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This article identifies the key challenges confronting social work and human services in Australia. The implications of such challenges, in particular, managerialism, on the social work profession are examined. Future viability of the profession depends on its capacity to re-invent itself and engage in these fundamental contextual changes. Such a move necessitates the social work profession to adopt a change in its culture and orientation.

O'Connor 在〈 澳 洲 社 会 工 作 未 来〉 一 文 中 检 视 了 社 工 专 业 面 对 的 重 大 挑 战， 其 中 尤 以 管 理 主 义 的 影 响 最 大。 社 工 专 业 是 否 能 延 续 它 对 社 会 的 贡 献， 则 有 赖 社 工 专 业 是 否 能 在 它 的 文 化 和 取 向 方 面， 作 出 基 本 的 改 变； 从 而 使 专 业 提 升 自 我 更 生 的 能 力。

Instead of trying to improve its very inadequate research by yet another rededication to rationality, social work should take cognizance of its consistent failure across fifty years to produce any scientifically credible social service assessments. The pursuit of rationality in social work obscures its political acquiescence, a fable of the Arctic midgerby. The corrective myths of its research stunt the professional coming of age of social work and may well lead to its demise. Rather than social science, social criticism is more consistent with the field's traditions, inclinations, and capacities.

This paper presents the results of a survey of international recruitment of social workers and social care workers into the United Kingdom. The literature on international recruitment, especially in relation to social care workers, is extremely sparse. Reviews conducted by the authors for the UK Department of Health did not find any definitive answer to the question of the numbers at present in the UK workforce, their movement between jobs, and their length of stay in the UK. The present study is based on qualitative interviews with three senior managers, four human resources managers, one employment agency manager, one senior social services inspector and three inspectors and three staff from the voluntary and private sectors. The interviews confirmed some of the major benefits associated with international recruitment: a reduction in vacancy rates; filling gaps in key shortage areas; improved sickness records; and once training has been provided the standards of care have improved. In addition, recruitment from overseas has the effect of creating a more diverse staff mix through the appointment of people with more varied experience and experiences. There may also be cost benefits associated with the reduction in costs of employing agency staff. The challenges involved are: having an ethical recruitment policy; the transferability of qualifications and skill sets, and cultural expectations and differences. Employers need to recognize that higher levels of induction are needed in order to meet the unique local knowledge requirements of an overseas candidate. Generally however, there are very few problems, and employers recruiting from overseas find that any problems that exist diminish with each round of recruitment, that is, as employers learn from their previous mistakes. Nevertheless, international recruitment is only a short term strategy, and, alone, does not solve the fundamental domestic problems that lead to the shortages in the first place.

While traditional policing focuses on crime control by law enforcement, the Hong Kong Police Force has increasingly affirmed the importance of multi-agency collaboration and service-orientation in their work. The change provides impetus for venturing on more innovative training for police. The _{Police Attachment to NGOs Program} is an unprecedented tailor-made multi-agency training program for serving police officers in Hong Kong. A series of these training programs were commissioned to the Department of Applied Social Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. So far, seven rounds of training have been completed. The program consisted of three phases — the pre-attachment induction phase, the attachment phase and the post-attachment deepening phase. The trainees were provided with opportunities to dialog with the social workers and youth-at-risk directly, an experience evaluated by the trainees as stimulating and rewarding. The program also generated benefits to the social workers and the service users of the NGOs because they both could gain better understanding of the police mindset, their work and difficulties. This paper discusses what social work can contribute in police training, including the design of the program, its implementation, and evaluation of its effect. In a way, the training can be regarded as an indirect social work practice from which both the young people and the society can benefit. Since the trained police officers can avoid stereotyping the youth-at-risk and have better collaboration with social workers, this training is able to enhance police work with youth-at-risk.

傳統警務工作重點在於預防罪案和執法。但香港警務處近年不斷强調多機構合作和以服務爲取向的警務工作摸式，爲警務培訓工作提供了革新的的機遇。「青鋒計劃」 (Police Attachment to NGOs Program) 是一項嶄新、具針對性、並强調多機構合作的在職警務培訓項目。計劃可分爲三個部份 —— 導引期，機構體驗期，和深化期。透過與前線社工和邊青直接對話，警務學員普遍認爲這項體驗計劃，獲益良多。另一方面，這計劃也爲參與的社工和邊青帶來了益處。他們表示對警方的工作和難處都增加了認識和諒解。本文章探討社會工作對警務培訓可以作出的供献，包括了培訓的設計，執行和檢討成效。無疑，這項培訓是一項間接的社會工作實踐，社工參與這項培訓，減少警察對邊青定型，促成警務人員和前線社工在處理邊青問題上的互相了解，對各方都有益處。

Social work research is an important part of social work practice. It adds to the knowledge base of the profession, facilitates understanding of the challenges facing society and encourages researchers to find solutions to these challenges. The focus of qualitative research in social work in India has likewise been generating and adding to the knowledge base of the profession. More specifically, qualitative methods of data collection have not been interrogated from the perspective of their potential to enhance competencies such as empathy and critical reflection amongst the students of social work. This paper examines the possibility of using observation, a method of data collection in qualitative research, to enhance empathy and critical reflection amongst students of social work. The paper is based on the outcomes of an assignment on observation given to second semester postgraduate students of social work in the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, India. The assignment required the students to take on the role of marginalized members of society and use observation as a method in the field to record the responses of the generalized others towards them. The assignment also encouraged the students to reflect on their reactions and responses to the behavior of people towards them when they performed the specific roles. The outcome of the assignment points towards the possibility of using practical training in observation as a method of data collection in facilitating empathetic understanding and critical reflection amongst students, when used in conjunction with role-taking.

The research examined the mental health and well-being of a sample of empty-nesters in Jinan City, Shandong Province, China. An in-depth individual interview approach, with document analysis and participant observation, was performed on three types of interviewees (N = 33) recruited via purposive sampling. The empty-nesters faced many unique problems, especially a sense of being disjointed from the family, community and society. Influencing factors included Chinese traditional filial piety culture, lagging implementation of relevant policies and development of community aging services, as well as the loss of productive roles for the empty nesters. While this paper supports the argument that religious and related social activities play a role in facilitating the psychological adjustment of older people, it reveals a different finding from previous studies that highly educated empty nesters are likely to have lower levels of social participation and psychological fulfillment. Moreover, by employing the social-ecological systems theory for analysis, this study confirms the importance of the family interactions in the life of empty nesters, which contributed to the implication to relevant social policy and social work practice.

This article presented empirical information to explore and examine the advocacy activities conducted by social workers in Hong Kong. The effectiveness of the advocacy activities as perceived by the social workers are measured and matched with the actual practice. Reasons for undertaking advocacy are collected. The determinants of advocacy include: recognition of the importance of empowerment and relationship building between social workers and service users, helping service users exercise their rights and broaden their life options are instrumental in driving advocacy efforts. The sense of guilt is also a contributing factor behind certain advocacy activities. The importance of research and education in advocacy are emphasized.

This paper provides an exploration of the ways in which partnerships between universities and social work agencies can deliver a research-based approach for students during their placement. The placement/practicum/field education has been recognized as the “signature” pedagogy of social work. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has forced practitioners and educators to explore different and creative ways of delivering learning outcomes during placements. This paper provides illustrative ways in which the research elements of placements can be enhanced.