Abstract
Worldwide neoliberal policies are transforming the landscape of social work. Studies have shown that these policies increased social workers' caseloads, regulated welfare expenditures, impaired public services' capabilities to attend to the needs of growing demand, transformed social services delivery by implanting new public management methods, and often also worsened working conditions and deteriorated the professional status of social workers. Moreover, these policies have raised both poverty and inequality levels and left their negative marks on social work education, by prioritizing academic disciplines more attuned with the needs of neoliberal regimes. This article seeks to encourage schools of social work, social workers in the social services, and people living in poverty to challenge the harmful impact of this context by engaging in meaningful alliances focused on the fight against poverty and social exclusion. This article presents a long-term partnership project between a school of social work, local public social services, and groups of active clients, to tackle the issue of poverty in Israel. The article describes the project, introduces the theoretical and methodological principles, analyzes achievements and challenges, and finally discusses the potential contribution of such partnerships for the future of the profession.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 339-345 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Social Work |
Volume | 64 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 31 Oct 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Changed University Orientation. The project received several awards (University of Haifa award for academic excellence, the ICHE Award). Based on these achievements, the provost of the University of Haifa decided in 2011 to disseminate the model at the university level through the University of Haifa Flagship Program (UHFP). This multidisciplinary program based on the ISWP model is a comprehensive Academy-Community Partnership that includes the Faculty of Law, the School of Political Science, the Faculty of Education, the Gerontology Department,the Community Mental Health Department, the Theater Department, and other university units. The UHFP has been funded by the ICHE.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 National Association of Social Workers.
Keywords
- Critical social work
- Neoliberalism
- Poverty
- Schools of social work
- University-community partnership
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science