Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis study aims to contribute to the literature exploring the parents' perspective on what parenting in poverty means in their everyday life and how they are able to cope with the challenges that arise from a condition of economic deprivation. Forty parents living in different Italian regions had been interviewed. Data gathering and data analysis were conducted as a simultaneous and iterative process, oriented by the constructivist grounded theory. Our findings provide a clear picture of the parents' constant struggle to protect their children from an environment in which structural conditions and dominant narratives lead to normalize and personalize disadvantages. Parents described enabling and disabling processes that interplay at a material, relational and symbolic level, influencing their movement along a continuum that depicts different experiences in different moments of their lives, as the output of processes where vulnerabilities and strengths are combined. The parents' knowledge helps to explain the wider social processes and the day‐to‐day social interactions that influence the flow along this continuum. The final purpose is to allow their voices to be heard and to learn from their perspective, as it is essential in designing policies and services that are supposed to help them.

This article analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marginal migrant populations, and the Italian response to cope with the crisis. The first section uses different sources of data to highlight social, political, and economic processes, already present in the pre-emergency stage, that contributed to the exposure of migrants to higher levels of vulnerability. The second part analyzes the impact of the crisis and its management in the response stage, focusing in particular on the perspective of front line professionals and migrants advocates. The discussion shows how some attempts have been made to unveil processes that preserve mainstream ideologies, benefiting those who are interested in the maintenance of migratory inflows of migrants with no rights, and some improvements have been achieved. Nevertheless, even if the COVID-19 crisis has created the possibility to make structural problems more visible, and indicated the direction to "build back better," the cultural and structural variables that create a condition of hyperprecarity for more marginalized migrants seem to be unchanged.

This article analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marginal migrant populations, and the Italian response to cope with the crisis. The first section uses different sources of data to highlight social, political, and economic processes, already present in the pre-emergency stage, that contributed to the exposure of migrants to higher levels of vulnerability. The second part analyzes the impact of the crisis and its management in the response stage, focusing in particular on the perspective of front line professionals and migrants advocates. The discussion shows how some attempts have been made to unveil processes that preserve mainstream ideologies, benefiting those who are interested in the maintenance of migratory inflows of migrants with no rights, and some improvements have been achieved. Nevertheless, even if the COVID-19 crisis has created the possibility to make structural problems more visible, and indicated the direction to "build back better," the cultural and structural variables that create a condition of hyperprecarity for more marginalized migrants seem to be unchanged.

Against the backdrop of a continuously changing situation, the aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of COVID-19 crisis in Italy, the government response to cope with the crisis and the major lessons learned during its management. The analysis shows how Italy's response has been characterised by some rapid measures to tackle the health crisis, but few plans in the mitigation stage and a lack of community involvement. This contribution stress the importance of a cultural shift, through the effort to apply in practice the principles already indicated in the main global policy frameworks to guide disaster management. A community social development approach can help to build concrete actions in this direction.

This volume collects some of the contributions presented at the Italian session of the International Social Work Education and Development Online (ISWED 2021) conference, jointly organised by the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), and the International Council of Social Welfare (ICSW) and, for the Italian language sessions, by the National Foundation of Social Workers.
Its aim is to contribute to the debate that was opened with the creation of the Global Agenda, an initiative taken by the three international organisations in the 2010/2020 decade and renewed for the 2020/2030 decade. In particular, the volume offers reflections on the role of social work in promoting human relations, justice and social solidarity, showing how research, training and professional practice can have an impact in translating the goals guiding the Global Agenda into practice.
While the first eight chapters deal specifically with the Italian context and address different themes, such as social work in the face of social emergency, qualitative research as a means of reconstructing social action, perspectives in decision-making processes for the protection of minors, and reciprocity in the exchange between social work and the homeless, the agapic relationship in social work, the production of knowledge in the process of aid, and finally the practices of training in Italian universities, the ninth chapter is dedicated to a historical analysis of social service and training in the State of Espirito Santo in Brazil.
Keywords: social work, social justice, social solidarity, human relations, global agenda
We believe that this volume can offer an articulate and complex panorama of what is being debated and realised in contemporary social work and can be of interest to all those who,
teachers, students, professionals working in the social field.

The aim of this article is to explore how social workers represent the experience of parenting in conditions of economic precariousness, and the role of social work in supporting these families. Interviews were administered to a sample of social workers in different Italian regions in both public and non-profit agencies. The grounded theory method, coherent with the interpretative paradigm chosen in this research, guided the process of data collection and data analysis. Our findings reveal that the majority of the social workers recognized the impact of poverty on families' lives, however this aspect was not always taken into account in the helping process with low income parents. Several variables, both at the individual and the organizational level, seemed to hamper the possibility to "look up" from direct practice with individuals only, and to be involved in policy-shaping and in community work to address roots of family troubles in the wider social context. The analysis is useful to show how poverty of the families and poverty of resources dedicated to them within the welfare state system are interconnected issues that should not be viewed as background factors, but as variables that influence in various ways the decisions made everyday in social services. We identify the need for improvement in the institutional framework of public services and in social work education. ; Lo scopo di questo articolo è esplorare come gli assistenti sociali rappresentano l'esperienza della genitorialità in condizioni di precarietà economica e il ruolo del lavoro sociale nel sostenere queste famiglie.Le interviste sono state somministrate a un campione di assistenti sociali di diverse regioni italiane in enti pubblici e non profit. Il metodo della teoria fondata, coerente con il paradigma interpretativo scelto in questa ricerca, ha guidato il processo di raccolta e analisi dei dati.I nostri risultati rivelano che la maggior parte degli assistenti sociali ha riconosciuto l'impatto della povertà sulla vita delle famiglie, tuttavia questo aspetto non è stato sempre preso in considerazione nel processo di aiuto con i genitori a basso reddito. Diverse variabili, sia a livello individuale che organizzativo, sembravano ostacolare la possibilità di "guardare in alto" dalla pratica diretta con i soli individui e di essere coinvolti nella definizione delle politiche e nel lavoro di comunità per affrontare le radici dei problemi familiari nel più ampio contesto sociale. L'analisi è utile per mostrare come la povertà delle famiglie e la povertà delle risorse ad esse dedicate all'interno del sistema del welfare siano questioni interconnesse che non devono essere viste come fattori di fondo, ma come variabili che influenzano in vario modo le decisioni prese quotidianamente nei servizi sociali . Identifichiamo la necessità di miglioramento nel quadro istituzionale dei servizi pubblici e nell'educazione al lavoro sociale.

Summary This study examines a sample of 1705 cases of unaccompanied and separated children (UASCs) included in a pilot project for early recovery child protection intervention. The project was started in two Southern Italian regions; multidisciplinary teams ensured an immediate intervention at the moment of disembarkation, working on children engagement and need assessment. Data were gathered about minors' characteristics and services activated. Descriptive information was selected to develop a profile of cases and bivariate analysis was used to assess the relationship between case characteristics and outcomes. Findings The UASCs belong to 38 different nationalities, forming a very diverse group in terms of culture, reasons for leaving their country and past experiences, most of them traumatic. A high number of children were victims of torture, maltreatment, and human trafficking. The empirical evidence highlights that, at the end of the intervention, the majority of UASCs were still hosted in first-level facilities that could respond to basic needs only. Second-level centres were not always equipped to promote their integration process. Applications Findings suggest that even if an early child protection intervention to identify children's strengths and vulnerabilities was crucial for the children engagement, a parallel action for advocacy at national and European level needs to be carried out to raise awareness about human rights violations, the complexity of these minors' needs, and the necessity to promote adequate services in the reception system, giving voice to these children.

Summary Client violence in social services is perceived as constantly increasing in Italy, raising deep concern. This article presents the results of the first online survey on the phenomenon. Involving 20,112 social workers, the aim was to determine the prevalence and forms of client violence towards social workers and to identify key factors associated with such events. Findings The results suggest that the vast majority of Italian social workers experience client violence during their careers. Verbal aggression and threats were most common forms of violence, followed by physical attacks and property damage. Young and less experienced social workers appeared more likely to be victims of violence, as well as those who more frequently work in isolation or without their colleagues' support. Social workers in child protection services, services for adults and municipality services accessible to the entire population were found to be at higher risk of client violence. The social workers considered the quality of the client/professional relationship and communication skills to be critical in preventing and dealing with aggression by users. Unfulfilled clients' expectation was considered to be one of the main factors contributing to frustration and the consequent hostile behaviour. Applications Violence against social workers is a 'wake-up call' that makes the weakening of welfare services, and therefore of professional social work, more visible. The first nationwide study on service user violence reported by this paper may significantly contribute to raising awareness about the phenomenon in Italy and to the devising of effective prevention programmes.