Định hướng thế mạnh trong Phúc lợi Trẻ em: Lý thuyết, Sư phạm và Thực hành - Mary M. Kirk

University of St. Thomas, Minnesota St. Catherine University Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertation School of Social Work 5-1-2019 Towards a Strengths Orientation in Child Welfare: Theory, Pedagogy and Practice Mary M. Kirk University of St.

Thomas, Minnesota Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.edu/ssw_docdiss Part of the Clinical and Medical Social Work Commons, and the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Kirk, Mary M., "Towards a Strengths Orientation in Child Welfare: Theory, Pedagogy and Practice" (2019). Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertation.edu/ssw_docdiss/53 This Banded Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Social Work at UST Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertation by an authorized administrator of UST Research Online. For more information, please contact libroadmin@stthomas.

Towards a Strengths Orientation in Child Welfare: Theory, Pedagogy and Practice by Mary M. Kirk A Banded Dissertation in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Social Work St. Catherine University | University of Saint Thomas School of Social Work May 2019 Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE ii Abstract Underpinning social work education and social work practice are approaches that embrace strengths and resilience perspectives. Social work education aimed at students preparing for work in child welfare is no exception.

This banded dissertation consists of three products that address linkages between strengths and resilience perspectives to social work education and practice with families involved in child welfare. The first paper is a conceptual article that discusses engaged pedagogy, transformative learning and reflective teaching pedagogies specific to child welfare-focused social work education. The paper explores the cogency of these pedagogies as powerful approaches for educating and preparing social work students for work in the child welfare field. As reflective practice is taught and modeled in the social work classroom, students learn to examine their own biases and attitudes about the child welfare-involved family.

The second paper is a systematic literature review identifying current theoretical and practice themes in child welfare work with families. Using the Preferred Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach, the review examined the professional literature to identify theoretical and practice themes within the scope of the search. The criteria for inclusion in the systematic review focused on peer reviewed articles published in the last eleven years that were directed at strengths and resilience-focused work with families in child welfare. The third product of the banded dissertation was an annotated narrative of a peer-reviewed national conference presentation in which the author addressed effective pedagogy in child welfare-focused social work education.

Engaged pedagogy, critical reflection and transformative learning were reviewed as methods that contribute to a learning environment that forwards a strengths perspective within social work’s professional competencies. Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE iii Keywords: child welfare, social work education, strengths perspective, resilience, family- centered practice Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE iv Dedication I dedicate this work to my mother, Susan E. You took every one of my calls and kindly listened throughout the up’s and down’s of my doctoral journey. Your love and prayers were appreciated and needed.

I am grateful and so happy to be your daughter. You helped me “carry the weight” and I can only imagine how relieved you must now feel. Thank you, Mom! Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE v Acknowledgments I first express my upmost appreciation and gratitude to my beloved husband, Jim. I surely leaned on you and you were there for me and for our family.

Thank you for your confidence, insight, patience, sacrifice and love. Thank you, too, for your wonderful sense of humor and relentless way of staying upbeat and positive. I couldn’t have pulled this off without all of the support you so selflessly gave, Jim. You have been kind and generous and I love you! I lovingly acknowledge my children, Sage and William.

You two are my inspiration and being your mother is the joy of my life. Sage, friend, thank you for rooting me on from day one. I may have been the only student who received post mail during the first summer of residency, which was a sweet note of encouragement from you. William, thank you for being my office buddy.

Nothing made me happier than to have you next to me as I worked-you reading in the wobbly yellow chair as I tapped away at the computer. I love you both dearly. Next, I acknowledge my DSW cohort friends, for whom I have such fondness and respect. Thank you for the camaraderie and goodwill.

You are all such lovely people and I think the world of you. A special thank you to my first friend, Jeannette; my cherished room-mates, C. and Katrinna; my role model, Debbie; and my dear confidant, Gabriel. Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude to all of the DSW faculty and staff at the UST/St.

Thank you to my advisor, Dr. Laurel Bidwell, and to Dr. Robin Whitebird and Dr. Kingsley Chigbu, for offering expert guidance and encouragement throughout the program.

A special thank you to Dr. Mari Ann Graham for your beautiful style and fine example of teaching. You inspired me. Lastly, I would like to express a very special thank you to Dr.

You have an incredible intellect and even more so, a beautiful heart, what a winning combination. Thank you for showing me such kindness and patience. Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE vi Table of Contents Title Page ………………………………………………………………………………………. ii Dedication/Acknowledgments ………………………………………………………………….

iv List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………….……viii List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………. ix Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 1 Conceptual Framework ………………………………………………….3 Summary of Banded Dissertation Products ………………………………………………………5 Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………………….6 Implications for Social Work …………………………………………………………….7 Implications for Future Research ………………………………………………….8 Comprehensive Reference List ……………………………………………………………….9 Product 1 Pedagogy and the Resiliency Framework in Child Welfare-focused Social Work Education……………………………………………………………………….……20 Product 2 Attention to Strengths and Resilience in Child Welfare Work with Families: A Systematic Review…………………………………………………………………….……47 Product 3 Teaching Self-Awareness: Pedagogy in Child Welfare-Focused Social Work Education…………….86 Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE vii List of Tables Table 1: Reviewed studies by their characteristics (n=15) Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE viii List of Figures Figure 1: Search strategy for the current systematic review Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE 1 Towards a Strengths Orientation in Child Welfare: Theory, Pedagogy and Practice “Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” Samuel Smiles The protection of children and the promotion of their health, development and well- being, all within the context of personhood, family and society requires fierce dedication and unfettering commitment. The onus for child well-being rests on the family and the community which surrounds the family. Assuredly, healthy communities create environments that support children and their families and ideological, ecological, cultural, educational, spiritual and personal factors, as well political and economic systems, foster or inhibit the communities in which children and their families live.

This concept can be best understood through an ecological lens for social welfare education, research, practice and policy in the 21 st Century (Bronfenbrenner, 1992). In the United States, systems of public and private child welfare serve to provide a continuum of services to safeguard and protect children, support the families who care for them, promote their growth and development and provide programming for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. This continuum of care includes programmatic infrastructure which provides children, families and communities with a variety of education, intervention, treatment and prevention services (Child Welfare League of America, 1999). Within these systems, child welfare workers are charged with making complex and ethically-bound decisions that integrate or disseminate protection, safety, permanency, prevention and family preservation (Children’s Bureau, 2016).

It is no wonder that the work in the child welfare field is demanding, and a skilled and knowledgeable workforce is of primary consideration and importance. Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE 2 The Children’s Bureau’s has long supported the role of social work in child welfare and in turn, social work has been invested and committed to child welfare, resulting in an alignment between social work and child welfare practice (Perry & Ellett, 2008). The social work competencies in the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards may complement or defer to child welfare competencies as established through the various regional and state child welfare trainings and curriculum. Studies show that a strengths-based approach to work with families involved in child welfare can positively influence child and family outcomes and ultimately keep children safe (Antonovsky, 1979; Hawley & DeHann, 1996).

Fromm (2016) was instrumental in identifying family processes that build upon and augment strengths and resilience in families. Advocates for strengths-based work with families emphasize that through a positive theoretical framework opportunities for growth, healing and repair are bolstered. Significantly, social work education prepares students to conceive the person, environment, and transactions in terms of resources and opportunities, rather than absences, pathologies, and disorders (Forte, 2014). While we know that the strengths perspective is fundamental for effective social work practice, less is known about theoretical and practice themes in the current literature that bridge the strengths perspective to education, preparation and practice with families involved in child welfare.

The aim of this banded dissertation is to explore how child welfare-focused social work education can support students in learning how to identify and mobilize family strengths through core processes and relationships. Additionally, the banded dissertation seeks to understand what the current theoretical and practice themes are in the literature related to strengths focused work with families in child welfare. Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE 3 Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework for guiding this dissertation are strengths perspective and the resiliency framework. Over the last three decades, the strengths perspective in social work practice developed almost as a counter-movement to the pathology and deficits saturated field.

(Teater, 2014) A strengths-based approach engages a different set of principles than problem- based practice. Not intended to deny or ignore pain, hardship, or injustice, the strengths perspective focuses instead on the power of human beings to overcome and surmount adversity (Saleebey, 2001). Saleebey defined strengths as assets, talent, capacities, knowledge, survival skills, personal virtues, or the environmental resources and cultural treasures such as healing rituals and celebrations of life transitions that a person might possess. Through what Saleebey described as insurrection and resurrection processes, individuals and families who are struggling, suffering and oppressed are able to tell their story, as well as rediscover and harness their capacities and resiliencies.

Saleebey identified the need for theoretical convergence between theory, research and practice towards developmental resilience, healing and wellness. He encouraged the social work profession to begin to more seriously consider and utilize the reality that personal strengths are frequently forged in client traumas, sickness, abuse and oppression, yet are seldom utilized by practitioners as sources of energy and direction in the helping relationships. Saleebey described that these very qualities exist within a wide variety of cultural variations and that a strengths- based approach is inherently a more culturally competent and relevant approach. The relevance of a strengths-based approach to child welfare work is once again compelling, because historically, pathology-based, rehabilitative interventions were the prevalent models of social work practice (Schatz & Flagler, 2004).

Running Head: STRENGTHS ORIENTATION IN CHILD WELFARE 4 Moreover, resilience can be understood as an adaptation to extraordinary circumstances in the face of adversity. It is the ability to overcome and the capacity to navigate to resources that sustain wellbeing. As such, the study of resilience identifies a phenomenon that is within a two- dimensional construct that looks at the exposure to adversity and the positive adjustment outcomes of that adversity. Furthermore, resilience is dynamic in that it is a response to multiple influences-interacting with biological, psychological, social and other environmental influences.