Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Social capital: can the ideas or Robert Putnam assist the practice of social work?
- Author:
- MAGEE Denis
- Journal article citation:
- Irish Social Worker, Spring 2011, pp.15-18.
- Publisher:
- Irish Association of Social Workers
This article argues that social work is engaged in the promotion of social capital, as theorised by Robert Putnam, and that social work is inherently a capacity building activity. The article explores how the idea of social capital might enhance and enable social workers to practice with greater effectiveness, particularly in the area of child protection and mental health. The value of Putnam’s idea of social capital is also discussed, particularly the concept of ‘bonding and bridging’ social capital, and, in ending, a critique of social capital is presented. The author concludes that, from a social work perspective, the concept of social capital merges seamlessly with some social work methods of intervention, namely the strengths-based approach to social work and also systems and ecological theories.
Mental homelessness: locked within, locked without
- Authors:
- MELAMED Shuvit, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Health Care, 39(1/2), 2004, pp.209-223.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
The concept of Mental Homelessness is presented and developed. This paper will provide a historical review of the connection between mental illness and housing and the changing approaches toward institutionalization and de-institutionalization over several centuries. Case illustrations from practice in Israel will be presented to highlight the theme of home, or rather the theme of lacking a home as an element which may be inherent to a mental illness. More specifically, the paper argues that homelessness is a state of flection of. If so, even if a mental patient does initially own a home, he or she is at high risk to lose it somehow. This work is a primary attempt at developing a new idea, stemming originally from the field of mental health, with an attempt to widen its theoretical scope to populations not usually defined as mentally ill. Clinical characteristics are presented, as well as an attempt at a theoretical formulation of this concept permitting the development of therapeutic implications. These are presented in relation to existing psychodynamic concepts and therapeutic approaches related to the phenomenon of homelessness. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580)
Changing conceptualizations of mental health and mental illness implications of "brain disease" and ”behavioral health” for social work
- Authors:
- TAYLOR Melissa Floyd, BENTLEY Kia J.
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Mental Health, 2(4), 2004, pp.1-16.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Conceptualizations of mental health and mental illness continue to be an important influence in shaping social work practice and education. By critically analyzing the emergence of the current concepts of “brain disease” and “behavioural health,” inquirers are able to better understand the stakeholders in this renaming process. The inherent assumptions and the sociopolitical aspects of these two concepts are analyzed. Recommendations for social work practitioners and educators in preparing for a future in which they will participate more fully in the professional dialog about changes in the vocabulary of mental illness and thus more meaningfully shape the service delivery system in general, and the social work domain, in particular, are offered. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580)
Social work and women's mental health: does trauma theory provide a useful framework?
- Author:
- TSERIS Emma
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 49(3), 2019, pp.686-703.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Trauma theory has been positioned as a helpful framework for social workers to utilise when working with women presenting to mental health services. In particular, the trauma concept has been praised for its ability to acknowledge the social and relational determinants of women’s mental health presentations and to challenge the dominance of a biomedical framework for understanding emotional distress. On the other hand, trauma approaches have been critiqued for being overly deficit-oriented and for failing to adequately incorporate a feminist analysis of gender inequality. This article presents qualitative research conducted with twelve mental health social workers in Australia reporting on their use of trauma theory when working with adolescent women who have experienced child abuse within a family context. Analysis found that the trauma concept was in some cases applied in a paternalistic manner that medicalised young women’s distress and minimised issues of gender inequality. However, other participants described trauma work with young women as a form of feminist activism. This study is significant because it points towards the existence of multiple and competing trauma perspectives currently informing social work practice. (Edited publisher abstract)
The primacy of the ethical aim in clinical social work: its relationship to social justice and mental health
- Author:
- DEAN Harvey E.
- Journal article citation:
- Smith College Studies in Social Work, 69(1), November 1998, pp.9-24.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
There is a growing emphasis in the social work literature that social work's overall mission should be that of social justice and that mental health be relegated as outside of social work's realm. This article draws upon a constructionist and narrative perspective in developing a general formulation of clinical social work to bridge the gap between social justice and mental health.
Psychotherapy, distributive justice, and social work revisited
- Author:
- WAKEFIELD Jerome C.
- Journal article citation:
- Smith College Studies in Social Work, 69(1), November 1998, pp.25-57.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Comments on an article by Harvey Dean (1998). He argues that social work has broader ethical aims that encompass both pursuit of justice and treatment of mental disorder. In this article, the author reviews his earlier position and responds to Dean's objections. Argues that Dean's narrativist account of the profession's ethical aims is overly broad and that he confuses non-disordered psychological problems with mental disorders. Concludes that neither his 'minimal distributive justice' view of social work's mission nor his exclusion of treatment of mental disorder from the profession's essential mission are disconfirmed by Dean's arguments.
Social work becoming more 'generalist' across the world
- Author:
- MITCHELL Fraser
- Journal article citation:
- Professional Social Work, July 1995, pp.6-7.
- Publisher:
- British Association of Social Workers
The First International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health Care attracted 600 participants from 20 countries earlier this year. Summarises the issues arising from the conference and some individual contributions.
Clinical social work practice: a cognitive-integrative perspective
- Author:
- BERLIN Sharon
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Publication year:
- 2002
- Pagination:
- 419p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- New York
This text presents a cognitive perspective on social work clinical practice that emphasises the role of the environment in shaping personal meaning. This perspective combines cognitive psychology's internal focus on how people think about themselves with a look outward toward the environment. It draws on a number of theoretical approaches to explain how the mind works and integrates these perspectives within a framework that suggests that people operate according to their sense of what things mean. The theoretical grounding for this cognitive-integrative approach is drawn from a range of neurological, social, psychological, and social work theories.
Controversial issues in social work
- Editors:
- GAMBRILL Eileen, PRUGER Robert
- Publisher:
- Allyn and Bacon
- Publication year:
- 1992
- Pagination:
- 410p.,bibliogs.
- Place of publication:
- Needham Heights, MA
American text covering issues such as: union membership; working for the private sector; licensing of social workers; and whistle blowing. Section 2 deals with debates about social work knowledge and section 3 with social work practice, including: use of volunteers; objective setting; written contracts; private practice; and performance related pay. Section 4 looks at specific client groups, including: mentally ill people; drug abusers; and people with HIV/AIDS.
Feminist visions for social work
- Editors:
- VAN DEN BERGH Nan, COOPER Lynn B.
- Publisher:
- National Association of Social Workers
- Publication year:
- 1986
- Pagination:
- 330p.,tables,bibliogs.
- Place of publication:
- Washington, DC
Presents a feminist vision for a different society. Includes papers on: combating racism in practice and in the classroom; the contemporary black feminist movement; developing a profeminist commitment among men in social work; a feminist perspective on research; women and mental health; a new model of supervision; the hidden feminist agenda in social development; women, community and organising; social policy and poverty among women and families; a feminist approach to social policy; feminism and rural America; integrating the lesbian/gay experience in feminist practice and education; and an expanded mission for occupational social work.