This last issue of the journal for 2016 contains a mixture of papers from different parts of the world, involving an international array of authors. It also includes theoretical as well as empirical studies of ethical issues relevant to the journal’s remit to focus on problems arising in social interventions and processes. Three of the papers originated in the Call for Papers issued by the Australian editors of the previous issue. They were able to attract a remarkable range of papers that it was impossible to fit into a single issue. The theme of ‘outrage’ for that issue clearly struck a chord with many authors and is reflected in the three papers presented here. They reveal very different concerns but are similarly troubled by the way social structures and organisations discriminate unjustly against, or fail to support, various vulnerable social groups and individuals.
The first paper by Smith and Deering, UK academics at the University of South Wales, is an important philosophical study of concepts in the field of punishment theory, with implications for understanding issues of responsibility throughout the area of ethics and social welfare. The theoretical issues are structured by their engaging with the position of a well-known UK philosopher Jonathan Wolff who defends the idea of retribution. Consistent with the aims of this journal, the paper develops a subtle theoretical position but continues by considering the implications for practice. Although primarily aimed at considerations arising in probation practice, the discussion and its implications are of great interest for many social professionals who have to consider issues of responsibility and accountability as part of their daily work.
The first of the three papers expressing outrage at the social circumstances affecting vulnerable people was based on a joint project between Indian and UK academics researching perspectives on sexual violence in both countries. They argue that academic and community partnerships should be making a significant contribution to engender change in this important, topical, but problematic area. The incidence of various kinds of sexual violence is constantly in the media in both countries, and this effort to research how it is being perceived and how it might be changed is an important paper for anyone concerned with this topic area, as well as those interested in developing academic and community partnerships.
The second of the ‘outrage’ papers has a focus on the issue of workplace bullying—again, a matter that has become of global significance with the advent of business management practices imported into human services. The author is based in New Zealand, and asks social work professionals to be concerned not only at the experiences of service users who may be subject to bullying at work, but also at practice within their own organisations: social justice begins at home. In particular, he challenges social work leaders and managers to practise social justice within their own organisations.
The third paper using the notion of ‘outrage’ is concerned with ‘liveable subjectivities’ and the importance of professionals maintaining an open and ethical stance that includes an awareness of difference, change and development in individual subjectivities. The Canadian author makes a strong case that social professionals need to use their sense of outrage to ensure they include those who are often ‘left out of discursive frames’, and ‘whose lives are made precarious through their inarticulation’.
The fifth and final paper of this issue is an interesting study of the values of hospital social workers in a Qatari health setting where the culture and religion of the country underpin the professional group of social workers that are the subjects of research. Their devotion to Islam and their positive attitude to resolving ethical problems as they arise in in their particular setting are in some contrast to the sometimes demoralised practice in some ‘Western’ countries. In a sense, the ‘outrage’ papers are a call to other parts of the professional social work world to demonstrate equal commitment to the ethical demands of their practice.