Zoekresultaten

The journalistic dimension of statistics. Reporting human development and its quantification.

Social Workers as Local Human Rights Actors?

The realization of human rights standards depends in part on the commitment of local actors. It can be argued that local public service professionals such as social workers can also be regarded as key players. The possible role of social workers becomes imperative if these professionals are working in a policy context that is not congruent with human rights. If existing laws or policies cause or maintain disrespect for human rights, social workers are in a position to observe that this is having an adverse impact on clients. When social workers are regarded as human rights actors, the question arises how they can or should respond to law and policy that impedes them in carrying out their work with respect for human rights. This article adds to existing theories on social workers as human rights actors by examining the practices of social professionals working in such a challenging policy context. The research took place among professionals in social district teams in the city of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Following a series of decentralizations and austerity measures the social care landscape in the Netherlands has changed drastically over the last few years. As a result, social workers may find themselves on the one hand trying to realize the best possible care for their clients while on the other hand dealing with new laws and policy expectations focused on self-reliance and diminished access to specialist care. The article explores how social professionals’ responses to barriers in access to care affect human rights requirements. In doing so, this socio-legal study provides insight into the ways in which everyday social work relates to the realization of human rights at the local level.

Automated Analysis of Human Performance Data

Automated Analysis of Human Performance Data could help to understand and possibly predict the performance of the human. To inform future research and enable Automated Analysis of Human Performance Data a systematic mapping study (scoping study) on the state-of-the-art knowledge is performed on three interconnected components(i)Human Performance (ii) Monitoring Human Performance and (iii) Automated Data Analysis. Using a systematic method of Kitchenham and Charters for performing the systematic mapping study, resulted in a comprehensive search for studies and a categorisation the studies using a qualitative method. This systematic mapping review extends the philosophy of Shyr and Spisic, and Knuth and represents the state-of-art knowledge on Human Performance,Monitoring Human Performance and Automated Data Analysis

Human Rights education, turning words into action

This article considers how lecturers can use human rights education as a core element of preparing students for professional social work practice. This paper is based on a symposium held at the EASSW conference in Madrid 2019 which was hosted by members of an interest group of lecturers, from Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland. The symposium elaborated on the interest groups action plan: ‘Human Rights, turning words into action’. The group posit that the application of human rights in social work practice should follow the rights and interests of service-users. The challenge for educators is that that in the first instance, students must learn about human rights instruments and enforcement mechanisms and then they must be schooled about the discursive, dialogical and democratic particularity of rights. Ignoring this character of human rights risks reducing rights to a technical debate. This article reflects on some of the difficulties, pitfalls and drawbacks that we have encountered, and some of the critiques of current human rights structures. The aim is to try to develop a ‘practice of critique’ and propose a strategic human rights agenda for professional social work education and practice.

Translators, Advocates or Practitioners? Social Workers and Human Rights Localization

The importance of specific professions for human rights realization is increasingly recognized. Journalists, teachers, and civil servants are all considered to play a role because their work affects individual rights. This is also the case for social workers. The connection between social work and human rights is evident in the large amount of literature explaining how human rights relate to social work. At the same time there is more attention for human rights localization. These fields of knowledge are related: social workers are local professionals and if they start applying human rights in their work this may influence human rights localization. This article contributes to existing debates on human rights localization by reflecting on the potential role of social workers in local human rights efforts in the Netherlands. Since human rights localization in general and human rights application in social work are recent phenomena in the Netherlands this provides a useful case study for a qualitative analysis on whether and how social workers can be regarded as actors in human rights localization. By connecting different actors that are said to play a role in human rights localization to proposed forms of human rights application by social workers this article identifies three possible roles for social workers in human rights localization: as human rights translators, as human rights advocates, and as human rights practitioners.

The Relational Dimension of Radicalization: Context and Tie Formation in Dutch Salafi-Jihadi Networks

Despite the widely held notion that processes of radicalization tend to happen in relation to others, systematic evidence on the social context in which actors meet and form ties is scarce. This is problematic, as without a more thorough understanding of the relational dimension of radicalization, any strategy to intervene may turn out less effective than perhaps hoped for. Based on our access to detailed police information on eleven Dutch Salafi-Jihadi networks (2001–2014; 273 actors), this article presents a descriptive analysis of the social context in which actors meet and form ties. In most networks, we observe pre-existing family and friendship ties, actors to frequent Salafi mosques and radicalizing settings, and committed actors engaged in functional roles. We also find indications for these elements to facilitate actors to form ties. It is important to note however that we also observe exceptions, both in terms of prevalence and impact of the relational factors we study. In the article, we describe our detailed empirical findings and reflect on the (differential) social context is which actors participating in Dutch Salafi-Jihadi networks meet and form ties.