Tag: social work

Another One Bites the Dust: Social Workers and the Burnout Tradition

By Leonie Burt

When people discover that I am studying to become a social worker, a ritual response is triggered. Eyes widen and brows raise. I’m told “You’re mad for doing that!”, and “I don’t know how you plan to manage!”. Well, it would seem that apparently – neither do I. The very notion that social workers do indeed ‘manage’ the stressful and emotionally-charged conditions of practice is debatable; especially when one steps back and looks at the pattern of ‘burnout’ and ‘compassion fatigue’ quickly becoming a tradition of practice.

Social workers regularly advocate for the robust and deliberate practice of self-care. We argue tirelessly that you ‘can’t pour from an empty cup’, and institutions of learning, workplaces and professional statements of competency alike stress the importance of safeguarding our mental health. ANZASW notably describes a competent social worker as one who “recognises the limits of the social workers’ roles, functions and skills and practices appropriate self-care in order to maintain safe competent practice” (p.10, 2014). Within this, social workers are encouraged to remember that neglecting our wellbeing (mental; social; emotional or otherwise) is to do a disservice to our families and clients. Relevantly here is the growing body of research which illustrates a strong link between practitioners’ levels of mental health and wellness, and our capacity to have empathy for our clients (Gerdes & Segal, 2011). With empathy being fundamental to our work, being engaged in practice should not see this capacity held hostage by a stressful environment. Students and social workers appear to recognise that self-care is vital for us as practitioners and as humans. Yet, burnout rates manage to prevail.

Anecdotal accounts and reviews of literature both strongly suggest that burnout is a lived reality for many social workers (Kim & Stoner, 2008). Practitioners often casually cite the high turnover rates that are typical of statutory social work. We see this stress and burnout take form in the lives of workers in a multitude of ways. Both vicarious and secondary trauma are named as potential outcomes of our work, which can (and does) involve hearing graphic, emotional and confronting details of client’s traumatic experiences. This might be particularly pertinent for work around child protective practice and domestic violence, where abuse is disclosed to workers. This comes as no surprise – we work alongside families during some of the hardest and darkest times of their lives. But, being emotionally affected by these stories is characteristic of good social work – compassion is categorically our strength.

But burnout isn’t the natural or inevitable product of working with people and emotions, nor should that notion be upheld as a norm in practice. Just as empathy is an essential quality for social work, burning out of this empathy is not ‘part and parcel’ of our work. Rather, we frequently take steps to protect and enhance this capacity. But we shouldn’t lose sight of the factors (beyond the emotional) which contribute to our experience of social worker burnout.

I refer here to the neoliberal political movement, and how this has shaped the social work practice environment. In brief, working in a context which rewards outputs and measurable efficiency creates immense strain for workers, whose work with families can hardly be quantified. These conditions also involve complex cases, demanding workloads and strictly limited time, funding and resources. As a result, maintaining a high level of wellbeing is a pressing challenge for social workers. There are a variety of resources and publications which make suggestions about how we might cope with stressful conditions, and develop self-care strategies. Although these recommendations are usually legitimate and useful, the notion that burnout is a normal experience for social workers should by no means go unchallenged.

Here, we need to evaluate how we talk and think about social worker burnout. This centrally involves social workers resisting the notion that burnout and forms of compassion fatigue are ‘normal’ or traditional experiences. This might mean questioning how well organisations support meaningful self-care, for instance through offering regular, quality supervision. Resilience is not defined by a social worker’s ability to adapt to unsupportive working environments. Nonetheless; this is easier said than done.

It is my hope here that social workers do not simply resign to being traumatised and emotionally exhausted by social work. We can’t regard these experiences as natural, or as some kind of trade-off for having a career that we’re passionate about. Perhaps we may consider challenging the discourse around self-care by being critical about how we’re encouraged to cope. For some, these suggested self-care plans can be somewhat formulaic; especially for students embarking on placements or preparing to enter the world of practice.  Safeguarding our mental health is a complex task which cannot be tended to by a generic or overly simple self-care plan. Our mental health as social workers has to remain a central priority of our practice. Let us be brave and challenge any notion that burnout is a rite of passage in the world of social work and support one another on this journey.

References

Aguilar, C. (2016, June 14). 10 Tips to Redefining Your Self-Care [Blogpost]. Retrieved from https://www.socialworkhelper.com/2016/06/14/10-tips-redefining-self-care/

Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers. (2014). ANZASW code of ethics: Ko te tauaki tikanga. Christchurch, New Zealand: ANZASW National Office.

Beer, O., & Asthana, S. (2016). How stress impacts social workers – and how they’re trying to cope – Community Care. Retrieved from https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2016/09/28/stress-impacts-social-workers-theyre-trying-cope/

Fogel, A. (2015). Effective Ways Social Workers Respond to Secondary Trauma (Masters). St. Catherine University. Read here

Gerdes, K. E., & Segal, E. (2011). Importance of empathy for social work practice: Integrating new science. Social Work, 56(2), 141-148.

Kim, H., & Stoner, M. (2008). Burnout and turnover intention among social workers: Effects of role stress, job autonomy and social support. Administration in Social work, 32(3), 5-25.

Kimes, A. (2016). Burnout Rates Among Social Workers: A Systematic Review and Synthesis (Masters). California State University. Read here

Am I a “Social” worker?

By Ashley L

I am currently at the stage of studying my final year of social work at the University of Auckland. It is hard for me to believe that I will begin a new journey as a fully-fledged social worker in a few months. I have always had a passion, and I found satisfaction when my help brought positive change and appreciation. Finding joy from supporting other people to achieve their goal is my passion and the reason why I entered the social work field. In my first and second year of study in the University, I was able to gain a clear image and vision of what social workers are capable of as agents of change for society. I had huge expectations on myself to become an amazing social worker. However in my final year, I realised that a social worker cannot actually make a social change at major levels. The impact I will have in society was going to be at an individual level, not something big and country-wide such as leading the reformation of social policies.

Bartley (2018) addressed how she had a very strong passion as a practising social worker to change all the structural issues that cause all the injustices in society by saying “I had deep sense of the injustice in the world and wanted to do something about it. I prided myself on being an activist, a radical.” However, she began to see the reality of being a social worker and how it was true that there actually was no time and energy to try and address the larger structural issues. There were too many individual and personal issues that took priority in her day-to-day work amongst the high, pressuring caseloads. She also mentioned how she was disheartened and began to lose track of her own values of social justice being in the relentless working environment as a social worker.

According to literature (Ferguson, 2008; Ross, 2011), social justice espoused in social workers conflicts with the current neoliberal political climate and new managerialism by focusing on accountability and performance to implement an outcome-focused practice. This kind of practice places social workers at risk of losing their identity and values. Social justice will not be the ideal target for client management, rather the organisational goals will be pursued that focus on government agendas.

The media and public representation of social work often lack perception and understanding towards roles and boundaries they have in New Zealand (Staniforth, Fouché, and Beddoe, 2014). Social workers being perceived in a negative light by the media and public can only make many of them experience more and more difficulty in remaining vigilant to achieve social justice in their individual practices. More social workers will be pressured to ‘go with the flow’ and perform what is expected of them rather than confronting the injustices they face in society. Remaining true to our social justice values that are deeply embedded in our professional roots will become increasingly difficult as challenging things that go against the fundamentals of our practice.

Through this reflective process, I began to lack confidence. Social workers are supposed to be effective agents of change, but my passion in social work seems to dwindle and begin to deny this objective more and more. There is very little light at the end of the tunnel for me to make impactful changes due to the influence of neoliberalism and outcome-focused practice. Can only the smoldering, dying ember of passion inside me be enough reason to carry on? Learning about the failures of our current practice, and hearing that structural change is just too difficult drains my motivation to even begin my journey as a social worker. I may be being too naive or skeptical, since I am still only a student. Going back to the global definition of social work, our main principles are “social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities” in our engagements with people and structures to enhance well-being (International Federation of Social Workers, 2019).  My challenge would be to find a way to re-light the ember of passion inside me to regain a purpose, a reason to carry on despite the foreseeable obstacles.

References

Bartley, L. (2018, April 27). Where has my radicalism gone? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2018/04/where-has-my-radicalism-gone/

Ferguson, H. (2008). 1: the theory and practice of critical best practice in social work. In Best practice in social work: critical perspectives (pp. 15–37). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

International Federation of Social Workers. (2019). Global definition of social work. Retrieved from https://www.ifsw.org/global-definition-of-social-work/

Ross, A. K. (2011). Justice in action?: social work and social justice in the 21st century: a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work at Massey University, Manawatu, Aotearoa/New Zealand (Doctoral dissertation, Massey University). Retrieved from https://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10179/3414/02_whole.pdf

Staniforth, B., Fouché, C., & Beddoe, L. (2014). Public perception of social work and social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 26(2/3), 48. Retrieved from https://anzswjournal.nz/anzsw/article/view/42




Working amidst complexity: moving forward?

By An Aspiring Social Worker

It is an interesting time to be on placement at Oranga Tamariki (although, one could argue, when it is not?). It was with a wary sense of foreboding and an almost legendary awe that I entered the Oranga Tamariki offices for the first time. To be a student at Oranga Tamariki feels like I’m wandering around with my eyelids taped to my eyebrows and my mouth ajar.  With the constant criticisms from the media regarding the release of the number of children abused in state care and the increasing number of Māori children being uplifted from their whānau    versus the strenuous and sometimes frantic work that the social workers do on the ground, I am surprised that workers even turn up to do their mahi every day after how much is said about them.

Despite its many publicised flaws, my impression of Oranga Tamariki was that it was the ‘ultimate’ social work agency. It is the standard by which all social work agencies should operate, as our state representatives of standards of care for our tamariki and rangitahi. However, after just fifteen days spent at Oranga Tamariki, I am starting to get a glimpse into the complexity these social workers are expected to operate under. They are the fence before the cliff; they are the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff; they are both colonisation and decolonisation embodied; they are working for the Crown yet their work is made up by the damage done by the Crown; they are both tika and pono; they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. The recent media coverage over the uplift of a Māori baby from their mother in Hawkes Bay hospital lingers in my mind and feels a bit too close to home in terms of the clients I work with, and the weight that social workers decisions have on whānau.

I wonder about the upcoming law changes to the Act, and what real impact they will have on reducing the amount of Māori tamariki coming into care; there is a lot being said both in-house as well as in the media about what affect this will have. A kaupapa Māori approach to the Family Court will be important (if done properly) for disrupting ‘the systemic undermining of Māori and their whānau.” Institutional restructure to adopt kaupapa Māori should not be a new idea. Just in April the Chief Executive Grainne Moss signed an agreement with Waikato-Tainui , a partnership aiming to keep Māori out of state care. Waikato-Tainui acknowledged the development of their own programme Mokopuna Ora, it’s success, and the need for Māori to be able to work with their own to ensure their tamariki are held within their whānau, whakapapa, and iwi.

This is an important step towards seeing real change for Māori communities. With the recent well-being budget announcement, I can’t help but wonder what it would look like if we resourced our NGO’s even half as well as we did Oranga Tamariki. To address the issue of the over-representation of Māori tamariki in state care (not to mention poverty, crime, intergenerational trauma…) surely, empowering (i.e. funding) Māori organisations and iwi should be our first port of call? Continuing to only adequately resource Oranga Tamariki the Crown ignores the importance of Māori and iwi deciding what is best for their tamariki, not to mention the long history of institutional racism and the perpetuation of intergenerational poverty the Crown is responsible for. We need to acknowledge and legitimise the important role that NGO’s play in our communities; we need to enable them to thrive alongside their whānau and iwi’s.

Of the staff I have met at Oranga Tamariki, I am consistently blown away by their passion for Māori, for bicultural practice and for the best possible outcomes for the tamariki and whānau   they work with. But their jobs are hard; they are complex; they bear the burden of working in an imperfect system and expected to produce perfect results. I don’t know what can be done for Oranga Tamariki. It is a Crown organisation that has been responsible for the stigma and colonisation of Māori. It will always bear that cross. But what we can do, and what we must do, is to resource and hold up our NGO’s to be able to continue doing their mahi for their people. Because that, is prevention.

On Monday I return to placement and we will meet, as we do every morning, to say karakia and sing waiata as a team. After this I will return to my desk and plunge back into the work that all too often is overwhelmingly complex. I cannot not do this work, and neither, it seems, can my colleagues. But it is hard work, and there are no easy answers.

References

Doyle, K. & Robson, S. (2018). ‘’Deeply disturbing’: more than 200 children abused in state care in last 6 months, reports show’. RNZ. Retrieved from: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/384748/deeply-disturbing-more-than-200-children-abused-in-state-care-in-6-months-reports-show

Dreaver, C. (2019, May 10). ‘Oranga Tamariki accused of bullying, racism over removal of baby.’ RNZ. Retrieved form: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/388886/oranga-tamariki-accused-of-bullying-racism-over-removal-of-baby

Morning Report. (2019, April 4). ‘Young Māori over-represented in state care and detention’. RNZ. Retrieved from: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/386318/young-Māori-over-represented-in-state-care-and-detention

Waikato-Tainui. (2019). ‘Waikato-Tainui sign agreement with Oranga Tamariki.’ Waitkato-Tainui. Retrieved from: https://www.waikatotainui.com/te-hookioi/waikato-tainui-sign-agreement-with-oranga-tamariki/


Williams, T., Ruru, J., Irwin-Easthope, H., Quince, K. & Gifford, H. (2019). ‘Care and protection of tamariki Māori in the family court system.’ Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga: Te Arotahi (1), 1-21. Retrieved from: http://www.maramatanga.co.nz/sites/default/files/teArotahi_19-0501%20Ruru.pdf

“What the hell is water?”: Reflective supervision as a way forward

By Social Worker To be

There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?” Foster Wallace (2005)

As a young, inexperienced social work student starting a career in the child care and protection field, this tale from Foster Wallace really resonates when I observe social work practice in Oranga Tamariki (OT). During my brief time in the organisation, I have seen many ‘fish’ working incredibly hard for the safety of Aotearoa New Zealand’s (ANZ) tamariki but, at the same time, being disconnected and unaware of the water around them, or in another words, the environment and further context surrounding their work. The only difference I would suggest from Foster Wallace’s quote is that, from my point of view, it would probably be the younger ‘fish’ coming fresh out of university explaining to the older ‘fish’ with years of experience what water is. It seems to me that the longer you have been swimming, the more difficult it becomes to see the water.

The point of this aquatic allegory is to illustrate that often, in statutory child protection, social workers seem to find themselves practicing through a disillusioned default setting that fails to look at the bigger picture. This can easily happen considering the constraints of the system in the present neoliberal context. Child care and protection social work has been challenged by welfare austerity, managerialism, auditing, and surveillance of practice, which has altered the operationalisation of services and the meeting of clients’ needs (Beddoe, 2010) .  This professional environment – dominated by risk management, organisational accountability and governmental expectation to meet standards – has tragically windswept professional social work core values such as social justice, relationship building, and critical reflection.

The opportunities for social workers to critically reflect on their practice development and decision-making while linking it to the big picture has become crucial in the present risk-averse hierarchical bureaucracy. Professional supervision is the space to do so, but unfortunately in the hectic and under-resourced climate of OT, supervision is often far from being a priority. In many occasions, when supervision finally takes place, the session is mainly driven by the supervisor’s managerial needs of the supervisee’s caseload. This is despite the recent development of the OT Professional Supervision Policy and Standards , which pushed for a commitment to improve practitioners’ skills and knowledge within supervision. In ANZ, the importance of professional supervision in social work practice is also emphasised by the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) Supervision Policy and the Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB) Code of Conduct .  

For supervision to be a place for discovery, replenishment and meet the transformative action purpose, it must be reflective, critical and involve the examination of the needs of people alongside dominant political agendas and discourses. In reflective supervision, the social worker, through a process of deconstructing and reconstructing meaning, identifies power and authority and demonstrates how it impacts upon both clients’ lives and professional practice (Fook & Gardner, 2007). Evidence shows that social work supervision that promotes critical reflection and learning is key for developing professionalism, building positive practice outcomes with clients and providing support to communities (Weld, 2012).

It is clear, then, that the ability for social workers to learn, assess and examine their work through reflective practice and develop alternative pro-active ways of working through critical reflection needs to remain central to child protection social work. For the sake of our profession, its fundamental values of social justice and social change and, especially, to ensure the best outcomes for tamariki and their whānau, we need to advocate for quality supervision to happen in the institutions we work for. Critical and reflective supervision is the alternative to the default setting of unconscious and disengaged practice. Supervision is a key tool in recognising the water all around us, as we swim through the murky and exciting sea of child protection social work.  

References

ANZASW (2015). Supervision policy. Retrieved from: https://anzasw.nz/wp-content/uploads/ANZASW-Supervision-Policy-Updated-February-2015.pdf

Beddoe, L. (2010). Surveillance or reflection: Professional supervision in “the risk society”. British Journal of Social Work, 40 (4), 1279-1296.

Fook, J. & Gardner, F. (2007). Practising critical reflection: A resource handbook. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.

Foster Wallace, D. (2005). This is water. Retrieved from: https://fs.blog/2012/04/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/

Oranga Tamariki (2017). Professional supervision: Policy and standards. Retrieved from: https://practice.orangatamariki.govt.nz/assets/practice/use-professional-supervision/5139fa22bf/professional-supervision-policy-and-standards.pdf

SWRB (2018). Code of conduct. Retrieved from: https://swrb.govt.nz/for-the-public/code-of-conduct/

Weld, N. (2012). A practical guide to transformative supervision for the helping professions. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley.

Why are social workers so tough on themselves?

By Jane Smith

In this blog post, I’d like to tackle some of the challenges that social workers face in their profession, namely their perception of themselves and why this might be the case. Social workers don’t believe the public has a particularly great opinion of social workers (Staniforth, Deane & Beddoe, 2016). Why is this the case? Why do social workers think more poorly of themselves compared to what the public actually thinks? Where is this internalised stigma coming from?

The public’s perception overall is pretty good. When people think of social workers, their main thoughts are that social workers are ‘helpers’ (Staniforth, Fouché & Beddoe, 2014). Other responses from the public were around meeting personal or community needs (Staniforth, Fouché & Beddoe, 2014). Conversely, social workers themselves believe the public has a poor perception of the profession. When social workers were asked what they thought the public thinks, the responses were more negative, such as ‘stealing kids’ or ‘interfering/busy bodies’ see (Staniforth, Deane & Beddoe, 2016). Social workers overwhelmingly believed that when the public thought about them, their main association was ‘Children, Youth and Family’ (Staniforth, Deane & Beddoe, 2016). It seems like a lot of social workers think that the public associate social work with child protection services and the accompanying responsibilities.

Why, then, do social workers mostly focus on child protection services when considering the public’s perception? One reason could be the media. Social work and child protection often go hand in hand because it’s a social work dominated area. Commonly when child abuse is reported on, the media frames the social worker as either being incompetent for not picking up on the abuse or as being baby snatchers, as identified by the social workers themselves. Child protection in social work rarely gets a positive news story, as shown even within the last month. An opinion piece by Hinemoa Elder discusses her disappointment in the name change from Child, Youth and Family to Oranga Tamariki (OT). Elder says “It has precious little about oranga (wellbeing), and little – if any – organisational understanding about tamariki” (Stuff, May 19 2019). With negative news stories in the media surrounding OT, along with negative opinion pieces, it is little wonder that many social workers (both statutory and non-statutory) take on this negative opinion of their profession. To be clear, I am not arguing that social workers in statutory roles should not be held accountable for the work that they do, I am merely pointing out the mostly negative response they have in the media.

Recently, Children’s Minister Tracy Martin was reported as being unhappy with the reporting of social workers working for Oranga Tamariki . An interview by Satherley with Tracy Martin describes how she isn’t happy with how the media are reporting on OT. With a recent rise in reporting, particularly during the recent Hawkes Bay cases, OT has received a lot of negative press. “Privacy concerns meant Oranga Tamariki was often unable to defend itself against criticism, with journalists and editors having “decided already Oranga Tamariki is the problem, as opposed to Oranga Tamariki being part of the solution” (Satherley, Newshub, 2019). In my opinion, it is good to see a Minister defending a state organisation given that both legislation and policy (set by the government) require Oranga Tamariki social workers to work in the way that they do. Oranga Tamariki social workers are working in the climate set by the government which comes with limitations.

My final thoughts to leave you with are these; with the media framing social work in such a negative manner, mostly focussing on child protection social work, it’s no wonder that many internalise these perceptions. While it is good to see some support from the Minister in this area of social work, this is only one good article out of many poor ones. Surely these negative perceptions are not helping with encouraging people into social work, and with an ageing workforce , this poses a problem. What do you think can be done?

References

Edler, H (2019, May 19). Oranga Tamariki is doing more harm than good. Stuff. Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/112713542/oranga-tamariki-is-doing-more-harm-than-good

Satherley, D (2019, May 18) Oranga Tamariki isn’t ‘snatching babies’ – Children’s Minister Tracey Martin. Newshub. Retrieved from https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2019/05/oranga-tamariki-isn-t-snatching-babies-children-s-minister-tracey-martin.html

Staniforth, B., Deane, K. L., & Beddoe, L. (2016). Comparing public perceptions of social work and social workers’ expectations of the public view. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 28(1), 13. https://anzswjournal.nz/anzsw/article/download/112/220

Staniforth, B., Fouché, C., & Beddoe, L. (2014). Public perception of social work and social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 26(2/3), 48. https://anzswjournal.nz/anzsw/article/viewFile/42/146

Climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet

By K Boyes

These words are not from some crazy greenie.  These words are from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2018, p. 79).  The IPCC a United Nations body with 195 member countries, established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organisation.  You can read their Global Warming of 1.5ºC report here .  This is a substantial piece of work written by over 200 editors, authors and contributors and citing over 6,000 scientific references; a summary of the report is available here

Key messages are that we are already experiencing extreme weather and rising sea levels, and, to avoid irreversible changes, such as loss of ecosystems, we need to limit global warming to 1.5°C; this will involve rapid transitions in energy, industry, housing, transport and other areas.  But climate change is not the only serious environmental concern.  There are many others including: plastics in the environment; pesticide usage; declining insect numbers; deforestation, loss of biodiversity and extinction of species. 

These issues are relevant to social work.  Climate change has already created many climate change refugees and this will increase if we continue on with our present usage of fossil fuels.  Everyone will be affected in some way by unchecked climate change.  This is also a human rights and social justice issue in that poor people are disproportionately affected by climate change and environmental degradation, for example, by having less choice about where they live and work and so being at greater risk of exposure to pesticides, car exhaust, industrial chemicals and extreme weather events.    

These issues should be of concern to social workers everywhere.  However, social work as a profession has been slow to give attention to the natural environment.  Social work has been criticised for being anthropocentric (Besthorn, 2012; Peeters, 2012), meaning that human interests are considered above those of other beings.  This is reflected in our use of ecomaps and genograms which assess social functioning but neglect relationships with the natural environment (Zapf, 2010).  It is also evident in the scant mention of environmental sustainability in our codes of ethics and codes of practice, and in the lack of political action and leadership from our international and local representatives. 

Social work is behind in responding to the environmental crisis.  This may be partly because of the highly effective discourse of climate change denial.  But what would you think if you knew that much of the climate change denial campaign is funded by fossil fuel corporations? (Dunlap & McCright, 2011).  Strategies include those which were so effective for the tobacco industry such as creating doubt and uncertainty, and criticising journals, scientists, and scientific institutions (Dunlap & McCright, 2011).  

The reality is that we are part of the ecosystem and we will all be affected by environmental degradation and climate change.  Environmental issues are not contained within national boundaries.  Carbon emissions enter the atmosphere and affect the whole planet.  Plastics or pesticides that enter the food chain in one country may be consumed in another.  If 40% of insects become extinct as a result of climate change, this will affect us all.  Biodiversity is important for the health of the planet.  It is not just about cute fluffy animals.  If we continue to neglect the natural environment we are likely to be faced with war, famine and disease.

Wake up!  This is an issue which needs your attention.  You need to be informed about this issue so you can make wise decisions, small and large.  Who to vote for.  What car to buy.  What products to buy.  How to dispose of your waste.  Whether to drive, walk, cycle or take public transport.  How many children to have.  Whether to use pesticides or not.  Your decisions affect the planet, yourself and other people.  You are part of the ecosystem. 

There are also many roles for social workers -see Lena Dominelli

References:

Besthorn, F. H. (2012). Deep ecology’s contributions to social work: A ten-year retrospective. International Journal of Social Welfare, 21, 248-259. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2011.00850.x Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/30627646/Deep_Ecologys_contributions_to_social_work_A_ten-year_retrospective

Dunlap, R. E., & McCright, A. M. (2011). Organized climate change denial. In J. S. Dryzek, R. B. Norgaard, & D. Schlosberg (Eds.), The Oxford book of climate change and society. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199566600.003.0010 Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284261736_Organized_Climate_Change_Denial

Dominelli, L. ( 2011).Climate change: social workers’ roles and contributions to policy debates and interventions International Journal of Social Welfare. 20, 430–438

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2018). Global Warming of 1.5°C. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

Peeters, J. (2012). The place of social work in sustainable development: Towards ecosocial practice. International Journal of Social Welfare, 20, 287-298. doi: 10.111/j.1468-2397.2011.00856.x Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230485576_The_place_of_social_work_in_sustainable_development_Towards_ecosocial_practice/download

Zapf, M. K. (2010). Social work and the environment: Understanding people and place. Critical Social Work, 11(3), 30-46. Retrieved from http://www1.uwindsor.ca/criticalsocialwork/social-work-and-the-environment-understanding-people-and-place

Representation of Māori through media

By Brooke Royal

Māori to me is whānau; iwi, my land, my ancestors and my blood connections. Māori to others are unemployed gang members who have a drug and alcohol problem, who live off the benefit and beat their Mrs. because she didn’t make him eggs. When I think of Māori, I think of my loving whānau who work their butts off and live good lives, but the next person may look at my whānau and think of them as nothing but a suspect off Police Ten 7, as the suspect was of Māori descent.

Most people living in Aotearoa will enjoy their Thursday evenings watching Police Ten 7 and laughing with disgrace. Yet, have we noticed that they are describing most suspects as of Māori descent? Is it because of their darker complexion, particular tattoos, bigger build or that they were wearing a hoodie that makes them Māori? If this hasn’t sparked a light bulb in your head, how about Jake the Muss from Once Were Warriors? I personally believe that this is an awesome movie however the picture it paints in the minds of non-Māori is the wrong way Māori need to be represented. Police Ten 7 and Once Were Warriors are extremely popular across Aotearoa, but they are representing Māori as nothing but criminals, gang members, unemployed alcoholics who have multiple children and live in poverty. Another example of this discrimination toward Māori is through news articles. A recent article written by NZ Herald (2019) discussed how tobacco, alcohol and gambling tax is costing Māori over $1 billion a year. Throughout the article, they continued to compare Māori to European New Zealanders, and each time Māori were portrayed as the minority between the two.

“The Māori adult (15 years and over) population of 517,000 was less than one fifth of the European/Other population of 2.8m, but Māori tobacco consumption made up just under half (45%) of European/Other tobacco expenditure” (NZ Herald, 2019). Representations of Māori, and our stories, remain under the control of Pākehā-owned television, radio, and print media (Aoake, 2017). Discrimination toward Māori through the media continues to happen time and time again, that so many of us have become blind to the intolerance.

It has been 179 years since Te Tiriti o Waitangi was created and signed, and to this day Māori are still discriminated against. The Ministry of Health (2012) identified that Māori adults were almost twice as likely as non-Māori adults to have experienced any type of racial discrimination. Following this, Māori adults were almost three times as likely as non-Māori adults to have experienced any unfair treatment on the basis of ethnicity. Within the social work profession Māori are the most dominant ethnicity group we will work with, and as a Māori myself I know that there is a lot of whakamā that comes with seeking help or being told that you need help. This whakamā that Māori feel is the baggage we hold realising that we are a minority in our own country and on our own land. On the other hand, the whakamā Māori are living with will also be what prevents them reaching out for support when they are vulnerable. As social workers, we need to take into consideration how this ethnic group is treated and also portrayed within our communities and through our media, and how this may impact their overall wellbeing. For Māori, mainstream media is mired in colonial framing, misrepresentation and exclusion – yet mainstream media continues to insist its coverage is non-partisan (Aoake, 2017). []

The representation of Māori being portrayed through media is only contributing to the racial discrimination this ethnic group already receives. The whakamā Māori carry due to being marginalised in their own country will only worsen if media continue to drag them through the mud. My concerns with this is around the future for our Māori whanau, and the racial discrimination and whakamā our people are holding, potentially preventing them from reaching out for help when they are vulnerable.

Naku te rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi.

With your basket and my basket, the people will live.

Aoake, M. (2017, 14 August) Metiria Turei and how the NZ media ignores its own prejudice. Vice. Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en_nz/article/ywwdpv/metiria-turei-and-how-the-nz-media-ignores-its-own-prejudice

Ministry of Health. (2012). Racial discrimination. Retrieved June 2, 2019, from  https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/populations/maori-health/tatau-kahukura-maori-health-statistics/nga-awe-o-te-hauora-socioeconomic-determinants-health/racial-discrimination

Tobacco, alcohol and gambling tax costing māori over $1b a year (2019, May 13), New Zealand Herald, Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12230415

The role of lived experience in social work practice

By Naomi Smith

            One of the reasons I wanted to become a social worker was to help others who may have had similar experiences as myself.  I have been able to access good therapists, and learn skills in self-reflection and I can quite honestly say, these have saved my life. The most helpful people were those who genuinely cared about my wellbeing and who shared their stories.  They didn’t launch into huge life stories, nor were they over-emotional (either of which would not be appropriate in that role) but it helped me to know I was not alone, and I could get through it.  It gave me hope.

            My experiences are just stories to me now; if they still brought up raw feelings I wouldn’t ever mention them, and to be honest I hardly ever do, but the understanding I have of human beings and our capabilities in the circumstances we can find ourselves in, have been my most valuable tool in working with people.  Sometimes just saying “I get it, I’ve been there” is enough. 

            Sharing lived experience is a highly personal choice, and you have no idea what can trigger people.  My utmost role is a duty of care to my client and I take this very seriously.  There are some good guidelines I found on self-disclosure in Social Work and these have been useful . 

            I have had two different experiences of the role of lived experience in social work. One was with a Maori run NGO and one was with a government agency.  The Maori NGO had core principles of Whakawhanaungatanga, Manaakitanga and Rangatiratanga.  Through the workshops and trainings, the staff were invited to disclose personal stories.  There were trainings on suicide prevention, drug and alcohol addictions, mental health, sexual abuse so you get the picture.  There was no judgement if you did or did not share, and confidentiality was emphasised.  It was part healing for some and served to work on our own potential triggers; it helped reduce shame and stigma and importantly, it built bonds between colleagues. 

It is seen in other organisations: Changing Minds only employs those in recovery from mental health or addiction issues, and the Jungian archetype of the Wounded Healer has been around for a while.  This is where supervision is so important within social work, and having an experienced supervisor that has had some therapeutic training will add to the quality of that journey.

On my second work placement at a government organisation, my supervisor asked me why I wanted to work for them.  I told them I shared some of the experiences of their clients (it was on my CV, this was no surprise) and I was met with “don’t share that with anyone in the office, and certainly not your clients”. What did they mean by this?  They talked about not wanting to trigger the clients, which I completely understand, and they were concerned that I would become a topic of gossip in the office.  This kind of culture compounds stigma and shame which are two things we should be striving to eliminate.   I found an article detailing white therapists experience of self-disclosure to Mexican-American clients.  The author found that this actually helped to break down barriers in the client/ therapist relationship.  You can read the article here and is also relevant when working with Tangata Whenua.

            Maybe we have become too risk adverse, and think if we share we have had suicidal thoughts that everyone is going to run around topping themselves.  Or that those struggling with addiction will relapse if you say you understand the cravings and they will pass.  Framing my response to a person in an emotional state has taken a lot of practice, mainly on my friends and family over the years where mistakes can be a little easier managed, (sometimes!). Sharing stories has taken away the isolation. Compassion, to me, is relating to the feelings: you don’t have to relate to the circumstances that brought those feelings to surface. Ruwhiu and Ruwhiu (2005) say that social workers need to be at peace with themselves before being able to have peace with the practice, something which I experience as true for me. 

In the spirit of social work in Aotearoa New Zealand, there is a lot to learn from whakawhanaungatanga.  As Ruby Wax said in a podcast with Russell Brand, both of whom have suffered from depression and anxiety, “We’re so alone, and no one is comparing notes.”  I believe it is possible in the right circumstances, that my lived experience can help others to see we are all human and there is hope. 

References

Brand, R (2017). Madness and Meditation. Under The Skin with Russell Brand and Ruby Wax. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uhpc_FsMAM

Danzer, G., (2017). White Therapist Self-Disclosure in Multicultural Contexts. Society for Psychotherapy. Retrieved from: https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/white-therapist-self-disclosure-multicultural-contexts/

Dunne, C (2013) Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZTG-tCEFv4

Ruwhiu, P. T., & Ruwhiu, L. A. (2005). Ko te pae o te atua mai i nga whakaaro hohonu nei, hei oranga mo te ira tangata. Te Komako 17(2), 4-19. Retrieved from https://anzswjournal.nz/anzsw/article/view/330/387

Vaz, G. Boundaries of Self Disclosure. Ethical Social Work Practice. Retrieved from: https://ethicalsocialwork.wixsite.com/ethicalsocialwork/boundaries-of-self-disclosure

Discourse, stereotypes and social work

By Kex

If you drive a motor vehicle in New Zealand, it is undeniable that people perceive the Chinese population as “bad drivers”, and make assumptions based on ethnicity. However, “according to the data, of the 378 road deaths in 2017, 34 people died in 25 crashes that involved a foreign driver. The foreign driver was at fault in 18 of those.” (NZ Herald, 2019 ). This statistic shows that foreign drivers only contribute to less than five per cent of the road toll deaths in New Zealand, while New Zealand citizens were at fault for over 95 per cent road accidents.

Let us have a look at other ethnicities and the stereotypes surrounding them. As for the indigenous people of New Zealand, Māori, common stereotypes suggest the public tends to think that the Māori population usually involves gang association, violence, and criminal activity. Contrasting perceptions for Pasifika people, people tend to have a stereotype of, labelling Pasifika people as lazy, poor and rely on welfare support. As for Muslim people, the public stereotypes those as having refugee status, and terrorist association (Kino, 2019 ). As a Chinese female myself, who has a Māori partner, the first question that some of my friends have asked me has been “Did he ever hit you?”. I do not blame my friends because they care about me and are concerned about my wellbeing. However, this makes me sad and I realise the level of stereotyping in New Zealand, and the assumptions people hold true based on ethnicity, religion, and culture.

Reflecting on social work practice, there are also many stereotypical discourses surrounding social workers, particularly for social workers in the child protection field. According to Mason (2018): “Too much coverage in the press fuels the myth we are a sinister arm of the state, focused on the systematic removal of children.” . This stereotype of child protection social workers can have a very negative effect. Due to the stereotype, clients tend not to trust or cooperate with social workers, which have led some social workers to respond in an assertive manner with the use of statutory power (Quick & Scott, 2018). Thus, a vicious cycle has formed in the child protection field.

However, where do all these stereotypes come from? From my perspective, mass media has contributed to a wide range of stereotypes in New Zealand. When searching for road toll deaths in New Zealand on Google, many media outlets reported with a pronounced title of “Chinese driver”, while almost none of the news items indicated a New Zealand driver was at fault when a car accident happened. In this case, the public tends to believe that New Zealanders usually are the victims of car accidents, and Chinese drivers “rip and destroy families”. Similarly, the media tend to implicate “Māori” when a violent or criminal action takes place, while Pākehā New Zealand ethnicity is seldom identified in the media.

Looking back at the horrific and heart-breaking terrorist attack which happened in Christchurch this year, it is the first time that mainstream media focused on Muslim families and reported about their struggles (Kino, 2019 ). Flowers were piled in front of mosques and many anti-racism posters were put on the streets. I feel like this is the first time since I moved to New Zealand that the voice of Muslim people was acknowledged. Before this tragic incident happened, the voices of Muslim people were disregarded and the media spoke heavily of terrorism when they mentioned Muslim people. (Kino, 2019)

Stereotyping is a serious issue that we need to be aware of, and we as social workers need to be dedicated to eliminating stereotyping altogether. Stereotyping is so close and connected to social work practice that sometimes you might not even realise it when you are doing it. As a social work student, I remember the first day I started my degree at the University of Auckland, a Māori lecturer asked the class a question: “What do you think are stereotypes about Māori?”. The consensus was that Māori stereotypes were “violent”, “homeless”, “lazy”, “criminals” and “alcoholics”. Many answers were negative toward the Māori population, with only a few positive comments provided. The Māori lecturer then said: “As social workers, we are here to reduce those stereotypes, and hopefully one day, when I ask the same question again, there will be more positive comments about us. When that day comes, we as social workers can finally say that we have done our jobs.”.

Reference

Kino, S. (2019, March 23). I’m struggling to be a journalist in New Zealand right now [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/23-03-2019/im-struggling-to-be-a-journalist-in-new-zealand-right-now/

Mason, S. (2018, May 16). A warped view of social work in the media is unfair – and dangerous. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/social-life-blog/2018/may/16/media-social-work-press-state-children

NZ Herald. (2019, January 23). Data shows you can’t blame foreign drivers for high road crash rate. Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12194979

Quick, D., & Scott, A. L. (2018). Affect and emotion in a parent’s engagement with statutory child-protection services: Navigating stigma and ‘identity assault’. The British Journal of Social Work, 49(2), 485-502.

Social Activism: Is the public fighting a losing battle?

By Hopeful Citizen

Activism has become redefined in today’s society. With the internet and social media, this enables people to have a more prominent voice and educate themselves on different issues. There has also been an increasing awareness of social injustices and how they intersect. However, there is still an immeasurable divide in the power imbalance of politicians and the public. It feels at times that politicians entertain the demands of the public, yet there are still situations which demonstrate their ultimate power over decision making. Particularly decisions regarding people or groups which are not represented in government, or are a minority.

Despite the progression of society, it often feels as though society takes one step forwards and two steps back. It can feel disheartening and disempowering when the perspectives of marginalised groups are not represented. Having the likes of President Trump being, is a wakeup call to people to the fragility of the political system. In the instance of abortion laws, in the United States currently, politicians are putting more restrictions against women or stripping away their rights or access entirely. This is alarming as it heightens the uncertainty around other laws, which could also be in jeopardy. This is reproductive rights intersects with the rights of women, people of colour and people from lower socioeconomic groups, as they are statistically more affected by these limitations and access to resources.

I think this is a contributing factor to the unrest in New Zealand and the push to remove abortion from the Crimes Act, in order to protect all women’s rights in the future. As well as to be more vocal about other issues, in order to ensure that these are being heard and hopefully addressed. People of differing age groups and identities appear to be coming together, as there is growing awareness of the intersectionality involved. This activism is also changing in the sense that it is becoming more ingrained in our conversations (Marvelly, 2018) . An example of this is New Zealand’s appallingly high suicide rates. Suicide often carries taboo, stigma and shame associated with it. In the New Zealand media, there is a law around how suicide is reported and it needs to be careful to increase the understanding of it, not the risk of suicide (Mental Health Foundation, 2019). Suicide is a phenomenon which has limited understanding. In recent years, it has become a more talked about issue and there have been many media campaigns urging people to reach out in times of need. As well as celebrities and other affluent people speaking out about person experiences, which has contributed to breaking down stigma around mental health issues. 

This is a social movement which is being reflected in government policies. With the Wellbeing Budget which government released just last week, there was a clear focus on mental health, in order to improve accessibility and funding. This has also been seen in politicians valuing the insight from those with lived experience. Last year the Law Commission in New Zealand gathered public submissions on their views on the abortion debate. They received 3,419 submissions (Law Commission, 2018). In the United States, just days ago, there was a Subcommittee on the Threats to Reproductive Rights in America. This consisted of a panel of women, giving testimonies from a range of lived experience, doctors, a professor, a lawyer and a minister, giving their views on the abortion debate. This was an interesting situation in which the public had an opportunity and platform to share their views in court. This was a diverse range of people, including different ethnic and socioeconomic groups and they were all women, given that this is a women’s issue.

Intersectionality is both theory and practice, it is as much about talking as it is about lobbying, therefore activism take many forms (Joy, 2019). It didn’t feel right to talk about a sole social issue and how social workers relate, when we are present in all areas of inequality intersectionality. Therefore, we are in a position to not only empower others, but to use our insight, passion and awareness to advocate for change. The simple protest of challenging stigmatising language used by others, or discriminatory beliefs is another small step towards gaining equality and justice for all humankind. This can be difficult, particularly whilst working within systemic pressures (Bartley, 2019). But we can’t give up without a fight.

References:

Bartley, L. (2019, January 21). Where has my radicalism gone? [Blog post]. Retrieved from: http://www.reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2019/01/where-has-my-radicalism-gone-revisited/

Joy, E. (2019). “You cannot take it with you”: Reflections on intersectionality and social work. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work 31(1), 42-48. Retrieved from: https://anzswjournal.nz/anzsw/article/view/560

Law Commission. (2018). Alternative approaches to abortion law. Retrieved from: https://www.lawcom.govt.nz/abortion

Marvelly, L. (2018, March 10). Activism is in the air – and it’s great. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved from: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12008831

Mental Health Foundation. (2019). Reporting & portrayal of suicide. https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/get-help/media/reporting-and-portrayal-of-suicide/

Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties (Panel). (2019). Threats to Reproductive Rights in America[YouTube]. United States of America: House Judiciary Committee Hearings. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVvv3JRCVQAl6ovogDum4hA

Photo: http://politicalpunchline.com/womens-march-signs/cant-believe-still-protesting-this-shit/  

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