Browsing by Author "Burns, Victoria F."

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    Exploring Perspectives of Social Workers on Female Perpetrated Sexual Abuse
    (2018-04-30) Allen, Devin Douglas; Badry, Dorothy E.; Smith, Jacqueline M.; Este, David C.; Burns, Victoria F.
    Female perpetrated child sexual abuse is a phenomenon that has been under researched by social work scholars. Professional responses to the issue have a significant impact on the experiences of survivors and social workers play a key role in the identification, investigation and treatment of sexual abuse. To address the dearth of research in this area, I studied social worker’s perspectives on women’s sexual offending using a discourse analysis methodology. A sample of six social workers participated in semi-structured interviews. The participants talked about the lack of social work training and education specific to women’s sexual offending, and how this could lead to difficulty in understanding and responding to the issue. They described several dominant discourses in society, which draw on dominant ideologies of gender and serve to mask recognition and minimize the seriousness of women’s sexual offending. The participants talked about the consequences of this lack of recognition for survivors, who could face responses of disbelief and dismissal, and a lack of appropriate resources. They described female perpetrated sexual abuse as a traumatic experience that can result in emotional and relational difficulties for survivors. In their representations of offenders, a history of trauma, in particular a previous history of sexual victimization, was given as an explanation for offending behaviour. In their descriptions of motivations for women’s sexual offending, some participants articulated a discourse based on gender difference. This involved framing women’s offending as passive, and emotionally and relationally motivated, compared to men’s offending as aggressive and sexually motivated. This conflicts with previous research that shows a large degree of similarity between men and women’s sexual offending. These findings have implications for social work practice, education and research.
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    Social workers within Canadian public libraries: A multicase study
    (2018-04-30) Schweizer, Elizabeth; Ayala, Jessica; Koltusky, Laura; Burns, Victoria F.; Hewson, Jennifer A.
    This study explored the emerging field of social work practice within Canadian public libraries. This is an interdisciplinary area of practice that has been increasing in prevalence across North America over the last decade. Despite the burgeoning movement that has begun to gain attention within public library circles and the popular media, comparatively little research has been published on library social work practice. There is a particular dearth of research in the area from Canadian social work perspectives. A mixed methods multicase study was utilized, consisting of a preliminary online survey distributed across Canada followed by analysis of four cases in which there are library-based social workers: Thunder Bay Public Library (TBPL), Kitchener Public Library (KPL), Mississauga Public Library (MPL), and Edmonton Public Library (EPL). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 participants, along with document review. Analysis was first performed for each individual case, followed by cross-case analysis. Four library social work models used by the urban public libraries were identified: social service agency partnership, local university partnership, municipal partnership, and full-time social work staff. In addition to the models, the major themes identified are grouped into two categories: public library motivations for including social workers within their operations, and the nature of social work practice in these settings. Primary findings indicate that library social work is an emerging distinct area of interdisciplinary practice that shows promise at individual and systems levels in helping to address social exclusion and improve community-based responses to broader social challenges such as homelessness, housing instability, poverty, mental health concerns, and substance misuse. Implications for social work and public library research and practice are provided.