This study elucidates the expertise needed in a social worker in a welfare office, whose primary responsibility is Japanese public assistance. We attempt to sketch an outline of the expertise required in a social worker, considering the “expertise required in the social work profession” and the “expertise of a public servant.” First, we reviewed the extant literature on this topic and organized the elements that constitute the required expertise. Then, we conducted an interview survey with three social workers serving in a welfare office, assuming that the elements that seem to constitute the expertise be used as conceptual categories. Through data analysis, the elements of expertise for social work practice were inductively extracted;consequently, five items, namely, “interview,” “human rights security,” “cooperation,” “planned practice,” and “law application” were identified as the core categories that make up the expertise of a social worker, and “efficiency” was identified as a subcategory that effectively promoted these five elements.

This study investigated the latent rank structure of welfare commissioners’ assistance requests to Comprehensive Community Support Centers (CCSCs) for older adults with suspected dementia, related knowledge of dementia (KD), and attitudes toward people with dementia (APD). A questionnaire was administered to 1,574 welfare commissioners in B region, A prefecture;the questionnaire items were related to KD, APD, and attitudes toward assistance requests at CCSCs. Statistical analysis of assistance requests at CCSCs was conducted by latent rank theory. We also employed the Categorical Data Analysis Program (CATDAP) to determine factors related to the estimated ranks. The results of the latent rank theoretical analysis revealed that the three-rank model was optimal. Moreover, the results of the CATDAP showed the most significant relationships between a combination of KD and APD and ranking. With a high-score KD and APD combination, welfare commissioners ranked 3(positive) accounted for 70.0% of the total. Only 40% of welfare commissioners indicated that they had positive assistance requests at CCSCs. To promote positive assistance requests by welfare commissioners at CCSCs, it is not only necessary to improve KD but also APD.

Several researchers in the field of disability studies have been involved in defining disability (impairment), and conflicts have also arisen in this process;the conflict between post-structuralists and interactionists is one such conflict. This study thus argues that such conflicts are meaningless if they are made from the perspective of “truth” through a discussion of Quine’s “holism” and Rorty’s conception of “truth” and determines the factors giving rise to such conflicts. Consequently, it was observed that the question of what disability (impairment) is cannot be answered in a single sense, and that if the question of what disability (impairment) is posed from the perspective of “truth,” then the conflict over the question is meaningless. Based on these results, a new avenue of strategic and practical use of various definitions of disability was proposed.

This study elucidates the practice method of formulating a crisis plan (CP) through which psychiatric hospitals and community support organizations can cooperate by common recognition in the community life support for people with psychiatric disabilities. The study conducted a semi-structured interview with nine social workers who have practical experience in formulating CPs and working with a psychiatric hospital, a consultation support office, and a public health center. The qualitative coding method was employed for analysis. Consequently, the practice content of a CP in the community life support for people with psychiatric disabilities was segmented into “screening,” “preparation,” “produce,” “utilization,” and “modification” periods. Moreover, the method of CP practice in which the related organizations cooperated was clarified through interaction between the practice contents. It is expected that the practice method of a CP focusing on advocacy and life support based on the autonomy of the parties shown in this study will contribute to the promotion of community life support for people with psychiatric disabilities.

This study promotes the challenge to empowerment practice by visualizing the process of empowerment-oriented social work practice. As the paradigm of empowerment practice covers an extensive range of approaches, we analyzed the support process over about 10 years using the Trajectory Equifinality Approach, focusing on verbalization support for four individuals with mental disabilities who work as peer supporters. The results of the analysis demonstrated the following dimensions for the process of verbalization support: a personal dimension that encourages consultation with social workers, an interpersonal dimension that facilitates discussion of experiences with peers, and a social dimension that supports conducting educational activities. Though the form of verbalization changes, the professional value of empowerment practice can be highlighted for all dimensions. Analysis of each dimension revealed that empowerment practice is established by social work practice based on daily basic principles, while the social worker’s understanding of empowerment may make it difficult to practice.

This study identified and investigated the factors that are detrimental to the development of a community-based integrated care system. To this end, a survey was conducted to elicit and analyze reflections on factors that had been perceived to impede the development of a community-based integrated care system. The subject of this survey is certified social workers and managing-directors working at community general support centers nationwide. The data revealed that a sense of hopelessness with respect to “overcoming the present situation” was particularly debilitating in terms of limiting the respondents’ ability to promote community work and work together toward a common goal. Consequently, any hope of establishing a virtuous cycle between a healthy team ethic and the effective promotion of community work foundered. In conclusion, the study found inertia borne of defeatism to be the factor that was most likely to impede the development of a community-based integrated care system and therefore the factor that would most appropriately form the basis of any evaluative framework for the same.

The study identified factors associated with institutional abuse in facilities supporting persons with disabilities and discussed preventive measures. We legitimately collected records of courts dealing with abuse cases and analyzed each case in detail. The study results are summarized in the following manner: employee education-related problems were associated with institutional abuse in these facilities; insufficient communication between employees made the abuse chronic; and the intention of the facility/corporation to conceal abuse spread among employees, leading to resignation in some cases. Institutional abuse is a structural problem, and He highlighted that improving communication between staff and building a system to prevent abuse are issues that should be investigated in the future.