Suchergebnisse

Abstract
The involvement of service users and carers, Experts by Experience (EBE), in social work education at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy, and the University of Dundee, Scotland, is rooted and connected epistemologically and pedagogically. Differences emerge in how these roots are manifest in the models of EBE involvement adopted in the two universities. This article explores these similarities and differences through discussion of the different models of EBE involvement in use at the two European universities, and thus provides a comparative European insight into approaches, experiences and impact of EBE involvement in social work education. The authors contextualise the pedagogy and core values underpinning EBE involvement and introduce the concept of 'inspiring conversations'. The comparative analysis is centred on five areas of EBE involvement in social work education: context and types of involvement; recruitment of EBE; roles and responsibilities of EBE; resource implications; and impact and outcomes of involvement. The article calls for a focus on 'Coherence', 'Prudence' and 'Sustainability' as a foundation for other universities to enhance their social work programmes through cultivating EBE involvement to co-create knowledge to inform future innovative practice.

Families are an expected haven for their members but can present threats in some contexts. Part of a large-scale PhD study with 101 participants, empirical findings on the roles played by families in encouraging sex trafficking in Edo, Nigeria, are presented here. Using in-depth interviews and group discussions, data were elicited from actors within trafficking in persons. Core findings included the exploitation of roles and responsibilities in families towards enabling sex trafficking, the abuse of shared meanings of family in communities and the exploitation of vulnerable families. Vulnerable families were identified as lacking fathers or those whose parents were older adults and/or uneducated. Thus, poor women in such families were at greater risk of being trafficked. For a conceptual understanding of these family roles in sex trafficking, we employed structure–agency insights. In all, anti-sex trafficking interventions must begin with families as the smallest unit of interventions.

Abstract
This article uses life history research to reveal a new understanding of institutional care. The study draws on interviews with care leavers from a Latvian orphanage who narrate life histories and identify critical life events and moments of resistance to times of adversity. The methodology intentionally positioned study nineteen care leavers as experts on their own experiences, focusing on three main life phases: before, during and after living in care. Findings deconstructed and brought nuance to stereotypes and dominant assumptions about people growing up in care, providing alternative narratives of self-reliance and resistance to adversity. Recommendations for practice and policy are discussed. This rich knowledge base can be used to support and inform the practice of children in the care system in Latvia and more widely.

Abstract
Social work features in human trafficking discourses as a remedial approach, but the profession's potentials in Nigeria have not been fully realised. Thus, our research seeks to understand how social work has fared across the Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Partnership (4Ps) of anti-human trafficking in Edo (a prime source destination for sex trafficking in Nigeria), and what can be done to scale up the presence and efficacy of social work. Qualitative research was conducted with twenty-three participants comprising qualified social workers, allied social work professionals and operational staff of ten anti-human trafficking agencies. Data were sourced using in-depth interviews, deductively coded and analysed based on the 4Ps framework. An important finding was the recognition of the social work profession by most anti-human trafficking agencies, as they employed qualified social work staff or outsourced social work roles to allied professions. Across the 4Ps, Prevention and Protection fared better, unlike Prosecution and Partnership. We provide insights on how to scale up all 4Ps using a social work lens. This research has the potential to strengthen the social work component of anti-human trafficking and presents an in-road to conduct more social work analysis in anti-human trafficking and other fields.

Purpose. To examine the effect of a mail-mediated intervention, based on self-determination theory, on adults' exercise behavior. Methods. The study was a randomized control trial conducted over a 2-month period. Of the initial 185 volunteer participants, 126 (68.1%) completed questionnaires at baseline, 1 month, and 2 months. Participants in intervention-only and intervention-plus-booster groups received a mail-delivered packet containing strategies designed to promote perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness regarding exercise. Those in a control group received an American Heart Association physical-activity facts packet. After 1 month, those in the intervention-plus-booster group received a booster postcard, reiterating the main points of the initial intervention packet. Exercise behavior was the primary outcome variable. Perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness were evaluated as mediating variables. Results. Separate 3 (group) × 3 (time) repeated measures analyses of variance conducted for men and women revealed that for women, all three groups significantly increased exercise levels over the 2-month period. No significant interactions were found regarding the influence of the intervention on the mediating variables. A process evaluation indicated a lack of compliance regarding completing intervention-packet worksheets. Discussion. Findings suggested that more intensive interventions and greater fidelity of treatment may be needed to evidence change in exercise behavior.

Abstract
Social work in the twenty-first century is maturing as a global profession. This comparative study offers an original contribution to the evolving discussion in the field of international social work. The paper makes visible the socio-spatial dimensions and contested interpretations of international and indigenous knowledge through the experiences of social work students in the Global South and Global North. Drawing on findings from an online survey completed by undergraduate and postgraduate Nigerian and Scottish social work students (n = 142), the paper provides insights into the students' experiences, expectations and perceived challenges. The Nigerian students critiqued the international (Western) knowledge informing their learning and practice, questioned the absence of indigenous knowledge and were aware of the importance, and challenges, of working with cultural diversity. The Scottish students showed little criticality of the Western (local) knowledge underpinning their learning and practice, did not prioritise learning about international social work and highlighted tensions between working with a culture of neoliberalism and social work values and social justice. We call for raising awareness of the epistemological foundations of what is included/excluded in curriculum and why, making the 'local' visible through re-balancing and contextualising the use of international and indigenous knowledge within social work.

AbstractThis paper presents data from a unique longitudinal study exploring the visual art experiences of nine children in two Scottish primary schools. Using a theoretical lens of cultural capital, the study is focused on spaces where children experience visual art and the value of these experiences, using arts‐informed, visual methods. While each child presented a particular insight, the findings question the value of current school visual art experience over other spaces. The findings also demonstrate the capacity of children to resist the control of cultural capital by adults, engaging with visual art on their own terms.