Background and purposeWithin Northwest European Welfare states, there is a growing need for all social work professions to substantiate their work with research. The earliest notions of social street work origins from the end of the18th century by the British Salavation Army (Mikkonen et al., 2007). In the Netherlands it’s introduced from the United States (1960s), as a response to individuals and groups hanging around. Social street work is a low threshold and professional form of being there, performed in surroundings and situations where the target group is. It focusses on contact-making and staying in contact with individuals and marginalised groups, who otherwise are hard to reach, have lost their connection with society and have multiple problems. It’s a high appreciated practice, but it lacks a method that is substantiated with research (Morse et all, 1996; Kirkpatrick, 2000). In this paper we will present conceptual model of the method of social street work, that’s substantiated with experiences from professionals and the target group.MethodThis paper is based on a combination of literature review, document analysis, Delphi Method and an online questionnaire among the target group. The research is conducted at Streetcornerwork in Amsterdam. Streetcornerwork is the only organization in the Netherlands that provides social street work, since WWII. They employ 175 professional social street workers and has 43 years of experience in social street work.First, a theoretical model of social street work is developed bases on literature review, analyses of documents of the establishment (1970-1990)of social street work (Netherlands) and different attempts to describe the method (1991-2017). Second, the explanation model is strengthened with data from the online questionnaire among 1600 clients of Streetcornerwork. Third, the Delphi Method is used to validate the model with the tacit knowledge of 24 professionals.ResultsThe result is a conceptual model of the method of social street work that is substantiated with experiences from professionals and the target group. Characteristic is that it’s an open approach in contact with the target group which is highly dependent on context and has unpredictable character (Metz, 2016 , Andersson, 2011).The method social street work consists of 14 methodic principles,. Social street work contributesto the development of self-insight and general life skills, the restoration of the social network and the improvement of living conditions and the well-being of the target group. We also gain insight in the experienced contribution of social street work from persons in the environment of the target group (client system, neighborhood and institutional environment). This experienced contribution of social street work at theenvironment is divided into the direct contribution and the implicated contribution through the target group.Conclusions and implicationsThis conceptual model of the method of social street work contributes to a body of knowledge. We made tacit knowledge explicit and we can legitimize the profession of social street work. Because research is done in close collaboration with street workers, it also contributes to the development of their work.
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ObjectiveIn this Lesson from the Field, we examine changes in the burden experienced by caregivers of persons who experience homelessness associated with lack employment, employability or education, and mental health challenges when the care recipient receives support from an outreach professional known as a social street worker (herein identified as worker). In addition, we focus on caregivers' perception of change in the quality of their relationship with the person for whom they care and whether the caregivers receive support from the worker.BackgroundIn the Netherlands, due to the transformation toward a participation society, persons living in compromised circumstances must increasingly rely on caregivers for support and shelter instead of relying on services, such as support from social community teams.MethodsWorkers provided by a Dutch organization covering the northwest of the Netherlands gained the consent of their clients to contact the clients' caregivers. Caregivers were invited to participate in the research and completed consent. A total of 111 caregivers of persons receiving support from workers completed surveys.ResultsCaregivers who had more contact with the worker worried less about the person for whom they provided care. No changes were found regarding tension between caregivers and the person for whom they cared. Most caregivers (73%) perceived positive changes in the quality of the relationship with the person for whom they provided care, and 52% received support from the worker.ConclusionMost carers did not perceive changes in their burden, but did perceived positive changes in the quality of the relationship with the person for whom they cared and received support themselves.ImplicationsOur study underpins the need to recognize the caregiver's burden of caregivers who support marginalized people, to connect with these caregivers, and to support them.
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A good working relationship between clients and professionals increases the chances of better intervention outcomes for clients. A longitudinal cohort study was carried out amongst clients who were in touch with professionals from a Dutch social street work (SSW) organisation. We used a questionnaire to examine client perspectives (n = 332) on the relational and goal-oriented part of the working relationship after a minimum of 8 months of contact with SSW. We furthermore examined to what extent both parts of the working relationship were influenced by client characteristics and SSW metrics. Clients were asked to reflect on the relational part and the goal-oriented part of the working relationship. Clients who only met SSW professionals in public areas perceived a weaker working relationship in both aspects. A stronger relational and goal-oriented working relationship was perceived when receiving more practical support. Clients who had been in contact with an SSW professional for a long period of time perceived a weaker goal-oriented working relationship. This study shows that a working relationship, with both relational and goal-oriented aspects, can be established between workers and marginalised people in their daily environment. Frequent contact and providing practical support can improve both parts of the working relationship. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.
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Contemporary social work is subjected to ongoing questions in terms of its effectiveness and accountability. It appears to be problematic for social workers to defend themselves in a proper manner. When they do so, they often seem to rely primarily on a rhetoric of good intentions and are thus unable to constructively asses the underlying principles of their work. These considerations have prompted the research outline that is presented in this paper.
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Based on the results of two research projects from the Netherlands, this paper explores how street oriented persons adapt and use digital technologies by focusing on the changing commission of instrumental, economically motivated, street crime. Our findings show how social media are used by street offenders to facilitate or improve parts of the crime script of already existing criminal activities but also how street offenders are engaging in criminal activities not typically associated with the street, like phishing and fraud. Taken together, this paper documents how technology has permeated street life and contributed to the ‘hybridization’ of street offending in the Netherlands—i.e. offending that takes place in person and online, often at the same time.
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Purpose Social media have become a key part of placemaking. Placemaking revolves around collaboration between multiple stakeholders, which requires ongoing two-way communication between local government and citizens. Although social media offer promising tools for local governments and public professionals in placemaking, they have not lived up to their potential. This paper aims to uncover the tensions and challenges that social media bring for public professionals at the street level in placemaking processes. Design/methodology/approach This study aims to fill this gap with a case study of area brokers engaged in online placemaking in Amsterdam. In total, 14 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted, focusing on area brokers’ social media practices, perceptions and challenges. The authors used an open coding strategy in the first phase of coding. In the second phase, the authors regrouped codes in thematic categories with the use of sensitizing concepts derived from the theoretical review. Findings The use of social media for placemaking imposes demands on area brokers from three sides: the bureaucracy, the affordances of social media and affective publics. The paper unpacks pressures area brokers are under and the (emotional) labour they carry out to align policy and bureaucratic requirements with adequate communication needed in neighbourhood affairs on social media. The tensions and the multidimensionality of what is required explain the reluctance of area brokers to exploit the potential of social media in their work. Originality/value Several studies have addressed the use of social media in placemaking, but all neglected the perspective of street-level bureaucrats who shape the placemaking process in direct contact with citizens.
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Void street interfaces (VSIs) – building plinths with restricted visual interaction, accessibility, and public use – constitute an urban feature often associated with undermining the public domain, limiting free access and preventing interaction between social groups. Moreover, VSIs have been described as products of inequality designed to segregate and hinder integration between public and private urban spaces. This study assesses VSIs across six cities in Brazil, a country notable for its profound inequality and sociospatial fragmentation. The main aims of this research are: (i) to develop and test a predictive model for VSIs using socioeconomic indicators drawn from open-source ground-truth data; (ii) to identify the variance of VSI within selected case studies. In the development phase of the predictive model, data from the city of Recife are used to build the model. The testing phase involves the analysis of VSIs in the cities of Fortaleza, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Porto Alegre. The model can potentially assist urban planners in better understanding and locating VSIs and mitigating undesirable outcomes.
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The principal aim of this study is to explore the relations between work domains and the work-related learning of workers. The article is intended to provide insight into the learning experiences of Dutch police officers during the course of their daily work. Interviews regarding actual learning events and subsequent changes in knowledge, skills or attitudes were conducted with police officers from different parts of the country and in different stages of their careers. Interpretative analyses grounded in the notion of intentionality and developmental relatedness revealed how and in what kinds of work domains police officers appear to learn. HOMALS analysis showed work-related learning activities to vary with different kinds of work domains. The implications for training and development involve the role of colleagues in different hierarchical positions for learning and they also concern the utility of the conceptualisation of work-related learning presented here.
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Social work in the Netherlands is attracting an increasing number of Turkish and Moroccan Dutch professionals, mostly second-generation migrant women from a Muslim background. Inspired by Amartya Sen’s capability approach, this article presents the findings of a qualitative content analysis of 40 interviews with professionals by peers from the same background. The question is, what kind of professionals do these newly started social workers desire to be and what hindrances do they encounter? The professionals challenge the dominance of Western beliefs and values. This becomes tangible in their desires and constraints and especially in the process of choice.
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Work during vacation is publicly and theoretically seen as detrimental to vacationers' quality of life. This study investigated whether work during vacation affects vacationers' quality of life in terms of intensity of felt emotions and needs fulfillment. A sample of international tourists in the Netherlands (N = 374) took part in a street survey. Findings indicate that workers' and nonworkers' emotional experience is not statistically different during vacation. The fulfillment of needs is also identical between workers and nonworkers. Ninety-seven percent of workers are satisfied with the balance between work and leisure time during vacation. These findings suggest that working tourists effectively combine work and leisure. Some dissatisfaction did arise from the lack of certain work facilities. Implications for the tourism industry and suggestions for further research are provided.
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