the minds of people. Freedom of
movement and organization was forbidden. Criminalization, victimization
and persecution of the attitudes different than those of the Communist Party
became the every day culture.
At the same time some social and economic, as well as cultural rights - jobs,
wages, shelters or flats - were ensured for everybody. Prices corresponded
to incomes, but at the same time there was permanent lack of property rights
because most of the property such as land, buildings, forests, factories, etc.
116
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
was nationalized and there was a lack of consumer goods, because the
main trend of the planned economy was in the area of construction work,
mechanical engineering and arms production. Social rights - education,
health services, social benefits and pensions were proclaimed as necessary
in the development of an egalitarian society, with some privileges extended to
the Communist Party elite. Everybody from a student of a vocational school
to a director of any factory or university was a member of a trade union. Trade
unions developed some rehabilitation services and supported important
national events (such as New Year celebrations, workers anniversaries,
professional days, etc.), while strikes and public meetings of workers were
forbidden.
The development of a concept of human rights as a part of culture was
destroyed, while the acceptance and understanding of law as a part of the
contract between rulers and society or among society groups was destroyed
as well. Supreme law - God, according to the official education and culture did
not exist. In accordance with this, obligatory Atheism as a part of education
was integrated everywhere: from kindergarten to higher school. During this
period I and my two children grew up. Some underground movements (I
participated in some of them) continued the discussion and education about
different morality, history and human rights.
Law from Moscow had superiority over local legal acts and entrenched the
understanding that it was “not ours” - in the majority of cases everyone was
thinking how to overcome the law. That culture was represented by a proverb
“Law is a pole. You cannot jump over it, but you can always circumvent it”.
As a result ordinary people did not participate in any processes of policy
formation, which came from outside. Factitious elections (rulers were always
elected by 99.9%) and elected bodies were not controlled by electors.
Social Darwinism was the main ideology with the aim to raise a new Soviet
man in the changed social conditions, in accordance with the practice
of survival of the most suitable for the Soviet regime. During the Soviet
occupation more than 300,000 people from Lithuania were deported,
imprisoned or killed (Tarptautinė komisija…2011). Social institutions, such
as kindergartens, schools, and residential homes were the main institutions
for child socialization and not the family. The family was seen as the main
institution of reproduction of the labour force to build the communist society.
The lines of the poem “Love the Party, my kid, as you love your own mother”
represent this idea very well.
The Development of the New State of Lithuania
The development of the civil movement “Sajūdis” in 1998 started with ideas of
economic initiatives and provided encouragement to discuss the issues that
opened up historical memories of deportation and destruction of civil people
during the occupation. Later it turned into the “singing” revolution and finally
117
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
the re-establishment of the independent state of Lithuania in 1990. Exciting
feelings of freedom of speech, religion and education, and free movement
and organization during this time transfused our lives. The re-establishment
of the social non-governmental organizations and political parties that
existed before World War II started to develop into a new civil society. The
newly elected governments took a neoliberal position that dominated as the
newest ideology at that time in the Western world (Berglund, et al., 2001;
Bielskis, 2009).
New legal acts of restitution of private property created new tensions.
Property rights were and still are used for those who are rich and do not
support real rights for just wages and salaries. Soon the development of
the “nouveau-riche” was congratulated by the state. At the same time deep
poverty, homelessness and discrimination on the basis of property became
a part of everyday life (Dobryninas, et al., 2000). Social rights are no longer
the rights for everybody: there are more and more paid health services, very
low pensions and benefits, social services have become more available but
frequently too expensive for ordinary people (Šakalienė, et al., 2005). People
have to be responsible for themselves more and more and the state is less
and less responsible for people. Trade unions were seen as organizations
poisoning economic growth and welfare and were destroyed or corrupted for
the welfare of the rulers (Bielskis, 2009). During this time the Catholic religion
approved an exceptional agreement with the state (Agreement between
Holy See and the Republic of Lithuania…2000) and persecutions of those
who thought differently to those in the power (on TV, other media, at work)
became everyday practice.
Yet at the same time the majority of International Human Rights documents
were ratified. According to the Constitution of Lithuania, International law has
equal position with Lithuanian law and does not have any superiority (Lietuvos
Respublikos Konstitucija 1992). The NGO Human Rights Monitoring Institute
(HRMI) was established in 2003. According to the reports of the research
performed by this organization in 2005, Lithuania has made significant
progress in improving the legal basis to deal with cases of discrimination
and intolerance, which was particularly strengthened by the new Law on
Equal Opportunities. However, Lithuania remains one of the most intolerant
countries in Europe, with “intolerance against ethnic and religious minorities
rapidly increasing” (HRMI, 2005: 1). In 2005, children and women remained
among the most vulnerable social groups. A matter of particular concern
is the scale of violence against members of these groups. The fact that
Lithuania has remained a country of source, transit and destination for
human trafficking, with women and girls as the most frequent victims, is very
troubling“ (HRMI, 2005: 1).
The publication Human Rights in Lithuania 2007 - 2008 overview (HRMI, 2008)
showed that “Lithuanian political parties understand the protection of human
118
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
rights in an extremely narrow sense: this protection is usually associated
with the operation of the legal system, law enforcement institutions, and
the courts in reinstating infringed rights. Less frequently the safeguarding
of human rights is associated with the functioning of the public service.
Traditional social and economic rights and solidarity rights are not perceived
as human rights whatever. Almost no attention is paid to human rights which
are related to the changing political, social, economic and technological
environment: globalization, integration into the Western political and cultural
area. Constitution and international law is not applicable in the practice of
Courts, with exception to Constitutional Court of Lithuania.” (HRMI, 2008:
5). Findings of HRMI (2008) show that corruption in the court system and
state institutions is very high, people do not trust these institutions, and
organizations dismiss the people who start raising issues of human rights.
There is more freedom of speech and free movement, but there are very few
cases when ordinary persons are listened to. The majority of young people
choose free movement and emigrate. Official Lithuanian statistics says that
approximately 615,000 of inhabitants emigrated from Lithuania in 1990-2010
(Lietuvos Statistikos Departamentas, 2011[b]).
The Course on Human Rights and Social Work at Vytautas Magnus
University
The notion of social work as a profession was imported to Lithuania at
the beginning of the development of the new state from 1991-1992. Free
movement in the country enabled educated Lithuanians from overseas to
come back home. Some of them had been social work professionals in the
Western welfare states and they felt that Lithuania needed to develop social
work as a helping strategy in this “neoliberal” era. Initially we did not study
human rights as a part of the curriculum, and it was only when David Drucker,
one of the experts on social development came to our School and started the
Social Development course that discussions began about human rights as
a base for Social Development. The concept of human rights was very new
for many of us, and nobody knew the full content of it. The description and
understanding of human rights as a part of the profession began with the
introduction of the International Federation of Social Workers from the first
meeting in Debrecen in 1993. At the same time the Lithuanian Association of
Social Workers (LASW) was established without professional social workers,
mainly based on the leaders of social care institutions that functioned in
the USSR period and continued to function. My active participation in the
IFSW Europe began in 2004 when the understanding about the importance
of human rights issues for the social work profession was growing. At the
same time discussions with the administration of the Department of Social
Work at Vytautas Magnus University about the possibilities of developing a
teaching course on human rights to undergraduate students started. The
first international accreditation of the social work programmes was very
119
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
helpful because the experts articulated the importance of human rights in
the education of social workers. Being a member of the Board of LASW I
organized the translation of two source books into the Lithuanian language:
Human Rights and Social Work (IFSW/IASSW, 2000) and Social Work and the
Rights of the Child (IFSW/IASSW, 2002). At the same time the new course
of 4.5 ECTS on “Human Rights and Social Work” was prepared for teaching
and this course began in autumn 2007.
Learning from the Experience of Teaching Human Rights and Social
Work
The first students in this course were 3rd year undergraduates - a group of
35 students. I expected that these students would accept this course as
interesting for their practice. I began with an introduction about the history
of the development of human rights, but when I began to talk about values
that human rights represent, many students in the group stopped me and
said:“What are you talking about?” “It does not exist at all in reality”, “Human
rights do not exist”. I was really shocked. I listened to them and asked them
why they thought that way. The personal experience of these young people
was very bitter; some had bad experiences from their families when they had
been left alone during parental divorce or had been humiliated at school, with
little support from adults and peers. Some of them had difficult experiences
in their workplace and in their lives generally. The main source of socialization
was media (with shows of competition, violence and aggression) so their role
models had been rather poor. We started a discussion about their values
and I asked them what value is the main one in their life. The answer was:
“competition”!? I understood how well they (young people of 20-21) are
prepared in this society as the means for the market economy in the sense of
Drower and Kerans’ concept of commodification (Drower and Kerans, 1993:
20-21).
The next question was about the experience of their support from others.
It was difficult for many of them to find good examples. Their experience
when they tried to stand by somebody was mostly negative as well. Some
of them, including their parents and relatives had tried to find help from the
responsible institutions, but did not get any support. Our studies of human
rights were based on the analysis of many cases from their life experience.
There was a lingering question remaining: how these vulnerable young
people are going to be ready for social work and respecting of human rights,
if they do not trust any institution organized to support citizens or high ideals
of the human rights?
Another important discussion was about human dignity. Students understood
this concept as a very high spiritual notion or self-esteem or self-respect.
During the lectures we discussed the religious interpretation of this concept
and understanding of human rights. After the explanations of dignity in
120
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
the human rights context, students became more aware about relations
of human rights and social work. Human dignity could not exist without
solidarity. Solidarity in the post communist societies tends to mean unity - or
agreeing with - with those in power, with the rulers. Students do not have any
experience in maintaining solidarity with those in need or oppressed. They
were too young to participate in the “Sajūdis” movement and there is no
other organization in Lithuania that would have been able to organize people
against oppression or injustice.
As Lithuania survived long years of genocide and racism the topics about the
roots of these phenomena were and still are very important for the students
of social work. The study of modern-day racism and different forms of
discrimination is of extreme importance when reflecting our own prejudices
and myths.
The course on human rights and social work is now developing. Now we
are working with a professional lawyer and our discussions in this course
are richer and more informative. It is always interesting to compare the
understanding of human rights in different professions. Professional lawyers
are well prepared to act according to the law, but not so much to develop
policies and law if it is seen officially as against the basic needs of people.
Social workers have to think more about needed changes if the legislation
and policies do not fit the ideas of freedom, equality, dignity and social justice.
Summarizing my first experience of teaching human rights for social
workers and experience of my family life in two different political systems I
raise a question: Are there many differences between communist and post
communist neo-liberal ideologies? My comparison is based on the criteria
presented in Table 1.
Table No.1 Comparison of the communist and neoliberal capitalist
culture
Communist culture
Neoliberal capitalist culture
No God - only substance (materialism)
Substance is God (i.e. wealth is
worshipped)
People are the means to achieve communist society
Individuals are the means to achieve
market economy
Ethics of work
Ethics of wealth
Collective interest (declared)
Private interest (declared)
Individual interest (secret)
Individual interest emphasised
Fear of the ruling power
Fear about the future and of everyday life
All people are equal (some more equal than others)
One culture or subgroup has priority
Fear of punishment but little respect for international law
Quasi adherence to some international
law (at times more lip service)
121
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
The criteria in Table 1 express the strong continuation of oppressive culture
in both communist and post-communist societies and demonstrates the lack
of space for the values of human rights and social justice. Teaching human
rights in this context sometimes seems to be a Sisyphean job!
What I have learned:
• Both systems - communist and neoliberal capitalist - do not support
the main values of human rights.
• Destruction of religion as one of the main belief systems of human
culture ruined any ideals higher than material or survival.
• There are differences of understanding regarding human rights in
different professional groups.
• Teaching this course together with a professional lawyer was a good
experience for all the participants in the process.
• Human rights could be better implemented if it was taught from
primary to higher school level.
• Human rights are not only legal issues, but should be much more
evident in everyday practice.
• Human rights should be presented as a permanent dialogue based on
human experience.
• Institutional response and support when rights are violated is crucial
for peace and security in the country.
Conclusion
The development of human rights has developed through time and is a
conceptualization of the best practices of different cultural experiences. Reestablishment of the main moral sources and respect for the achieved human
rights take an enormous amount of time, trust, endeavour, pain and courage
in any political context. Cooperation with servicer users, other social workers
in the country and international cooperation among different organizations
that are working together, are the sources that will keep determination and
trust to achieve the goal of high ideals of human rights.
122
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
References
Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Lithuania concerning
juridical aspects of the relations between the Catholic Church and the State
(2000) [online] Available at <http://www.lcn.lt/b_dokumentai/kiti_dokumentai/
AS-LR-sutartis-teise.html> [Accessed 20 January 2012].
Berglund, S., Aarebrot, F.H., Vogt H., Karasimeonov, G. (2001) Challenges
to Democracy. Eastern Europe Ten Years after the Collapse of Communism.
Cheltenham, Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing Company.
Bielskis A. (ed.) (2009) Demokratija be darbo judėjimo?, Kaunas: Kitos
knygos.
Dobryninas A., Gaidys V., Gruževskis B., Poviliūnas A.,Skapcevičius V.,
Šaulauskas M.P., Žukas S. (2000) Socialiniai pokyčiai: Lietuva, 1990/1998.
Vilnius: Garnelis.
Drover, G. and Kerans, P., eds. (1993) New Approaches to Welfare Theory:
Making and Sorting Claims. Cheltenham, England: Edward Elgar Publishing
Company.
IFSW/IASSW (2000) Human Rights and Social Work. Training Manual for
Schools of Social Work and Social Work Profession. Bern: International
Federation of Social Workers.
IFSW/IASSW (2002) Social Work and the Rights of the Child. A Professional
Training Manual on the UN Convention. Bern: International Federation of
Social Workers.
Human Rights Monitoring Institute (2005) Human Rights in Lithuania 2005:
Overview. [online] Human Rights Monitoring Institute. Available at <http://
www.hrmi.lt/en/publication/7/> [Accessed 25 September 2011].
Human Rights Monitoring Institute (2008) Human Rights in Lithuania 20072008: Overview. [online] Human Rights Monitoring Institute. Available
at:<http://www.hrmi.lt/en/publication/5/> [Accessed 25 September 2011].
Lietuvos Respublikos
Respublikos Seimas.
Konstitucija
(1992)
(c.138),
Vilnius:
Lietuvos
Lietuvos Statistikos Departamentas (2011a) Baigėsi visuotinio gyventojų
ir būstų surašymo apklausa. [online] Lietuvos statistikos departamentas.
Available at <http://www.stat.gov.lt/lt/news/view?id=10038&PHPSESSID=c
5e5ed8f78984c4889fb3f97591a92f7> [Accessed 10 September 2011].
Lietuvos Statistikos Departamentas (2011b) Dėl oficialios tarptautinės
migracijos statistikos. [online] Lietuvos statistiskos departamentas. Available
at <http://www.stat.gov.lt/lt/news/view/?id=10046> [Accessed 26 January
2012].
123
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Šakalienė, D., Mickevičius, H., Uscila. R. (eds.) (2005) Žmogaus teisių
įgyvendinimas Lietuvoje 2004. Vilnius: Eugrimas.
Tarptautinė komisija nacių ir sovietinio okupacinių režimų nusikaltimams
Lietuvoje įvertinti, 2011.Sovietinio okupacinio režimo nusikaltimai Lietuvoje
[online] The International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the
Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania. Available at: <http://www.
komisija.lt/lt/naujiena.php?id=1188547851> [Accessed 10 January 2012].
124
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 10
Violence Against the Elderly. Challenges for
Social Workers
Maria Irene Lopes Bogalho de Carvalho
PhD in Social Work, university teacher and researcher
Global Agenda theme 2:
Dignity and worth of the person
Global Agenda theme 4:
Importance of human relationships
125
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
This chapter analyses violence against the elderly as a challenge for social
workers by focusing on the notion of violence and the dimensions of analysis
and risk indicators, considering the relevance of social work in this context.
From this framework of analysis we present an exploratory study conducted
with social workers in social and health services on the meaning and
practices in cases of violence against the elderly in Portugal. We believe that
there is still much to do in terms of training and design of specific legislation
and networks in this area for social workers to protect the victim - the elderly
who suffer from violence either in the community or at home.
Violence against the Elderly
Ageing is one of the biggest challenges for any society. The increase in the
older population is the result of better living conditions, yet is also indicative of
other issues such as dependence, the need for care, loneliness, isolation and
indeed violence. Violence against the elderly is assumed to be a global and
human rights problem and is of concern to social work which values rights,
dignity and social justice. In the last decades violence against the elderly as
defined by the WHO (2002a: 126) as well as by the European Commission
(2008: 2) is “a single or repeated act, or the absence of appropriate action
that occurs in the context of any relationship in which there is an expectation
of trust which causes damage or tension to an elder”. Violence against the
elderly is more than an individual issue, more than a social, legal and health
issue, it is a matter of power and human rights.
Faleiros (2007) explains this by considering it “a complex and diverse
relational process. It is relational because it should be understood within the
structuring of society itself and interpersonal, institutional and family relations
(…), it is complex because it involves power relations both in the broader
social context and in private relations in a historic and dynamic perspective
(…), and it is diversified in family, individual and collective demonstrations
(…) amongst the various groups and segments, and it reaches the physical
body and the psyche” (Faleiros, 2007: 27).
Thus, the author interprets violence against the elderly as an “unequal power
relationship implying the denial of the other, of the difference, of tolerance
and of opportunities. As a consequence it results in harm, damage, or
suffering and infringes the social pact of sociability, of guarantee of rights
and of civilization based on human rights” (Faleiros, 2007: 30). It furthermore
translates material, moral and identity damage for those who suffer it and
consequently remain in social disadvantage.
Usually, violence and abuse can be practised at three levels: self-inflicted
(suicide, self-abuse), interpersonal (family and community), and collective
(social, political and economic) (WHO, 2004). The most frequent one is
126
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
interpersonal violence and abuse, practised by relatives or by institutional
employees where the elderly live and/or which they relate to and that provide,
or or do not provide, care. It can also be practised by strangers or known
people from the community. Usually, violence against the elderly is divided
into the following categories: physical abuse; psychological and emotional
abuse; financial or material abuse; sexual abuse; negligence and selfnegligence. And it is considered intentional or unintentional (WHO, 2002a:
126-127; Strümpel and Hackl, 2008: 17).
Physical abuse is a way of inflicting pain or injury, physical coercion or
domination induced by force or by undue use of medication, as well as
physical brutality. Psychological and emotional abuse is a way of inflicting
mental anguish, insulting words, intimidation, false accusations, defamation,
psychological suffering, mental cruelty and moral harassment. Financial or
material abuse regards illegal or improper exploitation, or the use of the elder’s
financial funds or material resources. This notion also includes extortion and
pension money control, misappropriation of assets and exploitation of the
elderly through, for example, coercion to begging. Sexual abuse implies
non-consensual sexual contact of any kind with the elder, including incest,
indecent assault and other forms of sexual coercion. Negligence involves the
refusal or non-performance of the obligation to take care of the elder, refusal
of affection, lack of interest for the elder’s well being, and abandonment.
Finally, self-negligence implies the behaviour in which the elder puts his/her
own safety and health at risk.
Other categories of violence include the ones related to institutions. Some
causes identified: abusive practice that occurs in healthcare and social
institutions; staff stress; difficulty of interaction between residents and the
elderly; internal environment; organisational policies (WHO, 2002a:133). This
means deficits of assistance, inadequate food, deficient nursing services
and lack of basic and specialised care. Staff stress results from precarious
work conditions, insufficient training and psychological problems. Difficulty
of interaction between residents and staff refers to bad communication,
resident aggressiveness and cultural differences. Treatment of the elder
with disrespect for his/her dignity, as well as bullying, can be identified as
violence. The internal environment of institutions includes lack of privacy,
the use of repression, inadequate sensorial stimulus and propensity for
accidents inside the institution. Organisational policies refer to abuse of
power against the elder and non-participation of the elderly in decisions
concerning them, as well as authoritarian and bureaucratic attitudes and the
use of repression, theft and fraud. Lack of counselling and information to
residents and relatives, and reduced numbers or high staff rotation are also
typical of these categories of violence.
127
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Social Work and Violence Against the Elderly
Social work is understood as a social practice that develops in society with
relative autonomy of criteria and consequent social responsibility. In cases of
violence against the elderly social workers have to consider rights, freedoms
and personal guarantees as well as the dignity of the human being as basic
principles, including self-determination, autonomy, participation, protection
and choice. According to the European Commission (2008) older people
present a greater risk because of: i) chronic diseases, physical, sensorial and
intellectual problems, disabilities, and sickness which makes them depend
on care provided by others, and loss of autonomy both in daily-life activities
and in decision-making and choosing; ii) mental problems (such as mental
illness, dementia, and communication difficulties); iii) social situations of risk
(isolation, loneliness, poverty, lack of community support, cultural barriers in
the case of the immigrant elderly); iv) they can be victims of certain social
situations such as insufficient access to resources in the welfare system,
policies that are unfavourable to their autonomy and that of the caregiver
relative, or inexistence of intergenerational solidarity.
It is important for social workers to understand that violence within the family
increases when the elderly are very dependent and when family caregivers
suffer from stress due to giving care. Especially when one knows that most
family caregivers are women, usually wives or daughters, and that many also
keep a full-time job apart from the task of caring for the dependent father or
mother.
In the case of professionals who work in residential settings such as oldage homes and healthcare services, it is necessary that they understand
that risk increases when organisations are very closed and bureaucratic and
when those responsible rationalise activities and restrict resident freedom.
It is also necessary to understand that the community/environment is more
and more discriminatory and aggressive with the elderly, namely in respect of
participation, protection and valuing of this group in society.
Social work and Violence Against the Elderly: Meanings, Practices and
Networks
We now present exploratory studies on the meaning and practices of social
workers with the elderly violence network in Portugal. This is the result of an
inquiry instrument applied to social workers and sent by e-mail. Of the twelve
interview schedules sent we received four answers - two from professionals
who work in central hospitals in Lisbon, and two from professionals in charge
of old-age homes.
The interview schedules aimed at approaching various issues linked to
the meanings attributed to elder abuse in our country; whether abuse is
acknowledged in society and in what way; whether abuse can be considered
128
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
intentional or non-intentional; who are the abused elderly (the ones at home or
the ones that are in institutions); who is the victim and who is the perpetrator
of abuse; existing legislation, as well as the numbers of abused elderly; risk
factors and how these are typified; and which are the institutions responsible
when one talks about elder abuse.
As we referred to in the beginning, we analysed the data gathered in the
interview schedule to assess the views that social workers who develop
activities for the elderly population have of abuse/ill-treatment/violence. A
single code was allocated to each interview, corresponding to either health
or social care practitioners. Taking into account the exploratory size of this
research and the small sample, a grounded theory methodology was used
for data analysis focused on qualitative and theme perspectives.
We first present the analysis of the meanings of ill-treatment and abuse that
professionals have identified in their practice.
These are mainly individual and social: “The destructive behaviour
directed at the elder that occurs in the context of relationships, that can
produce damaging effects of physical, psychological, social or economic
characteristics, resulting in suffering for the elder” but also regarding human
rights and citizenship: “Physical and/or psychological violence, including
verbal and emotional violence. Cases of negligence, abandonment, extortion,
both by relatives or organisations where the elderly are included. Repeated
violation of rights, especially in respect of the participation of the elderly as
people with the right to self-determination and personal autonomy”. This last
point is mentioned much less than the first one.
As for acknowledgement of the phenomenon in Portugal, some categories
of abuse/violence are identified, namely the ones referring to inexistence of
information, which implies their non recognition: “Inexistence of information
regarding crimes according to age level”. Legal acknowledgement is
included in the penal code and in the law on domestic violence - Law no.
112 (2009): “There is a legal framework in the Portuguese Penal Code, in
the National Plan to fight domestic violence, etc., but sometimes there is too
much media attention on situations of economic abuse (and others), which
contributes to their increase. (…) if on the one hand there is denunciation and
acknowledgement of the situation, on the other hand there is more exposure
of the victims”.
Acknowledgement only happens in certain circumstances, namely when
indicators of physical violence, negligence and abandonment are detected.
In other circumstances it is harder to identify violence, especially when
these circumstances are included in the practices of the professionals: “That
acknowledgement is above all more visible in respect of physical violence,
negligence and abandonment. I believe that the violation of full citizenship
129
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
rights of this population group continues to be ignored, a situation even more
serious when the professionals that have the obligation of defending them
are the first ones to violate them (…) e.g.: the social worker that enters an
elder into an old-age home exclusively based on the decision of the family
and without listening to the elder in question”.
As for the organisations that contributed to the acknowledgement of violence
against the elderly, the interviewees unanimously identify the media, although
they do acknowledge other entities: the national network for support to the
victim and non-governmental organizations that provide support to the
victim, the Prosecuting Authority and some professionals, as well as the
Ombudsman [Provedor de Justiça] through the elder line. As for the most
frequent kind of abuse, professionals refer all kinds of existing ill-treatment
and abuse or some such as “physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse,
negligence and financial extortion”.
In terms of signs or symptoms for detection of abuse of the elderly, physical,
behavioural and emotional ill-treatment are referred. Physical signs are linked
to another category of violence, i.e. emotional/psychological violence. Both
produce changes of behaviour in the elder such as apathy or (passive or
reactive) agitation.
When we analyse this issue we consider that both intentional and nonintentional violence are abuse/ill-treatment/violence. That is also the concept
that professionals believe in. For them “Although passive (non-intentional)
abuse is different from the active (intentional) one, as it implies non-awareness
and is non-intentional, it integrates similar actions and consequences”.
Despite this, non-intentional abuse is identified and sometimes excused with
lack of preparation/training of professionals. One of the professionals who
identified some practices associated to violence against the elderly, such
as the integration of the elder in an old-age home without his/her consent,
considers that this is a non-intentional action. According to her, it is due to
“lack of preparation/insufficient training from their part”.
Although the professionals interviewed operate in healthcare and social
institutions, they consider that violence occurs especially within the
family, particularly when the elder “depends physically and emotionally
on the caregiver”. This can be “financial, verbal and emotional abuse,
abandonment”. As for institutional abuse, professionals identify both “the
entry into the institution, often against the elder’s will (old-age home or
day centre), and exaggerated medication, excess of institutional rules and
attempting against the elder’s will and freedom, namely him/her not being
able to go out in the street on his/her own will and not having access to
his/her personal belongings (pictures, clothes)”. Whereas violence at home
is perpetrated by the family caregiver, in the institutional context violence
acquires multiple contours, as it can result both from the institution’s own
130
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
rules and regulations, be committed by employees, volunteers and relatives,
be a result of abandonment, lack of affection and deprivation of financial
assets, and others.
When this kind of relationship exists between aggressor and victim,
professionals associate it with the family relation and not with a professional
relation. They consider it in relation to relatives, especially sons/daughters,
but also “nephews/nieces”, “grandchildren” and the “spouse”.
As for knowledge of categories, professionals reveal they have a general
knowledge of the themes. In respect of issues centred on legislation and legal
frameworks about violence against the elderly there is no knowledge about
these issues. Of those that answered, two are unaware of the existence of
legislation in this area, one considers that there is no specific framework
for abuse and violence in this area and, lastly, one identifies article 152 of
the Penal Code. In fact legislation in this area is framed in general crimes or
in intentional omission: crime imputable to the one that commits the fact,
or negligence when the fact is non-intentional, also punished by law (Penal
Code, Dias, 2007, and Law of Domestic Violence).
In terms of characteristics of the victims, professionals identify older people/
carers as “People of advanced age with some functional and/or cognitive
limitation. Caregiver with low economic resources or economically dependent
on the elder. Conflicting relationship between the elder and the caregiver”.
Within these, violence is more frequent against women, widows, and
isolated old people. These cases are more frequent in the institutions where
professionals develop their activity, where there are mostly “women, widows,
with low income, sick (generally with incapacity for daily life activities), alone
and isolated”. This profile is effectively the one at greater risk but it is also
the one that, in the context of intervention, is privileged by social services.
We wanted to know the theoretical analysis perspective present when
professionals operate in these cases. We can identify three perspectives or
illustrations. A macro vision that looks toward the identification of long-reach
theories, such as the ecosystem, to explain micro issues. An integrated vision,
simultaneously macro, meso and micro, that identifies some modus operandi
centred in the personal capacity of achievements and expectations of the
elderly. Finally, a third vision, more sceptical with respect to theoretical and
intervention perspectives in this area, that reveals difficulty of understanding
behaviour of institutionalised elders by those who develop activities there
and refers the question to older people’s self-victimisation. One can infer
that this self-victimisation translates a behaviour of resistance to internal
aggressions (regulations of the institution, rigid rules and regulations, stress
of professional caregivers, scarcity of personal care), as well as to external
aggressions such as e.g. being interned against one’s will.
131
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
As for the way intervention is typified, one of the professionals considers it an
exclusively “social” problem, another one a “social and family problem with
impact in other areas” and also “a safety issue”, explaining it as an individual/
family and social problem. Apart from these conceptions, violence can be
typified under multiple aspects that refer to “a social problem, a policy or
human rights, a health problem, a safety issue and a family issue (…)”.
Finally we wanted to know whether professionals have a notion of one or more
organisations responsible for prevention, protection and social integration of
elder victims of violence in our country. This knowledge is very important in
intervention, as it is with it that one can infer whether professionals intervene
and refer situations diagnosed in their professional activity. We verified
that only healthcare professionals have answered, which allows us to infer
that these are the most apt to intervene here. Despite regional and cultural
differences that influence intervention, one of the interviewees considers that
the State has a fundamental role in this.
“The State has the responsibility to define, in preschool education syllabus
objectives and guidelines for the basic and secondary levels of education,
the guiding principles of a domestic violence crime prevention programme.
The State ensures the promotion of domestic violence prevention policies,
foreseen in article 78 of the Diário da República [government gazette] 1st
series no. 180 - 16 September 2009. By creating guides and educational
products in schools that include themes such as education for gender equity;
by creating educational information materials for the student population, and
carrying out awareness raising actions in schools. As well as with national
awareness raising campaigns on the theme”.
However, the State on its own is not capable of ensuring that elder victims
of violence are dignified. State institutions, therefore, have to associate
with civil society (private profitable and non-profitable institutions) and
with professionals that develop activity in this area. “Education facility;
municipalities that have or wish to have projects against violence; professional
boards in the area of healthcare; public administration entities responsible
for the area of citizenship and non-governmental organizations, aiming at
articulating procedures regarding protection and assistance to the victim”.
It is fundamental to create guidelines for intervention together with this
network. Training gains importance in professional activity, and the
development of programmes for “specific training in the area of domestic
violence to several professionals, to professional teachers in the areas of
health and law, to crime police and legal medicine technicians” is important,
as shown by article 79 of the Diário da República [government gazette], 1st
series, no. 180, of 16 September 2009. Hence the importance of training and
operating in networks in this area, so that prevention of elder abuse becomes
a reality in our country.
132
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Conclusion
Violence against the elderly has been the object of analysis but in Portugal
the phenomenon is not yet well-known and is assumed as a challenge for
social workers. The inexistence of a legal framework, the cultural aspects and
the complexity of the phenomenon result in each professional, at intervention
level, mobilising his/her knowledge to operate in this area. Social workers
consider it important to develop specific training allowing for identifying risk
indicators, diagnosing, referring and protecting victims, and following up on
transgressors.
The State should develop prevention measures for violence and abuse
against the elderly, namely: creating a global information gathering system/
database, capable of making prevalence and incidence of these phenomena
clear for each country; developing systems to report and denounce cases;
drawing specific legislation in this area; establishing and perfecting specific
services for old people that have been victims of these situations, namely
self-help groups, support phone lines and specialised support services
(European Commission, 2008).
It is also necessary to create educational programmes and prevention
campaigns for the public in general to be able to identify signs of abuse
and alert the authorities to the situations, to train other healthcare and
social professionals with responsibilities in the protection of older people
and to introduce guidelines that allow for procedures to be harmonised, for
home-based care programmes that improve the procedures of the informal
caregivers to be developed, for the establishment of quality monitoring and
evaluation systems of care provided to the elderly, especially long-term ones.
These are the recommendations one expects to see recognised in favour of
the elderly that suffer from violence.
References
Law no. 112 (2009) of 16 September. Law that establishes the legal regime
applicable to prevention of domestic violence, and protection and assistance
to its victims.
Despacho n.º 7837, de 2002; Despacho Normativo n.º 12, de 1998.
Dias, Jorge Figueiredo (2007) Código Penal, Coimbra Editora.
European Commission (2008) What can the European Union do to protect
dignity in old age and prevent elder abuse? Discussion paper, Brussels.
Faleiros, Vicente de Paula (2007) Violência Contra Idosos, Ocorrências,
Vítimas e Agressores, Brasília, Editora Universa.
Strümpel, Charlotte and Cornélia Hackl (2008) Breaking the Taboo, European
Report, Daphne.
133
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
WHO (2002a) Relatório Mundial da Violência e Saúde, in www.opas.org.br.
WHO (2002b) The Toronto Declaration, on the Global Prevention of Elder
Abuse, Toronto, WHO, INPEA, University of Toronto.
WHO (2004) Preventing violence, Geneva.
134
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 11
Participatory Research with the Women of
Thabong, Mazenod, Lesotho
Karen Dullea
University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
Global Agenda theme 1:
Social and economic inequalities within
countries and between regions
135
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
This article shares reflections on participatory research/evaluation involvement
with women who ran a weaving cooperative near Mazenod in Lesotho,
southern Africa. It took place from 2000-2003 - with two subsequent visits
and continued contact. Participatory research was about authentically being
with the women in order to support their efforts. It explores the possibility of
effecting positive and meaningful change specific to what is manageable for
those who participate in the development activity and including the external
researcher, given time, resources, energy levels, local and global obstacles
and possibilities.
Introduction
Participatory research brings an external researcher and local people
together to explore change efforts in the context of what the latter know
and the efforts they want to undertake. Participatory research connects local
knowledge, information gathering, and reflection through equal participation
and action in order to meet identified needs (Smith, 1997). In this sense,
research is active and purposeful and relevant to the lives of those who
participate (Meulenberg-Buskens, 1996). A participatory evaluation allows
for those who know the project on a day-to-day basis to maintain control of
what has been learned and decisions on where to go from here (Feuerstein,
1988). Participatory research opens an avenue at least to explore possibility,
and to learn as an outsider. It’s about ‘being with’ rather than coming in to
do research ‘on’ others and taking away what we’ve learned in order to claim
that knowledge as the basis of practice (Wulfhorst et al., 2008).
Expert knowledge in social work and development studies
The expertise of modern professionalised social work has developed
along with the capitalist expansionism of the North through colonisation,
industrialisation and now globalisation:
“Thus a critique of the situatedness of social work, in terms of its functions
and relevance in societies across continents, would enhance thoughts on the
orientation of international social work under the conditions of globalisation”
(Kuruvilla, 2005, p. 46).
This expertise is more focused on the individual and their ability to adjust
to their environment and less on addressing power over knowledge and
resources and how local people as individuals and as groups, are silenced,
disregarded, or disposable (Kuruvilla, 2005; Rangel, 2005). As individuals in
neo-liberal society, we are responsible for the decisions we make and the
behaviour that contributes to our ability or inability to produce an income.
McEwan (2009) identifies this mindset as antithetical to postcolonial theory
and ‘development’ practice:
136
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Thus, in advocating agency within development, it is essential that this is
not conflated with the worst aspects of neoliberalism in the North, in which
the blame for poverty and the responsibility for survival is shifted onto the
shoulders of the impoverished (McEwan, 2009, p. 244).
Social work is also situated in the ‘developed’-‘under-developed’ binaries of
modernist theory. We send experts south to advise on ‘their’ social policy and
review ‘their’ social work curricula (Jones, 2009). We come as experts purely
from a casework perspective that hardly fits when 60% of the country earns
less than $2 per day. Yet, we are deemed to know and we take prerogative
over that ‘knowing’, including in how poverty is captured and defined for the
western market:
“Knowledge has been, and to a large extent still is, controlled and produced
in the North. The power to name, represent and theorize is still located here,
a fact which postcolonialism seeks to disrupt” (McEwan, 2009, p. 26).
At the same time as we are increasingly including participatory research as a
fringe research methodology [as, oddly enough, social work remains situated
in the positivist paradigm], a modernist social work profession re-entrenches
itself in disciplinary practice [finding more human aberrations to assess
and pre-determine (Garrett, 2002; Gilbert and Powell, 2010)] and evidencebased research that produces clear guidelines on what to do in cases
such as ‘these’ (Orme and Shemmings, 2010). Sagatum (2008) questions
the decontextualised and totalisation of a ‘monolithic’ understanding and
compartmentalisation of diverse lives in order to predict social work ‘best
practices’. Silenced are the number of voices that need to be heard in order
to grasp diversities and knowings that are contextualised in multiple everyday
lives (p. 55)
Poverty and Knowing
Kalati and Manor (2005) interviewed members of the ‘elite’ in South Africa
on their perceptions of poverty and inequality. All agreed that 60-70 per
cent of South Africans are poor. But they “tended not to see poverty as an
urgent issue or even as an especially severe problem for the poor” (Kalati
and Manor, 2005, p. 159). The majority of non-African respondents had not
seen the poverty that exists in the rural areas. It would help explain then,
according to the authors, why an ‘official commission’s’ recommendation
that child benefits be extended to poor mothers in rural areas was met with
dismay, primarily by elite whites:
“This reaction revealed elite doubts that such recipients could manage such
money responsibly, and their lack of awareness of how severe the destitution
of rural households actually is” (Kalati and Manor, p. 173).
137
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
We too as social workers are situated in these divides and the invisibility of
the poor. Of how and why people struggle. Of the reality of their positioning
in terms of influence, assets, and bargaining power in order to be heard and
be able to change their circumstances. The ‘elite’ in Reis and Moore’s (2005)
compilation include people from within the countries studied who can afford
to live in certain neighbourhoods and who have never entered a township,
shanty town or the other side of the tracks.
Similarly and globally, social workers in the North mainly ‘practice’ from
secured offices - locked away from public intrusions, especially by clients,
especially by the distressed, able to construct that which they do not know
because they only enter that world by appointment (Caswell et al., 2011).
Kuruvilla (2005) asks:
“What is needed now in the globalised context, is a conscious attempt to
craft a strategy that will support livelihoods without loss of dignity, allow self
reliance at the community level and nourish the delicate threads of sociocultural life that makes an economy possible. How can social workers
contribute to this end?” (p. 50).
Participatory research can precipitate, depending on context and participants
(Fiedrich, 2003), a conscientisation for both external researcher(s) and local
participants. McEwan (2009, p. 68), quotes Spivak’s work and the need to
‘learn one’s privileges as loss’. In other words - our positions of privilege
within our countries and in our global locations has excluded us as ‘the
elite’ from finding out who people really are, and what it is they know, about
themselves, their environment and about those with the power to take,
shape, represent and decide:
“Having learned one’s privilege as loss, one has to learn to learn anew, which
opens up the possibility of gaining knowledge of others” (ibid. italics added).
Rademacher and Patel (2002) map the journey of analysis of the ‘voices of
the poor’ as obtained through World Bank initiated and funded participatory
poverty appraisals which was something the World Bank had never done
before, really listened to ‘the poor’. Over 20,000 people were listened to
(Narayan et al., 2000):
“There are 2.8 billion poverty experts, the poor themselves. Yet development
discourse about poverty has been dominated by the perspectives and
expertise of those who are not poor - professionals, politicians and agency
officials” (ibid., p. 2).
But the transformation of the local to the global meant that coding whittled
down diversity into the recognisable and less challenging. There are always
losses when research becomes decontextualised and analysed elsewhere
by ‘objective’ researchers. Lost would be the physical and emotional context
within which words are spoken:
138
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
“I now knew that whatever was said in a PRA [participatory rural appraisal]
exercise was said in a specific situation, by one person to another, and
the person who made the statement had a reason for saying it at the time.
Whatever was said had usually been somewhat translated or transformed by
a mediating development worker. It was therefore neither the direct voice of
a poor person or even something they would like us to say in a completely
different situation. At the same time, I do realize and understand that these
narratives strike a chord with many development actors” (Jassey, 2003; p.
98).
Rademacher and Patel, who participated as research assistants in the
analysis, confirm that:
“...[T]he hearing of respondents is incomplete without attention to how they
have been listened to. ... [I]n assembling the global synthesis, we pulled
decontextualised quotes from the data set ... In most cases these ‘voices’
were simply quotations - raw data material largely stripped of its original
social and political context” (p. 175).
In the final result:
“We are left to consider how the universalized narrative does just that:
renders generic certain aspects of poverty even while it advocated a
potentially powerful set of tools for discovering what is ungeneric about local
experiences of poverty” (p. 180).
How do we know what we know? How can we support genuine bottomup change when we haven’t actually heard? How do we conscientise the
funders and the determinists?
This chapter shares reflections on participatory research/evaluation
involvement with women who ran a weaving cooperative near Mazenod in
Lesotho, southern Africa. Participatory research was about authentically
being with women in order to support their efforts. It is about not being
disconnected, at odds with, my values and what I am doing. It is being okay
with being challenged in my own perceptions and in what I take for granted.
It is also about being changed in uncomfortable ways. Participatory research
is neither romantic nor without contention. But it builds on what local people
are already doing, already know - it complements. As an outsider and social
worker, I can make contacts, I can use a certain influence to augment the
strategies of the women involved (Pandy, 1998). In this sense it is a reciprocal
exchange of knowledge, action and benefits.
Women and Income Generation
Women in Lesotho have always been primary economic actors selling or
bartering surplus produce and the handmade wares necessary for food
production (Meyerowitz, 1935). It has also been their role to sow and
139
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
harvest, maintain the household, plan and build the house - something that
goes back in time but was relied upon when the majority of men worked in
South African mines (Eldredge, 1993; Kishindo, 1993). Globally, women are
more active in employment than ever before (UN, 2001). They represent, in
some locations, up to 80% of the informal sector (WIEGO, 2008). Although
Thabong, because it is a registered cooperative, would not be classified as
part of informal economic development, it relies on informal trading and the
informal employment of other women to keep afloat. Valodin (2001) suggests
the development of a self-employed women’s rights network in South Africa
to protect the women engaged in informal employment and to ensure they
have a political voice. Similarly, Kabeer (1998) found that women’s economic
autonomy can result in increased ‘bargaining power’ in the household and
in relation to gatekeepers to influence, and resources. Thabong women
identified the need for female ‘primary producers’ to be heard and taken
seriously. They required infrastructural and active institutional back-up in
order to access marketing opportunities and develop products accordingly.
But they often found themselves unheard and in competition with other
female cooperatives selling the same products and the same designs. Even
the marketing outlet began its own workshop producing the same items as
the cooperatives it was supposed to be selling for.
Thabong and other female-run cooperatives began as a result of targeted
development interventions during the 1970s when women’s income generating
potential became important to the efficiency focus of internationally planned
development directions (Moser, 1991; Bessis, 2001). Thabong women wove
mohair into tapestries depicting village scenes. What sells in Europe and
what the European/UK consumer connects to is what founded the tapestry
idea. You needed the time, resources, the water supply, the electricity, the
dyes, the capital and the same sense of ‘art’ and meaning. The same view
persists today including in fair trade exchanges in terms of who decides
the products and what constitutes quality? Those who can conform are
considered. But very few have what it takes to make perfect tapestries that
look machine woven. That’s the competition! And few consumers have
what it takes to buy a good tapestry especially when they can buy pseudoAfrican products closer to home. But the women of Thabong stuck to making
tapestries and to the amount of work that went into them. It took a month
between cleaning, carding, spinning, dying and weaving to make one square
metre tapestry and that’s working eight hour days. These women were also
managing households and fields, hoeing before they came to the workshop
and cooking without a microwave when they got home. Everything took time.
The institutional backing and capacity has to be there to ensure these
grassroots initiatives can in fact develop their production, access markets
and benefit from profits so that they can continue to produce in order to
sustain households (Hays-Mitchell, 1999; Mubangizi, 2003). For poor women
140
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
without assets it includes being able to sell on the street without harassment
(Fadane, 1998; Chazan, 2008) especially as women’s informal and small
business earnings primarily go directly back into the household (NkhomaWamunza, 1992; Mayoux, 2001). Sen (1999) emphasises the right and
importance of women’s equal access to the marketplace in order to produce
and to sell and the obligation of nation states to ensure their access because
of the pivotal role they play in the nation’s economy.
Chazan (2008) interviewed female street traders in South Africa, all of them
grandmothers. What they already carried because of their gendered roles
has been made heavier because many cannot rely on adult children to help
out. Many have lost sons and daughters because of AIDS. If they are raising
grandchildren, it only stretches the little they have. They are confined as
informal traders to their own selling space, their own piece of the sidewalk
which they must also protect from others (Fadane, 1998). They need profits
in order to buy the items to sell. There is little room for developing surplus
capital when the demands for what one makes increase - including the cost
of food. Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa and largely depends on it for
work and imports. Uncharacteristic heavy rains have devastated fields so far
this year, meaning that people have not been able to plant crops they depend
on for subsistence. At the same time, and in normal rainy seasons, the water
spills off the mountains into the rivers that feed the fertile lowlands of South
Africa with its means of crop irrigation. The price of maize has risen since
June 2010, by 10 per cent. Cooking oil and paraffin have increased as much
as 25 per cent (allAfrica.com: Lesotho, 24 February, 2012).
Women and Participatory Involvement
Wieringa (1994) speaks of the need to participate with women in daily activities
in order to hear them properly. They are often too busy to attend community
planning workshops. Others (Guijt, 2003; Parpart, 2002) suggest long-term
fieldwork in order to understand how a participatory engagement can support
the efforts of some women in a diverse community. Similarly, within a group
of women are differences and power dynamics based on privilege and social
status (Cornwall, 1998). It depends on process and who comes together
for what reason. It doesn’t just happen. Any participatory engagement, if
genuine, opens a space for a dialogue that might seldom happen. It might
include those who are on the periphery yet whose contribution is vital to
the project or enterprise. The older women of Thabong welcomed the group
discussions over tea and bohobe (bread) that bought all the women together,
including the mohair cleaners and carders, as there was a hierarchy of who
was usually included.
Khanna (1996) and Sarin (1998) speak of meeting women in spaces that are
comfortable and informal and giving them the time necessary to express
themselves. Short-term participatory research such as participatory rural
141
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
appraisal may not make room for the talking required of women who have
never seen their needs as important enough to be heard, nor for a critical
reflection on ‘why’ (Parpart, 2002; Guijt, 2003). Thabong women called
themselves ‘women on our own’ because their history during apartheid is
about men providing cheap and expendable labour to South African mines,
leaving mainly women in Lesotho to manage livelihood activities and raise
children (find school fees) etc. on their own (Murray, 1981).
Dialogue is not only about sharing information about how things are
going. Dialogue reaches down into the multiple layers of experiences and
understandings that speak to women’s lives and places what has happened
and what can happen in a specific context of gendered social relations.
Actions are integral to participatory research/evaluation. They are always
happening and not necessarily planned. My own experience is that what is
planned doesn’t often have the same effect as what happens spontaneously
because everyone’s there at the right time. These women were always doing,
as I was also doing, behind the scenes or as a matter of course, but with a
clearer focus and a sense of motivation that apparently hadn’t been there
for awhile. The older women had told me, given the number of barriers to
finding markets and getting tapestries to the market, when the main market
outlet was burned down, as were a number of buildings in the downtown
core during the 1997 elections, they were ready to pack it in. They could not
foresee a way back. My fear was that this time together would engender too
much hope.
Women and ‘Empowerment’
Gender and ‘empowerment’ might not be as much the issue for local
women as is earning an income (Guijt and Shah, 1998). Income generation
can become the point of departure by which women embrace other parts
of themselves while giving them the psychological edge needed to assume
control where before they couldn’t (Kabeer, 1998).
Local women are not waiting to be empowered by outsiders nor do they
passively submit to an outsider’s agenda, no matter how participatory
(Villarrael, 1992). Participatively, they will fit an outsider into their own agenda
in order to get whatever makes sense from the encounter (Jackson, 1997).
This resistance to an imposed agenda that is paternalistically deemed
‘empowering’, is about taking power over being ‘fixed’ or ‘changed’ as per
a psychologised need to professionally ‘develop’ others (Kothari, 2001).
Therefore, our subjective positions and hidden agendas inform what is
really happening and what can be learned from it - possibly by the outside
researcher.
Participatory research is messy and processual. It goes with the flow of the
lives of those who participate (Keough, 1998). If you don’t move with people
142
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
you miss what needs to be learned. If you are not ‘there’ as in participating
in daily life, you may not be trusted and if you are given information, it may
only be the information that you are allowed to be given. Thabong women
had consistently watched outsiders come and go, promising action and
resources, leaving behind their used paraffin stoves. Ferguson (1997) in
the 1990s counted 72 international agencies and ‘non-quasi-government’
organisations in Lesotho, a country of just over two million people. Required
consultants, then and now make many hundred times more than the $2 a day
that over 60% of the population live on (OPHI, 2010: Lesotho, p. 2):
“Expatriate consultants and ‘experts’ swarm into the capital city of Maseru,
churning out plans, programmes, and most of all, paper, at an astonishing
rate” (Ferguson, 1997, p. 223).
Therefore, creating space for women to talk about themselves and be heard
can be an action in itself (Khanna, 1996). If we are preoccupied in a search
for visible, measureable outcomes, we are not tuned into ‘power with’ (Smith,
1997) in processes that cannot be named but which are vital to anything else
happening. Esther in Rowlands’ (1997) study on ‘empowerment’ and women
in Honduras, was a local woman who knew that local women needed to move
in their own way in their own time. Things didn’t really begin happening until
the women themselves knew they were ready individually and as a group.
Participatory research moves organically rather than step-by-step in order to
be with women and to learn with them - so that what needs to be put in place
can be put in place. As outsiders, we are primarily resources and what can
happen in a participatory space, possibly including only a few people, can be
monumental to those involved, while also having rippling effects out into the
community (Rowlands, 1997).
Women’s Individual Agency and Agency with Others
An actor-oriented perspective as per Long and Long (1992) and Jackson
(1997) complemented participatory research/evaluation. Women practise
agency in their daily lives, manoeuvring around the power of others in order
to get what they need. In participatory research, this strategising feeds
knowledge into the group and towards the outsider. Thabong women were
‘active subjects’ in their own ‘life-worlds’ (Arce and Long, 1992). They had a
fair idea of what works, what doesn’t work, where they could and could not
influence. As Villarrael (1992) suggests, local women (alone and with others)
will exercise the right behaviour, align themselves with the right people in order
to get training, funding, ‘chosen’ by and/or influence a politician, bureaucrat
or participatory researcher. Since Thabong women could not effect global
change, they worked strategically at the micro level using confrontation,
speech and negotiation, pretend acquiescence, boredom and so on. The
point is, they have had to use whatever works and comes their way including
outsiders, to get some of what they need. The manageress of Thabong was
143
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
forthright while strategic in her words and actions when dealing with the male
administrator of the primary marketing outlet in the capital. They’d known
and worked together for 30 years - but sustainable market opportunities had
not grown out of the prioritised marketing approach of sending people and
tapestries to trade fairs in Europe and South Africa to sell. This of course,
excluded rural women such as the women of Thabong who hadn’t, over the
decades, reaped fruitful benefits from such endeavours including orders and
design ideas. It was a real dissonance between the local and empty water
wells and the global and glitzy international craft shows.
Going with the Flow, sort of…
I initially went daily to Thabong in order to learn how to weave; to listen and
to learn Sesotho. Over time I could understand a lot. But it didn’t matter
so much as the women would include me in what they saw as relevant to
me. Also, we all enjoyed group meetings and/or visits from resource people.
Social work in the North normalises an intrusive way of doing things borne
out of individualised assessments and risk management that goes right into
the ‘heart and soul’ of people seeking help (Foucault, 1997; Gilbert and
Powell, 2010). Women did what they needed to do and often I wasn’t told
what was happening. They told me what they needed me to know and in
that sense, they kept control of their own operation and I couldn’t pretend to
know more than I did. What was important for me was helping out because
then I felt included. But I couldn’t imagine the long hours of carding wool in
order to make a few rand in a day. I visited offices the women didn’t want to
go to - mainly the international development agencies. And it’s no wonder.
The US embassy was like getting into a fortress. You were frisked, emptied,
security checked about three times. The woman who coordinated the small
projects grants confided that when Basotho come to meet with her they are
constantly looking around, afraid someone will creep up from behind, aware
of the cameras watching them. While we sprout platitudes on Millennium
goals and ‘alleviating’ poverty (Millennium Development Goals, 2011), we
have made it harder for the poor to be heard both technologically and through
access. Thabong women would not go to an international development
agency because of the intimidation and the sense of not belonging there.
This participatory research was hands-on and human. We talked a lot. By
helping with preparing the mohair, I could learn about these women’s lives,
the things that were important to them, and we could explore possibilities for
Thabong as we worked. We did get some grant money - getting the water
tank fixed and some electrical work, and T-shirt training as they had a T-shirt
printing machine and to build up supplies needed for weaving, sewing and
the T-shirts. The women spun a tighter mohair to produce a lighter tapestry.
Smaller tapestries were developed along with T-shirt printing and sewing.
144
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
As an outsider, I saw myself as an intruder but they hoped that I was a
resource. Their relationship with people like me seemed well-rehearsed and in the end it wasn’t to be taken seriously - it was human and ultimately
mutually respectful - but we needed to continually iron things out. I was
usually the one with pie in my face because I over-reacted given my own
class-based presumptions and I was white and I was sure the women could
see through me clearly:
I got angry at Thabong today and now I am kicking myself. Is it because I
am only supposed to see their vulnerability or believe it? Treat them with kid
gloves? It never goes well as they automatically take the attack - blaming
me for not having been clearer, for having said this instead of that. It seems
impossible to win - but that’s what it becomes - a ‘me’ against ‘them’. But I
did not lose my cool - I only told them as matter of factly as I could that it’s
not what the customer wanted - it’s not what we went over 30 times. As time
went by I could see they were not doing anything about it. I was clear about
red and white track suits - two samples so that students could see them and
order them. I’d given them a pattern as an example - showing them it - taking
it out of the package etc. Instead, they made kids’ track suits in green - the
[village] primary school colours, because they didn’t have red! I told them
before that they’d have to buy the material as an investment - it’s part of
developing a product. Also, a woman had phoned for Tseliso to do T-shirts
for her - they made no effort of satisfying her order saying they didn’t have
enough time - nor did they get in touch with Tseliso [they ultimately did not
want Tseliso there - Tseliso was my idea as he was a good artist and could
do really neat T-shirts]. …. I said this is about running a business and if they
can’t do the orders, they should say so. My fear as I look at it now is that
they don’t understand the need to develop a local market. … They’ve got to
develop a local market because the tapestry market has been pretty thin…
Then ‘MaThabo couldn’t finish the skirts I’d ordered because she didn’t have
the elastic ... I was supposed to get the elastic. Why didn’t she get the elastic
and just charge me for it? Then she complained I hadn’t got enough elastic. It
is so scaring me that I am tied into something that’s impossible besides being
totally unsatisfying. That I am giving these women false hope - that ultimately
- it will be up to me to make it work.
[As Villarrael (1992) says, outsiders can feel like they’re ‘losing a grip’ when
they can’t make head nor tail of what’s really happening].
Reflecting later on the episode:
At the time, I wasn’t sure what I was dealing with. Did the women want to
develop alternative markets? Were they depending on me to find tapestry
markets? Maybe it was me and I could be doing/saying/being differently.
Also - I was/am an outsider - and there’s so much I do not know. It ends up
they are waiting for a lady to come and teach them how to make the adult-
145
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
size track suits properly before displaying them. Their marketing is mainly
by word of mouth and they soon had lots of uniform orders. Yet they also
soon had their sewing machines stolen on them as well as a pile of unprinted
T-shirts. I didn’t pursue it - and they didn’t tell me much. They continued
their relationship with the main shop in town and were happy when a female
manager took over and promised them better returns while not pressuring
them to give up weaving. I continued to pursue overseas markets and they
developed a smaller tapestry of finer weave that didn’t cost as much to send
or to produce. The large square metre scenes could really only be produced
if there was a definite buyer who put down a deposit in order to purchase the
mohair. The women of Thabong must remain in control. This is their baby.
Tseliso will print T-shirts on their terms. They are purely a female cooperative
and do not want male [Tseliso] co-op members. Men, they say, end up taking
over. I’ve learned the hard way. At the same time, they are ageing, moving
slower, physically tiring out. Those who will take over are being trained by
them and this too is their domain. The problem remains consistent markets.
Conclusions
There is no blueprint as to ‘how’ to do participatory research (Wulfhorst, et
al., 2009), nor should there be if it is genuinely participatory. These women
would be purely objectified, as samples or as ‘the novel research experience’
and not as knowledgeable actors who could and should inform national and
international development directions (Rademacher & Patel, 2002) - especially
in terms of women who have kept a workshop going for 30 years and thereby
accumulated an immense amount of knowledge about how society works to
open doors, to work with women, so they are able to sell in the marketplace.
Participatory research is about what is possible between those involved
(Cornwall, 2008). Trust needed to be develop between myself and Thabong
women such that we recognised that we came from a different place - but
that we needed each other. Participatory research is not without conflict if it
is to be participatory and dialogic and where inequalities and positionings
precipitate misinterpretation (Cousins, 1998). Thabong women resisted
things about me that bothered them and I had to learn my place. Dialogue
was important - talking it out which is also culturally appropriate (Mapetla
and Sakoane-Songca, 2005).
Their efforts had needed to be seen and supported both in terms of the national
economy and international ‘development’. The cooperatives had been set up
with the hope that they would provide income possibilities for rural women.
But the markets were not developed and women could not develop them
on their own. They needed capital, transport, influence, contacts. What they
witnessed was those more resourced to begin with including the Europeans
themselves, developing shops and obtaining markets. In this sense we could
never get away from the unequal position of poor women in relation to the
146
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
marketplace, and the empty promises of externally planned, implemented
development projects. Brocklesby and Fisher (2003) suggest policy makers, government and nongovernment personnel including social workers, need to get out into the
community and be there - learn it - who is doing the talking, who is being
heard, who like these women have been there a long time trying to keep
something going. With the right inputs at the right time, providing the jumpstarts, things could continue and possibly expand. These women didn’t want
major amounts - they simply wanted to know they could make it month to
month - in the workshop and in their lives. Social workers would need to
act as a resource, part of the facilitative environment that is required, and
also use their contacts, their skills, to talk to people, bring people together
in order to also learn the context (i.e. international aid personnel) and be of
some value (Pandy, 1998).
International development personnel, of which there was a large contingent
in Lesotho, especially during the apartheid era, could have strategically used
their position to build on what had been put in place in the last ‘development
era’ (Eyben, 2007), especially if they learned about the community.
Specialisations and fragmentations meant that different programmes were
always being introduced and abandoned. As Botes and van Rensburg (2000)
remark, southern Africa was the ‘graveyard of failed development projects’.
References
Arce, A. & Long, N. (1992) ‘The dynamics of knowledge: interfaces between
bureaucrats and peasants’, N. Long, & A. Long. (eds.) Battlefields of Knowledge: The Interlocking of Theory and Practice in Social Research and Development. London: Routledge.
Bessis, S. (2001) ‘The World Bank and instrumental feminism, S. Perry, C.
Schenck, (eds.). Eye to eye: women practising development across cultures.
London: Zed.
Botes, L. and van Rensburg, D. (2000) ‘Community participation in development: nine plagues and twelve commandments’, Community Development
Journal. 35(1): 41-58.
Brocklesby, M.A. and Fisher, E. (2003) ‘Community development in sustainable livelihood approaches: an introduction’, Community Development Journal. 38(2). April.
Caswell, D. Marston, G. Larson, J. E. (2011) ‘Unemployed citizen or ‘at risk’
client?’ Classification systems and employment services in Denmark and
Australia, Critical Social Policy. 30(3).
Chazan, M. (2008) ‘Seven deadly assumptions; unravelling the implications
147
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
of HIV/AIDS among grandmothers in South Africa and beyond’, Aging and
Society.28. pp. 935-958.
Cornwall, A. (1998). ‘Gender, participation and the politics of difference’, I.
Guijt, M. K. Shah (eds.) The Myth of Community: Gender Issues in Participatory Development. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
Cornwall, A. (2008) ‘“Unpacking” participation: models, meanings and practices’, Community Development Journal. 43(3). pp. 269-283.
Cousins, T. (1998) ‘Give space to conflict in participatory training’, I. Guijt,
M. K. Shah (eds.) The Myth of Community: Gender Issues in Participatory
Development. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
Eade, D. (1997) Capacity-Building.An Approach to People-Centred Development. UK/Ireland: Oxfam.
Eldredge, E. (1993) ‘Women in production: the economic role of women in
nineteenth century Lesotho’, ISAS Working Papers Series. 4-6. National University of Lesotho: Institute of Southern African Studies. pp. 16-43.
Eyben, R. (2007) ‘Battles over booklets: gender myths in the British aid programme. A. Cornwall, E. Harrison, A. Whitehead (eds.). Feminisms in development: contradictions, contestations and challenges. London: Zed Books.
Fadane, N. (1998) ‘Women street vendors and housing in Durban’, M. Mapetla, A., Larsson, A. Schlyter. (eds.) Changing gender relations in Southern
Africa: Issues of urban life. Roma, Lesotho: Institute of Southern African
Studies, National University of Lesotho.
Ferguson, J. (1997) ‘Development and bureaucratic power in Lesotho’, Rahmena, M. Bawtree, V. The post-development reader. London: Zed.
Feuerstein, M.T. (1988) ‘Training for participatory evaluation’, Community Development Journal. 23 (1): 16-25.
Fiedrich, M. (2003) ‘Maps turning to minefields: local knowledge of PRA in
a Ugandan village’, Cornwall, A. Pratt, G. (eds.) Pathways to participation:
reflections on PRA. London: ITDG Publ.
Foucault, M. (1997) ‘The subject and power’, P. Rabinow (ed.) The essential
works of Foucault: 1954-1984. New York: The New Press.
Garrett, P. M. (2002) ‘Yes Minister: reviewing the ‘Looking after Children’ experience and identifying the messages for social work research’, British Journal of Social Work. 32 (7): 831-84.
Gilbert, T. Powell, J.L. (2010) ‘Power and social work in the United Kingdom:
a Foucauldian excursion’, Journal of Social Work. 10 (1).pgs. 3-22.
Guijt, I. Shah, M. Kaul. (eds.) (1998) The Myth of Community: Gender Issues in
148
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Participatory Development. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
Hays-Mitchell, M. (1999) Gender, informal employment and the right to productive resources. T. Fenster (ed.) Gender planning and human rights. International studies of women and place. London: Routledge.
Jackson, C. (1997) ‘Actor orientation and gender relations at a participatory
project interface’, A. M. Goetz (ed.) Getting Institutions Right for Women in
Development. London: Zed Books.
Jassey, K. (2003) ‘PRA from an end-user’s perspective’, A. Cornwall & G.
Pratt (eds.) Pathways to participation: reflections on PRA. London: ITDG
Publ.
Jones, David N. (2009) ‘Social work practice must develop a global outlook’,
Community Care Journal. 19 March, 2009. p. 31.
Kabeer, N. (1998) ‘Money can’t buy me love’? re-evaluating gender, credit
and empowerment in rural Bangladesh. IDS Discussion Paper: 363. University of Sussex: Institute of Development Studies.
Kalati, N. and Manor, J. (2005) ‘Elite perceptions of poverty and poor people
in South Africa’, E.P. Reis & M. Moore (eds.) Elite perceptions of poverty and
inequality. Norway: CROP: International studies in poverty research, Cape
Town: David Phillip; London: Zed.
Keough, N. (1998) ‘Participatory development principles and practice: reflections of a western development worker,’ Community Development Journal.
33(3): 187-196.
Khanna, R. (1996) ‘Participatory action research (PAR) in women’s health:
SARTHI, Indian.’ K. de Koning. M. Martin (eds.) Participatory Research in
Health: Issues and Experiences. London: Zed. Johannesburg: NPPHCN.
Kishindo, P. (1993) Women, land and agriculture in Lesotho. ISAS Working
Papers Series. 4-6. National University of Lesotho: Institute of Southern African Studies. pp. 1-15.
Kothari, U. (2001) Participatory development: power, knowledge, social control. B. Cooke & U. Kothari (eds.) Participation: the new tyranny. London: Zed.
Kuruvilla, S. (2005) ‘Social work and social development in India’, I. Ferguson, M. Lavalette, E. Whitmore (2005) (eds.). Globalisation, global justice and
social work. London: Routledge.
Long, N. & Long, A. (eds.) (1992) Battlefields of Knowledge: The Interlocking of Theory and Practice in Social Research and Development. London:
Routledge.
149
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Mapetla, N. & Sakoane-Songca, R. (2005) Perceptions on property and inheritance rights in Lesotho: Need for legal change?, F. Kalabamu. M. Mapetla. A. Schlyter (eds.) Gender, generation and urban living conditions in southern Africa. Roma, Lesotho: Institute of Southern African Studies: National
University of Lesotho.
Mayoux, L. (2001) ‘Tackling the down side: social capital, women’s empowerment and micro-finance in Cameroon’, Development and Change.32
(2001). pp. 435-464.
McEwan, C. (2009) Postcolonialism and development. Routledge perspectives on development. London: Routledge.
Meulenberg-Buskens. I. (1996) ‘Critical awareness in participatory research:
an approach towards teaching and learning’, K. de Koning, M. Martin (eds.)
Participatory Research in Health: Issues and Experiences. London: Zed. Johannesburg: NPPHCN.
Meyerowitz, H. V. (1935) A report on the possibilities of the development of
village crafts in Basutoland.
Moser, C. (1991) ‘Gender planning in the Third World: meeting practical and
strategic gender needs’, T. Wallace, C. March (eds.) Changing Perspectives:
Writings on Gender and Development. Oxford: Oxfam.
Murray, C. (1981) Families divided: the impact of migrant labour in Lesotho.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mubangizi, B. C. (2003) ‘Drawing on social capital for community economic
development insights from a Southern African rural community’, Community
Development Journal.38 (2). April. pp. 140-150.
Narayan, D. Chambers, R. Shah, M. Kaul, Petesch, P. (2000) Voices of the
Poor: Crying out for Change. Oxford: University of Oxford Press.
Nkhoma-Wamunza, A. (1992) ‘The Informal Sector: a strategy for survival in
Tanzania’, D. R. Fraser, F. Taylor, Mackenzie (eds.) Development from Within:
Survival in Rural Africa. London: Routledge.
Orme, J. Shemmings, D. (2010) Developing research based social work practice. UK: Palgrave/Macmillan.
Pandey, S. (1998) ‘Women, environment and sustainable development’, International Social Work. (41). pp: 339-355.
Parpart, J. L. (2002) ‘Rethinking participatory empowerment, gender and
development: the PRA approach’, J. L. Parpart, S. M. Rai, K. Staudt. (eds)
Rethinking empowerment: gender and development in a global/local world.
London: Routledge.
150
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Rademacher, A. & Patel, R. (2002) ‘Retelling worlds of poverty: reflections
on transforming participatory research for a global narrative. K. Brock & R.
McGee (eds.) Knowing poverty: critical reflections on participatory research
and policy. London: Earthscan.
Rangel, M del Carmen Mendoza (2005) Social work in Mexico: towards a different practice. Ferguson, I. Lavalette, M. Whitmore, E. (eds.) Globalisation,
global justice and social work. London, Routledge.
Reis, E. P.& Moore, M. (2005) (eds.) Elite perceptions of poverty and inequality. London Zed.
Rowlands, J. (1997) Questioning Empowerment: Working with Women in
Honduras. UK and Ireland: Oxfam.
Sagatum, S. (2008) ‘Using the life mode interview as method in evaluation
of social work practice’, I. M. Bryderup (ed.) Evidence based and knowledge
based social work. Research methods and approaches in social work research. Denmark: Danish School of Education/Aarhus University Press.
Sarin, M. (1998) ‘Community forest management: Whose participation….?’ I.
Guijt. M. K. Shah. (eds.). The Myth of Community: Gender Issues in Participatory Development. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Smith, S. E. (1997) ‘Deepening participatory action-research’, S. E. Smith, D.
G. Willms, N. A. Johnson (eds.). Nurtured by Knowledge: Learning to do Participatory Action-Research. New York: The Apex Press. Ottawa: International
Development Research Centre
The Millennium Development Goals (2011) The Millennium Development
Goals Report, 2011. www.un.org/millennium development goals
University of Oxford (2010) Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). Country briefing: Lesotho.
Valodin, I. (2001) Economic policy and women’s informal work in South Africa. Development and Change. 32. Pp. 871-892.
Villarrael, M. (1992) ‘The poverty of practice: power, gender and intervention
from an actor-oriented perspective’, N. Long & A. Long (eds.). Battlefields of
Knowledge: The interlocking of Theory and Practice in Social Research and
Development. London: Routledge.
Wulfhorst, J.D., Eisenhauer, B.W., Gripne, S. L., Ward, J. M. (2008) ‘Core criteria and assessment of participatory research’, C. Wimsen, W. Elmendorf,
L. Fisher, J. Ross, B. Sarathy, G. Wells (eds.) Partnerships for empowerment.
Participatory research for community-based natural resource management.
London: Earthscan.
151
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
WIEGO (Women in informal employment globalizing and organizing) (2008)
Women in the informal economy, www.wiego.org
Wieringa, S. (1994) ‘Women’s interests and empowerment: gender planning
reconsidered’, Development and Change. 25: 829-848.
152
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 12
An Overview of Public Policy to Combat Violence
Against Children and Adolescents in São Paulo,
Brazil
Josiane Moraes1
Pontificia Universidade Católica de São Paulo - PUC-SP - Brasil
Global Agenda theme:
Importance of human relationships
153
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
The article presents the current situation of São Paulo’s so-called Policy to
Combat Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents in Brazil. The
presentation is part of the research results that came from the Brazilian
National Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic called
“Mapping profile and methodologies: managers and public policy to tackle
sexual violence against children and adolescents in Brazil”. The methodology
applied was field research with interviews, questionnaires and focus groups.
People surveyed are linked to the Social Assistance Secretariat of São Paulo
and institutions that execute social control in the city.
Introduction
Violence against children and adolescents in Brazil is a complex and difficult
phenomenon to tackle, being part of a social history of endemic violence
with deep cultural roots. According to Faleiros (2000) sexual violence against
children has been shown in all social classes to relate to the conception
of human sexuality, understanding of gender relations, child’s position and
families’ roles within the particular social and family structures. Thus, we
must understand it “in its historical, economic, cultural and ethical context”
(p. 17).
The issue of sexual violence against children and adolescents is a public
matter related to the national and international struggle for human rights and is a concern in Brazil since the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988
and the Statute of Children and Adolescents (Law 8069 of July 13, 1990)
legislated on this area of concern. From then on children and adolescents
have become legally considered subjects of rights rather than objects of
protection, obedience and submission. Building new relationships between
adults and children/adolescents based on relationships, protection and
socialisation, involves the reporting of human rights abusers who should take
responsibility for their actions.
The nineties were marked by a strong process of mobilisation, coordination
and consolidation of experiences that strengthened civil society to combat
sexual violence, and this represented a milestone in the fight for the rights
of children and adolescents. Centers for the Defense of Children and
Adolescents (CEDECA) were created in all Brazilian capitals as well as in
institutions in order to offer specialised care to victims of sexual abuse and
exploitation. (Plano Nacional de Enfrentamento da Violência infato-juvenil,
2002).
Given the advances in the social protection policy for children and
adolescents in Brazil, the aim of this paper is to present an overview of the
Policy to Combat Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents in São
Paulo, Brazil. The information presented in this article is the result of the
154
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
research project developed by the Institute “Monitoring of Children and
Adolescents - OCA2” that developed the project entitled “Mapping the profile
and methodologies: Managers and Public Policy to Combat Sexual Violence
Against Children and Adolescents in Brazil”, also requested by the National
Human Rights Presidency of the Republic of Brazil and which was developed
between February and December 2011. The project was developed in twelve
capitals, which are: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre,
Curitiba, Brasilia, Campo Grande, Fortaleza, Salvador, Recife, Manaus and
Porto Velho. The project’s overall objective was to understand the policy of
combating sexual violence against children and adolescents developed in
the twelve already mentioned capitals. The methodology was based on field
research with the completion of two interviews and one focus group. The
data assessment was made through qualitative analysis.
Therefore, the article presented below relates to the Policy to Combat Sexual
Violence Against Children and Adolescents in São Paulo3. Data collection
has been done, initially, with the completion of two interviews, the first
one was conducted with the manager responsible for the Municipal Social
Welfare and Development of São Paulo, the duration of the interview was
approximately two and a half hours with 55 questions. The second interview
was conducted with the professional responsible for the sector of Special
Coordination of Social Protection, lasting approximately three hours with 64
questions, having the goal of understanding how to structure and organise
the policy of combating violence against children and adolescents in São
Paulo. Finally, we performed a focus group, which means:
“the group is “focused” in the sense that it involves some kind of collective
activity - like watching a movie and talking about it, to consider a text about
a topic, or to discuss a particular set of issues. The author recalls that the
group is a technique used for a long time, being first mentioned as a research
technique in marketing in the 1920s and used by R. Merton in the 1950s to
study people’s reactions to war propaganda.” (Kitzinger 1996, p. 103 as cited
in Gatti, 2005, p. 7).
The institutions that took part in the focus group were: City Council of the
Rights of the Child and Adolescent, Municipal Health, Municipal Committee
Against Violence, Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents
- CMESCA; and the Guardian Council and the Association of Mothers and
Friends Children and Adolescents at risk - AMAR. The focus group lasted
three hours; in summary the issues discussed were:
• how do you assess the public policy on sexual violence in São Paulo?
• What do you reckon to be the most fragile public policy to combat
sexual violence in São Paulo? Why?
• What is the public institution that most interferes with the work
articulated? Why is that?
155
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
• What is the public institution where the articulation is easier? Why is
this?
• What are the main challenges for the realisation of a public policy to
tackle sexual violence?
Hence, I invite you reader to turn the pages of this chapter in order to
understand the organisation of policy services for children and adolescents
who suffer abuse or sexual exploitation in São Paulo, as well as, to
understand both the difficulties and positive factors in the development of
actions combating violence against children and adolescents.
Public Policy to Combat Sexual Violence against Children and
Adolescents in São Paulo
The city of São Paulo has reached 11 million inhabitants and was founded
in 1554. It is the largest city in Brazil since the 1960s, the sixth largest
city in the world and the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the world.
(Fundação Sistema Estadual de Análise de Dados [SEADE], 2007). From the
total population, only 101,159 people live in rural areas, so the urban aspect
of São Paulo is predominant. According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of
Geography and Statistics) Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística
(2010) the total number of children and adolescents from 1 to 19 years old in
São Paulo corresponds to three million, the daily born average is 476 children
of mothers who live in São Paulo.
In order to understand the politics of social protection for children and
adolescents who are victims of sexual violence it is important to clarify that
the Social Assistance Policy has become a public policy of social protection
when it joined the Brazilian Social Security System promulgated by the
Federal Constitution of 1988, alongside the other policies of Health and
Welfare. The public policy of social work is characterised by the universality
of coverage and care; it is duty of the state and a right to those who need
it, regardless of contribution to the Social Security System, therefore, it is
a political non-contributory system, as can be seen in Article 203 of the
Brazilian Federal Constitution,1988.
In São Paulo, social protection policies are linked to the Municipal Social
Welfare and Development (SMADS). The Policy to Combat Sexual Violence
against Children and Adolescents is a responsibility of the Coordination of
Special Social Protection and SMADS comprises one of the departments.
The Special Social Protection of the Unique Social Assistance System is
destined to assist families and individuals who are at personal and social risk,
due to neglect, physical, psychological and sexual reasons, use of drugs,
attending special educational measures, homelessness, child labor, among
other situations of rights violations. The Special Social Protection services
have close interface with the guarantee system of law, often requiring a more
156
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
shared and complex management with the judiciary, prosecutors and other
agencies and executive actions (Secretaria Municipal de Desenvolvimento e
Assistência Social, SMADS [SMADS], 2011).
The services that compose the Special Social Protection are divided into two
levels of complexity: the Complexity Average - assistance to families and
individuals whose rights were violated but whose family and community ties
were not broken. Then there is the High Complexity services, guaranteeing
full protection such as: housing, food, sanitation and sheltered work for
families and individuals who are in extremely vulnerable situations.
The Social Protection Service to Children and Adolescent Victims of Violence
are part of the level of Medium Complexity, linked to the Centre of Social
Assistance Specialised Reference - CREAS4. The CREAS unit consists of
a Brazilian public state welfare policy, which aims to prevent social risk
incidents and vulnerabilities. It offers technical monitoring developed by a
multidisciplinary team in order to enhance the ability to protect the family
and promote social care. The forms of access to the service are taken by:
identification and referral of the Reference Center on Social Assistance
(CRAS5); protection services, for referral to other welfare institutions services;
other public sector policies as by spontaneous demand. The CREAS
works with a network of welfare services, the judiciary, prosecutors, public
defenders, Guardianship Councils and other organisations, and provides
advocacy, as well as, other public policies in order to structure an effective
network of social protection. The following statement illustrates this:
“The city of São Paulo has support services to child, adolescent and family
victims of sexual violence presented by CREAS (Reference Center for
Specialised Social Assistance), having a network of eight social institutions,
which will, by the end of 2012, will be increased to 13 institutions. Their
function is to take care of 80 children, adolescents and their families; they
were known as old ‘Sentinels,’ but now they are called Social Protection
Service to Child, Youth Violence Victim and their Families. In 2002 there were
only five CREAS and currently there are eleven, distributed in the northern,
southern, southeastern, eastern and central/west area of São Paulo, but by
2012 it is intended to expand to 20 CREAS, each with a capacity of 80 calls
per month. For each institution it is required to have a coordinator graduated
in social work or psychology and five technicians, also psychologists and
social workers. Each professional has an average of 12 to13 calls per month,
which is enough to do satisfactory work” (anonymous, personal interview,
May 30, 2011).
On December 8, 2006 the Municipal Law no. 14247 was approved, which
provides for Municipal Program Awareness and Combating Violence against
Children and Adolescents. This program consists of a set of actions and
awareness campaigns undertaken by the São Paulo Municipality, in order
157
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
to prevent and combat violence and sexual exploitation of children and
adolescents. Actions and campaigns are developed and disseminated in
the media in general and especially in the cities, including urban facilities,
basic health units (UBS) and permanent information campaigns aimed at the
general public. In addition to performing actions and campaigns consistently,
on every May 18th this awareness is commemorated in the National Day to
Combat Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children.
In May 2007 Decree Nº 48.358 was enacted, which came to regulate the
Law Nº 14.247, quoted above, in addition to establishing the Municipal
Commission for Combating Violence, Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of
Children and Adolescents - CMESCA - this Committee is coordinated by
the Municipal Social Welfare and Development. After establishing CMESCA,
some discussions began about the City Plan to Combat Violence, Abuse and
Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents of São Paulo.
Therefore, the service of social protection to children and adolescent victims
of violence, sexual abuse and exploitation and their families is a set of actions
performed by specialised professionals using a multidisciplinary approach,
with the following goals:
• provide individual or group biopsychosocial treatment
• strengthen their self-esteem and restoring their right to family and
community
• provide social inclusion of children/adolescents and their families in
programs to generate employment and income, and
• develop professional qualifications in this area.
The goal was to contribute to the articulation and implementation of an
information system on the violation of the rights of children and adolescents;
contribute to the strengthening of collective action to confront their abuse and
sexual exploitation, and develop Integrated Action Plans; perform diagnostic
examination of the situation; identify factors that determine their occurrence;
and establish intervention services in the short, medium and long term. These
actions are operationalised through the Centers of Social Assistance (CAS)
in São Paulo that has five areas: north, south, east, midwest and southeast.
According to the data collected during this study (2011) it was explicit that
there was not a single program, project or agency responsible for the Policy
to Combat Sexual Violence against children and adolescents in São Paulo,
but a set of actions that must be performed by different public organizations.
The city has a Municipal Plan for Combating Violence, Abuse and Sexual
Exploitation of Children and Adolescents that guides all policy in São Paulo.
The Plan is coordinated by Municipal Social Welfare and Development
(SMADS); however, it is the Municipal Committee Against Violence, Abuse
and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents - (CMESCA) - which is
158
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
responsible for implementing the Plan. In addition intersectionality is present
in this document because it is composed by different agencies that make up
parts of the System of Guarantee of the Rights of Children and Adolescents
(promotion, defense and control) such as the Department of Education,
Department of Health, Department of Sports, Department of Culture and
Leisure, prosecutors, representatives of the Councils of Law, and the Child
Protection Council, among others.
Since 2008 this plan has been implemented; however, it has not reached
the implementation of its eight parts, which are: Situation Analysis;
Compliance and Reception; Defense; Education and Training; Mobilization
and Coordination; Prevention; Young Protagonists; and Monitoring and
Evaluation. A participant in a focus group makes clear in his words the
difficulty in implementing such actions:
[...] Just look at the CMESCA, actions are very shy, I am part of this
commission that I can say there are half a dozen people occupying their
seats in the meetings of CMESCA, while important seats such as the Child
and Youth, the Attorney General, the Bar Association, the Catholic University
of São Paulo, Departments, non-Governmental Organisations (ONGs) are not
sitting there. Thus, actors are always the same, always attempting to put the
plan into action. The Council of São Paulo has already its Municipal plan that
it is not “accomplished”. It is noticeable that the Municipal Plan works well,
however implementation is complex. (Conselho de Direito da Criança e do
Adolescente de São Paulo, CMDCA, Focus Group, August 05, 2011).
The city of São Paulo has had strong coordination and mobilization campaigns
on preventing sexual exploitation, for example, the campaign held at the
carnival, the campaign for the National Day to Combat Sexual Abuse and
Exploitation of Children and Adolescents on May 18th. However, as focus
group participants quote: “The actions of the day ‘May 18’ cannot be the
beginning and the end in themselves; however, that is what has occurred.
There are talks about sexual violence on May 18, but before and after that
day this issue is not discussed anymore at all. Everything is dead and still”
(Conselho de Direito da Criança e do Adolescente de São Paulo, 2011).
Regarding the prevention campaigns against sexual exploitation, it is
explained that some actions that São Paulo has been developing for the
2014 World Cup are the following: since 2010 CMESCA has mobilised the
population’s awareness through posters put around the city, as well as
campaigns of awareness in hotels, airports, bus stations about the issue of
abuse and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
The Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency of Republic and Ministry of
Tourism has sent some useful documents to Brazilian cities, including São
Paulo, regarding information about exploitation and abuse against children
and adolescents, as well as about how to denounce and report these facts.
159
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
However, it is stated that such actions are insufficient to cover the importance of the event of the 2014 World Cup, considering the size of the city of São
Paulo, and beyond these information campaigns no other activity has been
thought of.
Looking at this situation, it can be argued that the theoretical and legal public
policy to Combat Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents in São
Paulo is very well-structured; however, the biggest obstacles are in the
effective execution of the policy, and also in the articulation of the network
of social services.
Conclusion
The research conducted in the city of São Paulo has resulted in some relevant
conclusions. Initially, it can be said that the city has operated a policy of
confrontation with different institutions and organisations that mobilise efforts
for children and adolescents whose rights have been violated. The city has
plans, laws, decrees, and a committee to cope with sexual violence, yet it
is reaffirmed that the largest political deadlock is the lack of communication
between services. Because of this disarticulation that focuses on the
bureaucratisation of services and the so-called ‘referrals’ to professionals,
vulnerable children and adolescents are not receiving the quality care they
should expect. The words of one of the interviewees is quite appropriate
when he says:
It is necessary not only to do the ‘guiding’ because it’s quite easy just to
guide, it’s as not as if it’s taking the problem away from us, it’s important to
go beyond that, to monitor the implementation of the service. Policies need
to be more articulated, there is no other policy more important than that;
however, they are mostly somehow fragile (anonymous, Personal Interview,
June 01, 2011).
It is necessary to articulate not only the Municipal Social Welfare policy, but
all city authorities in São Paulo in order to implement fully every aspect of the
Municipal Plan for Combating Violence Against Children and Adolescents. It
is vital that professionals are qualified to speak, making critical analysis of
the reality that presents itself to them daily.
It is therefore quite important that all professionals that work implementing
the policy take care when supporting someone, in the ‘guidings’ made, in
social studies carried out, because in many cases they are deciding the lives
of children and adolescents who directly suffer the future consequences of
these actions. (anonymous, personal interview, May 30, 2011).
An issue that requires attention is the participants’ research about the
importance of the role of schools and teachers regarding the identification
of sexual abuse or exploitation suffered by children or adolescents. It is
160
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
observed that schools are recognized as having some importance in these
concerns and the guarantee of children’s rights and also adolescents who
are sexually abused or exploited; however, the Education Policy has been
pointed to as the most fragile policy whilst dealing with sexual violence
against children and adolescents:
“Education professionals who are in day-to-day contact with boys and
girls are not prepared to handle or identify cases of sexual violence, and
the school does not offer proper structure and support for them to make a
policy of prevention and promotion of sexual violence against children and
adolescents. There are exceptions, but generally there is still little commitment
of professionals working in the schools. [...] In many situations teachers work
in a popular neighborhood school and they try to avoid ‘snooping on’ the
family, because the child abuser is a drug dealer, among other situations that
educators prefer not to get involved with” (CMDCA, Focus Group, August
05, 2011).
One of the focus group participants made the following statement about the
political challenges of coping with sexual violence:
“When analysing our Municipal Plan we realise that in order to tackle this
issue we may understand sexuality as a right. If I do understand that sexual
rights are real rights so that I cannot be violated, that would be a big step
forward. We are still at the standpoint of morality, ethics, morals, and
influenced by religious issues. So, children and adolescents are seen to have
no sexuality, they only start to have sex at eighteen (...). This fact implicates
boys and girls growing up under a male-chauvinist perspective, prejudiced
and conservative, imposed by society, especially the Catholic religion that
preaches and puts this question, first as a sin so that, for centuries, girls have
had feelings of guilt for having been sexually abused and raped. I mean, it’s
a feeling of guilt that reaffirms the girl herself as the responsible party for
having caused the abuse. So we need to perceive sexual rights as a right, and
also to understand sexuality issues that are inherent in human beings. This
way we’d walk toward the construction of another culture” (CMDCA, Focus
Group, August 05, 2011).
Finally, in order to develop an efficient Policy to Combat Sexual Violence
Against Children and Adolescents, it is necessary for professionals to
be instructed critically in the issues involved and for representative yet
participatory social controls to be developed. For that to happen, services
need to be both modernized and improved to be able to start to guarantee
the rights of children and adolescents.
161
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
References
Constituição da Republica Federativa do Brasil de 1988. Recuperado em
10 agosto, 2011, de http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/constituicao/
constitui%C3%A7ao.htm
Decreto n. 48.358, de 17 de maio de 2007. (2007). Dispõe e Regulamenta
a Lei nº 14.247, de 08-12-2006, que dispõe sobre o Programa Municipal
de Conscientização e Combate à Violência contra Crianças e Adolescentes.
São Paulo, Brasil. Recuperado em 10 de agosto, 2011, de http://www2.
oabsp.org.br/asp/clipping_jur/ClippingJurDetalhe.asp?id_noticias=1890
Faleiros, E. (2000) Repensando os conceitos de violência, abuso e exploração
sexual de crianças e adolescentes. Brasília: Thesaurus.
Fundação SEADE (2007) (Ano 8, nº. 4 Dez. p.4). Perfil do Paulistano em 2007
- Mudanças acentuadas em relação à década de 80. In: SP Demográfico.
Resenha de Estatísticas Vitais do Estado de São Paulo.
Gatti, B. A. (2005) Grupo Focal na pesquisa em ciências sociais e humanas.
Brasília: Líber Livro.
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE Cidades (2010).
Recuperado em 09 agosto, 2011, de http://www.ibge.gov.br/cidadesat/link.
php?uf=sp e http://www.ibge.gov.br/cidadesat/topwindow.htm?1
Lei n. 14.247 de 8 de dezembro de 2006 (2006) Dispõe sobre o Programa
Municipal de Conscientização e Combate à Violência contra Crianças e
Adolescentes. Legislação Estadual, São Paulo.
Plano de Assistência social do Munícipio de São Paulo 2009-2012. Secretaria
Municipal de Assistência e Desenvolvimento Social (2010) Outubro, São
Paulo, Brasil.
Plano Municipal de Enfrentamento à Violência, Abuso e Exploração Sexual
contra Crianças e Adolescentes da cidade de São Paulo (2008) Secretaria de
Assistência e Desenvolvimento Social, São Paulo, Brasil.
Plano Nacional de Enfrentamento da Violência Sexual Infanto-Juvenil (2002)
(3rd. ed). Brasília: Secretaria de Estado dos Direitos Humanos/Departamento
da Criança e do Adolescente. Recuperado em 07 julho, 2011, de http://
portal.mj.gov.br/sedh/ct/conanda/plano_nacional.pdf
162
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Notes
1
Masters in Social Work at Pontificia Universidade Católica de São Paulo - PUC-SP - Brasil.
2
The OCA Institute is located in the city of Fortaleza, Brazilian state of Ceará. To learn more, visit:
<http://www.institutooca.org/home>
3 Throughout this chapter institutional names are mentioned that concern the Brazilian Social
Protection Policy of guaranteeing and defending the rights of children and adolescents.
4 Information available at: http://www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/cidade/secretarias/assistencia_social/
cras/index.php?p=1906. Accessed on: 30 May 2011.
5
The CRAS is a unit of state public land base, located in areas of social vulnerability. It performs
basic social protection services, organises and coordinates the network servicessocioassistenciais,
local social welfare policy. Given its prevalence around the country it is characterised as the main
gateway for users to the network of social protection of the Unified Social Care - ITS. It aims to
prevent the occurrence of situations of vulnerability and social risk in the territories, through the
development and potential acquisitions, strengthening family and community ties and expanding
access to citizenship rights. (F. Gouvea, Personal Interview, May 30, 2011).
163
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
164
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 13
Immigration and Labor: An Expression of the
Social Question in Flexible Capitalism
Imigração e Trabalho: Uma Expressão da Questão Social
no Capitalismo Flexível
Maria Augusta Tavares
Instituição: Universidade Federal da Paraíba/CNPq
Global Agenda theme 1:
Social and economic inequalities within
countries and between regions
Global Agenda theme 2:
Dignity and worth of the person
165
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
This chapter considers the integration of immigrants with their country of
destination, with the main focus on their relationship to the labor market. It
explores the vulnerability of immigrant workers which turns them into easy
prey for exploitation. It is observed that immigration is functional to the
economy, but living conditions for the immigrant are socially undesirable.
Finally the chapter proposes that social workers need to be more concerned
about the issues faced by immigrants in order to give more priority to the
fight to establish their rights as well as deepening the academic debate in
this area of research.
Imigração e Trabalho: Uma Expressão da Questão
Social no Capitalismo Flexível
Resumo
Este artigo analisa a integração do imigrante ao país de destino, tendo como
principal foco a sua relação com o mercado de trabalho. Atenta-se para a
vulnerabilidade dos trabalhadores imigrantes, condição que os torna presas
fáceis à avidez do capital por lucros. Observa-se que a imigração é funcional
à economia, mas a convivência com o imigrante é socialmente indesejável.
Por fim, faz-se um chamamento ao Serviço Social, no sentido de dar maior
atenção à imigração, tanto na luta pelos direitos instituídos quanto no
aprofundamento do debate acadêmico nesta área de pesquisa.
Introdução
A partir da última década do século XX e neste século XXI, a precarização do
trabalho que, nos anos 1980, estava associada aos empregos sem estatuto,
passa a ser um princípio, atingindo o trabalho em geral, tanto na periferia
quanto no centro. Operários, técnicos, professores ou prestadores de
serviços, todos, em alguma medida, conforme as especificidades de cada
profissão, são submetidos a jornadas ampliadas de trabalho, degradação
dos salários, exigência por maior produtividade, desestabilização etc.
Contudo, há trabalhadores que, por um conjunto de fatores, são ainda mais
precarizados que os demais. Dentre estes estão os imigrantes, em sua
maioria, razão pela qual os tomamos como objeto deste estudo.
O contexto da precarização do trabalho tem como lastro o neoliberalismo,
sob o qual a flexibilidade da economia se contrapõe à “rigidez” fordista,
promovendo, por um lado, relações de trabalho que tendem ao isolamento
dos trabalhadores e ao enfraquecimento da sua proteção social e, por
outro, garantindo liberdade aos empregadores para usar a força de trabalho,
mediante contratos temporários e parciais e, muitas vezes, através do
trabalho domiciliar ou de outras formas disponíveis, por meio das quais é
possível extrair mais-valia do trabalho sem ter com os trabalhadores nenhum
166
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
vínculo que lhes assegure os direitos do trabalho. Nessa direção, quase
todos os países encontram a sua forma particular - inclusive na Europa,
berço do Welfare State - de explorar os trabalhadores informalmente, sem
cair na ilegalidade. Nesse quesito, o Brasil aparece como referência. Não por
acaso, o alemão Ulrick Beck afirma que “as tendências atuais da economia
e da sociedade desenham-se no sentido da ‘brasileirização do Ocidente’,
como consequência das ideologias do livre mercado” (Kovacs, et al, 2006:
60-61).
Essa tendência à generalização do trabalho precário e informal - tese que
consubstancia Os fios (in)visíveis da produção capitalista (Tavares, 2004)
- constitui uma ameaça à democracia e ao próprio capitalismo, pois, embora
a realidade demonstre que trabalhadores vulnerabilizados tendem bem mais
ao consentimento que à rebeldia, a história também registra exceções, não
se podendo, a priori, prever os desdobramentos sociais da atual crise.
A venda da força de trabalho mediante ocupações eventuais e instáveis,
passou a ser uma prática que parece não ter volta. Cada vez mais, surgem
formas de trabalho, ditas autônomas, que se caracterizam por uma procura
implacável pela mais-valia absoluta. Evidentemente, esse “realinhamento
do bolo econômico” em favor do capital traz consequências sociais de
grandes proporções, se consideradas as repercussões dessa “flexibilidade”
na vida dos trabalhadores. Como qualquer projeto carece de base material,
certamente indivíduos que não têm garantia sistemática de salário ficam
impedidos de planejar dimensões naturais da vida, como, por exemplo, ter
uma família. Em alguma medida, a decisão de não ter filhos já se revela
problemática, hoje, para alguns países, nos quais se prevê que o acentuado
processo de envelhecimento tenha repercussões demográficas que se
reflitam na economia, podendo comprometer seriamente a produção, e
portanto, a sociedade em geral. Entre tais países está Portugal, onde já
se fala em imigração de substituição como um recurso, “mediante o qual
contingentes crescentes de imigrantes com uma estrutura etária e níveis de
atividade mais favoráveis compensariam o envelhecimento da população
autóctone” (Abreu e Peixoto, 2009: 720).
Como decorrência do fim capitalista há um enorme exército de reserva,
mundialmente, não sendo difícil a qualquer altura recrutar-se força de
trabalho, sobretudo através da imigração da periferia para o centro, sejam
quais forem as condições de trabalho oferecidas. Não é novidade que,
dentre os fatores de produção, o trabalho é a única mercadoria que não
é paga pelo seu valor real: fato legal e legítimo na sociedade capitalista.
Em sendo assim, o princípio da remuneração do capital foi incorporado
pelos trabalhadores, de modo que a ideia do lucro naturalizou-se. Contudo,
nesta era da economia flexível, o capital já retirou tanto dos trabalhadores
que é preciso atentar para um aspecto que não nos parece razoável: daqui
em diante, para obter os efeitos desejados mediante a redução do custo
167
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
do trabalho serão necessárias medidas cada vez mais drásticas. Por mais
dóceis que sejam os trabalhadores, ninguém pode asseverar que eles se
adequarão às determinações do capital ad infinitum.
Nessa hipótese, a questão social assume proporções que resvalam até
mesmo para a classe social que se pretende imune aos males sociais. Parecenos, portanto, procedente insistir na análise da relação capital-trabalho,
sobretudo por ser a questão social o objeto de trabalho do Serviço Social.
Assim, dentre as suas múltiplas expressões, aqui e agora, vamos tratar da
imigração e do imigrante, tendo como foco o mercado de trabalho(1). Com
isso, não estamos afirmando que a busca por emprego é a única motivação
para quem imigra, mas tentamos demonstrar que os processos imigratórios
se nutrem da voracidade do capital por força de trabalho barata e que esse
movimento reproduz e amplia a desigualdade entre nações e povos.
Desenvolvimento
A imigração não se reduz aos constrangimentos da mobilidade geográfica,
podendo dar origem a problemas sociais de dimensões inimagináveis.
Dentre outros fatores que consubstanciam a dimensão política do fenômeno
imigratório, ressaltam-se os conflitos étnicos, geradores de tensões sociais
e até de atentados terroristas, como ocorreu ano passado, em Oslo, capital
da Noruega, quando o fundamentalista cristão Anders Behring Breivik
metralhou dezenas de jovens social-democratas, numa clara declaração
de guerra ao “marxismo cultural”. Objetivamente, a integração do imigrante
depende do seu ingresso no mercado de trabalho, mas é também muito
importante a sua aceitação social no país de destino. Portanto, quando se
analisa a imigração, contemplando a dimensão humana desse processo,
não está em questão apenas a competitividade decorrente da falta de postos
de trabalho, mas também a preservação irracional de culturas, tradições e
costumes que os autóctones julgam ser ameaçados pelos imigrantes.
A nosso ver, por trás das expressões de hostilidade, que parecem ter outra
origem, estão implícitos valores capitalistas, que fragmentam, separam
e hierarquizam a humanidade. Castles (2005) lembra que, após 1945, as
migrações de trabalhadores com fracas qualificações foi crucial para o
crescimento industrial da maioria dos países ricos. Contudo, no atual
momento histórico, esses trabalhadores são, geralmente, rejeitados, porque
considerados economicamente desnecessários e socialmente perigosos.
Afora os trabalhadores altamente qualificados - que, em relação aos demais,
migram em condições privilegiadas (2) -, comumente os imigrantes ocupam
vagas que não interessam aos autóctones, o que não quer dizer que estes
últimos estejam imunes à precarização, que, como já foi dito, é inerente
ao trabalho flexível. Em sendo assim, responsabilizar os imigrantes pelo
desemprego revela uma falta de informação geradora de consequências que
devem ser enfrentadas.
168
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
As pesquisas realizadas indicam que “tanto os dirigentes políticos como
os analistas das políticas migratórias têm prestado pouca atenção à ação
humana” (Castles, 2005: 48). Segundo este autor, tanto o individualismo
metodológico das abordagens neoclássicas quanto o positivismo legal dos
burocratas ignoram as migrações como um “processo coletivo assente nas
necessidades e nas estratégias das famílias e das comunidades” (Castles,
2005: 48). Não estamos afirmando que a imigração tem como única
motivação o desemprego. Migra-se também por razões afetivas, pelo desejo
de conhecer outra cultura, pela possibilidade de viver novas experiências,
mas a imigração que se justifica nesses motivos não se inscreve na questão
social de que se trata neste artigo.
A população objeto deste artigo migra por razões essencialmente
econômicas. Essa, no entanto, além de merecer pouca atenção dos
políticos e das políticas, ainda tem sido utilizada, de modo oportunista e
premeditado, em campanhas eleitoreiras. Aproveitando-se da desinformação
dos trabalhadores, certos políticos fomentam a xenofobia, mediante
programas embasados em assertivas que aprofundam o preconceito e que
os isentam de responder pelas efetivas perdas de direitos que têm sofrido
os trabalhadores nos últimos anos. Exemplos elucidativos dessa prática
são o slogan “Portugal para os portugueses”, usado na última campanha,
e de forma ainda mais explícita, um outdoor colocado na rotunda de
Entrecampos, Lisboa, pelo Partido Nacional Renovador - PNR, que trazia a
seguinte frase: “Imigração? Nós dizemos não!”. O cartaz exibia uma ovelha
branca sobre o mapa de Portugal, representando o partido, e ovelhas negras
fora do território nacional, simbolizando aquilo que o partido diz serem os
“cancros do país”, responsáveis pela criminalidade, pelo desemprego,
pelos baixos salários, pelo multiculturalismo, pelas fronteiras abertas e por
subsídios-dependentes. Infere-se daí quão tensas podem ser as relações do
imigrante com o pais de destino, e também quão tendenciosas podem ser
as interpretações acerca desse processo.
Dentre algumas das interpretações preconceituosas sobre o imigrante,
observamos que: a) costuma-se justificar as desvantagens generalizadas do
imigrante no mercado de trabalho por sua baixa qualificação, o que nem
sempre procede; b) atribui-se ao imigrante a dependência de subsídios, o
que na prática se traduz em mais um encargo para o orçamento público
português; e c) acusa-se o imigrante de promover o desemprego nos países
de destino.
Ora, a educação e a experiência profissional não são fatores descartáveis
quando está em questão ingressar no mercado de trabalho, mas não se
pode tomar esse aspecto, exclusivamente, para explicar o subemprego dos
imigrantes. Dados da realidade indicam que, por um lado, muitas vezes,
a formação do imigrante está aquém das tarefas desempenhadas e, por
169
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
outro, há casos em que o estatuto da profissão e o salário não condizem
com os requerimentos do emprego em termos de educação. De acordo com
Pereira, “o baixo capital humano de uma parte importante dos imigrantes
não constitui a única explicação para os padrões de incorporação laboral
identificados” (2010: 31). Em meio às justificativas da autora, enfatiza-se a
discriminação a que são submetidos os imigrantes, os quais muito raramente
são empregados em conformidade com as suas qualificações, ao que ainda
se acrescenta o oportunismo dos empregadores, que se aproveitam de
situações de irregularidade para explorá-los na informalidade.
No que tange ao peso do imigrante nos custos do Estado, há quem afirme e
comprove que ele está mais a pagar que a receber. Um estudo coordenado
por André Correia d’Almeida e publicado pelo Serviço de Estrangeiros e
Fronteiras de Portugal, em 2004, demonstra que calculadas as despesas e
receitas das contas públicas com os imigrantes, estas os apresentam como
contribuintes líquidos, sendo o saldo de €$ 323.605.900 (trezentos e vinte e
três milhões, seiscentos e cinco mil e novecentos euros).
No que se refere à responsabilidade pelo aumento do desemprego dos
autóctones, novamente a realidade nega o preconceito. A força de trabalho
imigrante não concorre aos postos de trabalho que atraem os autóctones.
Nas palavras de Pereira:
O dualismo existente no mercado alimenta-se, assim, das diferenças (e
desigualdades) que existem entre os próprios trabalhadores, reproduzindoas ao longo do tempo. Por um lado, os trabalhadores autóctones têm,
majoritariamente, aspirações e motivações associadas ao prestígio e status,
que fazem com que não desejem ocupações consideradas ‘menores’; por
este motivo não aceitam salários abaixo de um determinado nível e usufruem
de direitos laborais adquiridos. Por outro, os trabalhadores imigrantes não
estão preocupados com o prestígio da ocupação que desempenham porque o seu objetivo primordial é aumentar o rendimento em face do que
ganhavam na origem -, razão pela qual mesmo os segmentos secundários
ou a economia informal podem representar uma melhoria comparativa,
sendo, por este motivo, tendencialmente menos exigentes e mais flexíveis
na relação laboral, pelo menos na fase inicial do seu projeto migratório
(2010: 51).
Assim, a referida pesquisadora conclui que a competição no mercado
de trabalho se dá entre os próprios imigrantes, uma vez que os novatos,
sobretudo quando ainda estão em situação irregular, aceitam condições
piores que aqueles que já estão no país por mais tempo. Percebe-se,
portanto, que às condições geralmente precárias daqueles que deixam o
país de origem e aos preconceitos advindos do país de destino, ainda se
acrescenta o fato de lutar por espaço num mercado cujo principal oponente
é o seu companheiro também imigrante.
170
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
A estupidez de responsabilizar os imigrantes pelo desemprego dos
autóctones talvez se explique com a necessidade de encontrar culpados
e assim não reconhecer o verdadeiro inimigo. Ora, imigrantes e autóctones
estão enfrentando idênticas dificuldades para ingressar no mercado de
trabalho. Ambos estão submetidos à flexibilização do mercado, que tende
a uma exploração generalizada do trabalho, mediante atividades informais.
Nesse sentido, contrariando uma das doutrinas do neoliberalismo, o Estado
nunca foi tão intervencionista, uma vez que cada país, a seu modo, promove
ajustes que garantem legalidade às formas de trabalho consideradas
flexíveis. No que tange aos imigrantes, os estudos especializados “enfatizam
as modalidades de inserção desfavoráveis no mercado de trabalho, nos
segmentos secundários e em setores marcados por um baixo estatuto
social: a construção civil e obras públicas (3), e as limpezas domésticas,
urbanas e industriais (4)” (Pereira, 2010: 15).
Portanto, não há de um lado imigrantes empregados e, de outro, autóctones
desempregados, tampouco diferem as relações entre capital e trabalho. Em
muitos casos, pela situação de ilegalidade e por outras razões já expostas,
os imigrantes são mais penalizados, mas esse estado não lhes é exclusivo,
demonstrando que aquelas formas “atrasadas” que estavam associadas às
economias periféricas tendem a difundir-se nos países centrais. Em sendo
assim, não exatamente da mesma forma, a precarização é exercida também
nos postos de trabalho ocupados pelos autóctones, tendo se tornado lugarcomum a luta de trabalhadores pela manutenção do emprego com direitos.
Considerações Finais
Essa conjunção de fatores, que expõe os limites impostos à classe
trabalhadora, de modo particular aos trabalhadores imigrantes, coloca novos
desafios para quem pretende apreender a questão social contemporânea.
A partir da nossa perspectiva de análise, a questão social se explica na
relação capital-trabalho. Sob esse raciocínio, em se tratando do objeto
em tela, julgamos ser necessário distinguir a imigração do imigrante. O
desenvolvimento capitalista não prescinde do trabalho de baixa qualificação.
As sociedades mais desenvolvidas necessitam de trabalhadores pobres
para as atividades que não interessam aos trabalhadores locais. Nesse
sentido, a imigração é funcional à economia de tais países. Contudo, o
fato de a imigração ser necessária não significa aceitar o imigrante com
os seus costumes, suas crenças, seu modus vivendi. Como separar
então a imigração do imigrante? Ora, a história do capitalismo pode ser
contada pelas separações, divisões, fragmentações, destruições. Primeiro,
separou os produtores dos meios de produção e, depois, historicamente,
tem promovido sucessivas divisões do trabalho, que, no limite, querem
tão somente o resultado do trabalho, mas não os trabalhadores. O capital,
sobretudo em tempos de flexibilização, quer o máximo do tempo de trabalho
171
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
para si e nenhum tempo disponível para o trabalhador. Ao discutir as reações
de economistas e líderes de negócios a uma lei aprovada pelo Parlamento
francês para reduzir a semana de trabalho, Mészáros (2003) faz remissão a
um panfleto publicado em 1821, que já denotava uma clara apreensão dessas
categorias vitais ao capitalismo: tempo disponível e trabalho excedente. Ele
cita: “Riqueza é tempo disponível e nada mais. Se todo o trabalho de um
país fosse suficiente somente para obter o sustento de toda a população,
não haveria trabalho excedente, consequentemente nada que pudesse ser
permitido acumular como capital” (Apud Mészáros, 2003: s/p). Para este
autor, o tempo livre obtido mediante reduções significativas do tempo de
trabalho “atuaria como dinamite social, explodindo o alto firmamento da
ordem reprodutiva estabelecida” (Mészáros, 2003: s/p). Isso explica a razão
pela qual “o capital é totalmente incompatível com o tempo livre utilizado
autonomamente e de forma significativa por indivíduos sociais livremente
associados” (Mészáros, 2003: s/p). Considerando, por um lado, que o tempo
disponível, no seu sentido libertador, é imprescindível à vida e, por outro, que
a avidez do capital pelo tempo dos trabalhadores é cada vez mais intensa,
pode-se afirmar, no que tange ao uso da força de trabalho do imigrante, que
a imigração é funcional, já que diminui os custos da produção, ainda que os
imigrantes sejam socialmente indesejáveis.
A imigração, portanto, ao mesmo tempo que expõe a desigualdade, expõe
a sua funcionalidade ao sistema. Não houvesse trabalhadores que precisam
migrar para vender a força de trabalho, todas as atividades tinham de
ser desenvolvidas pela força de trabalho local. Nessa hipótese, talvez os
trabalhos de baixa qualificação merecessem outro tratamento, uma vez que
são indispensáveis à dinâmica do sistema. Serviços de limpeza, higiene,
consertos são necessários a qualquer grande empresa e à sociedade
em geral, sem contar a importância da construção civil e dos serviços de
restauração. Contudo, isso é apenas uma hipótese. A realidade é que o
desenvolvimento capitalista tem na sua base a desigualdade, que constitui
um valor imprescindível ao desenvolvimento capitalista, segundo Hayek
(1990).
Ante o exposto, procede indagar qual o espaço concedido ao Serviço Social
nos órgãos de acolhimento ao imigrante. Em Portugal, é possível verificar
que, apesar de a dimensão político-econômica da imigração ser reconhecida
por pesquisadores no mundo inteiro, das tensões sociais decorrentes do
processo imigratório e de o tema ser explorado de forma explicitamente
xenofóbica, como ocorreu na última campanha, não há nos órgãos que
formalmente cuidam do acolhimento ao migrante a participação efetiva de
profissionais do Serviço Social, e tampouco parece ser central o debate
entre as preocupações da profissão, seja como área de conhecimento, seja
como área de intervenção da questão social. Por conseguinte, os eventos
(seminários, congressos, encontros) que discutem a imigração são, na
172
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
maioria das vezes, organizados por representações religiosas, para as quais
as ações de acolhimento são orientadas por uma moralidade religiosa, que
não questiona os fundamentos da questão social.
Em sendo a imigração uma das expressões da questão social de
profundas consequências, parecem-nos procedentes, para concluir, duas
recomendações ao Serviço Social: 1) a inclusão desse debate na formação
profissional do assistente social e 2) a articulação entre pesquisa e formulação
de políticas, no sentido da garantia dos direitos instituídos ao imigrante e,
sobremaneira, para que não restem dúvidas quanto ao destino comum a
trabalhadores imigrantes e autóctones: a reprodução incessante do capital.
Referências
Abreu, A.; Peixoto, J. (2009) ‘Demografia, Mercado de trabalho e imigração
de substituição: tendências políticas e prospectiva no caso português’.
Análise Social, Vol. XLIV (193): 719-746. Disponível em: http://www.scielo.
oces.mctes.pt.pdf n193a04
Almeida, A. C. d’ (Coord.) (2004) O impacto da imigração nas sociedades da
Europa: o caso português. Lisboa: SEF.
Castles, Stephen (2005) Globalização, transnacionalismo e novos fluxos
migratórios: dos trabalhadores convidados às migrações globais. Lisboa:
Fim de século.
Hayek, F. A. (1990) O caminho da servidão. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Liberal.
Kovács, I. et al. (2006) Flexibilidade e crise de emprego: tendências e
controvérsias. Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, SOCIUS Working
papers nº 8:1-78. Disponível em: http://pascal.iseg.utl.pt/~socius/
publicacoes/wp/wp200608.pdf
Mészáros, I. (2003) Desemprego e precarização: Um grande desafio para a
esquerda. Disponível em: http://resistir.info/crise/desemprego_precarizacao.
html
Ocde (2007) The Labour Market Integration of Immigrants in Portugal, OCDE,
Employement, Labour and Social Affairs Committee.
Peixoto, J. et al. (2006) Mulheres Migrantes: Percursos Laborais e Modos de
Inserção Socioeconômica das Imigrantes em Portugal, Lisboa: Sócius.
Pereira, Sónia (2010) Trabalhadores de origem Africana em Portugal: impacto
das novas vagas de imigração. Lisboa: Colibri.
Tavares, M. A. (2004) Os fios (in)visíveis da produção capitalista: informalidade
e precarização do trabalho. São Paulo: Cortez.
173
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
NOTAS:
1
Portugal é a referência privilegiada, mas a análise não se restringe a este país.
2 Alguns países continuam a importar trabalhadores para a construção civil e para as plantações,
mas, segundo Castles (2005), trata-se de um uso sistemático de migrantes ilegais ou de pessoas
em busca de asilo, cuja privação de direitos facilita a exploração. Enquanto isso, empresários,
executivos, cientistas, profissionais de elevadas qualificações e técnicos especialistas são atraídos
para os Estados Unidos, Canadá, Austrália e para outros países da Europa Ocidental e da Ásia
Oriental, em condições que tendem a justificar o desemprego pela falta de escolaridade e de
qualificação.
3 De acordo com a OCDE (2007), 26% do total dos trabalhadores estrangeiros estão neste setor.
4 Peixoto et all (2006: 76) indicam que 49,5% das mulheres com nacionalidade estrangeira
registradas nos Censos de 2001 são trabalhadoras não qualificadas dos serviços e comércio (onde
se incluem as atividades de trabalho doméstico e limpeza).
174
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 14
Alliance for the Defence of Social Services:
Spanish Network in Defence of Social Rights and
a Public System of Social Services
Alianza por la Defensa del Sistema Público de Servicios
Sociales: Red española en defensa de los derechos
sociales y de un Sistema Público de Servicios Sociales
Ana Isabel Lima Fernández
Consejo General del Trabajo Social de España
Global Agenda theme 2:
Dignity and worth of the person”
175
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
The General Council of Social Workers of Spain has launched a new action
- the Alliance for the Defence of the Public System of Social Services - a
network of representatives from different institutions and social entities:
trade unions, third sector, universities, etc., to reconcile ideas and to think
about the current situation of social services in Spain. The Council will
continue with the consolidation and development of objectives such as: the
recognition of the subjective social rights of citizens, and respond to their
needs and problems, and provide a quality response to practices and care
policies. The chapter brings together key ideas for the strengthening of social
services in Spain.
Alianza por la Defensa del Sistema Público de
Servicios Sociales: Red española en defensa de
los derechos sociales y de un Sistema Público
de Servicios Sociales
Resumen
El Consejo General de Trabajadores Sociales de España ha puesto en
marcha una nueva acción - la Alianza para la Defensa del Sistema Público
de Servicios Sociales - una red integrada por representantes de diferentes
instituciones y entidades sociales: sindicatos, tercer sector, Universidades,
etc. para conciliar ideas, para reflexionar sobre la situación actual de los
servicios sociales como IV Pilar de Bienestar Social en España, y continuar
en la consolidación y desarrollo de objetivos como: el reconocimiento de
los derechos sociales subjetivos de los ciudadanos, que respondan a sus
necesidades y problemas, o que proporcionen una respuesta de calidad en
las prácticas y políticas de Atención. El documento desarrollado reúne ideas
clave para el fortalecimiento de servicios sociales en España.
Introducción
La actual crisis económica y de valores está provocando en España efectos
indeseados en las políticas sociales, de tal forma que se proyectan recortes
en las políticas sociales, y sus efectos son más indeseados en los servicios
sociales, muchos de los cuales van dirigidos a los sectores más vulnerables
de la población.
Por ello se planteó la oportunidad del momento para impulsar una
iniciativa denominada Alianza por la defensa del Sistema Público
de Servicios Sociales, necesaria para influir en la restructuración,
defensa, mantenimiento y perfeccionamiento de los servicios sociales.
176
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Para explicar esta acción es necesario realizar unas notas aclaratorias de
la trayectoria de las organizaciones profesionales de trabajo social y los
servicios sociales en España.
La protección social en España se constituye en cuatro pilares: el sistema
sanitario, el sistema educativo, el sistema de servicios sociales y la garantía
de pensiones.
El Consejo General del Trabajo Social en España es, en la actualidad, el
órgano representativo, coordinador y ejecutivo de los 37 Colegios Oficiales
del Trabajo Social en el territorio estatal que agrupan un total de 40.000
colegiados1. Entre otras cosas, es responsable del ordenamiento del
ejercicio profesional de los/as trabajadores/as sociales en su jurisdicción,
de velar por el prestigio de la profesión y de exigir el cumplimiento de sus
deberes deontológicos. En definitiva, a esta organización de derecho público
le compete velar por el correcto ejercicio de la profesión y por la defensa
de los derechos fundamentales de los ciudadanos y lo hace cumpliendo un
mandato constitucional2.
Los Colegios Profesionales de Trabajo Social en España han sido
tradicionalmente defensores de la garantía de cumplimiento de los derechos
humanos y la justicia social tal y como manifiesta la definición internacional de
la profesión. El Consejo General es miembro de la Federación Internacional
de Trabajadores Sociales (FITS) desde 1970, por lo que se han ratificado
todas las declaraciones de principios vinculados fundamentalmente con la
Justicia Social y los Derechos Humanos. Además colabora con Amnistía
Internacional y es miembro del Comité Español de Bienestar Social (CEBS) y de Unión Profesional (UP).
El Sistema Público de Servicios Sociales se configuró en torno a una
distribución competencial constitucionalmente establecida, según la cual
corresponde al Estado “garantizar el principio de solidaridad e igualdad”3,
para que todos los españoles tengan “los mismos derechos y obligaciones
en cualquier parte del territorio del Estado”4. Las Comunidades Autónomas
tienen, de acuerdo con el texto constitucional, competencia exclusiva en
materia de asistencia social 5. Por su parte, la Ley de Bases de Régimen
Local encomienda a las Entidades Locales competencia en la organización y
gestión de los Servicios Sociales tratándose de un sistema descentralizado
en el ámbito municipal, garantizando la proximidad a la vida cotidiana de
los ciudadanos. En la década de los 80 se aprobaron las primeras Leyes
Autonómicas de Servicios Sociales.
1
2
3
4
5
Datos estimados ofrecidos por los COTS territoriales al Consejo General del Trabajo Social.
Constitución española, 1978, Art. 36.
Artículo nº 138 de la Constitución Española 1978
Artículo nº 139 de la Constitución Española 1978
Artículo nº 148.20 de la Constitución Española 1978
177
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Ligado al transcurso de la sociedad industrial en Europa, por aquel entonces
el trabajo social interpreta las causas de la pobreza y la exclusión como
fenómeno social y no individual. La profesión tuvo en ese momento un
importante papel como agente de cambio social en la implantación y el
desarrollo de los sistemas de protección social, requiriendo además el
carácter preventivo de los mismos a través de diferentes acciones como la
elaboración del primer “Manifiesto por la Defensa de un Sistema Público
de Servicios Sociales”, una muestra más del posicionamiento público desde
la perspectiva macrosocial incidiendo en la importancia de la comunicación
racional como medio para organizar y superar los conflictos que se dan en
las sociedades actuales. (Habermas, 1992:170)
La participación activa en la implantación del Sistema Público de Servicios
Sociales, así como la implicación constante en su desarrollo y defensa, ha
constituido una constante histórica para las organizaciones profesionales
del Trabajo social españolas (iniciado por sus precedentes antes de 1982
por las “Asociaciones de Asistentes Sociales” y la Federación Estatal de
Asociaciones de Asistentes sociales” (FEDASS)), convirtiéndose en uno
de los rasgos peculiares de la profesión, debido entre otros motivos, a la
gran influencia del contexto histórico Español de las tres últimas décadas
en el desarrollo de las políticas públicas. Este compromiso es acorde a los
principios y valores expuestos en el código deontológico 6 y la definición del
Trabajo Social.
De manera constante se ha contribuido al desarrollo de la protección
social, la lucha contra la pobreza y defensa de los derechos sociales, en
el abordaje de las nuevas necesidades sociales, en la implantación de los
servicios sociales comunitarios en todo el territorio español con el diseño y la
puesta en marcha del Plan Concertado de prestaciones básicas en servicios
sociales7 para impulsar y consolidar la red básica de servicios sociales en
todo el Estado colaborando en la elaboración de las Leyes autonómicas
de Servicios Sociales y contribuyendo desde otros ámbitos de intervención
como son salud, educación, vivienda, justicia, penitenciarias, etc.
En los últimos treinta años se ha producido un gran avance en el Sistema
de Servicios Sociales Español, en la creación de centros y prestaciones,
tanto de los servicios sociales especializados como de la red básica de
primer nivel implantada en los municipios. En la actualidad el 85% de los
trabajadores sociales españoles ejerce su trabajo en el sistema de servicios
sociales públicos, privados y de las organizaciones sociales 8.
6
7
8
Documento “Ética en el Trabajo Social, Declaración de Principios” de la Federación Internacional
de Trabajadores Sociales (FITS) y la Asociación Internacional de Escuelas de Trabajo Social (AIETS)
aprobado en Adelaida, Australia en octubre de 2.004
Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales (1988): Plan Concertado de prestaciones básicas de
Servicios sociales en Corporaciones Locales.
Torices Blanco, Ana: Investigación “Trabajadoras Sociales del siglo XXI: su perfil actual”, Premio
Nacional de Investigación Ana Díaz Perdiguero 2011. consejo General del Trabajo Social.
178
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Los/as trabajadores/as sociales son la figura de referencia de los servicios
sociales básicos; son los profesionales que toman el pulso a las necesidades
sociales desde la cercanía y la proximidad con las personas con las que
intervienen.
Igualmente las organizaciones profesionales de trabajo social en España
marcaron en su agenda el horizonte de la universalización de los derechos
sociales, tal y como se expone en el texto de las conclusiones de las III
Jornadas Estatales de Asistencia Social Pamplona en 1977, el IV Congreso
de Trabajo Social “Política de Acción Social” de 1980 en Valladolid, al
Documento Guadarrama elaborado por la Plataforma por la defensa del
Sistema de Servicios Sociales, las conclusiones de los cuatro foros del
Observatorio Estatal de Servicios Sociales, el Manifiesto Trabajo Social ante
la Crisis del XI Congreso Estatal de Trabajo Social en 2009, etc.
Uno de los hitos de la profesión de trabajo social es la presentación de
una enmienda a la Constitución Española de 1978, a través de la cuál se
consiguió erradicar el concepto de Beneficencia, sustituyéndola por el
término Asistencia Social dando lugar a la creación del Sistema Público de
Servicios Sociales, reconociendo los derechos sociales.
Desde el ámbito internacional, en el último Congreso Mundial de Trabajo
Social en Hong Kong en 2010, se puso de manifiesto por parte de las
organizaciones de la FITS, CEBS y AIETS el firme apoyo a la hora de
reafirmar el importante papel que debe desempeñar nuestra profesión en la
promoción de un mundo más humano y justo. El proceso iniciado en Hong
Kong en junio de 2010 pretende desarrollar múltiples plataformas con el
fin de promover la creación de una Agenda Global con una opinión única
compartida de todos sus miembros.
En España se han iniciado iniciativas en la línea marcada por la Agenda
Global, ya que una de las propuestas instaba a las organizaciones miembro
fue “crear alianzas” y “desarrollar una opinión profesional más unificada
en todo el mundo”; posicionándonos y participando activamente en las
organizaciones sociales y en los contextos de cambio actuales, con la
creación de la Alianza por la Defensa del Sistema Público de Servicios
Sociales.
Foto 1: Imagen de la Alianza
179
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
n el marco de esta acción se realiza un análisis de la situación actual
del Sistema de Servicios sociales, con el objeto de reestructurarlo,
perfeccionándolo y manteniendo los aspectos que hasta ahora han
constituido una buena práctica, y siendo necesario realizar en conjunto
propuestas para la acción. La manera de realizar esta estrategia desde la
Alianza es crear una plataforma para trabajar en red y tener en cuenta otras
miradas, tanto de otras profesiones, como de expertos, universidades,
empresas, sindicatos, organizaciones sociales del campo de acción social y
asociaciones que representan a la sociedad civil. Así existe un grupo motor
compuesto por una selección de organizaciones, expertos y un gran grupo
de personas y entidades que se adhieren a los objetivos de la Alianza y
la hacen suya, compartiendo el liderazgo entre todos los participantes y
reduciendo el papel del Consejo General como “impulsor” de la Alianza, perdiendo protagonismo desde nuestra organización para ganar sinergias y
ampliar nuestra mirada.
Foto 2: Relación de entidades que integran la Alianza
El papel de las administraciones y los partidos políticos, en este caso, queda
al margen de la participación en el grupo, ya que se necesita actuar con la
mayor independencia, siendo los receptores de las propuestas que realiza
la Alianza.
El planteamiento inicial indicaba dos grandes ejes a tratar: uno de ellos tiene
que ver con la organización y la necesidad de garantías estructurales, es decir
el ¿Qué?: tratando la garantía de derechos sociales, los derechos subjetivos,
la legislación existente sobre servicios sociales, las competencias de cada
administración, el marco europeo, la planificación estratégica, la normativa,
180
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
los reglamentos de desarrollo legislativo, la necesaria colaboración y
coordinación interadministrativas, los sistemas de recogida, explotación y
gestión de datos, los mecanismos de participación ciudadana, etc.
Otro de los ejes fundamentales tiene que ver con la forma, es decir el
¿Cómo?: aborda la calidad en la atención, el papel de los profesionales,
tratará temas como la necesidad de garantías metodológicas, de realización
de itinerarios de apoyo social y acompañamiento, de acciones dirigidas
a la promoción y la prevención, bajo la premisa una intervención social
que persiga la sistematización de la práctica, el empoderamiento de las
personas, así como su participación, autodesarrollo y autodeterminación.
Poniendo sobre la mesa no sólo los derechos, sino también los deberes de
la ciudadanía.
Todo ello está bajo la exigencia de la evaluación del impacto de la políticas
sociales que se pongan en marcha, tanto en las personas a las que va
dirigida, como desde otros aspectos, como pueden ser la generación de
empleo desde este sector. Desde esa perspectiva es importante poner la
mirada en las condiciones de trabajo del personal de los servicios sociales,
ya que en muchos casos se está dando la destrucción y amortización de
puestos, justo cuando se ha duplicado a la demanda debido a la crisis, entre
otros factores.
Tras lanzar la iniciativa general se debía iniciar una estrategia para recoger la
situación de los servicios sociales en las diferentes regiones contando con
los Colegios Profesionales de cada región. En ese proceso algunas regiones
ya habían iniciado acciones en esta línea, por lo que el día de la presentación
pública de la iniciativa se creó un espacio para el intercambio de buenas
prácticas en ese sentido.
Estas iniciativas serán tenidas en cuenta en el documento general y en
un futuro se seguirá difundiendo y fomentando la idea de la Alianza en
el resto de territorios y llevadas a los órganos europeos e internacionales
relacionados con la política social, como parte del compromiso adquirido
con la Agenda Global.
La primera acción es la elaboración del primer documento, un “Manifiesto”9
que intenta sintetizar alguna de las reivindicaciones de manera clara y
concisa para ser difundido en líneas generales a la ciudadanía y a los
medios de comunicación. La segunda acción realizada es la elaboración
de un documento con propuestas 10 dirigidas al Parlamento antes de las
elecciones generales de noviembre de 2011, siendo presentadas a todos los
grupos parlamentarios existentes.
9
Manifiesto de la Alianza por la Defensa del Sistema Público de los Servicios Sociales. Septiembre
2011. Manifiesto
10 Documento de referencia de la Alianza por la Defensa del Sistema Público de los Servicios Sociales. Octubre 2011. Propuestas Alianza
181
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
El manifiesto se centra en seis epígrafes:
• A más crisis, más políticas sociales
En España, en los últimos treinta años se ha logrado un avance significativo
en el proceso de implantación de los Servicios Sociales, como expresión
de una voluntad democrática y social. Se reconoce y promueve el bienestar
social de todas las ciudadanas y todos los ciudadanos, en particular cuando
encuentran obstáculos en el disfrute y ejercicio de los derechos sociales.
La atención a las necesidades realizada por los Servicios Sociales reduce
desigualdades, exclusión y contribuye a la cohesión social.
Muestra de este desarrollo son los cerca de 6 millones de personas que
perciben anualmente servicios sociales básicos, las más de 700.000
personas que reciben hoy día servicios y prestaciones de atención a la
dependencia y los casi 600.000 empleos existentes en el sector 11.
La situación de crisis económica está produciendo un aumento de la
desigualdad, la pobreza y la exclusión social que genera un incremento de
la demanda de servicios y prestaciones, por ello son más necesarios que
nunca los Servicios Sociales.
En España y en Europa se están poniendo en entredicho las conquistas
sociales. Según datos oficiales, en 2009 los Servicios Sociales públicos
ofrecieron información y/o ayuda a más de 8 millones de personas; un
36% de la población española más que en el año anterior12. Las entidades
que componen el tercer sector social constatan un importante deterioro
e incremento de las situaciones de privación material de las personas ya
integradas en sus programas, que las sitúa en el terreno de la exclusión social.
Personas y familias que antes se encontraban integradas se ven obligadas
a acudir a la ayuda de las ONG para cubrir sus necesidades básicas. En el
mismo año, se produjo un enorme incremento de las demandas de ayuda
recibidas por las entidades de iniciativa social para atender a las necesidades
básicas debido a la insuficiencia de las prestaciones públicas. Por ejemplo,
Caritas tuvo que prestar ayuda de primera necesidad a alrededor de 800.000
personas 13, el 58% derivado de los Servicios Sociales públicos por no
poder atenderlas. Frente a los recortes sociales, defendemos un incremento
racional de las políticas sociales encaminadas a asegurar unos Servicios
Sociales que avancen en el reconocimiento pleno de derechos subjetivos.
11 VIII Dictamen del Observatorio Nacional de la Dependencia elaborado por la Asociación Española
de Directoras y Gerentes de Servicios Sociales. Diciembre 2011.
12 Datos ofrecidos por las Comunidades Autónomas al Gobierno de España según Noticia “La crisis
eleva un 36% la petición de ayuda en los servicios sociales”. Carmen Moran. Periódico El País.
Agosto 2011.
13 Informe del Observatorio de la realidad sobre los efectos sociales de la crisis. Cáritas España.
2009.
182
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Importantes sectores sociales se están movilizando en su defensa, por ello
hoy constituimos una Alianza para defender y mejorar el Sistema Público de
Servicios Sociales, cuarto pilar del Estado de bienestar.
• Responsabilidad pública y participación social
En la sociedad del riesgo en la que vivimos hay que reforzar un sistema
de Servicios Sociales que afronte los problemas actuales de forma
multidimensional e integral, que fomente la participación social, la solidaridad y la corresponsabilidad; que ofrezca respuestas personalizadas,
preventivas y comunitarias.
Es necesario defender un sistema de Servicios Sociales sustentado en la
responsabilidad pública como garante de los derechos de la ciudadanía.
Sistema abierto a la iniciativa privada, reservando al sector público las
facultades normativas y reguladoras que establecen el acceso a las
prestaciones del mismo y las que conllevan ejercicio de autoridad, inspección,
seguimiento y prescripción. Requerimos que la iniciativa social organizada
tenga una presencia acorde con su papel en los servicios sociales.
Reclamamos la presencia de todos los actores sociales, revitalizando los
espacios y ámbitos de participación e interlocución social como expresión
democrática y de ciudadanía activa.
• La prioridad en las personas
Las políticas deben tener como prioridad el desarrollo humano de las
personas, centro de toda actuación, y los territorios. Reforzando la
proximidad de los profesionales y los recursos existentes. La intervención
social ha de incidir en la implicación activa de las personas, los grupos y
las comunidades, en la superación de carencias y en el desarrollo de sus
posibilidades de promoción. Evitar la pasividad, potenciar la autonomía
sosteniendo y acompañando a las personas más vulnerables y excluidas. Favorecer el protagonismo de una ciudadanía más activa, informada y
corresponsable.
Es preciso un sistema público que simplifique flexibilice y agilice la gestión,
las estructuras, las redes y los procedimientos establecidos, como servicios
a la ciudadanía.
• Por una financiación publica
Reivindicamos una financiación pública con dotación presupuestaria
suficiente y sostenible que garantice la igualdad de acceso y la universalidad
de los servicios y de las prestaciones en el marco de un desarrollo económico
y social equilibrado, convergente con el gasto social europeo: el gasto
público social en España es el 22,7% del PIB, en la UE-27 es el 26,4%del
PIB14.
14 Fuente Eurostat. 2011.
183
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
El gasto social es inversión social: cumple con el principio de reequilibrio
e igualdad de oportunidades, reduce desigualdades, potencia la cohesión,
favorece una actividad económica, crea puestos de trabajo y contribuye a la
creación de riqueza del país. Congelar, reducir o rescindir la inversión social
conlleva altos costes personales y económicos en términos de: exclusión y
pérdida de cohesión, de recursos humanos y de bienestar social.
Proponemos la responsabilidad del sector público en materia financiera,
inversora y de gestión. La participación de la iniciativa privada se ha de llevar
a cabo de acuerdo con formulaciones jurídicas y administrativas adecuadas.
•
La calidad de los servicios sociales
Defendemos un control público que cuente con una inspección específica,
garantía de la calidad de los servicios desde la perspectiva de la ciudadanía
usuaria y de los proveedores.
Reclamamos un sector público eficaz y eficiente, planificador y evaluador
de los Servicios Sociales, coherente con las líneas más avanzadas de
investigación y desarrollo.
Para unos servicios de calidad es imprescindible el desarrollo del empleo en
el sector con buenas condiciones de trabajo, que incorporen la formación
continua y especializada.
•
Defendemos el cuarto pilar de bienestar social.
El compromiso de las organizaciones firmantes y de las ciudadanas y
ciudadanos, a título personal, es cooperar con todos los poderes públicos
en el mantenimiento y potenciación de unos derechos subjetivos básicos
a los Servicios Sociales para todas las personas, controlando y exigiendo
su cumplimiento e impulsando la implicación ciudadana. Reivindicamos
que los derechos sociales se establezcan como derechos fundamentales
constitucionales de la ciudadanía.
El documento de la Alianza, expuesto para debate en las redes sociales
y en la página Web del Consejo ( www.cgtrabajosocial.es/alianza ), está
abierto a solicitud de adhesión de personas de manera individual, grupal o
entidades, así como existe el compromiso de llevar al grupo de trabajo todas
las propuestas que lleguen a través de esa vía abierta de participación para
ser incorporadas en el informe final.
Hasta el momento más de 4.000 personas y 200 entidades sociales 15 se
han adherido a las acciones de la Alianza, suscribiéndolas, difundiéndolas y
exigiendo a los miembros del gobierno que las tengan en cuenta.
En el futuro aspiramos a continuar siendo un referente en cuanto a las
necesidades en defensa y perfeccionamiento del sistema de servicios
sociales, liderando el cambio social global, europeo y español, e intentando
15 Personas y entidades adheridas a través de www.cgtrabajosocial.es/alianza. Diciembre 2011.
184
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
influir en la reestructuración de las políticas públicas de servicios sociales.
Se va a seguir incidiendo en que las fuerzas políticas, a nivel estatal,
autonómico y local se comprometan con los Servicios Sociales, sin que
esto suponga un recorte en el catálogo de prestaciones mínimas o en su
financiación, aumentando las garantías y responsabilidades públicas de
las administraciones, ante los derechos de la ciudadanía y las condiciones
laborales de los/as profesionales que participan del Sistema Público de
Servicios Sociales.
Foto 3: Representantes de las entidades miembros de la Alianza en la
presentación pública.
Septiembre 2011
Foto 4: Representantes de las entidades miembros de la Alianza junto a
representantes de los grupos del Parlamento Español en la presentación
pública. Septiembre 2011
185
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Referências
Alianza por la Defensa del Sistema Público de los Servicios Sociales (2011)
Manifiesto. Manifiesto
Alianza por la Defensa del Sistema Público de los Servicios Sociales (2011)
Documento de referencia. Propuestas Alianza
Asociación Española de Directoras y Gerentes de Servicios Sociales (2011)
VIII Dictamen del Observatorio Nacional de la Dependencia. VIII Dictamen
Caritas España (2009) Informe del Observatorio de la realidad sobre los
efectos sociales de la crisis.
España (1978) Constitución Española.
España (2006) Ley 39/2006, de 14 de diciembre, de Promoción de la
Autonomía Personal y Atención a las personas en situación de Dependencia.
Boletín Oficial del Estado, 15 de diciembre de 2006, núm. 299.
Habermas, J. (1992) Teoría de la acción comunicativa, I .Racionalidad de la
acción, y racionalización social, Madrid: Taurus.
International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and International
Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) (2004) Document “Ethics in
Social Work, Statement of Principles”. Adelaide, Australia.
Lima Fernández, A. (2011) “Trabajo Social: Un análisis para la acción”. Madrid:
Ed. Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Diplomados en Trabajo Social
y Asistentes Sociales.
Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales (1988) Plan Concertado de
prestaciones básicas de Servicios sociales en Corporaciones Locales.
Moran, C. (2011) Noticia “La crisis eleva un 36% la petición de ayuda en los
servicios sociales”. Periódico El País.
Torices Blanco, Ana (2011) Investigación “Trabajadoras Sociales del siglo
XXI: su perfil actual”, Premio Nacional de Investigación Ana Díaz Perdiguero
2011. Consejo General del Trabajo Social.
186
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 15
Building Social Equity
Construyendo Equidad Social
Laura Acotto* & Viviana Guardia**
* Presidente Regional America Latina y Caribe de IFSW
** Viviana - Directora Sistema de Información, Monitoreo y EvaluaciónMinisterio de Desarrollo Humano, Familia y Comunidad- Gobierno de
Mendoza
Laura
Viviana
Global Agenda Theme 1:
Social and economic inequalities within
countries and between regions
Global Agenda Theme 2:
Dignity and worth of the person
187
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
The Latin America and Caribbean region worldwide is the most unfair in
terms of distribution of wealth, which negatively impacts extreme poverty.
Policy was recently implemented in Argentina to reverse this situation,
supported by two axes of social inclusion: education and work. This is
based on a combination of programs of a universal character, expressed
in a paradigm of rights (universal allocation, free basic education) together
with actions to promote production (micro-credits, developing skills). The
chapter outlines the results of an investigation conducted by the State and
NGOs jointly, in particular looking at the case of the province of Mendoza,
Republic Argentina; on how these policies have a positive impact on the
MDGs “eradication of extreme poverty and hunger” and the obstacles and
possibilities of extending the model to the region.
Construyendo Equidad Social
Investigación de una experiencia en Provincia de Mendoza, República
Argentina sobre el impacto positivo en el ODM 1 “Erradicación de la
pobreza extrema y el hambre”, aplicando acciones combinadas de
políticas desde el paradigma de derechos y políticas de impulso al
trabajo)
Resumen
La Región Latinoamérica y Caribe a nivel mundial, es de las más injustas, en
términos de distribución de la riqueza, lo que impacta la pobreza extrema
negativamente. Recientemente se implementa en Argentina políticas para
revertir esta situación, sustentadas en dos ejes: la inclusión social a través
de la educación y el trabajo. Expresan una combinación de programas
basados de carácter universal, en el paradigma de derechos (Asignación
Universal, Educación básica gratuita) conjuntamente con acciones de
impulso a la producción (microcréditos, desarrollo de habilidades). El artículo
expresa resultados de una investigación realizada por el Estado y ONGs
conjuntamente, en particular analizando el caso de la Provincia de Mendoza,
República Argentina; sobre como estas políticas impactan positivamente
en el ODM “Erradicación de la pobreza extrema y el hambre”. Analiza los
obstáculos y posibilidades, de extender el modelo a la Región.
188
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Introduccion
En los últimos treinta años el mundo se ha sumergido en la denominada
globalización1, la que se manifiesta en diversas expresiones, económicas,
culturales, jurídicas y sociales. Es así que las experiencias locales, ya no
pueden ser miradas aisladas en su propia realidad, sino en vinculación con
la interrelación dinámica que presentan con el resto del orbe y en especial
con los países que poseen identidad similar. Todo se socializa, inclusive la
pobreza y las formas de atacar la misma.
“El fenómeno de la globalización neoliberal, matizado por los expertos como
la “aldea global”, cada día está llevando a la pobreza extrema a millones de
personas en esta inmensa urbe de desamparados que de aldea no tiene nada.
Pero los gobiernos como el nuestro insisten en llevar a cabo las políticas
neoliberales de endeudamiento que solamente generan más pobreza. Salvan
a los grandes banqueros con el dinero de los pobres. La riqueza se privatiza
pero la pobreza se socializa”. Sea esta configuración similar, originada en el echo de poseer un PBI
(Producto Bruto Interno), un Índice de Desarrollo Humano, tasas de NBI
(Necesidades Básicas Insatisfechas, o niveles de pobreza y indigencia
(pobreza extrema) similares; o porque comparten la condición de países
centrales, emergentes o periféricos; o porque su pertenecía a un determinado
bloque regional; o por poseer identidad cultural; o cualquier otra condición
que los “hermane” en los elementos que constituyen determinaciones sobre
sus trayectorias históricas y sus configuraciones.
El caso que nos ocupa en este trabajo es el análisis de una Investigación
sobre el impacto positivo en el ODM (Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio)
Nro. 1 “Erradicación de la pobreza extrema y el hambre”, aplicando acciones
combinadas de políticas desde el paradigma de derechos y políticas de
impulso al trabajo, implementado en la provincia de Mendoza, república
Argentina.
Es así que para poder dar un marco de mirada amplia que en parte explique
el contexto restringido de la experiencia nos debemos remontar a algunas
condiciones que marcan el panorama latinoamericano y argentino.
Cuando hablamos de pobreza estamos haciendo referencias a conceptos
que son unívocos, los diversos grupos institucionales trabajan sobre el tema
de la pobreza con diversas miradas, así, algunos entienden por pobreza.
Para el Banco Mundial, se pobre significa: “tener hambre, carecer de cobijo
y de ropa, estar enfermo y no ser atendido, se iletrado y no recibir formación,
además supone vulnerabilidad ante las adversidades y a menudo padecer
maltrato y exclusión de las instituciones”.
La pobreza se puede definir como la situación que afecta a las personas
1
MONTOYA, Alirio. Los desamparados de la Aldea global (2011).
189
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
que carecen de lo necesario para el sustento de sus vidas, es decir, que
no pueden satisfacer sus necesidades básicas. Se trata de un concepto
multidimensional; no atiende sólo aspectos económicos sino que también
incluye aspectos no materiales y ambientales. Implica no tener la oportunidad
de vivir una vida larga, sana, creativa y disfrutar de libertad, dignidad, respeto
por sí mismo y de los demás.
Según la CEPAL, 2 “La pobreza extrema o indigencia se entiende como la
situación en que no se dispone de los recursos que permitan satisfacer
al menos las necesidades básicas de alimentación. En otras palabras, se
considera como “pobres extremos” a las personas que residen en hogares
cuyos ingresos no alcanzan para adquirir una canasta básica de alimentos, así
lo destinaran en su totalidad a dicho fin. A su vez, se entiende como pobreza
total la situación en que los ingresos son inferiores al valor de una canasta
básica de bienes y servicios, tanto alimentarios como no alimentarios”.
La CEPAL, a su vez considera que la pobreza sigue siendo un desafío para
los países de América Latina. En 2008, cerca del 13% vivía en hogares
con ingresos inferiores a los necesarios para satisfacer sus necesidades
alimentarias. Estas cifras corresponden a 180 millones de pobres y 71
millones de indigentes (CEPAL, 2009). También califica de preocupante
lo que acontece en la Región por las desigualdades en la distribución del
ingreso, que es la más regresiva del mundo, se han mantenido en los últimos
20 años, con escasas mejorías.
”En América Latina, del conjunto de niños, Niñas y adolescentes, el 29,2%
sufre privaciones moderadas o graves...y su familia no cuenta con ingresos
suficientes para satisfacer sus necesidades básicas, y el 15,8% sufre
privaciones moderadas o severas, pese a que su familia tiene ingresos que
potencialmente serían suficientes para evitar esas privaciones…el 17,8%
de los niños no sufre privaciones que violen sus derechos infantiles, pero
pertenece a hogares con ingresos insuficientes. En total, el 62,7% de los
niños se ve afectado por una u otra forma de pobreza. En la región, alrededor
de 113 millones de niños viven niveles de exclusión social que afectan su
bienestar y, en forma potencial o efectiva, ven incumplidos sus derechos
fundamentales.”
3
Así los indicadores que proponen los objetivos del milenio para medir el
objetivo nro, 1 son:
“Reducir a la mitad, entre 1990 y 2015, el porcentaje de personas cuyos
ingresos sean inferiores a 1 dólar por día”…”Alcanzar el empleo pleno y
4
2
3
4
Comisión Ejecutiva para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). Objetivos del Milenio en América
Latina y el Caribe. Año 2010.
La pobreza infantil: un desafío prioritario. Boletín de la infancia y adolescencia sobre el avance de
los objetivos de desarrollo del Milenio. Número 10. ISSN 1816-7535. CEPAL y UNICEF-Oficina
Regional para América Latina y el Caribe. Santiago de Chile. Mayo 2010
http://www.eclac.org/mdg/obj_1indi_es.html
190
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
productivo, y el trabajo decente para todos, incluyendo mujeres y jóvenes”…
“Reducir a la mitad, entre 1990 y 2015, el porcentaje de personas que
padecen de hambre”.
De allí que el combate requiere de programas amplios, integrales que den
respuesta combinadas destinadas a trabajar sobre las consecuencias
inmediatas de la pobreza extrema (hambre, habitad y condiciones d e
vida miserables, impacto en la salud, disminución de las posibilidades
de educabilidad, etc.) y desarrollo del potencial, la capacidad y el capital
productivo.
Contexto Amplio
Los países de la Región Latinoamérica y Caribe, y por ende Argentina
poseen condiciones del contexto que no pueden ser obviadas en los
diagnósticos o propuestas de políticas sociales para combatir la pobreza
que se desarrollen:
• la dependencia.
• El lugar en la distribución del mercado de trabajo mundial vinculado
principalmente a la producción primaria.
• a nivel mundial la Región ostenta la condición de ser una de las más injustas, en términos de distribución de la riqueza. “La disparidad
distributiva que caracteriza a los países de América Latina puede
observarse al comparar la relación de ingresos entre el decil más rico
y los cuatro deciles más pobres….. el ingreso medio por persona de
los hogares ubicados en el décimo decil supera alrededor de 17 veces
al del 40% de los hogares más pobres. Esta relación es altamente
variable de un país a otro.”5
• El determinismo externo, sustentado en el endeudamiento crónico,
otorgando poder a los organismos multilaterales de crédito (Banco
Mundial, Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo) y de cooperación
internacional (Cooperación Europea) han definido desde los noventa cómo, con qué y desde donde y hasta donde se combate la pobreza
en la Región.
• La implementación desde los setenta del modelo Neoliberal, el cuál
trajo consigo la destrucción del aparato productivo nacional (en los
países que lo tuvieran) el reforzamiento de la sociedad pre capitalista
agrícola (en los países menos desarrollados); la reforma laboral que
desplazo grandes masas poblacionales a la condición de excluidos
sociales a través de la precarización del empleo, la privatización y
tercerización de las empresas del Estado, el desempleo y el aumento
del empleo no registrado, reforzando la acumulación especulativa, la
concentración de la riqueza y la distribución inequitativa persistente. 5
Bárcena, Alicia, (coordinación). (2010) La hora de la igualdad, brechas por cerrar, caminos por
abrir. Trimestre tercer periodo de sesiones de CEPAL. Naciones Unidas. Pág. 185 a la 186
191
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Se han propuesto distintas metodologías para medir la pobreza de los
habitantes del planeta. Algunos utilizan indicadores de carácter pecuniario
(producto bruto, PBI), otros tienen en cuenta cuestiones vitales (esperanza
de vida, consumo diario de calorías, entre otros) y otros aspectos educativos
(analfabetismo, etc.). A los efectos de la comparación internacional, se ha
definido el umbral de pobreza como la línea fijada en un dólar diario por
persona, suma considerada suficiente para adquirir los productos necesarios
para sobrevivir.
Independiente del índice que utilicemos hay condiciones que hacen que
si bien la pobreza afecta a la humanidad en su conjunto; hace eclosión
en los países denominados “periféricos”, “pobres”, “subalternos”, etc. En
ellos se da concentración oligopólica de la riqueza; desequilibrios severos
en la distribución de la riqueza y el ingreso; Desaparición del Estado de
Bienestar y su consabida protección social; proteccionismo de los países
centrales; desvalorización de los productos primarios; brecha tecnológica;
desempleo; deuda externa; conflictos políticos; crisis de los mercados
financieros; gestión inadecuada del medio ambiente (utilización incorrecta
de los recursos naturales por parte del hombre).
La realidad desarrollada con anterioridad provoca un impacto negativo en
los índices de pobreza extrema.
El mundo global ha venido adoptando algunos compromisos para hacer
frente al flagelo de la pobreza y tratar de combatirla y erradicarla. Entre
dichas medidas se encuentra el acuerdo de los ODM; el logro de los mismos
es un horizonte para la definición de políticas sociales internas en varios
países entre ellos Argentina.
Las políticas sociales en todo momento responden a concepciones de
Estado y se sostienen sobre la base distributiva que cada Nación se impone
para si. Estas deben estar encolumnadas con el logro de la justicia social
y demandan articulación en términos de efectivización para la equidad, que
no puede ser resuelta por las políticas neoliberales, ya que el fin de estas no
pasa por la justicia redistributiva, sino por lo compensatorio.
La opción en términos de políticas sociales universales en perspectiva de
derechos, por un lado implican una llega masiva a todos los niños, niñas y
adolescentes menores de 18 años (universalización), independiente de su
condición social y por otro movilizar todos los esfuerzos posibles para el
logro de la efectivizando especialmente los derechos sociales, educativos,
económicos y culturales.
Mientras que el mundo se continúan aplicando las mismas recetas que
fracasaron de los noventa para atacar la crisis global, y persisten en proteger
el sistema especulativo Mundial, Argentina la instrumentación de propuestas
alterativas de las opciones ya probadas en la Región Latinoamericana y
Caribeña.
192
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Las medidas que no resultaron se sustentaban en:
• instauración de Programas de transferencias condicionadas para
los más pobres; otorgando un ingreso mínimo que no sustenta las
necesidades prioritarias de las familias (alimentación);
• impulso al desarrollo productivo con mínimo aporte de los organismos
internacionales para equipamiento, infraestructura, recurso humanos
de formación y un máximo de aporte de los ciudadanos “pobres”
mediante propiciar la denominado “auto sustentación”; así se instituye de manera perversa la consiga que se “saldrá de pobre con
una maquina de coser para fabricar ropa; con una bolsa de harina
para hacer pan y vender; con una bolsa de semillas que proveerán a
la familia de huerta orgánica, etc.”
• un Estado que se sustenta y proyecta en políticas basadas en el
denominado mixmax, al decir de Lorena Molina 6“es la provisión
mínima de satisfacción de necesidades …“esperar lo mejor de los
pobres ofreciendo lo mínimo o peor de la protección social. De los
pobres se exige el máximo de trabajo, de voluntad, eficiencia, prontitud
laboral, conducta ejemplar hasta cuando no cuentan con el mínimo de
provisión y cualquier desliz será fatal, pues es punible”
La decisión de cambiar algunas políticas, si bien no han transformado
el contexto de maneras definitiva, ha inaugurado nuevos modos de dar
respuestas a las necesidades sociales.
Las políticas nuevas instrumentadas de manera combinada en Argentina se
expresan en:
• Programas basados en el paradigma de derechos de carácter universal:
Asignación Universal por Hijo (AUH) como política vinculada al trabajo
no registrado y no solamente al nivel de pobreza. Abarca a cada niño,
niña y adolescentes de menos de 18 años y desde los 3 meses de
gestación de padres que no registren empleo formal (con aporte a la
seguridad social). Este recurso esta más cercano a la Renta Básica
Universal que las políticas anteriores focalizadas. En los noventa la
destrucción del aparato productivo incrementó al 50% el desempleo
y la precariedad laboral.
Algunos investigadores, a pesar del escaso tiempo transcurrido cuando la
AUH llevaba 7 meses de aplicación, realizaban apreciaciones positivas al
respecto: provoca un derrame de abajo hacia arriba; inyecta dinero a los más
pobres. 7”Basándose en una serie de cálculos llegaron a la conclusión de que
6
MOLINA, Lorena. Conferencia Protección Social asistencia y seguridad social) - Justicia Social.
Los fundamentos ético-políticos de la protección y la (des) protección social. Uruguay. Mayo
2011.
7 AGIS, Emmanuel, del Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Argentino (Cenda), CAÑETE, Carlos,
del Programa de Formación Popular en Economía (Profope), y PANIGO, Damián, del Centro de
Estudios e Investigaciones Laborales del Conicet. Estudio El impacto de la Asignación Universal
por Hijo. Año 2010.
193
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
la indigencia se reduce entre un 55% y un 70%, la desigualdad disminuye
en más del 30% y en lo que respecta a la pobreza el efecto es menos
contundente, al disminuir entre un 32% y 13%, según el Índice de Precios
al Consumidor que se tome”. Genera un efecto estabilizador automático, da
reaseguro a futuro a quienes si pierden el empleo pueden acceder a este tipo
de compensación, hace prácticamente desaparecer el clientelismo. 8”Panigo
remarcaba que por la asignación universal aumenta la recaudación pública.
Antes, por cada peso que gastaba el Estado recuperaba 35 centavos. Con
esta medida llega a recaudar hasta 65 centavos”.
• Educación básica gratuita hasta los 18 años (Ley 26.206); ampliación
de la edad de ingreso a la escuela a 4 años; escolarización secundaria
obligatoria; recuperación de la enseñanza técnica y de la escuela
como formadora de habilidad productiva.
• Acciones de acompañamiento a largo plazo de impulso a la producción
La inclusión social real se logra cuando las familias ingresas al
mercado de trabajo, siendo históricamente el mayor factor de
movilización social ascendente, pero como el desarrollo tecnológico
y la competitividad que requiere cada vez mayores conocimientos
específicos, donde mayores posibilidades de inserción se producen
es en la pequeña y mediana empresa. Es así que se ha priorizado
la promoción a la economía social, microcréditos individuales y
colectivos, emprendimientos productivos; desarrollo de habilidades;
equipamiento tecnológico; encadenamientos productivos; legislación
y recursos que apoya a los movimientos de fábricas recuperadas
que vuelven a poner en funcionamiento industrias quebradas por la
especulación del capital en los noventa.
• Protección de todos los niños, niñas y adolescentes, desde su
concepción y hasta los 18 años a través de la implementación del
Sistema de Protección Integral de Derechos de niñas, niños y
adolescentes, instrumentando la Ley 26061 que co-responsabiliza a
la Familia, el Estado y la Comunidad, de promover, proteger y restituir
los derechos.
• Revalorización de la familia como eje de estructuración social.
Entendiendo por familia aquellas conformaciones sustentadas en el
vínculo de efecto y protección, que pueden o no estar vinculadas
jurídicamente o consanguíneamente y que comprenden todas
las diversidades de las mismas. En éste sentido Argentina ha sido
pionera en reconocimiento de derechos al aprobarse la Ley Nº 26.618
de Matrimonio Igualitario que consagra derechos civiles para todo
tipo de uniones, dando ha sido un reconocimiento jurídico y social a
una situación pre-existente.
8
VALENTE Marcela. Derecho a la renta universal en debate. Agencia de Noticias Inter Press Service.2009
194
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Varios estudios e investigaciones han dado cuenta de cómo esta combinación
de políticas esta dando sus primeros resultados en el camino para el
cumplimiento de las metas que Argentina ha suscripto a nivel mundial en
términos de cumplir para 2015 con los 9Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio
(ODM).
Tal vez uno de los objetivos mas difíciles de obtener tiene que ver con erradicación de la pobreza extrema. Especialmente en regiones como
expresáramos con anterioridad de injusta distribución y pobreza persistente.
Contexto Restringido: el Caso de la Política Social en la Provincia de
Mendoza, República Argentina
La Provincia de Mendoza, ha desarrollado una política social, acompañando
las nacionales que se sustentan en cinco ejes:
• Promoción y Protección de la familia.
• Promoción social laboral y educativa para adolescentes y jóvenes.
• Desarrollo Comunitario y Voluntariado Social.
• Inclusión desde la economía social.
• Promoción y acceso a la información para la participación ciudadana
Los datos aquí expuestos expresa los resultados extraídos de una
investigación realizada por el Estado (Dirección Sistema de Información,
Monitoreo y Evaluación y Dirección de Programa de Derecho a la
Alimentación, ambas del Ministerio de Desarrollo Humano, Familia y
Comunidad Gobierno de Mendoza) y Redes (FEDEM- Federación de
Entidades no gubernamentales de Niñez y Adolescencia de Mendoza) y Organizaciones no Gubernamentales, conjuntamente.
Para poder contextualizar el estudio a continuación presentamos algunos
cuadros que demuestran la situación social de la Provincia y su evolución:
La Asignación Universal por Hijo (AUH) en la Provincia de Mendoza
La AUH ha significado un importante aporte para numerosos hogares; en
el cuadro siguiente presentamos un ejemplo de su incidencia, tomando en
consideración el número de hijos de un hogar:
9
Fijados en el año 2000 en la 8ª sesión plenaria el 8 de septiembre, por la Declaración del Milenio
en las Naciones Unidas. Expresa que los líderes del mundo tienen la responsabilidad colectiva de
defender los principios de la dignidad humana, la igualdad y la equidad a nivel global y esta obligación especialmente con los más vulnerables y, en particular, los niños del mundo.
195
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
CANTIDAD HIJOS
1
2
3
4
5
Línea de Pobreza$
901
1209
1486
1851
2167
Línea de Indigencia- $
410
560
689
858
1004
AUH
270
540
810
1080
1350
% Cobertura sobre Línea de Pobreza
0,30
0,45
0,55
0,58
0,62
% Cobertura sobre Línea de Indigencia
(Pobreza extrema)
0,66
0,96
1,18
1,26
1,34
Se ha calculado los valores monetarios (en pesos) de las líneas de pobreza e
indigencia, por hogar, según el número de hijos; la fila central (tercera) señala
el valor de la AUH correspondiente; en las dos últimas filas, presentamos el
porcentual de cobertura para ambas situaciones (verde: línea de pobreza y
azul y rojo, línea de indigencia). Para poder realizar una conversión a otras monedas al día de la fecha (1512-2011) un $ 1 peso argentino es equivalente a 4,30 dólares americanos; a
5,60 euros; a 2,40 reales.
La AUH llega a cubrir el 60% del valor de la CBT (Canasta Básica Total,
proporciona la línea de pobreza) en un hogar con 5 hijos.
En relación con la situación de indigencia, podemos visualizar que un
hogar con dos hijos percibe un monto prácticamente equivalente a los
requerimientos de la CBA (Canasta Básica Alimentaria, proporciona la línea
de indigencia o pobreza extrema); hogares con 3, 4 y 5 hijos, perciben
montos por sobre el valor dicha canasta, en una proporción del 18, 26 y 34
% respectivamente.
El cuadro siguiente muestra cómo en los hogares con mayor cantidad de
hijos, la AUH los ha sacado de la indigencia y disminuye su situación de
pobreza.
196
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
IMPACTO DE ASIGNACIONES UNIVERSAL POR HIJO Y LINEA
DE POBREZA E INDIGENCIA
2500
2167
2000
1851
1350
1500
1486
1209
1000
901
1080
810
540
1004
858
689
500
560
410
270
0
1
2
3
4
5
Cantidad de Hijos
Valor de Canasta estimada ** para un niño/s (Línea de
Pobreza)
Valor de Canasta estimada * para un niño/s (Línea de
Indigencia)
Monto prestación según cantidad de hijos
El impacto del Programa Comer Juntos en Familia
Este análisis se basa en el monitoreo de la población objetivo del Programa
“Comer Juntos en Familia”, el cual se enmarca en la Política de “Promoción y
protección familiar”. Este programa implicó la transformación de Comedores
infantiles a comensalidad familiar. Para el año 2008, cuando surge este
Programa, los comedores estaban presentes en todos los barrios pobres;
habían proliferados desde los noventa y algunas familias llevaban ya dos
generaciones alimentándose en ellos; se habían instalado para palear el
hambre en la década neoliberal y se habían reproducido durante la crisis
social, económica y políticas de diciembre de 2001; en la cuál llego a haber
4 presidentes en una semana, ciudadanos que protestaban muertos por la
represión, crisis financiera profunda, etc.).
Este subsidio por alimentación se acompaña con las políticas mencionadas
anteriormente, vinculado con la Asignación Universal por Hijo, provocan
impacto inmediato en la reducción de la pobreza extrema. Estas medidas al ser concebidas como un derecho, no someten a las familias a la
“calificación” constante, como NBI10 y se sostienen en el tiempo. A su vez si
10
Necesidades Básicas Insatisfechas
197
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
lo combinamos con las políticas de generación de capacidad productiva
y mejoramiento en la empleabilidad podemos lograr impactos a largo plazo
en la pobreza estructural.
Así las cifras indican que el Programa comer Juntos en Familia más la
Asignación Universal por Hijo logran sacar los hogares incluidos de la
indigencia y disminuyen sensiblemente la pobreza, según lo muestran los
cuadros subsiguientes:
Cantidad
de Niños
Monto AUH
+ Programa
Comer
Juntos
Valor de
Canasta
estimada
para un
niño/s (Línea
de Indigencia)
Valor de
Canasta
estimada
para un
niño/s (Línea
de Pobreza)
Impacto
Prog. Comer
Juntos más
AUH sobre
indigencia(1)
Impacto
Prog. Comer
Juntos más
AUH sobre
pobreza (2)
1
534
410
901
130%
59.27%
2
892
560
1209
159%
73.78%
3
1250
689
1486
181%
84.12%
4
1608
858
1851
187%
86.87%
5
1878
1004
2167
187%
86.66%
Nota:
(1) En todos estos hogares el impacto de ambos programas significa que
los saca de la pobreza extrema.
(2) En éstos hogares el porcentaje de mejoramiento respecto de la línea
de pobreza varía entre el 59% y el 86%, lo cual significa que ésta
transferencia de ingresos mejora significativamente la condición de
dicha población.
Factibilidad de Transferencia
Para hacer transferible esta experiencia hay que analizar algunos obstáculos
y posibilidades, que se manifiestan en la Región:
Posibilidades que favorecen en varios países:
• Convencimiento de la necesidad de dejar de lado las “recetas
foráneas” impulsadas por los organismos multilaterales de crédito.
• Aumento de ideología y políticas orientadas desde la perspectiva de
derechos;
• Reconversión de la multiplicidad de políticas focalizadas en grandes
programas nacionales (en Argentina Familias por la Inclusión Social,
en Brasil Bolsa Familia, SUAS- Sistema Único de Asistencia Social,
etc..),
• Programas aplicados de manera similar en la Región, que posibilitan
estudios comparativos;
198
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
•
•
•
•
•
Utilización de estudios e investigaciones en los diversos países que
dan cuenta desde idénticas variables de lo que acontece en cada uno
de ellos;
Programas e parámetros estadísticos similares y en algunos países,
por ejemplo el Programa SEIS- Sistema Estadístico de Indicadores
Sociales, incorporados por los países de Mercosur:
Tecnificación creciente en el desarrollo de políticas sociales, lo que
posibilita evaluaciones cualitativas y cuantitativas.
Adhesión de todos los países a los ODM.
En lo que respecta al Trabajo Social, a nivel mundial contamos hoy
con la Agenda Global Mundial que considera el logro de los ODM
en su estrategia. La FITS-IFSW (Federación Internacional de Trabajo
Social), la AIETS-IASSW (Asociación Internacional de Escuelas de
Trabajo Social y el CIBS-ICSW (Consejo Internacional de Bienestar
Social), la pautaron en 2010. El desarrollo en lo local de la misma,
se ha transformado en un desafío para el Trabajo Social mundial. En
particular la Región cuenta con una corriente ideológica crítica que
hermana las propuestas; el desarrollo metodológico y teórico es similar
en los diferentes países, hay una circulación académica constante
que difunde ideas, se comparten investigaciones entre países y
universidades, se cuenta con un bloque regional el Comité Mercosur
de Asociaciones profesionales de Servicio Social Que comparte una
mirada en términos ideológicos, éticos, políticos y metodológicos
que desarrolla opción por las políticas en perspectiva de derechos.
Obstáculos que deberá proveerse como superar:
•
La continuidad de aplicación de “Recetas mágicas” que han probado
su ineficacia. La receta es prácticamente calcada y es la formula de Reconversión, Tercerización, Privatización, Restricción del Gasto Público.
•
Desigualdades sociales y económicas en los países y entre regiones
y esto dificultad el desarrollo igualitario.
•
Crisis económica reciente y las respuestas elegidas por los líderes
mundiales para hacer frente, utilizando los recursos para apoyar
los sistemas financieros mientras que producen recortes a fondos
destinados al apoyo y desarrollo social.
•
Aumento de la vulnerabilidad de las personas pobres de los países
que no tienen un piso de protección social adecuada.
•
El actual Estado minimalista en varios países de la Región. La
persistencia de aplicación de políticas neoliberales, cuando la justicia
social requiere de una articulación en términos de efectivización para
la equidad, que no puede ser resuelta por las políticas neoliberales,
199
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
ya que su fin no pasa por la justicia redistributiva, sino por lo
compensatorio.
•
Debilidad actual por parte del Trabajo Social para reclamar y reivindicar
la prioridad de acción “política” y crear una voz colectiva para el
desarrollo social. Asi como la debilidad para influir en el panorama
empresarial y político a nivel local, nacional y mundial.
Propuestas para los Trabajadores Sociales
Creemos que es necesario seguir monitoreando y evaluando el desarrollo
que las políticas de corte universal y en perspectiva de derechos poseen
en los índice de los ODM, porque si bien solo hemos desarrollado en este
estudio la disminución real en el ODM nro, 1, con mas tiempo efectivo se
podrá también evaluar el impacto en otros ODMs.
Propiciar redes de investigación en políticas sociales de carácter
transnacionales de manera tal que a futuro contemos con datos para
exponer los éxitos y fracasos de la implementación de las políticas publicas,
sean estas de gestión estatal o privada.
Favorecer la vinculación entre la academia y el ejercicio territorial de la
profesión para potenciar mediante el desarrollo teórico y la sistematización
de experiencias la posibilidad de transferir nuestras acciones.
Asignarle valor monetario a las prestaciones que habitualmente desarrollamos,
para hacer comunicable para los economistas los avances y retrocesos que
se dan en las familias a partir de nuestra intervención social y por ende hacer
transmisible en términos económicos el valor agregado de nuestro trabajo.
Para finalizar no nos cerrarnos en las respuestas únicas, la teoría de la
única vía propuesta por el capitalismo postmoderno no es la única forma
de explicar e intervenir en los acontecimientos históricos sociales de los
pueblos. Hacer del saber disciplinar del trabajo social un compromiso ético
político de transformación social, será enriquecedor para nosotros, para las
instituciones que nos contratan o aquellas en las que militamos socialmente
y por ende de un impacto sustantivamente positivo en los ciudadanos para
los cuáles trabajamos cotidianamente.
a persistencia de aplicación de políticas neoliberales, cuando la justicia
social requiere de una articulación en términos de efectivización para la
equidad, que no puede ser resuelta por las políticas neoliberales, ya que su
fin no pasa por la justicia redistributiva, sino por lo compensatorio.
• Debilidad actual por parte del Trabajo Social para reclamar y reivindicar
la prioridad de acción “política” y crear una voz colectiva para el
desarrollo social. Asi como la debilidad para influir en el panorama
empresarial y político a nivel local, nacional y mundial.
200
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Propuestas para los Trabajadores Sociales
Creemos que es necesario seguir monitoreando y evaluando el desarrollo
que las políticas de corte universal y en perspectiva de derechos poseen
en los índice de los ODM, porque si bien solo hemos desarrollado en este
estudio la disminución real en el ODM nro, 1, con mas tiempo efectivo se
podrá también evaluar el impacto en otros ODMs.
Propiciar redes de investigación en políticas sociales de carácter
transnacionales de manera tal que a futuro contemos con datos para
exponer los éxitos y fracasos de la implementación de las políticas publicas,
sean estas de gestión estatal o privada.
Favorecer la vinculación entre la academia y el ejercicio territorial de la
profesión para potenciar mediante el desarrollo teórico y la sistematización
de experiencias la posibilidad de transferir nuestras acciones.
Asignarle valor monetario a las prestaciones que habitualmente desarrollamos,
para hacer comunicable para los economistas los avances y retrocesos que
se dan en las familias a partir de nuestra intervención social y por ende hacer
transmisible en términos económicos el valor agregado de nuestro trabajo.
Para finalizar no nos cerrarnos en las respuestas únicas, la teoría de la
única vía propuesta por el capitalismo postmoderno no es la única forma
de explicar e intervenir en los acontecimientos históricos sociales de los
pueblos. Hacer del saber disciplinar del trabajo social un compromiso ético
político de transformación social, será enriquecedor para nosotros, para las
instituciones que nos contratan o aquellas en las que militamos socialmente
y por ende de un impacto sustantivamente positivo en los ciudadanos para
los cuáles trabajamos cotidianamente.
201
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
202
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 16
Democracy and Social Inequality in Latin
America
Democracias y desigualdades sociales en América Latina
Silvana Martínez* & Juan Agüero**
* Licenciada y Magíster en Trabajo Social. Presidenta de la Federación
Argentina de Asociaciones Profesionales de Servicio Social (FAAPSS).
** Magíster en Trabajo Social. Doctor en Ciencias Económicas.
Silvana
Juan
Global Agenda theme 1:
Social and economic inequalities
between countries and between regions
203
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
This chapter reflects on democratic experiences of Latin American countries in
the last three decades. In general terms, trajectories of democratic processes
in some countries are analyzed. These paths are not linear, homogenous or
unidirectional, but rather contradictory, multidirectional and heterogeneous.
In particular, fiction and paradox are analyzed as characteristics of these
democratic experiences. In effect, empirical evidence shows that, largely,
democracies based in the countries analyzed only constitute formal
instruments of recognition of political-ideological and socioeconomic
processes of domination of Latin American peoples. The purpose of these
reflections is to contribute to the understanding of Latin American democratic
processes.
Democracias y desigualdades sociales en América Latina
Resumen
En este artículo se exponen algunas reflexiones sobre las experiencias
democráticas de los países latinoamericanos en las últimas tres décadas. De
modo general, se analizan aquí las trayectorias de procesos democráticos
de algunos países. Estas trayectorias no son lineales, homogéneas o
unidireccionales, sino más bien contradictorias, multidireccionales y
heterogéneas. Particularmente, se analizan la ficción y la paradoja como
características de estas experiencias democráticas. En efecto, las evidencias
empíricas demuestran que, en gran parte, las democracias instaladas en los
países analizados sólo constituyen instrumentos formales de convalidación
de procesos político-ideológicos y socioeconómicos de dominación de los
pueblos latinoamericanos. El propósito de estas reflexiones es contribuir a la
comprensión de los procesos democráticos latinoamericanos.
Fusiles por Urnas
Tal como lo sostenemos en Martínez, S. y Agüero, J. (2008), la instalación de
dictaduras militares en América Latina en las décadas de 1960 y 1970 fue
producto de un plan sistemático pensado e impulsado por, desde y para los
Estados Unidos, como lo prueban muchos documentos que tomaron estado
público tras cumplirse el tiempo de clasificación como archivos secretos
en aquel país. Tras el éxito de la revolución cubana en 1959, el presidente
Kennedy impulsa la Alianza para el Progreso, un plan para frenar la expansión
del movimiento revolucionario en los países latinoamericanos y contrarrestar
el creciente grado de concientización popular. Este plan promueve el
desarrollismo como ideología, financiando la elaboración de diagnósticos y
planes de desarrollo nacional y regional, entre otras acciones. Tras el asesinato
de Kennedy, la guerra fría entre la OTAN y el Pacto de Varsovia se profundiza.
Luego del Mayo Francés, Estados Unidos pone en marcha la Doctrina de la
Seguridad Nacional, en cuyo marco apoya la continuidad o instalación de
204
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
dictaduras militares en América Latina: Paraguay, 1954; Argentina, 1955,
1962, 1966 y 1976; Brasil, 1964; Bolivia, 1971 y 1980; Chile, 1973; Uruguay,
1973 y Ecuador, 1976.
Como lo sostiene Noam Chomsky, los militares son formados en la
Doctrina de la Seguridad Nacional en la Academia Militar de West Point y
son entrenados para la intervención en sus respectivos países mediante la
ocupación territorial, la represión de la población, el control ideológico y el
terrorismo de Estado. Además del objetivo estratégico-político-ideológico
de ocupación militar y control de la población, la Alianza para el Progreso
y la Doctrina de la Seguridad Nacional tienen un objetivo económico muy
concreto: crear las condiciones institucionales para la expansión de las
corporaciones norteamericanas, la desregulación y apertura económica, la
libre movilidad de capitales y la liberalización financiera. Más tarde, hacia
fines de la década de 1980, este mismo objetivo económico se formula como
Consenso de Washington (Chomsky, N., 2005).
La Alianza para el Progreso, la Doctrina de la Seguridad Nacional y el Consenso
de Washington son tres instrumentos político-ideológicos que muestran la
coherencia, continuidad y sistematicidad de la política exterior norteamericana,
dirigida básicamente al logro de dos grandes objetivos estratégicos: a) control
social y dominación político-ideológica de los países latinoamericanos y b)
creación de condiciones institucionales para la acumulación del excedente
económico por las corporaciones norteamericanas. Estos dos objetivos no
se modificaron en los últimos sesenta años y para el logro de los mismos
no sólo fueron útiles las dictaduras militares, sino también las oligarquías
y burguesías locales vinculadas a sectores económicos monopólicos u
oligopólicos y los sectores, grupos e instituciones elitistas, conservadores y
reaccionarios de la sociedad (Buchardt, H. J., 2006).
Como lo sostiene Juan Omar Agüero, con las crisis del petróleo de 1973
y 1979 y la expansión del proceso de globalización, se produce un fuerte
reacomodamiento de la economía mundial. El paradigma de economía de
bienestar es reemplazado por la economía de mercado y el modelo fordistataylorista por el modelo de acumulación flexible (Agüero, J. O., 2008). En este
sentido, tal como lo sostiene Ulrich Beck, con la modificación del patrón oro
acordado en Bretton Wood y el dólar norteamericano como nuevo patrón
monetario internacional, la crisis erosiona la base económica de los países
del Pacto de Varsovia y la guerra fría llega a su fin con el derrumbe del
comunismo soviético y la caída del muro de Berlín el 9 de Noviembre de 1989
(Beck, U., 2002).
En este nuevo contexto, las dictaduras militares pierden sentido en América
Latina, agotándose en si mismas como instrumentos político-ideológicos.
Dejan de ser útiles y necesarias para el control de la población y el territorio
y se transforman más bien en pesadas cargas para los nuevos tiempos
205
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
de flexibilización, globalización y apertura de las fronteras nacionales. De
esta manera, en la década de 1980, se inician procesos democráticos en
todos los países latinoamericanos: Bolivia, 1982; Argentina, 1983; Uruguay,
1988; Brasil, 1989; Paraguay, 1989; Chile, 1990. Con la democracia se
intenta una nueva forma de gobernabilidad, entendida como gobernabilidad
democrática, es decir como capacidad de los gobiernos de ser obedecidos
democráticamente. Se trata, en definitiva, de un cambio de fusiles por urnas
(Martínez, S. y Agüero, J., 2008).
La Ficción Democrática
Con estos procesos democráticos se reaviva en los países latinoamericanos
la llama de la ilusión y la esperanza. El imaginario popular, los movimientos
sociales y los propios actores políticos atribuyen a estos procesos toda clase
de virtudes y posibilidades, no sólo por el sueño de libertad que implicaba
dejar atrás el infierno de las dictaduras militares, sino también por los deseos
y demandas sociales de justicia, derechos humanos, ciudadanía y, por
supuesto, desarrollo económico y superación de las desigualdades sociales.
Las expectativas sociales depositadas en estos procesos eran enormes. Eran
la panacea, el remedio que cura todos los males.
Precisamente, un rasgo relevante de las experiencias democráticas
latinoamericanas de las últimas tres décadas es su carácter de ficción,
de realidad imaginada, soñada o deseada en si misma, más allá de su
realización histórica. La ficción es el relato inventado, el guión, la película, la
realidad que los sujetos construyen mentalmente, aquello que imaginan que
es o quisieran que sea y no lo que es o llega a ser realmente. En la ficción
todo es posible y en cierta forma parece “real”, porque son guiones que se
construyen, personajes que se inventan y todo parece “real”. Este es el rasgo
que en muchos países latinoamericanos asumió la política en las últimas tres
décadas, y también la democracia, como creación de la política.
Pero también hay mucho de ficción en la realidad material y mucho de
realidad potencial en la ficción, porque ésta no se queda sólo en el plano de
la subjetividad humana, de la conciencia o de la mente, sino que se encarna
en los cuerpos y en las prácticas sociales y termina ordenando el mundo y
construyendo la realidad. Este aspecto es fundamental para entender el poder
de la política, es decir, el poder de lo que es capaz de producir la política en
la vida social. Y este poder también lo tiene la democracia. Precisamente, el
poder de la democracia es tanto más eficaz cuanto mayor sea su contenido
de ficción, porque ésta constituye un poderoso instrumento simbólico que
puede ser utilizado para “construir” una realidad o para manipularla.
La apelación a la ficción democrática en la década de 1980 fue una
estrategia político-ideológica de Estados Unidos aplicada en los países
latinoamericanos. Apela a la ficción democrática como instrumento político,
206
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
ante las nefastas consecuencias sociales de las dictaduras militares, pero
también como instrumento ideológico, para ocultar su verdadero interés
político y económico que era implantar el neoliberalismo y la hegemonía del
mercado, en reemplazo del Estado. Se trata de democracias formales, con
Estados mínimos, es decir, instrumentos formales destinados sólo a legitimar
las decisiones de los mercados, transformándolas en normas obligatorias
para toda la sociedad.
Esta estrategia norteamericana no fue algo novedoso en si mismo, sino
más bien un burdo regreso a la clásica división entre economía y política,
sostenida por el liberalismo de los siglos XVIII y XIX, donde se reservaba
a la política un papel formal de convalidación de las decisiones de los
mercados. Sin embargo, hay varias novedades muy importantes: los nuevos
mercados financieros, la economía mundial globalizada y la expansión de la
tecnología de la información y de los medios audiovisuales de comunicación.
Esto potencia aún más el poder ficcionario de la democracia y su utilización
política como instrumento ideológico de dominación y control de los procesos
sociales latinoamericanos.
La Paradoja Democrática
Calderón y Dos Santos (1990) plantearon veinte tesis sociopolíticas
a comienzos de la década de 1990, sobre el nuevo orden estatal que se
proyectaba para los países latinoamericanos. Dichas tesis se centran en la
relación Estado, Sociedad y Economía, y más específicamente en la relación
entre los procesos de democratización y de modernización del Estado. En
las tesis cuatro, cinco y ocho, los autores advierten el callejón sin salida
que representan, para los países latinoamericanos, los brutales procesos
de ajustes económicos neoliberales que sobrevienen camuflados con
ropaje democrático. En efecto, mientras los procesos de democratización
tienden a ser incluyentes, los de modernización tienden a ser excluyentes;
por lo tanto, son incompatibles entre si. Sin embargo, la democratización
sin modernización genera ingobernabilidad, mientras que la modernización
que sólo busca reducir el gasto público desnaturaliza las democracias;
por lo tanto, son procesos en gran medida interdependientes. A su vez, se
promueve el ajuste, pero al mismo tiempo se busca estabilidad democrática,
cuando claramente estos objetivos son incompatibles entre sí.
Por supuesto que los resultados de los procesos democráticos llevados a
cabo en la década de 1990 en los países latinoamericanos no fueron otros
que la frustración, el desencanto y el escepticismo. Y en la década de 1980,
también podrían haber tenido resultados similares, de no ser por la esperanza
que generaban los procesos democráticos instalados después de largos
períodos de dictaduras militares. La década de 1980 fue denominada la década
perdida por las Naciones Unidas, por el empobrecimiento que significó la
caída real del 10 % del PBI de los países latinoamericanos, disminución que
207
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
fue mayor aún para el PBI por habitante. Este fracaso económico obscureció
y debilitó los procesos democráticos que se llevaban a cabo en varios países.
La década de 1990 profundiza la paradoja de la ficción democrática y con ella
también la frustración, el desencanto y el escepticismo. Las protestas sociales
aumentan en cantidad e intensidad, con la resistencia de los campesinos y
pueblos originarios al neoliberalismo y el cuestionamiento a las democracias
y gobiernos que lo sostienen.
La Deuda de las Democracias Latinoamericanas: Las Desigualdades
Sociales
En la década de 1980, según datos de la CEPAL (2009), hay un aumento de
la pobreza y la indigencia en los países latinoamericanos. En porcentaje, la
pobreza supera el 48 % de la población total y en cantidad de habitantes
pasa de 136 á 200 millones de latinoamericanos, representando esto un
aumento del 47 % de la población pobre. A su vez, de esta población pobre,
casi la mitad es indigente, es decir, uno de cada dos pobres no llega a la
alimentación mínima necesaria para su desarrollo como ser humano. Más de
93 millones de latinoamericanos se encuentran en esta situación, hacia fines
de la década de 1980. El problema es mayor aún en las zonas rurales, donde
el porcentaje de población pobre llega al 65 % del total y el de población
indigente al 40 % del total. Esto significa que, en las zonas rurales, de cada
10 latinoamericanos, 7 son pobres y 4 son indigentes.
En la década de 1990, la cantidad de población pobre no sólo no disminuye
sino que aumenta, llegando a fines de esta década a más de 211 millones de
latinoamericanos. Contrariamente, hay una leve disminución de la cantidad
de población indigente. De 93 millones de habitantes a comienzos de la
década se pasa a algo más de 89 millones al finalizar la misma. Esto se
logra posiblemente con la intensificación de los programas alimentarios. En la
década de 2000 la población pobre latinoamericana se reduce a 184 millones
y la indigente a 68 millones. A pesar de que esto constituye un cambio de
tendencia importante respecto a los noventa, estas cifras sin embargo están
muy por encima de la cantidad de población pobre e indigente que ya existía
a comienzos de los ochenta.
Si bien esta comparación es cuantitativa, muestra sin embargo que el problema
de la pobreza e indigencia en América Latina, que ya existía por supuesto y
era muy importante a comienzos de la década de 1980, se profundiza aún
más durante esta década perdida, por la disminución real que tuvo el PBI,
el endeudamiento público y privado, la inflación y el contexto económico
internacional totalmente desfavorable para las economías latinoamericanas
y que, además, en las dos décadas siguientes, las democracias formales
tampoco logran resolver el problema o al menos reducirlo sustancialmente.
208
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
En los Cuadros 1 y 2 se expone la información de pobreza, indigencia y
distribución del ingreso de once países latinoamericanos, para el período
1990-2006. Después de las transiciones democráticas de la década de 1980
que -en el caso de algunos países como Brasil, Chile, Paraguay y Uruguay
fueron muy tardías y se produjeron recién hacia finales de la misma- los
países latinoamericanos vienen transitando desde los inicios de la década de
1990 procesos democráticos que se fueron institucionalizando. Esto permitió
una continuidad democrática que torna importante el período de dieciséis
años comprendidos en estos cuadros. Si bien podría considerarse un período
histórico relativamente breve, es un lapso importante para la trayectoria
democrática de los países.
Cuadro 1. Pobreza e Indigencia 1990-2006
% de población pobre
% de población indigente
País
Año
1990
Año 1999
Año 2006
Año
1990
Año 1999
Año 2006
Argentina
21.2
23.7
21.0
5.2
6.6
7.2
Bolivia
52.6
60.6
54.0
23.0
36.4
31.2
Brasil
48.0
37.5
33.3
23.4
12.9
9.0
Chile
38.6
21.7
13.7
13.0
5.6
3.2
Colombia
52.5
54.9
46.8
28.5
26.8
20.2
Ecuador
62.1
63.5
43.0
26.2
31.3
16.1
México
47.7
46.9
31.7
18.7
18.5
8.7
Paraguay
43.2
60.6
60.5
13.1
33.8
32.1
Perú
47.6
48.6
44.5
25.1
22.4
16.0
Uruguay
17.9
9.4
18.8
3.4
1.8
4.1
Venezuela
39.8
49.4
30.2
14.4
21.7
9.9
Amér Lat
48.3
43.9
36.3
22.5
18.7
13.3
Fuente: Elaboración propia con datos de la CEPAL (2009)
209
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Cuadro 2. Pobreza y Distribución del Ingreso 1990-2006
Año 1990
Año 2006
País
% de
población
Pobre
% de
ingresos
del 40%
más
pobre
% de
ingresos
del 10%
más rico
% de
población
pobre
% de
ingresos
del 40%
más
pobre
% de
ingresos
del 10%
más rico
Ecuador
62
17
31
43
16
34
Colombia
53
10
42
47
12
41
Bolivia
53
12
38
54
11
35
Brasil
48
10
44
33
12
44
México
48
16
37
32
17
33
Perú
48
13
33
45
15
32
Paraguay
43
19
29
61
14
37
Venezuela
40
17
29
30
17
27
Chile
39
13
41
14
15
37
Argentina
21
15
35
21
17
35
Uruguay
18
19
35
19
21
28
Fuente: Elaboración propia con datos de la CEPAL (2009)
Observando el Cuadro 2, podemos ver que siete de una muestra de once
países latinoamericanos, han disminuido sus porcentajes de pobreza entre
1990 y 2006, en varios casos de manera muy significativa. La disminución
más importante es el caso de Chile, con el 64 %; le siguen México, con el
33 %; Brasil y Ecuador, con el 31 %; Venezuela, con el 25 %; Colombia, con
el 11 % y Perú con el 6 %. Contrariamente, tres países han aumentado sus
porcentajes de pobreza: Paraguay, el 42 %; Uruguay, el 6 % y Bolivia el 2 %.
Finalmente, hay un país que no muestra variación alguna en su porcentaje de
pobreza: Argentina.
Estos números, que muestran a la mayoría de los once países latinoamericanos
con disminución de la pobreza entre 1990 y 2006, son sin embargo
un espejismo de la realidad, ya que la pobreza en si misma sigue siendo
elevada, muy elevada e insostenible para casi dos décadas de democracia
y, en algunos países, como Argentina y Bolivia, con casi tres décadas de
democracia. Precisamente, Bolivia supera el 50 % de pobreza y Colombia
casi llega al 50 %, aunque antes está Paraguay con más del 60 % de pobreza;
Perú y Ecuador superan el 40 %; Venezuela tiene el 30 %, mientras que Brasil
y México superan este porcentaje; Argentina supera el 20 %, Uruguay llega al
19 % y Chile tiene el 14 %.
210
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Si bien los datos analizados en este trabajo se refieren a dimensiones
importantes como la pobreza, la indigencia y la distribución del ingreso, para
una reflexión más profunda acerca de los procesos democráticos de los
países latinoamericanos en las últimas tres décadas deberían considerarse
otras dimensiones, tales como las que proponen Pierre Rosanvallon y Jean
Paul Fitoussi (1997), que muestren las transformaciones y reformas políticas,
económicas y socioculturales de la región. Sin embargo, esto no resulta
posible por la extensión limitada de este artículo.
Conclusión
En la década de 1980, las “salidas democráticas” aparecen al final de los
túneles de las “dictaduras militares”, como grandes espejos que reflejan
-como una gran ficción y una paradoja- los sueños de libertad y justicia de los
pueblos latinoamericanos, en un escenario político-ideológico planificado,
montado y controlado por Estados Unidos, con el fin de imponer, esta vez
con “guantes blancos de seda”, el Consenso de Washington, como lo había
hecho antes con la Alianza para el Progreso y la Doctrina de la Seguridad
Nacional.
En este escenario, las democracias latinoamericanas parecen haber
renunciado a las transformaciones estructurales que, con urgencia,
requieren los países de la región. Las evidencias empíricas muestran que,
en gran medida, sólo constituyen instrumentos formales de convalidación
de los procesos de dominación político-ideológica y socioeconómica de
los pueblos latinoamericanos. Como lo sostiene un autor, son “democracias
de pobres”, “democracias pobres” y “pobres democracias”, con crisis de
representatividad, ineficacia de sus instituciones y licuación del ciudadano
en simple votante (Ansaldi, W., 2003).
Sin dudas, las democracias latinoamericanas parecen no tener la capacidad o
más bien la voluntad política para resolver los problemas estructurales de los
países de la región, es decir, para promover el desarrollo económico con justa
distribución de la riqueza. Y, mientras no se apunte a esto, el fortalecimiento
de las democracias sólo será una ficción o una paradoja o la paradoja de
una ficción. No se trata de falta de bondad del sistema en si mismo, sino de
cómo es utilizado por quienes, como el caso de Estados Unidos y sus aliadas
locales, las oligarquías y burguesías nacionales, sólo buscan perpetuar su
hegemonía y no precisamente resolver los problemas estructurales de la
región.
En este sentido, parece inevitable la sensación amarga de ver cómo las
democracias latinoamericanas, consolidadas como aparatos ideológicos
de dominación y vaciadas de todo contenido transformador, han venido
hipotecando el futuro de los países de la región, es decir el futuro de millones
de mujeres y varones que luchan cada día por el derecho a una vida más
211
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
digna. Como lo sostiene Amartya Sen, esto constituye la dimensión ética de
la política y la economía (Sean, A. K., 2003).
A pesar de ello, los pueblos latinoamericanos mantienen intacta su capacidad
de lucha y resistencia y no se resignan a esta situación, más allá de la labor
de sus representantes. Al respecto, existen numerosos antecedentes de
luchas sociales, reclamos populares, encuentros multitudinarios contra
hegemónicos, movimientos sociales y, desde hace algunos años en varios
países, el surgimiento de líderes políticos con fuerte respaldo popular que
parecen decididos a introducir los cambios estructurales que requieren los
países. Esto genera -sin dudas- una sensación de esperanza y aire fresco que
recorre la región. Parece instalarse cada vez más la idea de que los gobiernos
efectivamente deben responder a los intereses del pueblo y ser capaces de
realizar los sueños de las mayorías populares.
Referencias / Bibliográphicas
Agüero, J. O. (2008) Globalización, finanzas sociales y microfinanzas. Buenos
Aires: Dunken.
Ansaldi, W. (2003) ‘Democracias de pobres, democracias pobres, pobres
democracias’, Revista Temas y Debates, Nº 6 y 7, Rosario: Universidad Nacional de Rosario.
Beck, U. (2002) ‘La paradoja de la globalización’, Revista Ética y Filosofía
Política. Publicado el 5 de Diciembre de 2002 en el diario El País de Madrid.
Burchardt, H. J. (2006) Tiempos de cambio. Repensar América Latina. San
Salvador: Ediciones Böll.
Calderón, F. y Dos Santos, M. R. (1990) ‘Hacia un nuevo orden estatal en
América Latina. Veinte tesis sociopolíticas y un corolario de cierre’, Revista
Uruguaya de Ciencias Sociales. Montevideo: Octubre 1990, pág. 79-111.
Chomsky, N. (2005) Hegemonia o supervivencia. La estrategia imperialista de
Estados Unidos. Barcelona: Ediciones B.
Economic Commission for Latin American and Caribbean (2009) Panorama
social de América Latina, Santiago de Chile.
Pease García, H. (1988) ‘El Perú de los ’80: Construir democracia desde la
precariedad’, Revista David y Goliath, Nº 53, Clacso.
Martínez S. y AGÜERO J. (2008) La dimensión político-ideológica del trabajo
social. Claves para un trabajo social emancipador. Buenos Aires: Dunken.
Rosanvallon, P. y FitoussiI, J. P. (1997) La nueva era de las desigualdades.
Buenos Aires: Manantial.
SEN, A. K. (2003) Sobre ética y economía. Madrid: Alianza.
212
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 17
Sustainable
Uruguay
Geographical
Development
in
El desarrollo territorial sustentable en la basede las
Políticas Sociales: Debates éticos y perspectivas para
Trabajo Social1
Claudia Kuzma
Lic. Trabajo Social (Departamento de Trabajo Social - FCS - UDELAR
1
Trabajo presentado en el XI Congreso de Trabajo Social y Primera Conferencia Latinoamericana de
Bienestar Social y Trabajo Social: Autonomía, Ética y Compromiso Social hacia un “Piso de Protección Social”. ADASU - DTS/FCS/UR - UCU - CUBS - CIBS, Montevideo, 12, 13 y 14 de mayo de
2011.
213
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Summary
The following chapter will examine the place of “sustainable geographical
development” as well as its methodological-theoretical meaning as a
foundation and as a strategy of social policies carried out in Uruguay in
recent years. The paper originates from the methodological arrangement of
my professional role as a coordinator and technical assistant of the Ministry
of Social Development (MIDES1) which took part in the Programme “Uruguay
Integra”2 (OPP3) with the cooperation of the European Union. This analysis is
founded on a certain conception of “development”; such conception being
linked to “territory”, which means that social work will have new debates
over political and ethical matters within the institutional framework of
government, which will result in innovative prospects of collaboration based
on the protection and promotion of human rights.
El desarrollo territorial sustentable en la basede las
Políticas Sociales: Debates éticos y perspectivas para
Trabajo Social
Resumen
La presente ponencia explora de forma aproximativa el lugar y significado
teórico - metodológico del “desarrollo territorial sustentable” como
fundamento y estrategia de las Políticas Sociales desplegadas en el
Uruguay de los últimos años, en base a la sistematización de la intervención
profesional realizada como coordinadora y asesora técnica en lo que refiere
a la participación del Ministerio de Desarrollo Social (MIDES), respecto al
Programa “Uruguay Integra” (OPP) con la cooperación internacional de la
Unión Europea. Este análisis se fundamenta en una determinada concepción
de “desarrollo” vinculada al “territorio”, que representa para Trabajo Social
nuevos debates ético - políticos dentro del marco institucional estatal, en
tanto le significan perspectivas de intervención innovadoras basadas en la
defensa y promoción de los Derechos Humanos de sujetos individuales y
colectivos.
Introducción
La siguiente ponencia procura abordar como tema de reflexión y debate
para nuestra profesión, el “desarrollo” concebido desde sus múltiples
dimensiones, pero enfatizando sobretodo la dimensión ambiental y
cultural, como base para la elaboración de propuestas de intervención
integrales e integradoras, ya sea desde el ámbito público como privado.
1
2
3
Spanish acronym
A program of social integration
Spanish acronym standing for Planning and Budget Board
214
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Para alcanzar este objetivo, se analiza - a partir de un marco teórico - conceptual
construido desde la formación curricular de grado y postgrado e instancias
de reflexión e intercambio a nivel nacional, subregional (centroamericano),
regional y mundial4 - la experiencia profesional desarrollada como asesora
técnica de la Dirección Nacional de Descentralización y Participación
Social (Ministerio de Desarrollo Social), en relación a los Proyectos de
“Cohesión Social y Territorial” - Programa “Uruguay Integra” de la Oficina de
Planeamiento y Presupuesto (OPP).
En este sentido, se exploran algunos paradigmas y conceptos subyacentes
al “desarrollo” y sus vinculaciones con las nociones de “sustentabilidad”
y de “territorio”, como fundamentos de nuevas estrategias de intervención
en el actual contexto de descentralización del Estado bajo una modalidad
participativa.
La experiencia profesional de asesoría, coordinación y gestión de estos
proyectos desde el ámbito público, requirió enfrentar desafíos ético políticos a favor de la autonomía profesional.
El “desarrollo territorial sustentable” como estrategia para Trabajo
Social:
Discutiendo conceptos y paradigmas a la luz de la práctica profesional
En este capítulo, se analizará lo que hemos denominado “desarrollo territorial
sustentable” como eje temático y estrategia para Trabajo Social, que atraviesa
nuestro proceso de intervención profesional en el Ministerio de Desarrollo
Social (MIDES) - Subsecretaría y Dirección Nacional de Descentralización
y Participación Social5 - desde una novedosa forma de gestión territorial:
los Proyectos de “Cohesión Social y Territorial”. Tales proyectos si bien
son ejecutados a través de las Intendencias Departamentales, requieren
la asociación o colaboración de distintos ministerios (Desarrollo Social,
Salud Pública, Vivienda, Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca, Educación y
Cultura, Trabajo y Seguridad Social), así como de los nuevos gobiernos
4
5
A modo de ejemplo, importa destacar algunas instancias formativas a nivel nacional como Coloquios sobre Transformaciones Territoriales, Desarrollo Regional y Sustentabilidad en el Uruguay y la
región realizados por la Intendencia de Montevideo y la Asociación de Universidades Grupo Montevideo; Congresos Nacionales de Trabajo Social; a nivel subregional la Conferencia sobre Descentralización y Desarrollo Local (CONFEDELCA) realizada en Costa Rica; a nivel regional Seminarios
Latinoamericanos en Chile (“Palabras y cosas para el Trabajo Social: El lugar de las estrategias de
intervención”) organizado por la Universidad Alberto Hurtado y Congreso Internacional de Trabajo
Social (“Producción de sentido y construcción de conocimiento en Trabajo Social”) organizado por
la Universidad Autónoma de Talca; y a nivel mundial la Conferencia Mundial de Trabajo Social en
Salvador - Bahía (Brasil) y Conferencia Conjunta Mundial de Trabajo Social y Desarrollo Social de
Hong Kong (China).
Es importante aclarar que en relación a la participación del MIDES en estos Proyectos, se definieron
dos niveles complementarios de competencias: a) Uno de decisión y representación política en el
ámbito de la Subsecretaría del Ministerio; y b) Otro de intervención territorial en el ámbito de la Dirección Nacional de Descentralización y Participación Social. El rol que se desempeñó desde dicha
Dirección si bien se ubicó en la intervención territorial, también implicó promover la articulación
entre ambos niveles en coherencia con los principios éticos de la profesión.
215
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
municipales (Alcaldes) u órganos de gobierno local (Juntas Locales), de
organismos públicos (tales como la ANEP, UTU, UDELAR, INDA), entes
autónomos y servicios descentralizados (OSE, UTE, ANTEL), instituciones
y organizaciones de la sociedad civil de diversa índole. Su implementación
se realiza a través del Programa “Uruguay Integra”6 perteneciente al
Departamento de Descentralización y Gobiernos Departamentales de
la Oficina de Planeamiento y Presupuesto (OPP) y cuenta con el apoyo
financiero de la Unión Europea, la cual ha seleccionado a nuestro país junto
a otros en la región, para llevar a cabo esta primera experiencia.
Los proyectos se despliegan e implementan en el territorio a distinta
escala: pequeñas localidades (de 200 habitantes), departamentos, micro
- regiones en torno a rutas dentro de un departamento (Ej: Eje Ruta 7 en
Cerro Largo; Ruta 21 en Soriano) y región inter - departamental (por ej:
Cuenca Arroyo Carrasco en Montevideo y Canelones - las más pobladas -;
o Región Este en Maldonado, Rocha y Treinta y Tres). Tienen como objetivo
principal promover la “cohesión social y territorial” en cualquiera de esos
distintos niveles o escalas territoriales, apostando a generar “desarrollo
sustentable” y “endógeno”, a través a través de la dimensión económicoproductiva y ambiental. Para ello se promueven las capacidades locales
para la organización y gestión en el territorio con participación ciudadana,
procurando revertir la histórica migración campo - ciudad, interior - capital del
país. En su implementación, se definieron una serie de componentes en cada
proyecto, donde los elementos comunes consisten en: a) medio ambiente y
salud, b) fortalecimiento organizacional vinculado al desarrollo territorial, y c)
la dimensión económico - productiva expresada en la promoción de diversas
actividades de inserción laboral (cría de cerdo pampa, de cordero pesado,
huertas orgánicas, apicultura, centro experimental de aprendizaje en tareas
rurales, emprendimientos productivos vinculados a artesanías, gastronomía,
turismo).
El proceso de intervención profesional llevado a cabo durante dos años
(marzo 2009 a marzo 2011) en el ámbito del MIDES (Dirección Nacional de
Descentralización y Participación Social y Subsecretaría7) en relación a estos
Proyectos, comenzó con una demanda inicial que implicó la construcción
y definición del rol de coordinación y gestión social en conjunto con las
6
El Programa “Uruguay Integra” apunta a fortalecer la cohesión social y territorial del país en tres
ejes de acción: financiamiento de proyectos de desarrollo económico y social de los gobiernos
departamentales en áreas de empleo productivo, educación y salud; fortalecimiento de las capacidades de gestión y administración de los gobiernos departamentales; y apoyo a la formulación de
una política de descentralización del Estado uruguayo.
7
Desde el ámbito de la Subsecretaría o sea el nivel de representación política e interlocución con
el Programa “Uruguay Integra” de la Oficina de Planeamiento y Presupuesto (OPP) se participó en
algunas instancias de las llamadas Mesas Interministeriales, donde se discutieron con otros ministerios acerca de las estrategias de desarrollo a mediano y largo plazo, así como sobre criterios
comunes de regionalización hacia la descentralización del Estado.
216
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
autoridades ministeriales, a nivel central. Pero también en relación a distintos
actores locales según cada Proyecto requería, a saber: actores políticos
vinculados al desarrollo social y local, situados dentro de la zona de impacto
de los Proyectos (en especial Coordinadores Territoriales y Alcaldes),
técnicos y referentes institucionales de otros organismos públicos a nivel
local, departamental y nacional, así como los propios equipos técnico políticos de los Proyectos vinculados estrechamente a las Intendencias en
cuestión.
Importa subrayar que la gestión y coordinación realizada desde la Dirección
respecto a los distintos proyectos, tuvo como uno de sus principales sujetos
de intervención aquellos actores políticos vinculados directamente al
territorio y al desarrollo de sus comunidades, con legitimidad de articulación
interinstitucional; como es el caso de los y las Coordinadores Territoriales
del MIDES y los ámbitos de incidencia de estos Proyectos: las Mesas
Interinstitucionales.
Es preciso destacar además que esta experiencia se llevó a cabo en un
contexto sociopolítico del Uruguay donde la denominada “cohesión social
y territorial” se viene incorporando como uno de los objetivos centrales
de algunas políticas públicas, conjuntamente con el fortalecimiento y
profundización de la descentralización del Estado. Cabe señalar que este
tipo de proyectos son impulsados por la Unión Europea en base a sus
propias experiencias y estrategias para el desarrollo, donde se establecen
cuestiones transversales: género, desarrollo sustentable y gobernabilidad.
En este marco institucional y sociohistórico de la intervención profesional,
se considera fundamental discutir el concepto de “desarrollo” en relación
a la dimensión “territorial”, la cual incluye - desde nuestra perspectiva tanto la temática de género como la gobernabilidad. Es así que nos importa
introducir en primer lugar algunas discusiones en torno al concepto de
“desarrollo territorial sustentable” desde una opción teórico - metodológica
que nos permita explicar, dar sentido y desarrollar una práctica profesional
autónoma y por tanto emancipadora hacia la población con la que trabajamos
cotidianamente.
Desde hace algunos años atrás el tema del “desarrollo sustentable” ha ido
cobrando mayor fuerza y visibilidad en los medios de comunicación, así
como preocupación y legitimidad en el ámbito de las políticas públicas en
diferentes niveles. A nivel nacional, el tema aparece vinculado a situaciones
de emergencia o catástrofes, y sus derivaciones en el área económico
- productiva. Pero también a nivel regional como telón de fondo de
importantes debates y conflictos dentro del proyecto de integración regional
para América del Sur: el MERCOSUR. Y a nivel internacional desde las
agendas, conferencias, acuerdos, declaraciones y documentos oficiales de
los organismos internacionales, o bien desde la visión crítica de los llamados
“movimientos ecologistas” que se manifiestan ante los modelos de desarrollo
217
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
que atentan contra el medio ambiente. Por otra parte, la temática en tanto
dimensión explicativa, se ha ido incorporando en programas de formación
de grado8 y postgrado tanto a nivel público como privado.
Ahora bien, antes de establecer una definición sobre “desarrollo sustentable”,
es necesario explorar la relación existente entre “desarrollo” y “ambiente”.
No podemos olvidar que la misma ha estado directamente influenciada por
el proyecto civilizatorio de la modernización occidental, que tuvo sus propias
características en América Latina. Un proyecto impuesto desde la conquista
que significó la expansión del sistema capitalista bajo la lógica acumulativa
y el absolutismo del mercado. Desde hace algunas décadas dicho proyecto
civilizatorio ha comenzado a expresarse bajo nuevas formas y tendencias
denominadas “globalización” o “mundialización”, donde se difunden
discursos “oficiales” sobre “desarrollo sostenible” y “medio ambiente”. En
tales discursos y conceptos si bien se incorpora la temática ambiental, lo
hacen bajo el mismo paradigma de desarrollo basado en la racionalidad
instrumental, en una visión utilitarista y mercantilista de la Naturaleza. No se
percibe en estas propuestas un modelo alternativo de desarrollo donde la
relación naturaleza - desarrollo adquiera centralidad transformando el propio
sistema y promueva un nuevo orden social. En este sentido, consideramos
que el abordaje de la relación entre “desarrollo” y “ambiente” supone la
deconstrucción del paradigma predominante en la región sobre desarrollo,
así como de sus fundamentos filosóficos.
Realizando un breve recorrido cronológico, encontramos que en 1983
las Naciones Unidas crean la Comisión Mundial de Medio Ambiente y el
Desarrollo, para explorar las relaciones entre los temas de desarrollo y
los ambientales. En 1987, dicha Comisión presenta el estudio “Nuestro
Futuro Común” o “Informe Brundtland”, pensado y escrito para políticos
y tomadores de decisiones, a partir del cual se consolida el concepto del
“desarrollo sostenible”9. El mismo, se define aquí como “... el desarrollo
8
9
En el caso de la formación de grado en Trabajo Social, existen algunos antecedentes a nivel regional a manera de propuesta, como la “perspectiva ecológica” planteada ya en el “Primer Encuentro
de Escuelas de Trabajo Social del Cono Sur” en la década de los años ‘90. A modo de ejemplo,
citamos “La perspectiva ecológica en Trabajo Social” realizada por la Lic. Irene Queiro, y “Trabajo
Social y Medio Ambiente. Una propuesta de intervención” presentada por la Lic. Cecilia Aguayo.
El término “sostenible” proviene del latín: “sustinere” que significa sustentar, mantener elevado.
Desde una perspectiva ecológica es el mantenimiento de la base de los recursos naturales. El
concepto nace primero en los países anglosajones (“sustainable development”) y se difunde a
nivel mundial gracias a estudios realizados en la década de los años ’60 y ’70, donde se establecía
que los problemas ambientales eran consecuencia directa de las estrategias de desarrollo. Con la
presentación de la primera Estrategia Mundial para la Conservación realizada en 1981 por la IUCN
(Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza) con el apoyo del Fondo Mundial para
la Vida Silvestre y el PNUMA, se elabora una definición que deja en claro que el desarrollo es una
forma de modificación de la naturaleza y por tanto debe ponerse en la balanza los objetivos de satisfacer las necesidades humanas en relación a sus impactos. A pesar de estos avances, la postura
queda incorporada a la Estrategia Internacional del Desarrollo de la ONU, la cual buscaba cambios
en el orden económico, pero no ofrece una visión alternativa de desarrollo. El término comienza a
ser utilizado también por el Banco Mundial en 1981, señalando que “un desarrollo sostenido debe
permitir un crecimiento continuo”. En definitiva, se trata de un concepto plural que ha ido recibi-
218
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
que satisface las necesidades de la generación presente sin comprometer
la capacidad de las generaciones futuras para satisfacer sus propias
necesidades”.....
Si bien, esta instancia de acuerdo global constituye una oportunidad
para debatir la perspectiva latinoamericana del “desarrollo sustentable”
y su viabilidad a partir de una profundización de la democracia; adolece
de importantes omisiones. Por ejemplo, aunque se preocupa por las
“generaciones futuras”, no menciona el problema de la desigualdad
creciente entre ricos y pobres, ni plantea una distribución equitativa de los
recursos. Por otra parte, si bien el informe parece reconciliar la oposición
entre “ecología” y crecimiento, colocando a la dimensión ambiental como
“un requisito más del progreso económico y del desarrollo”; en realidad no
significó un cambio del paradigma tradicional de desarrollo - definido como
crecimiento económico y con una visión utilitarista de la naturaleza -, sino
que lo termina reforzando. En ese sentido, el informe es un ejemplo de cómo
estas corrientes de pensamiento se apropiaron de conceptos ecológicos
transformándolos en función de sus objetivos. (Gudynas, E: 2002).
Posteriormente, como seguimiento a “Nuestro Futuro Común”, el Programa
de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD), el BID, la CEPAL y el
Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA) presentan
“Nuestra Propia Agenda”, en el contexto de la segunda Conferencia sobre
Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo, realizada en Río de Janeiro en 1992. Dicho
estudio, analiza detenidamente los principales problemas que afectan a
nuestra región, destacando la pobreza (aunque como causa del deterioro
ambiental) y la desigualdad, que evidencian la crisis del proyecto actual de
civilización. Este documento, junto a una serie de acuerdos10 realizados en
dicha conferencia representó un avance en identificar los vínculos entre los
aspectos ambientales con los del desarrollo, particularmente respecto a
América del Sur. No obstante, se mantienen algunos presupuestos sobre
desarrollo, a saber: se concibe a la naturaleza como “recursos” que deben
ser aprovechados en beneficio de la economía, la idea del crecimiento
continuo y el desarrollo material.
En definitiva, el problema de la relación entre desarrollo y ambiente ha sido
abordado en varias instancias por parte de los principales organismos
endo distintas definiciones a lo largo del tiempo; pero lo más importante es su articulación dentro
de las estrategias de desarrollo y la gestión ambiental. [Gudynas, E. (2002). “Una mirada histórica al
Desarrollo Sostenible”. En: Ecología, economía y ética del desarrollo sostenible en América Latina.
Ed. EUNED, San José, pág. 59-82].
10 Durante la misma, los gobiernos acuerdan cinco documentos: a) La Declaración de Río sobre
Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo; b) la Agenda 21, un programa de acciones sobre las relaciones entre
desarrollo y ambiente; c) una declaración sobre los bosques, con principios para su uso y conservación; d) la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático y e) el Convenio
sobre la Diversidad Biológica, sobre protección y uso de los ecosistemas, su fauna y flora. Cabe
mencionar que, paralelamente las organizaciones no gubernamentales redactaron y difundieron
una serie de convenios alternativos sobre esos y otros temas analizados durante la cumbre.
219
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
regionales e internacionales, llegando a firmar importantes acuerdos por
parte de los gobiernos. No obstante, la concepción sobre “desarrollo
sustentable” ha respondido a corrientes de pensamiento donde parece
prevalecer la visión economicista que sustenta el sistema actual. Desde la
opción teórico - metodológica de este trabajo, se concuerda con E. Gudynas,
en que el “desarrollo sostenible es aquel que permite preservar la biodiversidad,
a la vez que asegura una correcta satisfacción de las necesidades actuales,
sin comprometer esa posibilidad en el futuro”. Esta definición está volcada
hacia una sustentabilidad fuerte, en tanto se considera que la naturaleza
es un patrimonio que debe ser protegido en su integridad, y no una forma
de capital que puede ser intercambiado con otros de origen humano. Por
tanto, preservar la biodiversidad requiere limitaciones a las estrategias de
desarrollo a seguir. Pero además, la concepción de necesidades se basa
en un modelo no jerárquico y finito y que las diferencia de los satisfactores.
En base a la denominada “ecología social”, este enfoque teórico hace una
opción de tipo ético por la vida, tanto la vida humana como la de los demás
seres vivos que integran los ecosistemas11.
La problemática ambiental que hoy se debate, más que una crisis ecológica,
remite a un cuestionamiento del pensamiento y entendimiento de la ontología
y la epistemología con las que la civilización occidental ha comprendido el
ser, los entes y las cosas; de la ciencia y la razón tecnológica con las que
ha sido dominada la naturaleza y economizado el mundo moderno. (Leff, E:
2000).
En segundo lugar, abordaremos brevemente la noción de “territorio”. La
misma se ha ampliado desde el enfoque de la geografía y la etología, hacia
otras disciplinas sociales. La idea básica de territorio es la de una porción
del espacio concreto sobre la cual alguna “especie” ejerce “influencia” o
“dominio”, lo que define un “núcleo” donde esa influencia y dominación es
más fuerte, y una “periferia” hacia donde gradualmente se va esfumando ese
poder. Posteriormente surge una concepción del territorio más relacionada
con la identificación que un grupo social realiza respecto a una porción
del espacio, identificación que implica un cierto control de este grupo
sobre dicho territorio. Dicho control procuraría transformarlo en un área
de uso exclusivo. Esta noción de “territorio exclusivo” está estrechamente
vinculada con la aparición del Estado - nación como unidad política que
ejerce su “soberanía” sobre un determinado territorio, siendo éste uno de
los elementos característicos y factor necesario de todo estado. En suma,
el territorio constituye una amalgama de elementos de forma y función
presentes y pasados que se superponen sobre un espacio concreto. (López
de Souza, 1995).
11 Gudynas, Eduardo. (1999). “Globalización”. En: Desarrollo sostenible. Globalización y regionalismo.
Límites y oportunidades para un desarrollo alternativo en A. Latina. Ed. PRODENA, FOBOMADE,
CIDS/UMSA, La Paz - Bolivia.
220
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Por otra parte, lo “territorial” se encuentra fuertemente ligado a la idea de
“sustentabilidad”. El sistema de ciudades, las infraestructuras físicas, las
redes de energía, las redes de transmisión de datos, el sistema costero, el
sistema hídrico y las áreas naturales, el ámbito rural y los espacios productivos
ocurren siempre en el territorio. La denominada “sustentabilidad” contiene
al menos tres dimensiones o componentes que deben ser comprendidas de
forma sistémica:
1) La dimensión sociocultural que atiende a la necesidad de reconocer,
articular y potenciar la diversidad existente en una comunidad urbana o
rural, sus diferentes componentes y actores sociales, sus conflictos, su
estructura y procesos sociales y culturales.
2) La dimensión socioeconómica, que procura considerar la necesidad de
un desarrollo económico sostenido tomando en cuenta el factor temporal y
la distribución de costos y beneficios, procurando el equilibrio interno del
sistema en diferentes escenarios.
3) La dimensión ambiental, hace referencia al uso, la conservación y
manejo de recursos naturales y los recursos socioculturales de una manera
responsable. Ello requiere identificar y jerarquizar la base territorial de los
ecosistemas, cuidando las áreas de interfase. (Schelotto, Salvador: 2003).
En tercer lugar, a partir de los conceptos presentados en relación a la práctica
profesional, consideramos que el “desarrollo territorial sustentable” no sólo
nos permite explicar y dar sentido a nuestra intervención como Trabajadores
Sociales, sino que constituye una estrategia de intervención privilegiada
para la implementación de las políticas sociales en nuestro país. Ello es
especialmente válido en el contexto político actual de impulso - mediante
el reciente marco jurídico aprobado en el Uruguay - a la descentralización
bajo la modalidad participativa, y con la puesta en práctica de la Ley de
Ordenamiento Territorial y la Ley de Aguas.
Para ahondar en esta propuesta, presentamos a modo de ejemplo, dos
de los proyectos donde se intervino en calidad de asesora técnica desde
el inicio, en los cuales el MIDES participó como socio y que reflejan
claramente la perspectiva de análisis adoptada. Nos referiremos al Proyecto
“Cuenca del Arroyo Carrasco” (CAC), el cual promueve la conformación
de un área metropolitana de desarrollo en torno a la cuenca del Arroyo
Carrasco, abarcando los departamentos de Montevideo y Canelones. El
CAC estableció como objetivo central promover el “desarrollo sustentable y
la cohesión social” en un territorio o micro región que concentra el 56% de
la población del país (con altos índices de vulnerabilidad socioeconómica
y cultural de niños, niñas y adolescentes), a través de la recuperación
ambiental del bañado del Arroyo Carrasco, los cursos, riveras y cañadas de
la Cuenca; el fortalecimiento de los servicios de salud y la creación de una
red de espacios adolescentes y juveniles para la reinserción en el sistema
221
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
educativo formal; así como la promoción de hábitos y prácticas saludables.
En este sentido, se establecieron los siguientes componentes: Educación,
Medioambiente, Salud, Trabajo y Desarrollo Territorial. La implementación
de este proyecto innovador supuso la creación de una unidad de gestión
intermunicipal entre Montevideo y Canelones y la asociación de diversos
ministerios y organismos públicos (Ministerio de Desarrollo Social, Ministerio
de Salud Pública, Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca, Ministerio
de Vivienda, Ordenamiento Territorial y Medio Ambiente, ANEP).
En el mismo sentido, hacemos referencia al Proyecto “Micro Región Eje
Ruta 7” que abarcó las localidades en torno a la Ruta 7: Bañados de
Medina, Fraile Muerto, Cerro de las Cuentas, Tres Islas, Quebracho, Ramón
Trigo, Tupambaé, Arévalo, Paso Pereira y Santa Clara de Olimar ubicada en
el departamento de Treinta y Tres. Los componentes del Proyecto referían
a: Trabajo y Desarrollo, Fortalecimiento Organizacional y Salud y Medio
ambiente.
En los ejemplos mencionados, se pudo observar la voluntad política
(independientemente de los partidos políticos implicados) y la capacidad
técnica para innovar en las estrategias de intervención, superando la lógica
sectorial de las políticas públicas por parte de cada Ministerio, Intendencia
y organismo involucrado y reconociendo la integralidad de los problemas y
necesidades de un mismo y único territorio. En el caso del MIDES, se procuró
aportar técnicamente a esta nueva mirada sobre el territorio, al considerar
que tanto los objetivos generales como la lógica de implementación de
los Proyectos “Uruguay Integra” (articulación interinstitucional, público privado, distintos niveles de gobierno), se vinculaban directamente con los
objetivos propios de la Dirección de Descentralización y Participación Social.
Es decir, dichos Proyectos procuraron promover el desarrollo en todas sus
dimensiones (social, económico - productiva, ambiental, sanitaria, cultural),
privilegiando la mirada desde y hacia el territorio con una perspectiva de
sustentabilidad y tendiente a una creciente regionalización. Respecto a la
regionalización, importa mencionar que ésta continúa siendo un desafío
fundamental para el Uruguay dada su matriz sociocultural y político administrativa en extremo centralista. Así por ejemplo en el caso del CAC,
la conformación de una “región metropolitana” representó un importante
desafío, dada la complejidad de las intendencias involucradas y la cultura
organizacional tendiente a la autonomía - soberanía departamental. Cabe
agregar además que el diseño y conformación de los límites territoriales
y administrativos respondieron a un contexto histórico determinado y a
un modelo economicista de desarrollo que nunca incorporó la dimensión
ambiental y todo lo que ella implica. El proceso de deterioro socioeconómico
que comenzó a vivir el país a partir de la década de los años ’60 en adelante,
así como la histórica exclusión del territorio y población del interior del
país (falta de oportunidades económicas, socioculturales, educativas) 222
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
desencadenó en distintos momentos una importante emigración interior
- capital. La consecuencia más notoria de estos procesos de deterioro
ha quedado plasmada en un crecimiento urbanístico y demográfico
desequilibrado de la ciudad de Montevideo, marginando hacia la periferia a
la población más vulnerable y afectando seriamente la sustentabilidad de su
territorio y el desarrollo pleno de sus habitantes. Pensar el Uruguay desde
esta perspectiva del desarrollo territorial sustentable implicaría discutir
en profundidad por un lado, el actual diseño de los límites geográfico administrativos departamentales y la conformación de villas y localidades
en función de las rutas ferroviarias y las demandas de exportación ganadera
a través del puerto de Montevideo. Y por otro, la necesidad de conformar
regiones a partir de las necesidades y potencialidades del territorio y su
población en base a un modelo de desarrollo que incorpore todas las
dimensiones implicadas.
Por otra parte, los Proyectos analizados permitieron ensayar y aplicar
la sinergia entre los distintos niveles de gobierno dando señal de buena
gobernabilidad: local - municipal, departamental y nacional como también
la cogestión entre diferentes tipos de instituciones y organizaciones:
del ámbito público y de la sociedad civil organizada (ONGs, vecinos
organizados, iglesias). Al respecto, importa destacar la articulación entre
el nivel nacional y el nivel departamental entre autoridades de diferentes
afiliaciones políticas, como es el caso del departamento de Cerro Largo.
En este caso, las diferencias entre un gobierno nacional frenteamplista y un
gobierno departamental blanco no se tradujeron en conflictos u obstáculos
para la gestión conjunta sobre un mismo territorio, sino que por el contrario
se fue aprendiendo y consolidando la complementariedad y colaboración
mutua.
Cabe agregar además que desde ambos proyectos se promovió la
participación tanto de los socios y colaboradores (instituciones y
organismos con representación local en los territorios en cuestión), como
de los beneficiarios o protagonistas de la intervención. En este sentido,
se habilitó la participación durante todo el proceso de implementación, en
cuanto se solicitó una evaluación permanente que permitió ajustar, rectificar
y mejorar el propio diseño de los proyectos respecto a su eficacia, eficiencia,
pertinencia y sostenibilidad futura.
La intervención social realizada desde la Dirección Nacional de
Descentralización y Participación Social, apuntó a la participación de los y las
Coordinadores Territoriales en tanto actores locales con incidencia también
a nivel central del MIDES en su carácter de delegados ministeriales en el
territorio - por tanto actores políticos - y dentro de las líneas estratégicas
de dicho Ministerio: reducción de la pobreza y eliminación de la indigencia,
universalización de la educación formal media y un impulso creciente a la
descentralización de todas sus políticas sociales.
223
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Bibliografía
Acuña, Carlos; Riella, Alberto (Compiladores). 2003. Territorio, Sociedad
y Región. Perspectivas desde el Desarrollo Regional y Local. Montevideo,
Departamento de Sociología, UDELAR.
Aguayo, Cecilia. 1993. “Trabajo Social y Medio Ambiente. Una propuesta
de intervención”. Primer Encuentro Regional de Escuelas de Trabajo Social
Cono Sur. Santiago de Chile. ALAETS - ACHETS.
Barroco, María Lucia. 2004. Cap. I. “Trabajo, ser social y ética”. En: Ética y
Servicio Social: Fundamentos ontológicos. San Pablo, Cortez Editora, pág.
76-84.
Boff, Leonardo et al. 1998. Filosofía del Ambiente. Heredia, EUNA.
Gudynas, Eduardo. 2002. Ecología, economía y ética del desarrollo
sostenible en América Latina. San José, Ed. EUNED.
Gudynas, Eduardo. 1999. Desarrollo sostenible: Globalización y regionalismo.
Límites y oportunidades para un desarrollo alternativo en América Latina. La
Paz, PRODENA, FOBOMADE, CIDES / UMSA.
Kuzma, Claudia. 2009. La construcción de ciudadanía desde procesos
socioculturales. Montevideo, EPPAL.
Queiro - Tafalli, Irene. 1993. “La Perspectiva Ecológica en Trabajo Social”.
Primer Encuentro Regional de Escuelas de Trabajo Social Cono Sur. Santiago
de Chile, ALAETS - ACHETS.
Leff, Enrique et al. 2000. La complejidad ambiental. México, Ed. Siglo XXI.
Sitios web
Programa “Uruguay Integra” - OPP: www.uruguayintegra.gub.uy
Ministerio de Desarrollo Social: www.mides.gub.uy
Documentos
FITS, CIBS, ALAIETS. “34ª Conferencia Mundial de Trabajo Social y
Desarrollo Social. Hong Kong - China, junio 2010”. Compilado de resúmenes
de ponencias presentadas.
224
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Authors
Authors Profiles
Emma Webber-Dreadon
Merrill Simmons-Hansen
Bala Raja Nikku
Kate van Heugten
Christa Fouché
Liz Beddoe
Janestic M. Twikirize
Sunday Ofili Ibobor
Stefanos Spaneas
Michael O’Dempsey
Mariya Ali
Mohamed Agleem
Ahmed Hussain
Dr. Dalija Snieškienė
Maria Irene Lopes Bogalho de Carvalho
Karen Dullea
Josiane Moraes
Maria Augusta Tavares
Ana Isabel Lima Fernández
Laura Acotto
Viviana Guardia
Silvana Martinez
Juan Aguero
Claudia Kuzma
225
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 1
Emma Webber-Dreadon
I have a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Work from Victoria University in
1995/96, graduating in 1997 and it was about this time I had my first paper
publish ‘A Maori Approach to Social Work Practice’, since then I have had six
other papers published, but all from an indigenous (Maori) approach. I was
a Social Worker with the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services for
17 years, and from then I moved to education where I was a lecturer for 8
years in an Indigenous Education Facility, known as TeWananga o Aotearoa.
Currently, I am just completing a Masters in Philosophy with a major in Social
Work.I have been a member of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association
of Social Work (ANZASW), since 1995, and during this time I became an
Assessor of Social Worker for the ANZASW. During this time there was also
a move for us Maori, to develop a Maori Assessment Model of Social Work,
for Maori Social Workers, by Maori Assessors. During this time Merrill and I
decided to present a paper at the 20th Asia Pacific Social Work Conference, in
Auckland New Zealand and since then we have been considering to publish
a paper that represented us, as ourselves. Email: emma.webber-dreadon@
hotmail.co.nz (Correspondence welcome)
Merrill Simmons-Hansen
Beannacht– I am employed in Social Work Bachelor studies ‘Biculturalism in
Practice’ and a PhD Student. I contribute as Governance board member for
Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers, am an Assessor for
ANZASW, serve as a Trustee in Living without Violence, am a grandmother,
artist, gardener and partner; however one of my greatest privileges is my
friendship with Emma. I am constantly learning, being encouraged, being
asked to participate. Emma asked me about myself and being indigenous?
Her questions lead me to explore what and how myself and professional
women contribute in the context of social work in Aotearoa New Zealand. I
would return and talk with Emma – acknowledging rich traditions of culture
and spirituality within which Māori and other lives are powerfully connected.
We hope for the reader, there may be something unique about how women
relate to each other and that our curiosity may engender further contributions
to this understanding. For over twenty five years I have been involved in
social work study and practice. Email: [email protected]
(Correspondence welcome)
226
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 2
Bala Raja Nikku
Founding Director, Nepal School of Social Work, a joint initiative of Kadambari
Memorial College, affiliated to Pubrbanchal University and Nepal College of
Development Studies, affiliated to Tribhuwan University in Nepal. Dr. Nikku
currently serves on the board of APASWE and in the past served as the
regional vice president of the ICSW south Asia Region. Dr. Nikku is currently
visiting Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. www.
usm.my. He can be contacted at: [email protected]/[email protected],
www.nepalschoolofsocialwork.org
Chapter 3
Kate van Heugten
Kate van Heugten, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Human
Services and Social Work at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch,
New Zealand. She is currently investigating the impact of the 2010/2011
earthquakes on front line workers and managers in Christchurch’s human
services. Her broader research interests relate to workplace stress, workplace
bullying, and local and global influences on human service professions, their
practices and education. She is the author of Social Work Under Pressure:
How to Overcome Stress, Fatigue and Burnout in the Workplace, published
in 2011 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London. Email: kate.vanheugten@
canterbury.ac.nz
Chapter 4
Christa Fouché
Christa Fouché (PhD) is Associate Professor in Social Work at The University
of Auckland. Her teaching and research expertise comprise two broad interrelated themes: models of research(er) development, including the mentoring
of practitioner research; and workforce development in the social services,
with a particular focus on overseas-trained professionals. She has worked
extensively alongside social workers and volunteers in government agencies
and the not for profit sector internationally, conducting community research.
Christa has published widely on these topics in local and international
journals and presented at various international conferences. She has coauthored a practitioner-research book Research at Grassroots – now in its
4th edition. Address for correspondence: [email protected]
227
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Liz Beddoe
Associate Professor Liz Beddoe teaches in the School of Counselling, Human
Services and Social Work at the University of Auckland. Liz’s teaching and
research interests include critical perspectives on social work education,
professional supervision, the professionalization project of social work,
interprofessional learning and the development of health social work. Liz has
published articles on professional issues in New Zealand and international
journals. She has co-authored Best Practice in Professional Supervision: A
guide for the helping professions (2010, Jessica Kingsley Publishers) with
Allyson Davys and Mapping knowledge for social work practice: Critical
intersections, with Jane Maidment (2009, Cengage).
Chapter 5
Janestic M. Twikirize
Dr. Twikirize is a Lecturer in the Department of Social Work and Social
Administration, at Makerere University, Uganda. She holds a PhD in Social
Work and Social Development and a MA in Social Sector Planning and
Management. She has conducted a series of studies on social service
delivery in Uganda particularly in the area of health care, education, children’s
rights, and gender issues in development. She is also currently the national
coordinator of a consortium of four Universities in East Africa and one Social
Work school in Austria, engaged in a project to promote professional social
work in East Africa. Email: [email protected]
Chapter 6
Sunday Ofili Ibobor
Sunday Ibobor is a lecturer and the coordinator of the Diploma in Social
Work (DSW) Program in the Department of Social Work, University of Benin,
Nigeria. He is the Director and Producer of “Social Work and Society”: A
Television Program in Nigeria. He is also the founder and Project Director of
Umuebu Neighborhood House, a neighborhood organization that is using
community soccer to build the youth and their communities in Nigeria. His
educational qualifications are B.Sc. Sociology and Anthropology, M.Sc.
Demography, Master of Social Work (MSW), University of Benin and PhD.
(Sociology and Anthropology) Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria. Email:
[email protected]
228
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 7
Stefanos Spaneas
Dr. Stefanos Spaneas, is a lecturer of social work in the Social Work
Programme at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. His research interests lie in
the development of integrated health and social care organisations, social
care learning organisations, Local Authority’s Social Policy Development
aiming to the activation of citizens and Social Cohesion for Asylum Seekers
and Refugees. He is also interested in exploring the role of indigenization in
the development of social work. He has participated in and also coordinated
a number of research programmes funded by national and EU funds. He
has also published several articles and chapters in the above subjects.
Department of Social Sciences/Social Work Programme, 46, Makedonitissas
Ave., P.O. Box 24005, 1700 Nicosia, Cyprus. Email: [email protected]
Chapter 8
Michael O’Dempsey
Michael O’Dempsey is a New Zealand based social worker and counsellor.
He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Child Advocacy. During 2010 he
worked for UNICEF in the Maldives. Currently, he leads a team of counsellors
and social workers responding to the Christchurch earthquakes. Address for
correspondence [email protected]
Mariya Ali
Mariya Ali was Deputy Minister for Health and Family in the Maldives from
2009 to 2011. She holds BA Social Work and an MA International Child Welfare
and became the first tertiary trained social worker in the Maldives. She is an
advocate for child rights under Islamic law and is currently completing a PhD
concerning this.
Mohamed Agleem
Mohamed Agleem was manager of one of the Family and Child Service
Centres involved in the project. He completed his diploma in social work in
2006 at Keleniya University, Sri Lanka. He worked as social service officer/
manager in 8 different atolls and conducted numerous awareness raising
programs to minimize social problems. Mr. Agleem started his Management
degree in Aug 2011 and is ambitious to be a professional social worker in
future. He has a passion for sport. Contact details mohamedagleem@gmail.
com. He is currently undertaking further social work study.
229
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Ahmed Hussain
Ahmed Hussain is a manager with the Department of Gender and Family
Protection in the Maldives. He studied at the Metropolitan College Sri Lanka.
Ahmed has been a key player in several UNICEF projects and was seconded
from his role as Manager of a Family and Child Service Centre to take part
in this project.
Chapter 9
Dr. Dalija Snieškienė
Dalija Snieškienė, MSW (Vytautas Magnus University), PhD (Institute of
Philosophy and Sociology at Academy of Science Lithuania), Lithuanian,
Associate Professor at School of Social Work, VMU, former Vice President
of Lithuanian Association of Social Workers, responsible for international
relations; several years of teaching and research in the Lithuanian university
system, and at various times visiting scholar at a number of universities
in Europe; research interests in substitute child care and human rights
and ethics in social work; author of several scholarly publications. Email:
[email protected]
Chapter 10
Maria Irene Lopes Bogalho de Carvalho
Maria Irene Carvalho, social worker and university lecturer, graduate and
master in social work by ISSSL Lisbon. Since 2010, Ph.D in Social Work
- ISCTE-IUL. She has published full papers in international and national
journals with peer review and developed independently researches on the
social work in Portugal. She also participates in international and national
conferences, is a member of scientific boards regarding social intervention
reviews, provides technical support for social organizations and professional
supervision for home care, and is a member of an ageing research network
in Portugal. Email: [email protected]
Chapter 11
Karen Dullea
Karen Dullea has a PhD in Applied Social Studies, University of Warwick,
UK. She did her Bachelors and Masters of Social Work at the University
of Regina, Canada. Currently she is a lecturer in the social work program,
University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. Email: kdquestion@gmail.
com
230
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Chapter 12
Josiane Moraes
Josiane Moraes has a degree in Social Work from the University of Santa
Catarina, Brazil, 2010, and is currently undertaking her Master’s degree at
the Social Work Program of Postgraduate Studies at Social Work at the
Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo with full scholarship from the
National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq). Her
Master’s supervisor is professor Ph.D. Maria Lucia Martinelli, with a research
expertise in the professional practice of Social Work. Email: eujomoraes@
gmail.com / [email protected]
Chapter 13
Maria Augusta Tavares
Maria Tavares is a lecturer at the Department of Social Service at the Federal
University of Paraíba / Brazil. She is leader of the Labour Research Group
and author of many scientific papers in the area of labour, specifically with
respect to the precarious and informal nature of employment arising from the
flexibility of the economy. Email: [email protected]
Chapter 14
Ana Isabel Lima Fernández
Ana has been President of the General Council of Social Workers in Spain
since 2006, and previously exercised other positions within the Council.
She has been a Social Worker and Director of the Social Services Center
for 18 years; also specialist in different areas of social intervention. Member
and advisor to various social national and international organizations and
scientific journals. Teacher at several Masters and Courses in Spanish
Universities. Email: [email protected]
Chapter 15
Laura Acotto
Licenciada Trabajo Social. Presidente Región Latinoamérica y Caribe de
FITS-IFSW. Docente universitario/terciario. Directora Carrera Tecnicatura en
OSCs (Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil). Investigaciones, publicaciones
y dirección de proyectos financiados por BID, UNICEF Argentina, entre
otros. Formación y trabajo en temas de derechos del niño, comunidad y
organizaciones sociales. Militante en asociaciones de Trabajadores Sociales.
231
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
Viviana Guardia
Licenciada en Administración Pública y Ciencias Políticas. Directora del
Sistema de Información, Monitoreo y Evaluación, Ministerio de Desarrollo
Social y Derechos Humanos, Gobierno de Mendoza, República Argentina.
Docente. Se desempeñó como Consultora de diferentes organismos:
Ministerio de Desarrollo Social de la Nación, Unión Europea, IIEDAL-BID,
FORTAL, UNICEF-Argentina, OSCs de Mendoza.
Chapter 16
Silvana Martinez
Silvana Martínez nació en la ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Se recibió
de licenciada en Trabajo Social con diploma de honor el 19 de Julio de
2002 en la Universidad Nacional de Misiones donde continúa trabajando
como docente investigadora. Se recibió de magíster en Trabajo Social con
la máxima calificación el 19 de Junio de 2009 en la Universidad Nacional de
Entre Ríos, donde continuó sus estudios de doctorado en Ciencias Sociales,
encontrándose actualmente en la etapa final de defensa de su tesis. En el
año 2011 inició el cursado del doctorado en Trabajo Social en la Universidad
Nacional de La Plata. Como profesional, trabajó en la problemática de la
violencia familiar y la violencia de género en sus distintas manifestaciones.
En el año 2003 funda el Instituto de Género y Desarrollo Humano ejerciendo
su presidencia hasta la actualidad. Esta experiencia y los estudios realizados
en este campo la llevan a integrar como asesora en representación de la
provincia de Misiones el Consejo Nacional de las Mujeres. También como
profesional, participó activamente en las organizaciones profesionales de
Trabajo Social, integrando el órgano de conducción del Colegio Profesional
de Servicio Social de Misiones y llegando a la máxima instancia de Presidenta
de la Federación Argentina de Asociaciones Profesionales de Servicio Social,
cargo que desempeña actualmente. Su producción intelectual comprende
varios libros y artículos científicos publicados en revistas nacionales e
internacionales en temas de trabajo social y ciencias sociales.
Juan Aguero
Juan Agüero nació en Posadas, la capital de la provincia de Misiones,
Argentina. Su formación de grado está constituida por dos carreras del
campo de las ciencias económicas, la licenciatura en administración
de empresas y la carrera de contador público, ambas de la Universidad
Nacional de Misiones de las cuales egresa en la década de 1980. Luego
232
Social Work Around the World V: Building the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
continúa su formación de posgrado que se inicia en la década de 1990 con
una especialización en docencia universitaria en la Universidad Nacional de
Misiones y una especialización en finanzas en la Universidad de Buenos
Aires. En la década de 2000 se recibe de magíster en Trabajo Social en la
Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos y luego concluye la carrera de doctorado
en Ciencias Económicas en la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Actualmente se
encuentra cursando el doctorado en Trabajo Social en la Universidad Nacional
de La Plata. Como profesional desempeñó varios cargos de importancia
en organismos públicos, fue consultor de la Organización Internacional
de Trabajo y de Programas Sociales con financiamiento internacional. Es
cofundador del Instituto de Género y Desarrollo Humano e integra el órgano
de conducción del mismo hasta la actualidad. Desde la década de 1980
se desempeña como docente investigador de la Universidad Nacional
de Misiones y ha publicado varios libros y artículos científicos en revistas
nacionales e internacionales en temas de administración, trabajo social y
ciencias sociales.
Chapter 17
Claudia Kuzma
Nombre: Mag. Claudia Virginia Kuzma Zabaleta; Nacionalidad: Uruguaya;
Profesión: Lic. Trabajo Social (Departamento de Trabajo Social – FCS –
UDELAR)/ Diplomada en Análisis Sociodemográfico aplicado a Gestión
Social (Unidad Multidisciplinaria – Programa Población – FCS – UDELAR)/
Mag. Estudios Latinoamericanos (Instituto de Estudios Latinoamericanos
– Facultad de Filosofía y Letras – Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica);
Institución laboral: Ministerio de Desarrollo Social – Dirección Nacional
de Descentralización y Participación (Asesoría Técnica); Asociación de
Asistentes Sociales del Uruguay (ADASU): Vice - Presidenta de ADASU en
el período 2009 – 2011, e integrante titular de la nueva Comisión Directiva;
Desde el año 2001 participa como integrante de mesas temáticas (Educación,
Derechos Humanos), de Comisión Fiscal (año 2007-2008). E-mail clavir@
internet.com.uy/[email protected]
233