Australian Social Policy and its Impact on Social Work Practice
Social policies are framed against the identified social issues, which are causing much of loss to the respective society. Different societies have different issues to fight. Such social issues could be fought to mitigate through an effective governance framework and a proper use of technology. However, the success rate may vary (George, 2012). This study is also based on social works and its consequences on the target society. The main purpose of this assignment is to understand the importance of social works in the lights of different kinds of literature on the subject topic and the relevant evidence.
Bullying has become a global epidemic that has worried many in schools. This has been identified as one of the potential social issues that hamper the environment in schools. The issue is significantly common with the Australia schools as well. This is challenging because the one person who can put a stop to bullying finds him or herself in a terrible trauma. They know it is dangerous; however, they do not have any measure of what to do to control it (“Bullying. No Way!”, 2017). In this regard, the Australian government has shown some resilience in collaborative support of the community groups that are formed to address the bullying issue at all the state and the territories level. The community is being formed with the help of representatives at the different state & territories level. The Safe and Supportive School Communities are working in the direction to help Australian schools get rid of the bullying issues (“Bullying. No Way!”, 2017).
The website works through different apps dedicated especially to different objectives. There is an app such as “Take a Stand Together app”. The app gives tips and advice on the bullying activities. This may let its user to understand the different tips and advises to get rid of the bullying activities in schools. However, it might be difficult to say that the process will fetch the expected success. In some cases, knowledge might be an issue. Somebody might not be aware of what is bullying and how it hampers the morale of the victim. They may find this app useful to rectify their mistakes. However, those who because of some social influences have developed into them the habit of bullying others might not be benefitted from the app. Moreover, basic instincts are hard to be changed. It is indeed a challenge to prevent those from bullying others who influentially do such things (“Bullying. No Way!”, 2017).
Importance of Human Rights and Social Justice Perspectives in Social Work Practice
Human rights have largely helped the social works to evolve. It was towards the end of the 19th century; the need to have a solution for the issues, in particular, the poverty was felt. The problem had appeared in the United States and Europe after the Industrial Revolution. This has produced the first education activity to happen on behalf of social activities. There are certain needs in terms of understanding the political, social and the economic rights of an individual. In some cases, an individual is not aware of the obstacles that may stop him or her to understand his or her human rights. In such context, teaching the human rights through social works becomes necessary (Beydili & Yildirim, 2013).
For example, providing support to groups such as refugees, women under different kinds of pressure and homosexuals are some of the functions that support the fact (Beydili & Yildirim, 2013). In such cases, social works are required. A social worker can only provide the much-needed reliefs; however, it can hardly provide any stop to it (George, 2012). The main problem is in the society, which does not get enough education on the different social abuses. They become addicted to such abuses because of different social backgrounds that they represent. Education is the missing key from such societies. Badheka et al., (2014) argued that education is not only responsible; it is even possible through Foreign Intervention as well. This is very dreadful as it causes a lot of problem in the target society. Foreign intervention still exists. The modern examples can be traced in surgical strikes led by the United States for different reasons in different countries that include Iraq, Western Province of Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Vietnam, Cuba and the Middle East.
Empowerment will indeed improve the casework or the community work. They are concerned with the human rights of women under pressure, children, refugees and others. Such purposes are challenging to attain without empowering the different social groups. They need to have authorities, so that, they are entertained at the political and the legislative level. The different community groups across the globe work according to its strategic plan. Such plans are designed to attain necessary outcomes. It is also designed to get the relevant supports from the different members of the community such as the common people, the state government and the identified private bodies. Common people contribute to understanding the needs of the plan. The state government is required to conduct the different campaigns at the state level. The private bodies are required to get the necessary funds. Moreover, this is quite evident that community groups are needed to be empowered in order to get the action plan at the practical platform (Christens, 2012).
Empowerment in Casework and Community Work: Usefulness and Practice Examples
This can be explained by examples as well. According to the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnerships, approximately above 250 institutions for health care in 36 states have gone the same way and adopted medical-legal partnerships. Boston Medical Center has developed this model in 1993. The model has helped to unite public health professionals, legal and medical communities based on their collective interest in health-related social determinants. For example, the Education, Advocacy, Health and Law Collaborative in New Jersey were an example of such model. The example of state government can be traced in a fact that a large number of social workers in the United States work for the purpose of public health. These are some examples that prove a collaborative approach of legal & state bodies, social workers and the health professionals for the shared purpose (Capella.edu, 2017).
An effective social work for the refugees and former asylum seekers needs to be attained in order to achieve the set objectives. Social workers can feel it full of tensions and challenges if they have perceptions that they cannot mitigate the issue through their style of working. In such situation, more research works will be required on how to cross the barriers and resolve the issues. Social workers should look at the identified issues from different perspectives such as the political background of the identified agenda. They need to identify the work agenda. After they have identified the work agenda, they are then needed to follow the work examples of social groups from some different regions with the same political background (Robinson, 2013).
Additionally, social workers are needed to expand their network area. This has also been identified that social workers are needed to have the understanding of the challenges that are there working with the refugees and the asylum seekers. They need to develop their working skills, which they can possibly do by following some positive examples in some other parts of the world. The front line workers are needed to be trained in the ways that are helpful while working with the identified groups. The political and the legal bodies do also need to support such works. Leadership supervision is also in question in such cases. Government supports are also needed as an adequate supply of supports will help the cause immensely. Indeed, a government policy is required. Funding is also needed both at the local and the national levels (Masocha & Simpson, 2012).
Challenges in Working Effectively with Refugees and Former Asylum Seekers
There is number of factors that inhibit a successful working of social groups with the indigenous communities of Australia. A lack of infrastructure support is a challenge to social groups. An incapable logistics will hamper a proper delivery of service. The demand for the supports is then not met by the specific social group. A low support is then accompanied by incrementing demand. This may encourage burnout in social workers. This affects the social environment. In the context, the social environment is challenging due to various reasons such as reduced level of trust, social control, participation, effectiveness, high levels of apprehension, disorganization, disempowerment and the service delivery (Aifs.gov.au, 2017).
Such complexities can be resolved by following the successful services of other social groups. They will teach lessons on how to attain a successful outcome of working with the indigenous children, communities, and families. Success can be attained if the working social groups follow some principles. The social group needs to involve the community members also. They are needed to be involved in both the planning and the implementation of the plan. It is advisable to proceed with the plan slowly and gradually. They should construct their future progress on the initial successes. There is also a need to balance the consultation with the implementation (Ens, Finlayson, Preuss, Jackson & Holcombe, 2012).
To conclude, social works can bring changes to the influenced societies. However, the change will only be brought if it gets the support from the respective political, legal, state bodies, public & private bodies, and the different community workers. There are ample of societal issues that exist today. All such issues can be mitigated if the social workers move in the set direction with the support from the different surrounding bodies.
References
Aifs.gov.au. (2017). Working with Indigenous children, families, and communities: Lessons from practice. aifs.gov.au. Retrieved 14 December 2017, from https://Aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/working-indigenous-children-families-and-communities
Badheka, A. O., Patel, N. J., Grover, P., Singh, V., Patel, N., Arora, S., … & Patel, A. (2014). Impact of annual operator and institutional volume on percutaneous coronary intervention outcomes: a 5-year United States experience (2005-2009). Circulation, CIRCULATIONAHA-114. [10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.114.009281]
Beydili, E., & Yildirim, B. (2013). Human Rights as a Dimension of Social Work Education. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 106, 1393-1398. [org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.155]
Bullying. No Way!. (2017). Bullying No Way!. Retrieved 14 December 2017, from https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/
Capella.edu. (2017). Working Together: Examples of Social Work Collaboration – Capella University Blog. Capella.edu. Retrieved 14 December 2017, from https://www.capella.edu/blogs/cublog/online-social-work-degree-supports-collaboration/
Christens, B. D. (2012). Targeting empowerment in community development: A community psychology approach to enhancing local power and well-being. Community Development Journal, 47(4), 538-554. [10.1093/cdj/bss031]
Ens, E. J., Finlayson, M., Preuss, K., Jackson, S., & Holcombe, S. (2012). Australian approaches for managing ‘country’using Indigenous and non?Indigenous knowledge. Ecological Management & Restoration, 13(1), 100-107. [10.1111/j.1442-8903.2011.00634.x]
George, M. (2012). Migration traumatic experiences and refugee distress: Implications for social work practice. Clinical Social Work Journal, 40(4), 429-437. [10.1007/s10615-012-0397-y]
Masocha, S., & Simpson, M. K. (2012). Developing mental health social work for asylum seekers: A proposed model for practice. Journal of Social Work, 12(4), 423-443. [10.1177/1468017310392283]
Robinson, K. (2013). Voices from the front line: Social work with refugees and asylum seekers in Australia and the UK. British Journal of social work, 44(6), 1602-1620. [10.1093/bjsw/bct040]