Karen Bell

Charles Sturt University · Social Work - School of Social Work and Arts, Wagga Wagga

This article reports on a small study that aimed to enhance disaster preparedness policy in Australian human service organisations. Adopting a transformative ecosocial lens, the researchers collaborated with emergency services as part of action research (AR) to co-design a series of workshops. The objectives of the workshops were to progressively d...

This article reports on findings of an international scoping review of literature on social work in libraries. The review explored how social work is practised in libraries, and barriers and facilitators to embedding professional social work within public libraries. Using a literature search protocol, databases were systematically searched, and res...

This article reports on findings of an international scoping review of literature on social work in libraries. The review explored how social work is practised in libraries, and barriers and facilitators to embedding professional social work within public libraries. Using a literature search protocol, databases were systematically searched, and res...

Social work, as a profession and as an academic discipline, is based on principles of respect for diversity, equity, beneficence, non-maleficence, and collective responsibility. Through critical reflection on systems of structural oppression, social work aims to resist oppression through transformative action and to work for sustainable improvement...

This chapter using two case studies to explore different aspects of ageing in rural areas. One story focuses on Harpreet Kaur, an immigrant Punjabi woman for whom other are increasingly concerned; and the other on Aurora, a capable woman in her seventies who suddenly finds herself in challenging circumstances. After reading this chapter you will:...

Social work, as a profession and as an academic discipline, is based on principles of respect for diversity, equity, beneficence, non-maleficence and collective responsibility. Through critical reflection on systems of structural oppression, social work aims to resist oppression through transformative action and to work for sustainable improvements...

The aim of this study was to understand the extent and nature of social work literature relating to preparedness in the context of natural disasters and to identify the implications for further research, theory and practice. A systematic scoping review explored scholarly databases pertaining to literature about social work and disaster preparedness...

Study abroad programmes are an increasingly popular component of social work education worldwide and a range of claims have been made about the associated benefits of these programmes. To explore the nature and extent of current knowledge in relation to student learning outcomes, a scoping review of social work literature was undertaken. A comprehe...

ABSTRACT - Dominant forms of social work are still largely a product of the modernist, humanist, Euro–Western foundations out of which they have grown. These foundations are conventional, conservative and under-examined. They are based largely on individualised subjectivity and hierarchical dualism, and this presents some major conceptual challenge...

Public library staff are increasingly required to work with members of the public with high social needs. Public libraries are places of sanctuary and connection for people experiencing challenges such as homelessness, poverty, mental illness, domestic violence and substance abuses. In recognizing their role to serve the needs of all people who ent...

This paper explores student experience, sustainability and the nature of reciprocity in the context of international student mobility programs. There is a considerable body of literature on various aspects of these programs such as educational outcomes, curriculum development, standards for practice and ethical issues. Much of the literature tends...

This chapter focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 5 – Gender Equality – as it explores eco-feminism, gender oppression, the gendered impacts of environmental degradation and climate change. It also outlines how eco-feminism can inform eco-social approaches to practice. In the preamble to the United Nations’ Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agend...

Adopting a critical social work frame of reference, this paper explores the impacts and challenges of a two-week study abroad program to India on Australian social work students’ understanding of the environment in practice. Using a mixed methods approach, a small study was undertaken in 2011 involving pre and post-program surveys, as well as a fac...

An invited commentary from the journal - Australian Social Work: "Advancing transformative eco-social change: Shifting from modernist to holistic foundations” (Boetto, 2019) and “Integrating the natural environment in social work education: Sustainability and scenario-based learning” (Papadopoulos, 2019).

Newly qualified social workers often enter challenging interdisciplinary settings where they need to be able to clearly articulate a distinctive professional identity. To prepare for these realities, this paper discusses how the development of professional identity has become increasingly central to qualifying social work curriculum at an Australia...

This chapter can be undertaken in a single session or spread across various sessions. As the content is based on philosophical aspects of practice, it may be better suited for students who have established some understanding about the knowledge base of practice. The chapter will commence with a summary of key attributes relating to ecosocial work,...

This chapter uses the voices of Indigenous Australians to outline cultural significance of Country, including their relationship with Country, and the cultural and environmental wisdom in the care of Country. It highlights the values embedded in the care of Country, including the connection between human and non-human wellbeing. In addition, a `Wis...

Social Work: Innovations and Insights Social Work Innovations and Insights critically reflects on social work education, research and practice. Experienced educators and practitioners offer fresh insights into the conceptualisation of social work, exploring virtues in social work, culturally responsive practice, post-conventional and eco-social p...

What is at the heart of developing a global perspective? Cultural sensitivity and the principle of reciprocity are central. At Charles Sturt University, the Wiradjuri phrase “Yindyamarra Winhanganha”—“the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in”—informs the way our social work international mobility programmes con...

This chapter has two aims: to introduce the Charles Sturt University (CSU) social work program in its historical context and to introduce the book. First, we discuss the rationale for the book, noting some of the innovative aspects of the program. Then we outline the story of the social work program and finally we introduce the chapters.

Social work, as a global profession, has human rights and social justice at its heart. However it is argued that foundation theory at the ontological level has been somewhat neglected in social work at times resulting in a reliance on conventional, modernist theoretical perspectives. This reliance is highly problematic for social work in that conve...

This chapter provides an overview of the range of study abroad programs offered to social work students at Charles Sturt University (CSU), 2010-2016. With several years’ experience facilitating these short-term programs and drawing on our research findings, we outline the impacts of these initiatives on students and host communities along with our...

Th is chapter uses two personal stories to explore different aspects of ageing in rural areas. One story focuses on Branko, an older man for whom others are increasingly concerned; and Aurora , a capable woman in her 70s who suddenly finds herself in challenging circumstances. After reading this chapter, you will: » describe ageing as normal yet c...

This paper discusses the experiences of newly qualified social workers as part of a research project exploring professional identity. Drawing on literature in this area and a subset of data from a larger study involving Australian practitioners, it is argued that while several studies explore experiences of identity, the phenomenon remains under-re...

This paper explores community-level action in relation to socially based climate change adaptations for vulnerable citizens—older people in particular. While awareness of risk and adaptation has increased in various institutions across Australia, the translation of awareness into action is limited, particularly in the area of socially based adaptiv...

This article explores the impact of an online programme developed to educate Australian social work students about environmental sustainability. Drawing on Hawkins’ definition of global citizenship, online workshop activities are used to develop students’ knowledge, concern and action about environmental degradation in a global context. A qualitati...

This article explores the impacts of a short-term international study programme on Australian social work students’ understanding of social justice and human rights issues, with particular emphasis on gender oppression. Using qualitative data from a reflective workshop plus written evaluations, students’ reflections on learning experiences during t...

The establishment of a cross-discipline peer consultation group in regional Australia is described. A research project, which explored the impact of the peer consultation on participants, using pre-group and post-group evaluation surveys along with data from an externally facilitated group evaluation session is discussed. Key findings reveal the va...

Accepted 17 Sept 2013, publication forthcoming. This paper explores women’s experiences of assisted reproduction (AR) and epistemic injustice. Using feminist theory and qualitative data from a social work research project, I argue that the dominant discourse in AR is partial and inadequate and that these epistemological oversights are not accidenta...

Adopting a critical social work frame of reference, this paper explores the impacts and challenges of a two-week study abroad program to India on Australian social work students’ understanding of the environment in practice. Using a mixed methods approach, a small study was undertaken in 2011 involving pre and post-program surveys, as well as a fac...

This paper describes the development of an accessible, short-term (two-week) international field experience programme for distance education and on-campus social work students at a regional university in Australia. Pre-programme and post-programme evaluation surveys were undertaken and results indicate that the international study experience had si...

This chapter explores the inadequacies of conventional paradigms and argues the case for a sustained effort to build post-conventional theory in relation to gender, social justice and the environment. Drawing on the work of key post-structural feminists a post-conventional framework is explored. It is argued that while significant theorising has be...

This paper draws on data from a feminist, qualitative social work research project on women’s experiences of involuntary childlessness in the context of assisted reproduction. It is argued that the dominant construction of ‘infertility’ is partial, biased and inaccurate and that it serves to maintain infertility as a ‘woman’s problem’ to be ideally...

This paper highlights ways in which a two-week international study abroad program to India contributed to professional identity development for a group of participating Australian social work students. A mixed methods approach was used to assess the impacts of the program overall. Pre-program and post-program evaluation surveys along with reflectiv...

This article explores the nature of psychosocial support needs and service provision in the context of assisted reproduction. Using qualitative data from a doctoral research project, the views of non-metropolitan women in Australia are presented along with a review of literature and an overview of participants' actual sources of, and needs in relat...

The need for social workers to use a range of theory to inform their practice is well established in contemporary critical social work literature. However, it is argued that the ontological base of the profession has not received enough attention, despite innovations in social work theory in recent years. In the absence of a clearly articulated ont...

This article explores what motivated participants to volunteer for a qualitative social work research project as well as the co-construction of the researcher-participant relationship. In social work research methodology literature, much attention has been given to the importance of engaging participants in democratized research relationships, but...

Access to health services in rural Australia has been particularly problematic because of the vast geographical areas and the sparse population distribution across the inland. The focus on health servicing has been very much on primary health care with most attention being giving to the distribution of doctors in rural Australia. This study takes a...

Public interest in assisted reproduction (AR) has remained high since the birth of the first ‘test tube baby’ in the United Kingdom in 1978. Australian scientists have been frontrunners in the development and implementation of reproductive technology and recently, there has been renewed debate about government funding and access to AR. This paper p...

This paper discusses the findings of a pilot project exploring the benefits and costs of social work student placements to host agencies. In this qualitative study, 43 supervisors were interviewed about their experiences of the costs and benefits of having a student on placement. Overall, the benefits were assessed as outweighing the costs. The mai...

The federal government's 1999 White Paper Knowledge and Innovation: a policy statement on research and research training, notes concerns about retention and completion rates in doctoral studies programs in Australia. This paper outlines a model of higher education support developed at the Centre for Rural Social Research at Charles Sturt University...