SOCIAL WORK AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: TOWARDS A SOCIAL – ECOLOGICAL PRACTICE MODEL

Year 2020, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 251 - 274, 30.12.2020

Hüseyin Zahid Kara

Abstract

The current social-ecological crisis will lead to major social changes, for better or for worse. Society needs to ensure that those changes involve a transition to a more sustainable society. Since this transition touches upon all aspects of life, social work cannot remain outside that process. This article argues how social work practice may contribute to sustainable development, provided it includes the ecological environment in its contextual approach. To this end, a general model for social-ecological practice has been developed, centred on the concepts of empowerment, social capital formation and resilience building. The core concepts of the model are analysed in order to create a coherent interpretation both in multilevel systems terms and in political terms. The socialecological practice model is thus presented as a political tool for social change.

Keywords

Sustainable development, transformational social work, empowerment, social capital, resilience, multilevel social-ecological systems approach, political-ethical reflection

Çeviri: Sosyal Hizmet Ve Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma: Sosyo-Ekolojik Bir Uygulama Modeline Doğru

Abstract

Mevcut sosyo-ekolojik kriz daha iyiye veya kötüye olacak şekilde büyük çapta sosyal değişmelere sebep olacaktır. Toplum, meydana gelen değişimlerin daha sürdürülebilir bir toplumsal yapıyı oluşturmasını istemektedir. Bu dönüşüm yaşamın her alanında kendine yer edinmekteyken sosyal hizmet bu sürecin dışında kalmamalıdır. Bu çalışma sosyal hizmet uygulamalarının sürdürülebilir kalkınmaya nasıl katkı sağladığını ve ekolojik çevreye yaklaşımıyla nasıl süreklilik sağladığını tartışmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda sosyo-ekolojik uygulama için güçlendirme kavramını merkezine alan, sosyal sermaye oluşturmayı ve direnç kazandırmayı amaçlayan bir model geliştirilmiştir. Geliştirilen modelin temel kavramları, hem politik koşulların hem de çoklu sistemlere dayalı koşulların anlaşılır bir şekilde yorumlanabilmesi adına analiz edilmiştir. Bu sebeple, sosyo-ekolojik uygulama modeli, sosyal değişim sürecinin politik bir parçası olarak tanıtılmıştır.

Keywords

Sürdürülebilir kalkınma, dönüşümsel sosyal hizmet, güçlendirme, sosyal sermaye, direnç, çok düzeyli sosyo-ekolojik sistemler yaklaşımı, politik-etik yansıma

References

• Arendt, H. (1972). Crises of the Republic. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
• Baker, S. (2006). Sustainable Development. London: Routledge.
• Boeck, T., McCullough, P., & Ward, D. (2001). Increasing social capital to combat social exclusion. The Social Action contribution. In A.-L. Matthies, K. Nähri & D. Ward (Eds.), The eco-social approach in social work (pp. 84–107). Jyväskylä: Sophi.
• Coates, J. (2003). Ecology and Social Work. Toward a New Paradigm. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.
• Daly, H. (1999). Uneconomic growth: in theory, in fact, in history, and in relation to globalization. Clemens lecture, October 25, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota. Retrieved June 13, 2011, from http://www.csbsju.edu/Documents/Clemens%20Lecture/lecture/Book99.pdf
• Daly, H. (2008). Ecological economics and sustainable development. Selected essays of Herman Daly. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
• Driessens, K., & Regenmortel, T. Van (2006). Bind-Kracht in armoede: Leefwereld en hulpverlening [Empowerment and linking in poverty. Life world and social work intervention]. Leuven: LannooCampus.
• DuBois, B., & Miley, K. (2005). Social Work. An Empowering Profession (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
• Elkington, J. (1998). Cannibals with forks. The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Gabriola Island BC: New Society Publishers.
• European Commission (2002). The World Summit on Sustainable Development. People, planet, prosperity. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Retrieved June 14, 2011, from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/wssd/documents/wssd_brochure.pdf
• Guo, W., & Tsui, M. (2010). From resilience to resistence: A reconstruction of the strengths perspective in social work practice. International Social Work, 53(2), 233–245.
• Lietaer, B., Ulanowicz, R., & Goerner, S. (2009). Options for managing a systemic bank crisis. Sapiens-journal, 2(1). Retrieved June 15, 2011, from http://sapiens.revues.org/747
• Loeffler, D.N., Christiansen, D.C., Tracy, M.B., Secret, M.C., Ersing, R., Fairchild, S.R., & Sutphen, R. (2004). Social capital for social work: Towards a definition and conceptual framework. Social Development Issues, 26(2/3), 22–38.
• Mary, N. (2008). Social work in a sustainable world. Chicago: Lyceum Books.
• Mathbor, G.M. (2007). Enhancement of community preparedness for natural disasters. The roll of social work in building social capital for sustainable disaster relief and management. International Social Work, 50(3), 357–369.
• Maton, K.I. (2008). Empowering community settings: Agents of individual development, community betterment, and positive social change. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41(1-2), 4–21.
• Matthies, A.-L., Närhi, K., & Ward, D. (Eds.). (2001). The eco-social approach in social work. Jyväskylä: Sophi.
• McNutt, J., & Hoff, M. (1994). Conclusion. Dilemmas and challenges for the future of social welfare and social work. In M. Hoff & J. McNutt (Eds.), The Global Environmental Crisis. Implications for Social Welfare and Social Work (pp. 297–305). Aldershot: Ashgate.
• Närhi, K. (2001). Social impact assessment. New challenges for social work?. In A.-L. Matthies, K.
• Nähri & D. Ward (Eds.), The Ecosocial Approach in Social Work (pp. 54–83). Jyväskylä: Sophi. Närhi, K. (2004). The eco-social approach in social work and the challenges to the expertise of social work. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä. Retrieved June 13, 2011, from http:// dissertations.jyu.fi/studeduc/9513918343.pdf
• Närhi, K., & Matthies, A.-L. (2001). What is the ecological (self-)consciousness of social work? Perspectives on the relationship between social work and ecology. In A.-L. Matthies, K. Nähri & D. Ward (Eds.), The eco-social approach in social work (pp. 16–53). Jyväskylä: Sophi.
• Nixon, J. (2001). Imagining ourselves into being: conversing with Hannah Arendt. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 9(2), 221–236.
• Parkin, S. (2010). The positive deviant. Sustainability leadership in a perverse world. London: Earthscan.
• Payne, M. (2006). What is professional social work? (2nd ed.). Bristol: The Polity Press.
• Pease, B. (2002). Rethinking empowerment: A post-modern appraisal for emancipatory practice. British Journal of Social Work, 30(2), 135–147.
• Peeters, J. (2008). Empowerment: Een antwoord op het pleidooi voor verantwoordelijkheid [Empowerment: An answer to the plea for responsibility]. In J. Zeedijk & P. van Bortel (Eds.), Bedrogen door de elite? Kritische beschouwingen bij Theodore Dalrymples cultuuranalyse [Betrayed by the elite? Critical reflections on Theodore Dalrymple’s analysis of culture] (pp. 72–82). Kapellen: Pelckmans.
• Peeters, J. (Ed.). (2010a). Een veerkrachtige samenleving. Sociaal werk en duurzame ontwikkeling [A resilient society. Social work and sustainable development] (pp. 19–99). Berchem: EPO.
• Peeters, J. (2010b). Een oriënterend kader [A guiding framework]. In J. Peeters (Ed.), Een veerkrachtige samenleving. Sociaal werk en duurzame ontwikkeling [A resilient society. Social work and sustainable development] (pp. 19–99). Berchem: EPO.
• Peeters, J. (2011a). Social sustainable development and social work. Keynote presentation at the 2nd ENSACT Conference: Social action in Europe: Sustainable social development and economic challenges. Brussels, 10–13 April. Retrieved October 3, 2011, from http://www.ensact.org/index/pages/id_page-38/lang-en
• Peeters, J. (2011b). Sociaal werk en duurzame ontwikkeling: naar een sociaal-ecologische praktijk [Social work and sustainable development: to a social-ecological practice]. Welzijnsgids – Welzijnszorg, Algemeen welzijnswerk, 83(December), 25–50. [33]. Peeters, J. (2012a). A comment on “Climate change: Social workers’ roles and contributions to policy debates and interventions”. International Journal of Social Welfare, 21(1), 105–107.
• Peeters, J. (2012b). The place of social work in sustainable development: Towards ecosocial practice. International Journal of Social Welfare, 21(3), 287–298.
• Peeters, J. (2012c). Sustainable development: A mission for social work? A normative approach. Journal of Social Intervention: Theory and Practice, 21(2), 5–22.
• Poeck, K. Van, Vandenabeele, J., & Wildemeersch, D. (2010). Sociaal werk, duurzame ontwikkeling en sociaal leren: een vruchtbare coalitie? [Social work, sustainable development and social learning: a fruitful coalition?]. In J. Peeters (Ed.), Een veerkrachtige samenleving. Sociaal werk en duurzame ontwikkeling (pp. 117–130). Berchem: EPO.
• Rappaport, J. (1987). Terms of empowerment/exemplars of prevention: Toward a theory of community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 15(2), 121–144.
• Regenmortel, T. Van (2002). Empowerment en maatzorg. Een krachtengerichte psychologische kijk op armoede [Empowerment and tailor made care. A strenghts oriented psychological view on poverty]. Leuven: Acco.
• Regenmortel, T. Van, & Peeters, J. (2010). Verbindend werken in de hulpverlening: Bouwsteen voor een veerkrachtige samenleving [Connecting people within social work interventions: Building block for a resilient society]. In J. Peeters (Ed.), Een veerkrachtige samenleving. Sociaal werk en duurzame ontwikkeling (pp. 133–146). Berchem: EPO.
• Roome, N. (2008). Sustainability management: less waste, more profit!? Management education for sustainability: An agenda for reform. Presented at the 13th Annual Conference Network of International Business Schools (NIBS), 15 May 2008, KHLeuven, Belgium.
• Saleebey, D. (Ed.). (2009). The strengths perspective in social work practice (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.
• Vanistendael, S. (1997). Hoop doet leven. Over de weerbaarheid van kinderen met problemen [Hope springs eternal. About the resilience of children with problems]. Unpublished text of study day, BICE/VVJG, Genève/Brussel.
• Vanistendael, S., & Lecomte, J. (2000). Le bonheur est toujours possible. Construire la résilience [Happiness is always possible. Building resilience]. Paris: Bayard.
• Vansevenant, K., Driessens, K., & Regenmortel, T. Van (2008). Bind-Kracht in armoede: Krachtgerichte hulpverlening in dialoog [Empowerment and linking in poverty: Power oriented intervention in dialogue]. Leuven: LannooCampus.
• Walker, B., Holling, C.S., Carpenter, S.R., & Kinzing, A. (2004). Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society, 9(2). Retrieved May 26, 2011, from http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss2/art5/
• Walker, B., & Salt, D. (2006). Resilience Thinking. Sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world. Washington: Island Press.
• Wals, A. (Ed.). (2007). Social learning towards a sustainable world: Principles, perspectives, and praxis. Wageningen: Academic Publisher