Through conducting a literature review, this study aims to elucidate the changes in the educational field regarding the placement of school social workers. We searched the academic database CiNii using the keywords “school social work,” “school social worker,” “social work in school,” and “social worker in school.” Among 827 studies, we included 19 studies that met the selection criteria. We found 12 qualitative studies and 7 quantitative studies. Qualitative research identified four categories of changes: teachers/schools, children, homes, and communities. Quantitative research focused on the relationship between the placement of a school social worker and potential changes and on factors related to the changes. These changes were related to children’s challenges and teachers’ workload. Utilization of school social workers, availability of welfare-related qualifications, and the specialty of school social workers were reported as related factors. A practical suggestion concerned the importance of school social workers’ approach to school organization. Awareness of its functioning and practical contribution to the system is required in the future.

The Hogojutakusha system was established in 1951 under the Child Welfare Act to provide aftercare for older dependent children. Hogojutakusha refer to the “vocational parent (Shokuoya)” who lived with an older child requiring protection or accepted a child from a child welfare institution or foster parents to provide vocational guidance toward independence. Soon after its establishment, the number of registered Hogojutakusha increased, exceeding 2,500; however, the system fell into decline in the following ten years and was abolished in 2004. This study aims to clarify the role and problems of aftercare by Hogojutakusha during the children’s independence process by focusing on the relevant aftercare practices. The responsibilities included direct guidance to the consigned children, and many of them lived with these children, enabling them to grasp their individuality and characteristics and leading them to stable employment. Conversely, because of Hogojutakusha’s characteristics, they were limited to small and medium-sized offices and were unable to respond to the children’s needs and changes in the working environment, including the large economic burden on the them.

Social workers are insufficiently willing to be involved with recovery support for addiction. Quantitative analysis of the determinants of this willingness is scarce, and evidence is lacking on how to enhance willingness. Therefore, this study analyzed the determinants of medical social workers’ willingness to be involved in addiction, focusing mainly on their sense of self-responsibility toward addiction. A survey of Japanese Association of Social Workers in Health Services members was used for the analysis (n=1,158). The main results were as follows: 1) those who do not consider addiction to be their fault are more proactive; 2) those who have received addiction training are more proactive; 3) those who have had contact with addicts are more proactive; and 4) those who work in an environment with many social workers are more proactive. These results suggest that overcoming the sense of self-responsibility, increasing opportunities for training and contact with addicts, and increasing the number of social workers in the workplace will increase proactivity.

The purpose of this study is to identify organizational factors that support information sharing on child and family support in daycare centers. The group interviews were conducted with staff members at the centers that actively provided support for families in difficulty. The data were analyzed with qualitative data analysis. From the analysis, we derived 6 superordinate categories and 18 subcategories (superordinate categories are placed in quotation marks: “ ”). It was found that “active commitment of the director” contributed to “development of a system for communicating information” and “development of a system for communicating information” interacted with “penetration of the centers’ policy on child and family support” and “development of a positive organizational climate.” These organizational factors eventually led to “center-wide efforts to establish the system” and finally supported information sharing on child and family support. It was also suggested that “the competence of nursery staff” is not a supportive factor for information sharing, but that information sharing is fostered instead through “center-wide efforts to establish the system” and “active commitment of the director.”

This study is intended to clarify the characteristics and the role of practices in the children’s associations known as Kodomo-kai, organized by student settlements in areas with high levels of poverty. The period covered is from 1956 to 1973, a time of high activity in the student settlement movement. Historical materials were examined for the analysis, with an emphasis on activity records. The following characteristics about the practices of Student Settlements Kodomo-kai were identified: (1) the approach of choice is today known as the “outreach method”; (2) the development of practices which captured the “inhibiting situation” of children and how their “demands” were responded to; (3) a perspective of understanding the regional and social situations through individual practices; (4) empowerment had a role to play in the movement; (5) by playing complementary roles during their implementation, the student settlement fostered the independence and autonomy of the regions and the children who had fallen between the cracks of the education and welfare systems.