Journal of Human Rights and Social Work最新文献

Social support is important for human life and survival, especially during critical times. In recent times, especially during the pandemic, older adults across the globe have experienced a decline in social support, reducing their quality of life. This qualitative phenomenological study examined social support and familial relationships for the well-being of older adults. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 12 (twelve) adults aged 60 years or older. Findings from the study revealed that older adults who received emotional, physical, and financial support during the pandemic had greater well-being and appreciated life amidst the restrictions on activities. The study concludes that social support and strengthening social relationships with older people are imperative to bridge the gap between care and well-being among older people. The study recommends improved social relationships between family/friends and older people and the implementation of social policy and community support programs to cushion the effect of loneliness and depression caused by a result of lack of social support.

The study aims to examine the violation of women’s rights through domestic violence in the Domiz camp, focusing on child marriage as a human rights issue within refugee camps and its connection with social work. It sought to evaluate domestic violence among Syrian refugee girls married before 18 and its impact on these young girls and their families. The long-lasting displacement caused by the internal Syrian war has led to one of the world’s largest refugee populations. The qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with young wives using ecological theory as a conceptual framework. Face-to-face interviews were conducted by the first author with four girls, along with focus group discussions involving five parents. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were employed for participant selection. The primary findings highlighted that conflicts with parents-in-law are associated with domestic violence and divorce incidents affecting family members of Syrian refugees. Domestic violence within a family leads to marital breakdowns and subsequent legal issues due to divorces. Hence, suitable strategies such as engaging in social work with young wives and their families can help reduce marital violence prevalence among refugees. Furthermore, it is recommended that parents educate their daughters about family responsibilities. In addition, government authorities and societal stakeholders should act aimed at enhancing child protection measures while reducing the vulnerability of girls towards domestic abuse. Finally, divorced young wives need crucial financial support enabling them to communicate effectively in a society, wherein increasing independence becomes feasible.

Since the mid-2000s, I have been researching the long-term consequences of the war against Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on social work and social work education in the country. Over the years, I have participated in numerous international gatherings and have published extensively on the role of the social work profession in the context of war and post-conflict reconstruction, sharing insights from the Bosnian experience, which is both unique and widely relevant but is essentially unknown to the larger European and international social work community. Rooted in personal positionality and reflexivity, the purpose of this paper is to revisit the impact in BiH of the most disturbing and painful experiences of the war, as well as lessons learned from the unprecedented international intervention in post-war peacebuilding efforts. The paper discusses three crucial challenges faced by Bosnian post-war society — post-conflictness, poverty and the transition to a market economy and liberal democracy, and the way their complex interactions have resulted in the political, economic, and social disempowerment of large parts of the population. Finally, the paper explores the question of whether social work education can become a site of resistance and empowerment. I argue that social work can contribute to the democratization of society only if it is re-affirmed as a profession for peace, human rights, and social justice. This implies that social work (education) should abandon its current inclination to legitimize the status quo and should actively engage with questions of justice, freedom, power, and politics.

Climate change is a crucial environmental justice issue that calls for the urgent attention and intervention of social work. Climate change exacerbates poverty, health risks, food insecurity, and loss of livelihood for millions of Indigenous and agricultural communities of the world. The climate crisis will change migration patterns, generating internally and internationally displaced people. This article focuses on climate change-related crises that result in the loss of livelihood and forced migration in the Peruvian Andes, Brazilian Amazon, and Colombian Caribbean. Three case composites illustrating this intersection are included. Given the annual rise of climate-related displacements, US-based social workers will be presented with the challenge of meeting the needs of increased climate refugees over time. Using tenets from Indigenous feminism and structural social work theory, US-based social workers can intervene at the mezzo and macro social levels through community action, such as collaboration with community health promoters, policy advocacy, and education. Social workers, in tandem with climate refugees, must facilitate community-based empowerment and education opportunities to identify environmental injustices and reconnect with Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge in the development of natural resource planning to adapt to climate change. Social workers and community members can also mobilize to advocate for policy change by recognizing an international definition of climate refugees and legal protections. The authors also propose that social workers across levels of experience need education and training about climate change and its consequences on the livelihood of Indigenous communities and their role in this environmental justice issue.

Social work war studies that incorporate critical theory, including feminist, disability and crip studies, and postcolonial approaches, can be used to respond to the needs of people living through genocide, domicide, ecocide, and scholasticide, and for advocacy of human dignity regardless of state and ethnic affiliation, and thus for peace worldwide. The first case study presents a thematic analysis of the war memories of social work educators and practitioners living in Ukraine and outside the war zone. Oral history, a fundamental method of critical social work research, epistemological reflexivity, and epistemic flexibility to understand the experience of the other(s), began with war stories collected by early Greek historians. The latest memoirs related to the invasion of Ukraine reveal the dichotomy between life-threatening circumstances on the one hand and the necessity of social work educators and practitioners to continue ordinary life on the other; the need for institutional and emotional support; and the recognition that war narrows the perception of human diversity and regiments people into binary identities of gender and singular identity positions regarding ethnicity. The second case study presents a unique example of transnational solidarity and support meetings with social work teachers and practitioners during wartime. From the onset of the war, transnational solidarity was a resistance to the isolation of social work colleagues due to the war and served as a force of connectedness in a time of human suffering and division. The Global Principle of Social Work Ethics (9.3) are used to show complexities and ambivalences of the dangerous peace and the need for situated ethics and standpoints concerning war and peace.

This article is devoted to the issues of migration amnesty implementation in the context of legal regulation of migration. The purpose of the study is to determine the feasibility of further developing and improving legislative regulation on migration amnesty in the Russian Federation. The paper considered the current state and prospects for the development of the migration amnesty institution in the state in the context of foreign practices. Using the comparative legal method, systematic review methods, and political and legal analysis, the work analyzed the legal institutionalization and determinants of the application of migration amnesty in the Russian Federation, as well as the experience of other countries in carrying out migration amnesties. In addition, this study addressed the issue of the role of social work in the adaptation of migrants and the importance of implementing ethical standards (following the model of IASSW and IFSW normative documents). Currently, Russian legislation lacks a legal definition of migration amnesty and a procedure for its implementation, which formally took it beyond the legal plane. The results of the study demonstrate that to resolve the situation of labor migration in the country, it is necessary to develop a legal model of migration amnesty and consolidate it at the legislative level, detailing the procedure and content of actions in this area. This work makes a theoretical contribution to understanding the issues of migration amnesty as an element of interdisciplinary knowledge in the field of international relations theory, law, and sociology.

This paper analyzes the development of legislation and identifies specific gaps and shortcomings in the selection and appointment of judges in the Republic of Kazakhstan, proposing improvements crucial for an independent judiciary and the implementation of the rule of law. It highlights that while Kazakhstan has attempted to borrow judicial selection mechanisms from other countries, these have not always proven effective due to unique national challenges. Specific issues identified include systemic errors in legislative reforms, lack of transparency, and susceptibility to political and internal judicial pressure. For instance, the composition and functioning of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) have not effectively ensured impartial and competent judicial appointments, leading to low public trust. In 2020, Kazakhstan ranked 63rd out of 128 countries on the Rule of Law Index, and the judicial system is perceived as highly corrupt. Kazakhstan’s transition from a Soviet-influenced system to a more democratic model faces unique challenges, including deeply ingrained cultural practices such as nepotism. By addressing these legislative and systemic issues, the proposed reforms aim to enhance judicial independence, improve the quality of the judiciary, and ultimately restore public confidence in the legal system. The expected impact includes more transparent and accountable judicial appointments, leading to a more robust and fair judicial system that upholds the rule of law and human rights.

This article delves into the complexities of working with ex-combatants in war-torn Ukraine, examining the challenges and experiences of both ex-combatants and service providers. The study employs a qualitative research design, encompassing interviews with ex-combatants (n = 15) and service providers (n = 15), complemented by a document analysis. The findings reveal that the current service delivery model in Ukraine falls short of being client-centric, widening the gap between ex-combatants and society. The landscape of veteran support in Ukraine is defined by three central themes: human-centric support dynamics, systemic challenges, and adaptations to evolving geopolitical events. These themes underscore the need for a comprehensive approach to veteran support that upholds human rights, addresses systemic gaps, and adapts to the ongoing crisis. The study highlights the urgent need for targeted support and interventions to facilitate the successful reintegration of ex-combatants, particularly those with severe disabilities. Drawing upon the study’s findings, the article proposes recommendations for social work education in Ukraine and beyond. By examining the state of Ukrainian social work in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war, this article sheds light on the limitations of current practices and their impact on working with ex-combatants, contributing to the international discourse on social work practice in conflict-affected areas.

Telehealth, and telemedicine, has been an innovative tool that has helped the patient-physician relationship. Telehealth has allowed for healthcare to become accessible to rural and underserved populations. Telehealth has reduced these barriers that transgender individuals face when seeking gender-affirming care. Tennessee legislation has fought to obtain medical records of those who seek abortions and gender-affirming care outside of the state. With the ban of gender-affirming care of minors in Tennessee, telehealth is now being used as a tool for legislators to prosecute the transgender individuals. Weaponizing telehealth creates a distrust within the healthcare community, including social workers, with treating transgender patients. This article discusses the implications of Tennessee laws, the professional violations of ethics, and advocates for transgender healthcare.

Since February 2022, when Russia started the war, people living in Ukraine face evidence of war crimes, including sexual violence committed by Russian aggressors against Ukrainian citizens. Sexual violence by soldiers has been defined as a weapon of war in most armed political conflicts. It is a symbol of the enemy’s humiliation of individuals and communities. While men are fighting at the frontlines, their loved ones are being violated while no one can protect them. The most prevalent forms of sexual violence in wartime include rape, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, threats of sexual violence, forced witnessing of sexual abuse, forced abortion, genital mutilation, sexual slavery, and forced nudity. Victims of sexual violence suffer serious psychological trauma and physical pain, experience post-traumatic stress disorders, develop mental health problems, and may attempt suicide. The problem of providing assistance to the victims is further complicated by the fact that sexual violence remains a taboo in Ukrainian society. People who have suffered from it, mostly women, are often scared and ashamed to seek help from professionals. Social workers are the professionals who generally provide psychosocial support to the victims. However, for Ukrainian social workers, this type of work is relatively new. Social workers working in governmental services and public organizations for the victims of war-related sexual violence need additional knowledge of intervention of how to offer effective psychosocial support for the victims of war sexual violence. To address the issue, the authors conducted a series of expert interviews with social work professionals (n = 43) who work in social services and meet people victimized in war. The experiences of social workers and of the survivors can help to identify the problems of the victims and can help social workers work effectively.