Asian Social Work and Policy Review最新文献

Families play a significant role in the development of their children. Nearly 16% of children in the industrialized world live in single-parent households, which are mostly comprised of single mothers. Although motherhood is the most beautiful feeling a woman cherishes, this experience can be challenging when the woman has to raise their special-needs child on her own, without the support of her spouse or partner. This study aims to understand the challenges and coping strategies of single mothers while raising their special-needs children. To this end, in-depth case interviews were conducted with three single mothers selected purposively from the Srinagar area in Kashmir, India. The results revealed that multiple roles and responsibilities had an adverse effect on the psychological well-being of single mothers who had to deal with the financial burden of caring for their child's condition, including expenses for doctor visits, special therapies and medication, among other. In addition, they had to experience the social pressure and stigmatization attached to being a single mother. The most widely employed coping strategies include support from family and friends, religious faith, and self-coping. The study recommends the creation of welfare packages like free counseling, stipend support, inclusive education, free medical treatment, and therapies for Children with Special Needs (CWSNs) and their mothers.

Housekeeping and sanitary workers are crucial for the functional efficiency and hygiene of healthcare facilities. In India, women from oppressed castes and backward classes are predominantly recruited in these occupations. The work, regarded as “polluting,” is stigmatized, devalued, and lies at the historical and sociocultural intersections of caste, class, and gender. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper utilizes the concepts of “feminization of labor” and “care ethics” to read caste into an intersectional theoretical analysis of the organization of marginalized women's labor in such essential, yet invisibilized healthcare work. An exploratory narrative review of literature focusing exclusively on marginalized healthcare housekeepers and sanitation workers in India is undertaken and supplemented with a critical analysis of labor laws and policies to trace the sustained reproduction of the caste-based sexual division of labor in these occupations. I propose that their exploitative terms and conditions are sustained by what I refer to as the “feminine caste contract” – a complex sociopolitical and legal arrangement of precarious, casteist, and gendered work conditions. Recognizing the exploitation inherent in this contract, recommendations are made for social work education and practice to play a key role in restructuring marginalized women's labor in essential care work.

Childhood maltreatment is a universal issue impacting developmental outcomes, including the likelihood of experiencing violence in later life. Although previous works have focused on the cycle of abuse, the cycle of revictimization and neglect is less well-understood. In the current study, childhood exposure to maltreatment (physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect) are examined as potential risk factors for dating relationships in adulthood. A group of 1200 adults (mean age = 46.60 years; range: 20–84 years) were recruited from the registered residential population of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security. Logistic regression analyses were conducted and revealed that childhood physical abuse was associated with physical, emotional, and financial violence in dating relationships. In addition, childhood emotional abuse exposure was associated with physical and sexual dating violence. Although childhood exposure to neglect did not explain any types of adulthood dating violence, it appears that experiencing abuse during childhood is highly related to dating violence in adulthood. Our findings revealed the importance of understanding the different types of childhood maltreatment, especially in terms of how they relate to violence victimization in the context of dating in adulthood. Interventions should address the various types of childhood victimization by family members to help prevent dating violence in adulthood.

This paper explores social work students' perspectives of online fieldwork practice that emerged due to sudden disruption in field placement as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 in India. We have recruited and interviewed 32 Master's students from five north-Indian universities to participate in the research. The study's findings highlight ill-equipped agencies lacking social work components in online/virtual field placement. Also, ethical dilemmas in working virtually, disconnectedness from the field, and superficial supervision were experienced by the students. The study result implies the urgent need to develop and innovate a pedagogical approach to deal with uncertainties and crises like the COVID-19.

This paper aimed to examine the role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in the distribution of social assistance (SA) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. The paper adopts a qualitative case-study approach to explore the best practices in the distribution of SA by five (5) organizations including FBOs, governmental organizations (GOs), Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), political groups, and private voluntary groups. In this study, 14 beneficiaries of SA were selected by stratified proportionate random sampling method, and five (5) key personnel were selected purposively based on their experiences in the management of SA distribution. The study found that “no-move, no touch” approach followed by FBOs is more likely to establish human rights and social justice and reduce the transmission of diseases. In contrast to the modern idea, which undermines the faith-based charity, the study proved that faith-based charity is gaining attraction as an effective approach combating global pandemic. The findings of this paper will be useful for policymakers, voluntary service workers, GO, and NGO workers to ensure the distribution of SA in a more productive and disciplined way during and after an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study examines the effects of the pro-work reforms to South Korea's North Korean Defectors Settlement Support System (NKDSSS) on the economic adjustment of North Korean Defectors (NKDs) in the country. It analyzes data from the 2010 National Survey of Domestic Violence: NKDs, using a regression discontinuity design. The study finds that the reforms did not affect changes in the economic adjustment of NKDs, measured by employment, household income level, a rate of cash transfer as the main source of income, and welfare receipt. The findings of this study suggest that there are no significant differences in the economic adjustment outcomes of Unconditional Cash Transfers and Conditional Cash Transfers. It also implies that for the pro-work reforms to be effective to meet the changing needs, there should be rigorous policy evaluations for its reforms to improve the NKDSSS.

This study seeks to broaden the understanding of socioeconomic health disparities among Korean adolescents. Specifically, we examine the pathways from objective SES and subjective SES to physical health through a psychosocial perspective. To this end, stress and self-efficacy, which have been identified as critical psychosocial factors associated with SES, and physical activity, one of the most representative health behaviors during this period, are included as mediating variables in the research model. We utilize data from the 3rd year survey of the Seoul Education and Health Welfare Panel (2016), which consists of responses from 680 adolescents and parents. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the responses. The results show that sSES is directly associated with the physical health of adolescents. Meanwhile, oSES is indirectly associated with physical health and has two distinct psychosocial pathways to physical health according to whether or not the effect is mediated by sSES. Finally, we discuss the implications of the study findings.

Migration is an essential livelihood strategy in rapidly developing, low-income contexts. However, this article seeks to analyze occupation choices and the struggle for livelihood among laborers. This study carried out both secondary and primary data; the primary survey was conducted in the Udupi district of Karnataka. Detailed information was gathered from both individual and household levels. According to National Sample Survey data, construction offers the main occupation for short duration migrants, absorbing 36.2% of total short duration migration. However, the field survey findings indicated that at the destination, the construction sector migrants are more vulnerable and struggle for their lives and livelihood in the urban labor segments—poverty and rural unemployment a significant reasons to push the laborers into the construction segment.

Using a nationally representative sample in Korea, this study examined the association of information and communication technology (ICT) utilization level and the life satisfaction of people with disabilities and the variations by disability type. Data were obtained from the second wave of the 2021 Survey on the Digital Divide, administered by the Korean National Information Society Agency (N = 2200 persons with disabilities). Study findings reveal that ICT utilization level has a significant association with the life satisfaction of people with disabilities, regardless of the disability type. In addition, the level of disability was related to the life satisfaction of people with physical disabilities only, while income was associated with the life satisfaction of people with physical disabilities and brain lesion disabilities. Based upon these results, this study discussed practical and policy implications for people with disabilities, particularly focusing on the methods to increase to increase the level of ICT utilization.