Search

In the past few decades, both the local and international press have addressed flaws within the juvenile justice systems in Chile. However, very few studies have examined the support provided to social workers working in this field. This article, using exploratory survey research methods, explores the perspective of social workers about how these systems support their well-being and overall work functioning. The survey uses a snowball sampling technique to reach social workers who work in nonprofit organizations serving juvenile offenders in the metropolitan region in Chile. The results show that social workers are experiencing moderate levels of compassion fatigue. Different issues emerged centered on a lack of organizational support related to teamwork, training, and pay.

Worldwide, there has been a push toward reforming or abolishing child welfare systems because of systemic bias against families. Few studies have examined the role of bias in decision-making processes among child welfare practitioners, especially in child welfare systems in processes of change/reform. This qualitative study utilized discussion groups with child welfare teams to examine how professionals navigated the decision-making process in cases of child maltreatment. A grounded theory analysis revealed that professionals deconstruct macro, mezzo, and micro biases as they make decisions. Implications for global social work, such as self-reflection and structural changes, and for future research are explored.

Recent attention to juvenile delinquency has led to calls for alternative approaches for youth offenders that can reduce recidivism. This research analyzes how practitioners in Sweden, England, Italy, and Chile perceive the implementation of victim offender mediation (VOM). An emphasis is given to challenges and strategies that practitioners in Sweden, England, and Italy report, in order to provide a framework for implementation of VOM in a country in the early stages of implementation and consideration, such as Chile. An instrumental comparative case study design was used to compare the four cases of VOM implementation, conducting in-depth interviews in each country with key informants about the implementation process. The results suggest that practitioners are overwhelmingly satisfied with VOM in each European country, and that their experiences can be incorporated as lessons learned for practitioners in other countries seeking to implement VOM. Implications for adapting VOM to a different cultural context are described in the discussion, as well as a critical analysis of the need for more empirical evidence and further research on VOM and its underlying philosophy of social justice and accountability.