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This article describes and analyzes the process of designing and implementing a new social work curriculum in Chile, considering the many social-justice challenges and rapid changes that the country has experienced in recent years. At the center of this new curriculum, an innovative, pedagogical strategy called 'Research and Development Nuclei' seeks to address the 17 United Nations' goals for sustainable development. This process involved social work students, faculty, agencies, and service users who worked collectively to generate a more inclusive and effective way to transform social problems in Chile and, potentially, other parts of Latin America. This article summarizes part of the history of the social work profession in Chile; describes some of the current characteristics of the social context, currently flagged by overlapped inequalities and high levels of mistrust toward institutions. In this context, we provide some examples of how the 'Research and Development Nuclei', our flagship innovation, are working to address some of the Global Goals as well as some shortcomings from the traditional way social work has been taught in the country. Finally, we discuss some limitations and challenges of this new model in order to consolidate its innovative character in social work education in Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, using a quantitative approach, we analyze interpersonal, inmate-on-inmate physical violence in Chilean prisons, using administrative records on collective violence, provided by the Prison Service for the period 2014 to 2017. Violence behind bars is problematic as it threatens inmates' fundamental rights such as personal safety but also because it undermines efforts to maintain an environment prone to inmates' social reintegration. Our data showed a sharp increase in the number of collective fights, from 808 in 2014 to more than 4,000 in 2017. In terms of the predictors, being in a private prisons as well as a greater ratio of inmates to guards were associated with increased collective fights for each of the 4 years we examined. Two additional predictors were statistically significant, yet only for 2017: A higher average criminal involvement score and a smaller ratio between inmates/staff were both associated with increased violence. Despite the fact that prison violence has not yet reached the scale or level of brutality that can be seen in other parts of the region (i.e., Brazil), there are signs of concern that authorities should take into account, particularly the rapid increase in collective fights in just a 4-year period and the recent social turmoil that has taken place in Chile, whose impact cannot be seen yet from these data. In terms of recommendations, we suggest that authorities should prioritize efforts in four areas: (a) to gather better data on prison violence, including some reliable data on importation variables (age, criminal history, and nationality); (b) to provide prison guards with tools to anticipate and mediate conflicts; (c) to revise and possibly modify the way prisoners are transferred to different facilities, and (d) in sum, to promote prison environments that can be more legitimate and supportive to inmates' reintegration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on survey data from a first nationwide assessment (n = 2093), we analyze the situation of Chilean prisons from an anti-oppressive, social work perspective. Our main findings reveal that many inmates experienced mistreatment from guards and/or from fellow prisoners, had limited access to in-prison programs, and reported poor infrastructure conditions. Inmates also identified priorities for improving prisons. Finally, we created an ‘oppression index’ and linked it to accessing in-prison programs, discovering that those with lower scores (less oppressed) tended to participate more frequently. Finally, we suggest some changes to the prison system and to the role of social work within it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article raises the need to reflect on the privation of liberty as a measure adopted for addressing the deviation of socially desirable behavior and maintaining public order. Prisons constitute specific social spaces that have their own logic and that --according to penitentiary philosophy- are indispensable to achieve the purposes behind this measure. This article presents a description of what happens behind bars, raising a necessary question about the focus of social reintegration adopted by the Chilean penitentiary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Establishing reference intervals (RIs) in clinical laboratories is essential, as these can vary due to inter-individual variability as well as the analytical methods used. The purpose of this study was to determine RIs for markers and ratios biochemical in apparently healthy Chilean adults. Methods: A sample of 1,143 data was selected from the Universidad Catdlica de Temuco, Clinical Laboratory database, La Araucanfa Region, Chile, which were analysed by sex. The Tukey's Fences was used to detect outliers and the RIs were established using the non-parametric method. Results: The RIs obtained for the female sex were: Urea 2.48-7.35 mmol/L AST 0.20-0.69 pkat/L ALT 0.13-1.12 jikat/L, Alkaline Phosphatase 0.83-2.5 pkat/L Total Bilirubin 3.5-17.3 mmol/L, Direct Bilirubin 1.5-4.9 mmol/L, Uric Acid 148-362 mmol/L and Total Proteins 66.3-80.3 g/L and for males: Urea 3.28-8.17 mmol/L AST 0.22-0.80 pkat/L ALT 0.18-1.9 pkat/L Alkaline Phosphatase 0.93-2.33 pkat/L Total Bilirubin 4.58-24.0 mmol/L, Direct Bilirubin 1.9-7.5 mmol/L Uric Acid 202-458 mmol/L and Total Proteins 67.4-83 g/L. The FIB-4 and APRI index presented a range of 0.2-1.6 and 0.12-0.5 respectively (in both genders) and the AST/ALT index was 0.5-2 in women and 0.38-1.66 in men. Conclusion: A panel of Rls for locally-relevant biochemical parameters has been established, this study being the first to be carried out in our country. When comparing these results with other studies and those reported by reagent manufacturers, some differences were observed. This study thus contributes to increase the reliability in the interpretation of laboratory results and therefore to the clinical management of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To inform social work practice with adolescents who may consume alcohol, we examined if alcohol use among Chilean adolescents varied as a function of their mothers’ and their own religiosity and spirituality. Data were from 787 Chilean adolescents and their mothers. Adolescent spirituality was a protective factor against more deleterious alcohol use. Parental monitoring and alcohol using opportunities mediated the associations. The practice of religious behaviors by themselves without meaningful faith were not associated with alcohol use among adolescents. Implications for social work practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents the results of a study conducted to prospectively assess the relationship between spirituality and number of alcoholic drinks among Chilean adolescents while controlling for extraneous factors. A convenience sample of 661 adolescent-parent pairs from Santiago, Chile, completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire between 2007 and 2010, when adolescents were 12 to 17 years old), and between 2008 and 2011, when they were 14 to 19 years old. Participants were asked about alcohol-using behaviors, behavioral problems, religious involvement, spirituality, parenting, and demographics. Propensity score stratification analysis using negative binomial regression identified a heterogeneous and inverse association between spirituality and number of alcoholic drinks consumed in the past 30 days (b = -0.770, p = .002). However, under the heterogeneity assumption, spirituality was significantly and inversely associated with the number of alcoholic drinks only for adolescents with the highest (b = -1.608, p = .015) and next-highest (b = 1.852, p = .012) propensity to be spiritual. The findings provide greater understanding of spirituality's potential and its limitations as a protective factor and can inform social work prevention efforts for at-risk youths and, more specifically, for youths who may be less responsive to the protective dimensions of spirituality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goals of this study were to compare levels of job satisfaction (JS) between social workers from private and public organizations. Findings showed significant differences in scores for job satisfaction, psychological states, and role stress between the two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]