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Transformative practice: social work practice with vulnerable young people
- Authors:
- MUNFORD Robyn, SANDERS Jackie
- Journal article citation:
- European Journal of Social Work, 24(4), 2021, pp.720-731.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Social workers across the globe are being challenged to provide meaningful support to young people who face multiple challenges. Drawing on the findings of a longitudinal study of vulnerable young people’s transitions to adulthood, this article explores the key elements of effective social work practice with vulnerable young people. The young people (aged between 12 and 17 at the first interview) had experienced chronic exposure to adversity from an early age (violence, poverty, addictions, mental health issues and exclusion from school). They were clients of statutory and non-governmental services: child welfare, youth justice, remedial education, and mental health services. This article draws on the qualitative phase of the study (n = 107); young people and a trusted other participated in three annual qualitative interviews. Interviews focused on young people’s experiences of services, transitions, relationships, and the strategies they used to locate resources and support. The article presents young people’s perspectives on services and support and identifies the elements that constitute practice which can be transformative for young people. Central to this practice are relational social work practices which underline the significance of authentic and respectful helping partnerships in realising positive change and futures for vulnerable young people. (Edited publisher abstract)
Harnessing resistance in interventions with young people
- Authors:
- MUNFORD Robyn, SANDERS Jackie
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work Practice, 31(1), 2017, pp.79-93.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This article draws on the findings from the qualitative phase of a New Zealand longitudinal study concerning vulnerable young people’s transitions to adulthood. The young people, aged between 12 and 17 at the time of the first interview had sustained exposure to harm (abuse, violence, addictions, disengagement from school and mental health issues) and were clients of statutory and non-governmental services including: child welfare services, juvenile justice services, remedial education services and mental health services. Qualitative interviews explored young people’s experiences of services, their key transitions, their coping capacities, and the strategies they used to locate support and resources to mitigate the effects of harmful events and environments. There were three stages to the qualitative phase of the study; this article draws on the interviews from stage one and two. It explores the idea of resistance which emerged as a key theme in the data analysis. Three thematic clusters are presented: the nature of young people’s resistance; practitioner responses to resistance; and harnessing resistance in interventions. The article concludes with a discussion of how social workers and other practitioners can understand resistance and build more responsive and meaningful relationships with vulnerable youth. (Publisher abstract)
The 'right time': negotiating the timing of interviews with vulnerable young people
- Authors:
- URRY Yvonne, SANDERS Jackie, MUNFORD Robyn
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Youth Studies, 18(3), 2015, pp.291-304.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Participant retention is a key factor in determining the success of longitudinal research. This article explores the process of retaining vulnerable youth in longitudinal research using a relational framework characterised as negotiating the ‘right time’ for each young person to be interviewed. The longitudinal study involved vulnerable young people and their transition into adulthood. Embedded in the ‘right time’ framework is recognition of the diverse and fluctuating circumstances that shape young people's availability for interviews. Several case examples are considered which amplify the way that the ‘right time’ framework allowed the research to navigate around these circumstances. The case examples highlight the value young people attached to being involved in the research, the influence on the ‘right time’ of wider relational tensions for young people and the need to negotiate researcher status as a different sort of adult. The ‘right time’ framework contributed to a high retention rate in the study generating a more representative sample and enhancing the subsequent data analysis by providing valuable insights into the lives of these vulnerable young people. (Edited publisher abstract)
Embracing the diversity of practice: indigenous knowledge and mainstream social work practice
- Authors:
- MUNFORD Robyn, SANDERS Jackie
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work Practice, 25(1), March 2011, pp.63-77.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Since the colonisation of New Zealand, interventions with families and children, social policies and decision-making practices have derived from western constructs. However, since the ‘Maori renaissance’, Maori culture has begun to impact on social work practice and policy. This paper explores the way in which Maori cultural frameworks have influenced mainstream social work practice. Using the example of indigenous practice developed by Maori social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand, the paper explores five sets of constructs that have provided a framework for thinking in mainstream social work practice. These constructs encourage practitioners to critically reflect on the philosophies and practice knowledge that inform their work with clients. Of particular significance is building an understanding of the ways in which context shapes experience and the implications this has for practice. In ending, the authors suggest that these perspectives in mainstream practice have the potential to create practice that is more responsive to diverse populations and that recognises the central place of cultural frameworks.
Losing self to the future?: young women's strategic responses to adulthood transitions
- Authors:
- SANDERS Jackie, MUNFORD Robyn
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Youth Studies, 11(3), June 2008, pp.331-346.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
The multiple and conflicting identity pressures that young women in western society face have been remarked upon in the literature. Adolescence is a time when identity development activity intensifies, and this process can present young people with challenges. In this paper a social constructionist and interpretive frame is applied to such challenges faced by young women, arguing that they are refracted through socially constructed lenses that operate at a range of levels from the structural to the individual. The paper considers the experiences of two different cohorts of young females who participated in research based in two provincial communities in New Zealand. It explores the way in which both groups appeared to segment their sense of self into a present and a future self, emphasising relationship; the key source of their current sense of well-being in the present, and juxtaposing this with an independent, autonomous self in the future for whom relationships appeared to assume secondary importance. Findings from two studies are examined to identify the ways in which younger females articulate their imagined futures. Rather than seeing their imagined futures as predictive, or constituting a type of plan that they expected to work towards, the authors see these future narratives as expressing their understanding of their present time worlds and the possibilities they see for girls and young women like themselves.
Looking inside the bag of tools: creating research encounters with parents with an intellectual disability
- Author:
- MUNFORD Robyn
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 23(4), June 2008, pp.337-347.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper examines the development of fieldwork methodology in a study that investigated the parenting experiences and parent support needs of a group of parents with an intellectual disability. It considers the ways in which the original planning for the project changed as the fieldwork unfolded, requiring adaptations to methodological expectations and in the process deepening understanding of the phenomena studied and reinforcing the importance of relationships in fieldwork-based research. Three themes in particular are considered that became central to this research: research relationships; safety for participants/positioning of the researcher; suspending assumptions about impairment and disability and influences on life experiences.
Ethics and research: searching for ethical practice in research
- Authors:
- MUNFORD Robyn, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ethics and Social Welfare, 2(1), April 2008, pp.50-66.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Abingdon
This article explores the ethical questions that were central to a qualitative study of the parenting experiences of parents with an intellectual disability. The study was located in three cities in New Zealand and involved 19 parents who have an intellectual disability. It considers three aspects of the research process, all of which involve significant ethical matters that need to be addressed throughout the research process. The first concerns issues around the construction of knowledge. Here fundamental issues such as who controls knowledge and knowledge production are explored. Building on the first issue, the second focuses on the significance of relationships in research and explores the factors that contribute to effective research relationships. The final theme explores social change in research and the role of the participant and researcher in this change process. The article provides a critical reflection on research practice by foregrounding common ethical concerns and poses some of the possible responses to these concerns so that research remains authentic and protects the interests of all participants. These involve seeking clarity around research aims and processes from the participants and others who have an interest in the research and its potential outcomes.
Speaking from the margins - implications for education and practice of young women's experiences of marginalisation
- Authors:
- SANDERS Jackie, MUNFORD Robyn
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work Education (The International Journal), 26(2), March 2007, pp.185-199.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This paper explores the implications for social and community work training and education of the findings from a study that considered the experiences of young women in relation to social exclusion. In particular, it draws attention to the ways in which young women enacted their marginality and their particular experiential pathways as they progressively removed themselves from mainstream institutions and processes. It is derived from a qualitative study of young women aged between 13 and 15 years that explored the meaning of wellbeing and its relationship with different sorts of social, emotional and material conditions. Discussion draws out the implications of the research findings for social and community work education paying particular attention to the need to work with students to enable them to understand the meanings of marginalisation and to understand how they might be effective as social and community work practitioners with those groups who experience exclusion and marginalisation.
Community centre practice - potential and possibilities for creating change
- Authors:
- SANDERS Jackie, MUNFORD Robyn
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work Practice, 20(1), March 2006, pp.39-50.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
It has been suggested that community centre practice offers important possibilities for addressing the complex needs of families. This paper arises from a larger study of the Aintree Community Centre. The goal of the research was to understand better the multi-faceted ways in which community centre practice contributed to family and community change. Discussion is structured around the consideration of a single case study of a family seeking support at the Aintree Family and Community Centre. It pays particular attention to the early period of engagement between the family and staff. This focus allows an exploration of the contribution which psycho-dynamic and systemic approaches made to practice in the centre and also to think about other characteristics of centre practice that assisted the family to embark upon a journey of change. The complexity of the practitioner/client nexus and the role of the support relationship in client/family change are examined. Through this the value of community centre practice in the delivery of support to families facing complex troubles and the nature of the change process as gradually accumulative can be appreciated.
Community development: action research in community settings
- Authors:
- MUNFORD Robyn, SANDERS Jackie, ANDREW Ann
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work Education (The International Journal), 22(1), February 2003, pp.93-104.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This paper describes the findings of an action research project based in a community setting. A key focus of the paper is a discussion on how workers in community agencies can become partners in research projects. Given their positions within agencies, community and social service workers can assist in ensuring that research findings will make a contribution to the development of more effective social and community work practice. The paper also discusses research principles that can guide action research projects in communities and in social service agencies. These principles are derived from action research methodologies and from community development practice. The researchers argue that approaches such as strength-based practice can also guide research processes.