Social work education in a time of national crisis in Greece: educating the workforce to combat inequalities

Abstract

Since 2010, Greece has experienced an unprecedented economic and humanitarian crisis, which continues to have tremendous social impact. Austerity measures and policy cuts have included a dis-investment in social work and social care and more recently the abolition of one of the four national Social Work Departments providing qualifying social work education. In this context, this study addresses the following question: how does pre-qualifying social work education in Greece influence students' ability to manage value tensions in relation to anti-oppressive practice? Using a case study methodology, the research was based in one Social Work Department (subsequently abolished). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews from social work students at the beginning and the end of their professional education (n = 32) and once from academic staff/placement supervisors (n = 10). Data were analysed drawing on grounded theory techniques. In this paper only one particular dataset is considered in detail: the attitudes and experiences of final year students. The main findings indicate students' narrow understandings and individualistic approaches towards oppression, reflecting an urgent need to redefine social work education and practice in Greece according to current social justice concerns. Specifically, social work education needs to give greater weight to a structural perspective on the dynamics of oppression. Although focussed on Greece, the paper offers a critical debate of contemporary relevance for social work education in many European nation states.

Η Ελληνική κοινωνία βιώνει από το 2010 μια άνευ προηγουμένου οικονομική και ανθρωπιστική κρίση με τρομαχτικές κοινωνικές επιπτώσεις. Τα μέτρα λιτότητας και οι περικοπές σε κρατικές πολιτικές, συμπεριέλαβαν την από-επένδυση από την κοινωνική πρόνοια και την κοινωνική εργασία, με πιο πρόσϕατη την κατάργηση ενός από τα τέσσερα Τμήματα Κοινωνικής Εργασίας στην Ελλάδα. Υπό αυτές τις συνθήκες, το ερώτημα της συγκεκριμένης μελέτης είναι: Ποιος είναι ο ρόλος της εκπαίδευσης στην κοινωνική εργασία στην Ελλάδα, αναϕορικά με την ικανότητα των ϕοιτητών να διαχειριστούν συγκρούσεις αξιών σχετικά με την αντι-καταπιεστική προσέγγιση; Χρησιμοποιώντας τη μέθοδο της μελέτη περίπτωσης, η έρευνα βασίστηκε σε ένα Τμήμα Κοινωνικής Εργασίας (στη συνέχεια καταργήθηκε). Τα δεδομένα συλλέχθηκαν μέσω ημι-δομημένων συνεντεύξεων από τους ϕοιτητές κοινωνικής εργασίας στην αρχή και το τέλος της εκπαίδευσής τους (n = 32) και το ακαδημαϊκό προσωπικό/επόπτες πλαισίων πρακτικής άσκησης (n = 10). Τα δεδομένα αναλύθηκαν με τη χρήση τεχνικών της θεμελιωμένης θεωρίας. Σε αυτό το άρθρο μόνο ένα μέρος των αποτελεσμάτων από τις συνεντεύξεις θα συζητηθεί: οι συμπεριϕορές και οι εμπειρίες των τελειόϕοιτων ϕοιτητών. Τα αποτελέσματα, αποκάλυψαν απλοϊκές αντιλήψεις και στερεοτυπικές πεποιθήσεις των τελειόϕοιτων ως προς την καταπίεση, αναδεικνύοντας την ανάγκη για επαναπροσδιορισμό της εκπαίδευσης και άσκησης της κοινωνικής εργασίας στην Ελλάδα, ανάλογα με τις σύγχρονες κοινωνικές ανάγκες και μια πιο δομική προσέγγιση ως προς την καταπίεση. Το παρόν άρθρο, παρόλο που πραγματεύεται την Ελληνική πραγματικότητα, αποτελεί το έναυσμα για κριτικό αναστοχασμό για την εκπαίδευση της κοινωνικής εργασίας, που εν δυνάμει αϕορά όλα τα κράτη μέλη της Ευρώπης.

Keywords:

• anti-oppressive practice
• social work education
• Greece

• αντι-καταπιεστική προσέγγιση
• εκπαίδευση στην κοινωνική εργασία
• Ελλάδα

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the support of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Manchester and thank Dr Lorraine Green for her contribution during earlier stages of the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Sofia Dedotsi is a PhD student at the University of Manchester, UK and is an Academic Fellow at the Department of Social Work, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Greece. She is a doctoral board member in the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA) and a registered social worker.

Professor Alys Young, PhD, FAcSS is Professor of Social Work at the University of Manchester, UK where she is also Director of SORD (Social Research with Deaf People) and is Visiting Professor at the Centre for Deaf Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. She is a Senior Fellow of the NIHR School for Social Care Research in the UK and a registered social worker. Web page: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/Alys.young/

Professor Karen Broadhurst, PhD, is Professor of Social Work and Socio-Legal Studies at the Lancaster University, UK and is Co-Editor-in Chief of Qualitative Social Work. She is the Strategic Director for Social Work Education and the institutional lead for the social work pathway within the ESRC North West Doctoral Training Centre. Web page: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/arts-and-social-sciences/about-us/people/karen-broadhurst

ORCID

Alys Young http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8551-5078

Karen Broadhurst http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4781-8067

Notes

1. The tripartite committee led by the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that organised the financial rescue of Greece.

2. (income less than 60% of the available average income).

3. A governmental plan that introduced closing down or merging of numerous University and Technological Educational Institutes Departments in Greece.

4. In order to obtain a social worker's license in Greece, one needs to registrate in the county headquarters of the county where they intend to practice. The only criterion is to hold a degree of social work and have a clear police check. This license could only be retracted permanently by a court's decision following conviction of a felony or plimmelim. For a breach of the profession's code of ethics the disciplinary board of the Ministry could consider a temporary retraction (1 year maximum).

5. It needs to be acknowledged that AOP has been defined and debated mostly by British authors. Therefore, it would be irrelevant even oppressive to impose this model on the Greek context. In addition, we do not subscribe on an assumption that AOP is the only way to radicalism and politicisation in Greece. Instead, the intention is to inform a more radical shift in thinking in social work education in Greece based on the emancipatory values that have driven such theories and are also reflected in the social work definition and training guidelines (IFSW and IASSW).

6. In order to give the exact meaning, another phrase is used here. The student actually said ‘they have given rights’ (to the oppressors/society) (in Greek: έχουν δώσει δικαιώματα).

7. Whilst the student named the module, such a reference is avoided as there is a danger of revealing the lecturer's identity.

8. In theoretical courses/lectures there is not a minimum attendance requirement for students. Instead, the laboratory courses require full attendance.