When vulnerable groups cannot access social work without risk : co-creating support for vulnerable groups through research, policy and practice.

Götzö, Monika; Brüesch, Nina

Publication type:	Conference other
Type of review:	Peer review (abstract)
Title:	When vulnerable groups cannot access social work without risk : co-creating support for vulnerable groups through research, policy and practice.
Authors:	Götzö, Monika Brüesch, Nina
et. al:	No
Conference details:	12th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR), Milan, Italy, 12-14 April 2023
Issue Date:	14-Apr-2023
Language:	English
Subjects:	Covid-19; Vulerable group; Collaborative policy formulation; Precarity; Non-taking up of social assistance; New poverty; Policy forming
Subject (DDC):	361: Social work and welfare
Abstract:	In 2020, when pictures circulated in the media in Switzerland of people standing in lines of several hundred meters to receive free food, the public reacted in shock and disbelief. In the cities of Geneva, Zurich, and Basel, poverty suddenly became publicly apparent, moving from marginal poverty to disqualifying poverty, a form of poverty that affects broad and heterogeneous populations (Paugam 2008). The Social Department of the City of Zurich mandated us to conduct a research on the multiple challenges that led to this visible need of obviously very diverse persons and groups. We presented on this research at the last ESWRA meeting in Amsterdam. Our presentation proposed here focuses on the follow-up activities that have taken place in close collaboration between the research group and the Social Department of the City of Zurich. With reference to our research, the head of the social department, at the same time acting as a city councillor in Zuerich, established a pilot project, Basic Economic Assistance, which is intended to benefit precisely those vulnerable groups who cannot seek official social work because of their residence status, which can be jeopardized by being on supplementary benefit, and who cannot be reached by private aid organizations. These include Sans-Papiers, Sex Workers and people with limited residents rights. These three groups are excluded or restricted from receiving social assistance by legal frameworks. With the aim of strengthening the effectiveness of the Basic Economic Assistance, we were mandated with the formative accompanying evaluation. We worked closely with NGOs and the city of Zurich to gain knowledge about the multiple problems and resources of the recipients, their fundamental distrust of government intervention and government assistance programs, the accessibility of the recipients, and the role of basic economic assistance in the city of Zurich's service landscape. For this purpose, quantitative data was collected and qualitative interviews were conducted (cf. Spradley). In the workshop we would like to discuss the findings of the collaborative knowledge building during the evaluation under the following perspectives: How can social work research make effective contributions to improving the lives of vulnerable people through cooperation with policy makers and decision makers in politics? How can we adress great distrust towards governmental help or governmental contact points in vulnerable groups? What does close cooperation with policy makers imply regarding the role of researchers and in terms of content and strategy for social work research? How can and should vulnerable persons and groups be included in the collaboration?
Further description:	Related publication (in german): https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/22446
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/28698
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	Social Work
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Diversity and Social Integration (IVGT)
Published as part of the ZHAW project:	Datenerhebung pandemiebedingte, kostenlose Mahlzeiten-, Lebensmittel und Gutscheinabgaben in der Stadt Zürich.
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Soziale Arbeit

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Götzö, M., & Brüesch, N. (2023, April 14). When vulnerable groups cannot access social work without risk : co-creating support for vulnerable groups through research, policy and practice. 12th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR), Milan, Italy, 12-14 April 2023.

Götzö, M. and Brüesch, N. (2023) ‘When vulnerable groups cannot access social work without risk : co-creating support for vulnerable groups through research, policy and practice.’, in 12th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR), Milan, Italy, 12-14 April 2023.

M. Götzö and N. Brüesch, “When vulnerable groups cannot access social work without risk : co-creating support for vulnerable groups through research, policy and practice.,” in 12th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR), Milan, Italy, 12-14 April 2023, Apr. 2023.

GÖTZÖ, Monika und Nina BRÜESCH, 2023. When vulnerable groups cannot access social work without risk : co-creating support for vulnerable groups through research, policy and practice. In: 12th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR), Milan, Italy, 12-14 April 2023. Conference presentation. 14 April 2023

Götzö, Monika, and Nina Brüesch. 2023. “When Vulnerable Groups Cannot Access Social Work without Risk : Co-Creating Support for Vulnerable Groups through Research, Policy and Practice.” Conference presentation. In 12th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR), Milan, Italy, 12-14 April 2023.

Götzö, Monika, and Nina Brüesch. “When Vulnerable Groups Cannot Access Social Work without Risk : Co-Creating Support for Vulnerable Groups through Research, Policy and Practice.” 12th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR), Milan, Italy, 12-14 April 2023, 2023.