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Citation |
Hay K, Pascoe KM. Australas. J. Disaster Trauma Stud. 2018; 22(1): 3-10. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2018, Massey University, School of Psychology) |
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DOI |
unavailable |
PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
Registered social workers in New Zealand have transferable skills and capabilities that enable them to work with diverse populations at levels including the individual, family and community. Working across government and non-government organisations, they are well-situated to effectively contribute to emergency management. Despite this, their current engagement in emergency management is largely invisible even though, anecdotally, it is known that many social workers have been active in this field. In the main, public understanding of social workers is limited and they are frequently portrayed by the media in negative terms, with an emphasis on critical incidents such as child deaths. This limited reporting of the breadth and depth of the knowledge and skills of social workers may affect credibility, perception and uptake. Consequently, media portrayals may limit other professionals' engagement with them in the planning and mitigation phases of emergency management, in particular. Further, the public may be reluctant to seek or accept social workers' professional support during and after an emergency. This article presents the results of a content analysis of New Zealand online media depictions of social work and emergencies over the past ten years. The findings illustrate the minimal visibility of social work and emergencies in New Zealand media. Social work representations are largely focused on the profession having a role in addressing ongoing psychosocial needs in the mid- and longer-term recovery phases. Language: en |