{"title":"“流动老年”的社会工作:来自医院社会工作队民族志研究的一些见解","authors":"D. Burrows","doi":"10.1080/17496535.2021.1996619","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article explores the values enacted by social workers involved in care planning for older people and their implications. The data are derived from an ethnographic study of a hospital social work team responsible for planning and arranging packages of care, almost exclusively for older patients (aged 80+), prior to their discharge, in a large general hospital in the UK. The study set out to explore the nature of statutory hospital social work, how hospital social workers do their work, and how social work fits into the hospital context. The primary methods of data collection were participant observation and semi-structured interviews with social workers, clinicians, patients and carers. Where patients’ mental capacity was not in doubt, social workers were found to be strong advocates of patients’ choices as free individuals. It is argued that the individualistic focus of the social workers’ practices facilitates the production of a precarious existence that can be characterised in Bauman’s terms as ‘liquid old age’, which involves coping with the physical, emotional and social challenges of ageing alone or with little assistance. Depending on an individual’s circumstances, the social workers’ advocacy of personal choice can either be liberating or detrimental.","PeriodicalId":46151,"journal":{"name":"Ethics and Social Welfare","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2021-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Social Work for ‘Liquid Old Age’: Some Insights from an Ethnographic Study of a Hospital Social Work Team\",\"authors\":\"D. Burrows\",\"doi\":\"10.1080/17496535.2021.1996619\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"ABSTRACT This article explores the values enacted by social workers involved in care planning for older people and their implications. The data are derived from an ethnographic study of a hospital social work team responsible for planning and arranging packages of care, almost exclusively for older patients (aged 80+), prior to their discharge, in a large general hospital in the UK. The study set out to explore the nature of statutory hospital social work, how hospital social workers do their work, and how social work fits into the hospital context. The primary methods of data collection were participant observation and semi-structured interviews with social workers, clinicians, patients and carers. Where patients’ mental capacity was not in doubt, social workers were found to be strong advocates of patients’ choices as free individuals. It is argued that the individualistic focus of the social workers’ practices facilitates the production of a precarious existence that can be characterised in Bauman’s terms as ‘liquid old age’, which involves coping with the physical, emotional and social challenges of ageing alone or with little assistance. Depending on an individual’s circumstances, the social workers’ advocacy of personal choice can either be liberating or detrimental.\",\"PeriodicalId\":46151,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Ethics and Social Welfare\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.7000,\"publicationDate\":\"2021-10-28\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"2\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Ethics and Social Welfare\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2021.1996619\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q4\",\"JCRName\":\"SOCIAL WORK\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ethics and Social Welfare","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2021.1996619","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"SOCIAL WORK","Score":null,"Total":0}
Social Work for ‘Liquid Old Age’: Some Insights from an Ethnographic Study of a Hospital Social Work Team
ABSTRACT This article explores the values enacted by social workers involved in care planning for older people and their implications. The data are derived from an ethnographic study of a hospital social work team responsible for planning and arranging packages of care, almost exclusively for older patients (aged 80+), prior to their discharge, in a large general hospital in the UK. The study set out to explore the nature of statutory hospital social work, how hospital social workers do their work, and how social work fits into the hospital context. The primary methods of data collection were participant observation and semi-structured interviews with social workers, clinicians, patients and carers. Where patients’ mental capacity was not in doubt, social workers were found to be strong advocates of patients’ choices as free individuals. It is argued that the individualistic focus of the social workers’ practices facilitates the production of a precarious existence that can be characterised in Bauman’s terms as ‘liquid old age’, which involves coping with the physical, emotional and social challenges of ageing alone or with little assistance. Depending on an individual’s circumstances, the social workers’ advocacy of personal choice can either be liberating or detrimental.
期刊介绍:
Ethics and Social Welfare publishes articles of a critical and reflective nature concerned with the ethical issues surrounding social welfare practice and policy. It has a particular focus on social work (including practice with individuals, families and small groups), social care, youth and community work and related professions. The aim of the journal is to encourage dialogue and debate across social, intercultural and international boundaries on the serious ethical issues relating to professional interventions into social life. Through this we hope to contribute towards deepening understandings and further ethical practice in the field of social welfare. The journal welcomes material in a variety of formats, including high quality peer-reviewed academic papers, reflections, debates and commentaries on policy and practice, book reviews and review articles. We actively encourage a diverse range of contributions from academic and field practitioners, voluntary workers, service users, carers and people bringing the perspectives of oppressed groups. Contributions might include reports on research studies on the influence of values and ethics in social welfare practice, education and organisational structures, theoretical papers discussing the evolution of social welfare values and ethics, linked to contemporary philosophical, social and ethical thought, accounts of ethical issues, problems and dilemmas in practice, and reflections on the ethics and values of policy and organisational development. The journal aims for the highest standards in its published material. All material submitted to the journal is subject to a process of assessment and evaluation through the Editors and through peer review.