Should We Listen to Each Other?

The Hazards of Cross-National Social Work?

Dr. Siobhan E. Laird

University of Sheffields.laird@sheffield.ac.uk

Introduction

My own background

Social worker in Northern Ireland

Social work lecturer in Ghana

Questioning of international social work

International Social Work?

Does globalisation affect people similarly? Are social problems cross-national? Can we draw on good practice from abroad? Can we prepare students to work abroad? Can we prepare students to work locally with

people affected by global problems? Can we internationalise the curriculum? Is social work an international profession?

Does globalisation affect people similarly?

Globalisation for Developing Countries

Structural Adjustment

Privatisation Liberalisation of markets Introduction of cost sharing for services

Contraction of public sector De-industrialisation and export zones Charges for education and health care

Globalisation for Emergent Democracies

Privatisation, de-regulation and economic dislocation

Unemployment High inflation Loss of welfare safety-net Shift into the informal economy

Globalisation for Britain’s Minorities

Globalisation of Communication

Cheap travel Instantaneous communication Transnational families International communities Mass movement of people

Are Social Problems Cross-national?

Country Child malnutrition

Pop. living below $2

a day

Pop. no access to clean water

Ghana 25% 78% 27%

Nigeria 36% 91% 38%

Zambia 28% 88% 36%

Are Social Problems Cross-national?

Country Child malnutrition

Pop. living below $4 a day

Rural pop.

Russian Federation

13% 53% 27%

Romania 8% 23% 45%

Albania 32% ---- 57%

Can we draw on good practice from abroad?

Social Problems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Absolute poverty High adult illiteracy Lack of employable skills Absence of services Rural-urban migration Impoverished public sector

Can we draw on good practice from abroad?

Mass communication techniques Community mobilisation Group work with mixed ability Simultaneous levels of intervention Fundraising Project management Capacity building for grass-roots

organisations

Can we draw on good practice from abroad?

Can we prepare students to work abroad?

Africa

Development studies Kinship systems Community organisation The moral economy Survival strategies Gender in development

Can we prepare students to work abroad?

Emergent Democracies

Livelihood systems of families Working children Exchange networks Rural-urban migration

Can we prepare students to work abroad?

Can we prepare students to work locally with people affected by global problems?

United Kingdom

The unemployed Economic migrants from

the European Union Many people from ethnic

communities Asylum seekers

Can we prepare students to work locally with people affected by global problems?

To prepare students we must train them in:-

Socio-economic intervention not only psycho-social approaches Cultural awareness not only anti-racist practice Working with communities not only with

individuals and families Therapeutic work not only assessment, care

planning and protection

Can we internationalise the curriculum?

Values and ethics Knowledge base Theory Methods Skills

Is social work aninternational profession?

Conclusion: An Honest Dialogue

Admission of our own constraints in training and practice in the United Kingdom

Reflection on the narrowing of our own profession in the United Kingdom

Recognition of what has been lost from our repertoire of methods in the United Kingdom

Identification of the gaps in our own knowledge, theory and skills

Embrace the challenge of new conceptions