Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The aim of this article is to reflect on social care as a central dimension of contemporary social policy. Based on the study of conditional cash transfer programs (CCT) in Argentina, we examine how social care constitutes work, which is incorporated as a resource in State interventions, and which falls on women. We used in-depth interviews and document analysis, based on a qualitative methodological design, to address this aim. Our approach enabled us to affirm that social care constitutes work, though it is not recorded or recognized as such, and that it is incorporated, though unobserved, as a resource in State interventions. Social care involves sustaining and reproducing the lives of others, and it offers an irreplaceable counterpart to these interventions, as well as being incorporated into their designs and components on an "ever-present" basis as the quintessential destiny of women, mothers and recipients. We conclude that providing social care involves time and emotions, and that it is essential to analyze the conditions in which it is carried out, as well as its implications.

The measures adopted in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those referring to the social distancing and home isolation of the population, made homeless people one of the focal points of the emergency health measures and of the forces of public order. This paper analyses the different institutional responses through a review of the scientific literature on the pandemic and homelessness in different cities. It discusses whether, in the context of the health emergency, there has been a shift towards policies of confinement and control of homelessness or, as some papers argue, the pandemic has revealed that the goal of "eradicating homelessness" is possible if there is sufficient political will to do so. The case of the city of Alicante and the care provided to homeless people during the health crisis is analysed. The findings describe a scenario of regression towards forms of containment and management of homelessness that are a clear departure from the housing-centred responses that appeared to be in place in the city in the years prior to the pandemic.

Intervention models based on constructivism have proliferated in social work practice. A focus on people’s resources and collaboration has reflected the link between solution-focused approaches and the values of social work. This article contains an in-depth analysis of the studies that have examined the solution-focused approach as a model of intervention in social work practice. The main results concern the possibility of raising people’s voices. This involves references to constructivism and social constructionism; approaches to linguistic practices and the creation of meanings; increased culturally-based resources; the position of not knowing, supported by the recognition of people as experts in the situation; curiosity and the approach to contextual knowledge; resistance as a form of cooperation; times when the problem has no influence; as well as adjustments to what people expect from professionals. Relevant recommendations are provided.

Se presenta reseña del libro Investigación, Diagnóstico, Evaluación: de aprender a emprender es un libro en formato de apuntes, en el cual Botija presenta junto a otros reconocidos autores y autoras una visión completa sobre dos aspectos fundamentales para el Trabajo Social: la investigación y la intervención social.

The integration of social and employment services has been consolidated as one of the priorities for social innovation reform in European policies. Its purpose is to overcome the obstacles created by the institutional fragmentation of welfare systems and thus offer better responses to the growing complexity of social problems. The aim of this article is to contribute to knowledge regarding the integration of social and employment services in Spain based on the analysis of a pilot project carried out in Navarre between 2016 and 2019. To this end, a systematisation of the integrated care model is analyzed based on the evaluation of the project. Both achievements and areas for improvement are appraised with a view to extending the model throughout the community. From a social inclusion policy perspective, there has been progress in innovative aspects of service integration both at an organizational level and in the production of tools and access to resources. However, the results show that the design of active inclusion policies for groups with complex problems needs to be improved in order to achieve better outcomes in terms of employment. Given the type of social problems that these reforms address, the article stresses the need for continuity over time and long-term assessment.

The aim of this research was to analyze the phenomenon of community participation during the COVID-19 pandemic, contextualizing it in the province of Alicante (Spain). The data were collected through an ad hoc self-administered questionnaire. The participants were 260 residents in the province of Alicante, selected by non-probability sampling for convenience. The results showed the impact of the disease on people’s collective lives, community identification and belonging, adherence to common projects and altruistic behaviors. The work concludes the following: 1) The physical distancing imposed by COVID-19 does not necessarily or automatically translate into social distancing, with multiple experiences of collaboration and citizen solidarity during the pandemic; 2) Gender and cultural origin-related social inequalities remain in terms of participation, with women and foreigners facing the greatest obstacles; 3) There is a high level of disinformation about the activities and decisions that affect communities, which is consistent with the low level of participation in collective structures and projects.

The aim of this article is to examine certain keys to redirecting the social work training approach towards the interdisciplinary model, based on the intersection between social work and anthropology. Social work is practised in increasingly complex and culturally diverse contexts. This means that future social workers need to be trained in relational and dialogical thinking, as well as in holistic social intervention. Anthropological topics are commonly included in the social work degree curriculum in Spain and in practice there are multidisciplinary teams composed of social workers and anthropologists, especially in interventions involving cultural diversity and intercultural mediation. However, moving from a multidisciplinary to an interconnected training model requires a shift in approach. The interdisciplinary approach consists of jointly redefining the study/intervention object and aims. In short, there is an exceptional field for interdisciplinarity when anthropology is coupled with a critical and transformative model of social work.

The aim of this research is to think about good practices in social intervention with homeless women. To achieve this objective, live stories with women experiencing homelessness have been realized. Moreover, professionals who are currently working with homeless women have also been interviewed. Some of the key findings show that it is essential to apply the gender perspective during the  interventions, as women have different characteristics and life events different from homeless men’s experiences. Although homeless women are smaller in number than men, they tend to have deeper problems and greater emotional trauma. The main conclusions highlight the need to offer more residential resources for women and the importance of prevention and follow-up. Also flexible and individualized interventions are needed, establishing relationships of trust and support between professionals and users, as well as the creation of groups with women in order to strengthening their relational bonds. Furthermore, a consensus is needed on the definition and measurement of female homelessness, as well as a political commitment that promotes the creation of strategies for the care of homeless women.

We conceptualize reality as a system of multiple domination: capitalist, colonial (power-knowledge-existence) and heteropatriarchal. As a tool for governing behavior, social intervention is increasingly subject to technical-bureaucratic-protocolized expert knowledge, dehumanizing and labeling other non-people. Other narrative-based sources of alternative knowledge such as comics, interpreted as non-technical and subversive, are forgotten. This article is intended to show the potential of the comic as an instrument for social intervention and training of students and professionals in the social sphere. Qualitative research was carried out by selecting 140 comics, creating a movement inspired by Graphic Medicine to explore the capacity of social comics as a useful tool to humanize social intervention.

Reseña del libro de la obra de Martí Trotonda, Amparo y Pérez Cosín, José Vicente (2020). Trabajo social para tiempos convulsos. El camino hacia la ruptura epistemológica. Valencia: Universitàt de Valencia. ISBN: 978-84-9134-8, pp. 405.