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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA
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An Introduction
Third Edition
Chapter 16: International Social Work Practice
Chapter 16:
International Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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International Social Work Practice
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What is International Social Work?
International Social Work Practice Models
The Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Ensuring Sustainable Development
The Human Development Report
What Do International Social Workers Do?
The Internet and International Social Work
Participatory Action Research
Chapter 16:
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What is International Social Work?
Possible Meanings:
 Comparative social welfare
 Work within international organizations, particularly
in underdeveloped regions
 Day-to-day work social workers do in a country
other than their own
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What is International Social Work?
The North-South Divide:
 Poverty levels in countries of the global south are high
 Difficult for social workers to effect major change at local
levels
 Social work activists increasingly focusing on two guiding
principles:
 promotion and protection of human rights, and
 ensuring sustainable development
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International Social Work Practice Models
International Social Work Practice Models:
 Social Welfare Model
 New World Order Model
 Social Development Model
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International Social Work Practice Models
Social Welfare Model
 More conventional model of international social
work
 Help move countries through the necessary stages
of development
 Satisfaction of basic social and material needs of
people
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International Social Work Practice Models
New World Order Model
Concerned with bringing about widespread change:
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Active participation in transformation process
World peace and war prevention
Alleviation of human suffering in the world
Creation of effective systems of social protection and
social service provision
 Increased social and political justice
 Protection and enhancement of the natural
environment
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International Social Work Practice Models
Social Development Model
 Somewhere between the Social Welfare Model and the
New World Order Model
 Addresses immediate causes of human degradation,
powerlessness, and social inequality
 Guides collective action towards the elimination of all
forms of oppression, injustice, and violence
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International Social Work Practice Models
Respect for Cultural Diversity
 Cultural competence emphasizes understanding the
cultural frame of reference of the client
 Avoid stereotypes based on a limited knowledge of
another culture
 Cultural competence is increasingly necessary skill
set in our work, home, and community lives
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Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Individuals possess certain inalienable political
and civil rights:
 Part of our human heritage
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the
General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948
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Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Three Types of Human Rights:
1. Negative rights
2. Positive rights
3. Collective rights
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Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Negative Rights:
Protection of basic rights such as freedom from
torture, false imprisonment, or summary execution.
Positive Rights:
Employment rights, housing and health care rights, as well
as the right to social security.
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Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Collective Rights:
Such things as self-determination, economic and
social development, healthy environment, communication,
cultural heritage, and sustainability.
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Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
International Policy on Human Rights
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The International Policy on Human Rights has been
adopted by the International Federation of Social Work
(IFSW)
Responsibility to advance the cause of human rights
throughout the world
Not only to respect human rights, but to oppose and
eliminate all violations of human rights
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Ensuring Sustainable Development
“Sustainable development is development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
(World Commission 1987, 43)
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Ensuring Sustainable Development
Sustainable Social Progress
A central organizing principle for international social
workers with three basic premises:
 Equity and justice for all
 Long-term view
 Structural understanding of the society
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Chapter 16:
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The Human Development Report
 Independent report released each year by United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP)
 Goes beyond income alone and assesses the level of
people’s long-term well-being
 Emphasizes that the goals of development are choices and
freedoms
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The Human Development Report
There are four composite indices for human
development:
 Human Development Index
 Gender-related Development Index
 Gender Empowerment Measure
 Human Poverty Index
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The Human Development Report
The Human Development Index
 Powerful starting point for understanding human
development
 Focuses on three basic dimensions of development:
 Long and healthy life (life expectancy)
 Knowledge (literacy rate)
 Decent standard of living (GDP per capita)
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What Do International Social Workers Do?
International social workers perform a wide range of
activities in a variety of national, international, and
overseas organizations. These organizations include:
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Chapter 16:
International Social Work Practice
International intergovernmental organizations
Non-governmental organizations
Churches and other humanitarian organizations
Community organizations
Social Work In Canada
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What Do International Social Workers Do?
International Intergovernmental Organizations
 The United Nations (UN) is best known, with twelve
specialized agencies (UN Development Programme, UNICEF,
World Health Organization)
 Social workers participate as analysts and direct
practitioners
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What Do International Social Workers Do?
Non-Governmental Organizations
 International organizations, not directly related to
government
 Work on issues related to political or philosophical
stance
 Frequently work in peace building and conflict
resolution
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What Do International Social Workers Do?
Churches and Other Organizations
 Extensive overseas humanitarian programs
 Large international grant foundations employ social
workers as consultants, field representatives, and
directors for programs
 Canadian government also maintains offices in many
countries
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What Do International Social Workers Do?
International Community Work
 Problem solving and planning effective social services
 Bringing about major social change between nations, within
nations, and between groups of people
 Working to achieve fullest participation of community members
in transforming various aspects of their lives
 Empowering - “sense in people that they have the ability and
right to influence their environment” (Lee, B. 1999, 43)
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What Do International Social Workers Do?
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
 Canada’s lead agency for development assistance
 Established in 1968 to administer Canada’s official development
assistance (ODA) program
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What Do International Social Workers Do?
CIDA’s priorities are:
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Chapter 16:
International Social Work Practice
poverty reduction
democratic governance
private sector development
health
basic education
equality between women and men
environmental sustainability
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The Internet and International Social Work
The Internet
 Connects people and communities for the promotion of
social justice and peace
 Being used for electronic advocacy, human rights
protection, and community building
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The Internet and International Social Work
Electronic Advocacy
 Using communication and information technologies to
disseminate information and mobilize support to influence
decision-making processes or policy change
 Connect with people who would have been unreachable
in the pre-Internet era
 Familiarity with online communication is becoming part of
the skill set of international social workers
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International Social Work Practice
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The Internet and International Social Work
The Digital Divide
 Important social justice issue in its own right
 Unequal access to information technology becomes
especially important in the context of international social
work
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International Social Work Practice
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Participatory Action Research
 Useful set of techniques to bring about social change
 Combines three types of activity: investigation, education,
and action
 PAR is ideally carried out by local people for local people
 Often the process is continuous
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Websites
 New Internationalist
www.newint.org
 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
www.undp.org
 Heritage Canada Human Rights Program
www.pch.gc.ca/ddp-hrd
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Questions for Discussion
Why is it important for social workers to
understand their own cultural contexts before
working with others with diverse cultural
backgrounds?
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Questions for Discussion
Describe the role of faith-based organizations in
international humanitarian work. What are the
benefits of faith-based organizations’
involvement in this arena? What are some
challenges?
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Questions for Discussion
Which areas/populations in Canada might be
categorized more as belonging in the “global
south” than in the “global north”?
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International Social Work Practice
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Questions for Discussion
What are some of the benefits of using a PAR
approach to community work? What are some
challenges, particularly for social workers
coming from Canada?
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International Social Work Practice
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Questions for Discussion
Give an example of electronic advocacy in
action. How was technology used? Do you think
its use affected the outcome in the situation?
Chapter 16:
International Social Work Practice
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Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.