IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i5p1312-d142935.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Work Practices and the Ecological Sustainability of Socially Vulnerable Communities

Author

Listed:
  • Helena Belchior Rocha

    (ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal)

Abstract

Environmental problems are also social problems. Social work, as a scientific area, has increasingly assumed the importance of including environmental problems in social intervention. This close linkage to ecological issues is particularly relevant when addressing vulnerable communities. In this article, we analyze the results of a study focused on social work intervention in two Portuguese eco-neighborhoods in the context of ongoing urban regeneration projects, which suggest that social vulnerability accentuates the damage of exposure to environmental threats and amplifies its effects. The analysis of data collected from social workers, through 9 semi-structured interviews and through questionnaires (N = 131), with the residents of the neighborhoods together with non-participant observation, allowed to highlight the difficulties, contradictions, but also the potential of this type intervention. Results appear to support an eco-social model which may help social worker to promote social transformation and change, respecting community rhythms, promoting empowerment of individuals, addressing the challenges of socially vulnerable communities within the complexity of a globalized world.

Suggested Citation

  • Helena Belchior Rocha, 2018. "Social Work Practices and the Ecological Sustainability of Socially Vulnerable Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-27, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1312-:d:142935
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1312/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1312/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sachs, Wolfgang, 2003. "Environment and human rights," Wuppertal Papers 137, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Raquel Agost-Felip & María José Ruá & Fatiha Kouidmi, 2021. "An Inclusive Model for Assessing Age-Friendly Urban Environments in Vulnerable Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-29, July.
    2. Komalsingh Rambaree, 2020. "Environmental Justice in the Case of the Chagos Marine Protected Area: Implications for International Social Work," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Inês Casquilho-Martins, 2021. "The Impacts of Socioeconomic Crisis in Portugal on Social Protection and Social Work Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.
    4. Maite Berasaluce & Pablo Díaz-Siefer & Paulina Rodríguez-Díaz & Marcelo Mena-Carrasco & José Tomás Ibarra & Juan L. Celis-Diez & Pedro Mondaca, 2021. "Social-Environmental Conflicts in Chile: Is There Any Potential for an Ecological Constitution?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-25, November.
    5. Simon Colnar & Vlado Dimovski & David Bogataj, 2019. "Knowledge Management and the Sustainable Development of Social Work," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-20, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giulia Minoia, 2007. "Gender Issue and Water Management in the Mediterranean Basin, Middle East and North Africa," Working Papers 2007.49, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    2. Gert Goeminne & Erik Paredis, 2010. "The concept of ecological debt: some steps towards an enriched sustainability paradigm," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 12(5), pages 691-712, October.
    3. Everard, Mark & Reed, Mark S. & Kenter, Jasper O., 2016. "The ripple effect: Institutionalising pro-environmental values to shift societal norms and behaviours," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(PB), pages 230-240.
    4. Minoia, Giulia, 2007. "Gender Issue and Water Management in the Mediterranean Basin, Middle East and North Africa," Natural Resources Management Working Papers 9556, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    5. Somenath Halder, 2017. "Political Ecology of Snake Charming," South Asian Survey, , vol. 24(1), pages 54-87, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1312-:d:142935. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.