Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Social work is widely recognized as a human rights profession. The commitment to protect and advocate for social and economic rights has been incorporated into official definitions and codes of ethics of the profession globally, undergirding social work models and services. However, despite the overwhelming recognition of the importance of social work advocacy, a unified framework for research and practice has not been agreed upon, and new challenges to welfare states have somewhat contested the existing, primarily European advocacy framework built on the literature on take-up of social and economic rights. The purpose of this integrative context review is to introduce the administrative burden (AB) literature as a potential framework for meeting social work advocacy challenges by emphasizing a subjective viewpoint, a multifaceted understanding of the bureaucratic encounter, and the secondary effects of burden. The article concludes by identifying directions for future research and practice concerning the nexus between AB and social work.

Abstract
Non-take-up of social benefits is widely viewed as a critical problem in the modern welfare state, undermining the social contract between it and its citizens. Social work has always been considered a key profession in promoting take-up of social benefits as part of its professional commitment to human rights and advocacy. Yet, despite recent research efforts aiming to conceptualise take-up advocacy, there is a clear need to address the experience of claimants who have successfully taken up their rights and to learn from their experiences to identity best practices. This study drew on thirty-two semi-structured interviews with claimants successful in taking up social benefits in order to learn how they had overcome take-up barriers. The findings highlight four key lessons for increasing the likelihood of take-up in practice: (1) take the first step; (2) become an expert; (3) use your strengths; and (4) seek support. Together, these lessons present a multifaceted view of strategies used successfully to facilitate take-up, emphasising the importance of the claimants' personal capabilities, strengths and experiential knowledge as important gateways to take-up. These findings are also discussed in light of the existing knowledge on take-up advocacy by social workers.

Child‐friendliness is a new concept in the research literature. Derived from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it assesses different nations' commitment to the aspects of children's rights: both self‐determination and nurturance and care. Since the concept is still in its infancy, there is a need to study the associations between child‐friendliness and the subjective well‐being of children in a comparative perspective. Accordingly, the present study compares country rankings in the Child‐Friendliness Index (CFI) with country scores in the Global Domain Satisfaction Index (GDSI) in a sample of ten OECD countries. Results show that there is no association between the adapted GDSI score and the CFI. However, the self‐determination sub‐index and specifically participation in the personal domain are found correlated with GDSI domains. Moreover, countries can be grouped into different clusters: Nordic, Mediterranean, European, Asian.Key Practitioner Message: • There was no apparent association between the adapted GDSI score and the Child‐Friendliness Index (CFI) rank; • The CFI self‐determination sub‐index and participation in the personal domain specifically were found to be correlated with GDSI domains; • Countries may be grouped into different clusters when looking at their GDSI score and CFI rank: Nordic, Mediterranean, European, Asian.

AbstractEncounters with welfare state bureaucracy are often burdensome and might even result in administrative exclusion and non‐take up. With the growing scholarly interest in administrative burden experiences, a particular focus has been on learning costs, with evidence suggesting that difficulty obtaining reliable and useful information is one of their most fundamental aspects. We still lack a systematic conceptualization of bureaucratic information and its various dimensions. In this non‐representative exploratory study, we draw on interviews with 15 Israeli social benefit claimants to delve deeper into the nature of the information required in encounters with welfare state bureaucracy. Using thematic analysis, we identify five dimensions of such information: primary information on the existence of the benefit, as opposed to secondary procedural information on the claiming process; universal, wide‐ranging available information, in contrast to personalized information; one‐ versus two‐directional information transfer; covert, informal and dynamic, as opposed to overt, publicly available information; and finally, online versus offline information. We suggest that this exploratory conceptual framework can serve as a starting point for future studies to develop deeper understanding of the information citizens need in their encounters with welfare state bureaucracy.

Drawing on interviews with disability and income support beneficiaries, the article examines the encounters of Israeli citizens with the National Insurance Institute. Using the administrative burden conceptualisation, our analysis highlights three known types of costs: compliance, learning and psychological. The current study provides further conceptualisation of these burdens by unfolding the role of three concrete elements involved in generating these burdens: waiting, communication breakdowns, and administrative errors. These elements are discussed in terms of their contribution to a better understanding of bureaucratic procedures that constitute administrative burdens in the context of the benefit claiming process.

AbstractTo err is human, and as such, administrative errors are an inevitable component of current and future welfare state bureaucracy. Hitherto, while studies on administrative burden have shown us that routine interactions with welfare bureaucracy are often burdensome, very little is known about the nature of these interactions when something goes wrong. Most social policy and public administration scholarship focus on ex‐ante analysis of administrative errors, with only scant research devoted to ex‐post analysis of how claimants experience such errors once they occur, and the types of costs they may incur. This article contributes to the growing field of administrative burden research by examining welfare claimants' experiences of administrative errors. Analysis of 19 interviews with Israeli benefit recipients uncovered two themes. The first related to the process of correcting errors, including identifying and communicating them to the system. The second theme addressed the consequences of errors: on the one hand, economic and emotional costs including loss of trust in the system, and on the other, acquiring bureaucratic skills. These findings highlight bureaucratic errors as a critical and unique site of learning burden, as well as the need for a human contact to allow claimants to better deal with their consequences.

Minority groups have been disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19's effects. Whereas, social workers have been instrumental in countering those effects, their roles have been understudied, particularly during the 'new normal' that followed the outbreak. This gap is addressed by drawing on interviews with 28 social workers in the Jewish ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) society in Israel, held after the outbreak and during the 'new normal'. Three main roles are identified: first responders, during the outbreak; a voice for community needs, in the 'new normal'; and policy translators – throughout. The findings contribute a temporal aspect to the literature by highlighting social workers' dynamic roles.

AbstractMinority communities have borne a disproportionate burden of health, social and economic consequences during the pandemic. By engaging in policy-shaping processes, social workers can contribute to the development of beneficial policies for minority communities. When working in cross-cultural environments with majorities and minorities, social workers must develop cultural competence to be effective in policy practice. Despite the importance associated with cultural competence in policy practice (CCPP), little empirical evidence exists regarding what is required of social workers in order to engage in culturally competent policy change during the pandemic. In the present study, we address this lacuna through the theoretical framework of culturally competent policy practice. Drawing on twenty-one in-depth interviews, which were conducted at two time points during the pandemic with social workers who work with ultra-Orthodox minority communities in Israel, we demonstrate that CCPP involves the combination of two perspectives—contextual and structural. These include identifying and analysing social problems from a local and global perspective, reshaping the problem through self-awareness and critical awareness of power relations, and applying cultural competence skills that reflect the unique characteristics of the communities. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of CCPP, especially when implemented in changing social and political situations.

AbstractAdvocating for rights is widely regarded as an integral part of social work education and a key component of social work interventions with people in poverty and other marginalized populations. Current research also indicates that poverty and marginalization are strongly associated with trauma. However, models of social work advocacy fail to acknowledge and account for the effects of past and present trauma on marginalized populations. Similarly, principles stemming from a trauma-informed perspective (TIP) typically do not address advocacy of rights. This separation maintains the traditional social work divide between internal struggles and external obstacles, as well as the distinct approaches used to facilitate change in each realm. Based on a presentation of the main models of social work advocacy in light of their consideration of trauma, this article proposes an integrative model: the trauma-informed active take-up advocacy model (TI-ATA). We conclude by discussing case study illustrations and the applications and limitations of the integrative TI-ATA model to the social work field.

Abstract
This article contributes to the growing body of research on administrative burdens by providing a theoretically and empirically driven typology of governments' burden reduction strategies. Despite the mounting interest in burden reduction, the literature still lacks a typology for systematically identifying and classifying such strategies. The article identifies three analytical dimensions of burden reduction: distributive (who bears the burden), intensiveness (what the level of burden is), and relational (how burden is experienced in bureaucratic encounters). Based on these dimensions, and drawing on a systematic analysis of the case of social security in Israel, we identify, define, and characterize seven distinct strategies of burden reduction: shifting, sharing, discarding, simplifying, expediting, communicating, and respecting. The article concludes with a discussion of these strategies, their applicability, practical implications, and directions for the research agenda on burden reduction.