International Community for Practice Research in Social Work
Collaborative on Diversity in Family Work
This collaborative promotes social work practice research on diversity with families at micro, meso, exo- and macro-levels, both locally and internationally.
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Embracing diversity in working with families is essential. Issues related to race, sexuality, religion and spirituality, class, abilities and many more dimensions impact the processes and outcomes of working with families in different contexts. This collaborative focuses on the impact of diversity from the person of the social workers, client characteristics and lived experiences, and organizational and governmental policies in different milieu.
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Diversity in Families
Aalborg Workshop
Dr Timothy Sim
This collaborative has just been launched and focus will be on discussing the description below together with the future possibilities and activities in the collaborative.
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This collaborative promotes social work practice research on diversity with families at micro, meso, exo- and macro-levels, both locally and internationally.
​
Embracing diversity in working with families is essential. Issues related to race, sexuality, religion and spirituality, class, abilities and many more dimensions impact the processes and outcomes of working with families in different contexts. This collaborative focuses on the impact of diversity from the person of the social workers, client characteristics and lived experiences, and organizational and governmental policies in different milieu.
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Families that are considered diverse in relation to their ethnicity, nationality, religiosity, sexuality and so on are often under-served or misappropriately served by mainstream social work professionals who may not appreciate their diverse backgrounds and experiences. Moreover, these families may be marginalized due to national or organizational policies, and social workers may be constrained by these policies and procedures. This collaborative will begin by appraising relevant research and/or policies related to diversity in social work, particularly with a focus on working with families that are diverse. For a start, the collaborative will focus on selected areas of diversity (e.g., ethnicity or sexuality) given the wide spectrum of diversity over a period of 12 months (after the 6th ICPR) and may develop practice research questions for further exploration.
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This collaborative is initiated by Dr. Timothy SIM, Associate Professor at Singapore University of Social Sciences. After about two decades of focusing on disaster management internationally, Tim returned to Singapore in 2021 and his passion of working with families, particularly those who experience addictions, incarceration and violence, which are often over-represented by ethnic minority groups and those living with multi-challenges in life.
The discussions will be led by DR. Timothy SIM, Associate Professor at Singapore University of Social Sciences
About the Collaborative
Families that are considered diverse in relation to their ethnicity, nationality, religiosity, sexuality and so on are often under-served or misappropriately served by mainstream social work professionals who may not appreciate their diverse backgrounds and experiences. Moreover, these families may be marginalized due to national or organizational policies, and social workers may be constrained by these policies and procedures. This collaborative will begin by appraising relevant research and/or policies related to diversity in social work, particularly with a focus on working with families that are diverse. For a start, the collaborative will focus on selected areas of diversity (e.g., ethnicity or sexuality) given the wide spectrum of diversity over a period of 12 months (after the 6th ICPR) and may develop practice research questions for further exploration.
This collaborative is initiated by Dr. Timothy SIM, Associate Professor at Singapore University of Social Sciences. After about two decades of focusing on disaster management internationally, Tim returned to Singapore in 2021 and his passion of working with families, particularly those who experience addictions, incarceration and violence, which are often over-represented by ethnic minority groups and those living with multi-challenges in life.
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Contact
For more information please emai:
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Dr. Timothy SIM, Associate Professor, Head of Programme, Master of Counselling, Singapore University of Social Sciences (Email: timothysimbw@suss.edu.sg).