Conference in Germany

The first session gave a deeper introduction into the concepts of indigenisation, authentication and localisation.

Prof. Dr. Tanja Kleibl, from the Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg, Germany, started by posing the question whether social work was not context-bound and locally specific from its nature, or whether it should be at least. This is one of the most commonly debatable questions when discussing localisation of social work. Prof. Kleibl gave specific examples from her career as a social worker coming from a Western to a non-Western region. Following her insights it became clear that localisation and indigenisation appear as a response to the Western origin of social work and its problematic entanglement with colonialism. Pointing out current debates about globalisation-localisation, westernisation-indigenisation, multicultural-universalisation, and universal-local standards, she gave deeper input about these concepts.

Dr. Wajdi Akef Fakhouri, from the University of San Francisco, USA, of Arab decent himself, continued with a deeper analysis of these concepts by defining and discussing them. Therefore, indigenisation describes the process in which components imported from Western regions that do not fit into the local context are adapted to finally provide a better fit. Authentication on the other hand is a process in which new models are developed by analysing local resources and data without referral to Western Social Work models. He also underlined the relevance of localisation by the usage of personal experiences, being in a Western country and having clients from a non-Western region. The speaker also highlighted the importance of psychosocial support and counselling sessions that addressed individuals and reflected the relevance of their culture and language.

The second session focused on the African localisation experience with one expert from Nigeria and one expert from Ghana, from whose experience the Arab countries could also benefit.

Dr. Ngozi Chukwu, from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria, Guest Professor at THWS, started by introducing the social support system in Nigeria by stating that it was still basic since it lacked governmental support. Therefore, efforts must be made to target the needs of the Nigerians more. In fact, the social work profession in Nigeria is facing many localisation-related challenges. Per se, there are no theories and practice paradigms that would adequately respond in a contextualised way to the myriad of social problems. Additionally, there is no authoritative local textbook to demonstrate the efficacy of local theories or models and local research is not encouraged either. It is to be mentioned that the legal mandate and social workers’ job description are still unclear in the country. In Dr. Ngozi’s opinion, localisation of social work does not mean that ethics and values should not remain universal. However, social work education and practice should present a better understanding of the value system and cultural beliefs of clients. Yet, locally relevant cultural practices, coping strategies or informal helping systems, as well as religious beliefs must be incorporated into social work interventions.

Ms Franziska Neureither, a participant of the PhD programme "Ethics, Culture and Education for the 21^st Century", elaborated an overview of the social work situation in Ghana and the struggle with the situation of post-colonialism on-site. Yet, before the colonial era, social problems were solved by the traditional system’s way, whereas after the colonisation, problems were to be addressed by the governmental systems. The traditional systems have barely received attention anymore. She also emphasized the lack of social work literature localised in the context of Ghana. In addition, she listed the challenges facing freshly graduated social worker. In fact, many practitioners in social work do not hold a professional degree in the major and in contrast, BA holders do not find jobs in the field. Finally, she introduced her PhD project "The Interaction of Indigenous and Professional Helping Systems", quoting local practitioners from Ghana that stated their challenges with social work being taught at university according to Westernised curricula which do not apply to the reality and the needed practices in the field.

The third session of the conference provided further input for the universal and interdisciplinary basis for localised concepts of social work.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Borrmann, from the University of Applied Sciences Landshut, started this session by referring to the complex relationship between the global and the local and questioning whether the global definition could possibly clarify it. In his eyes, even though Social Work has its own global definition, this definition should be analysed and not simply taken as given. He negated the prior question because the definition was as ambivalent in positioning itself in this regard as the debate itself. This debate about the local and the global could only be solved if the fact was accepted that local and global culture were not static but always changing and if social workers were academically educated in being global minded. Furthermore, the social work profession must always acknowledge the relation between individuals and their environment. 

Prof. Dr. Somia Qudah, from Yarmouk University in Jordan, gave a speech about a method of localisation set in the field of translation in Jordan. She discussed the relation between the concepts of translation and localisation in the Arab context. At the same time, she highlighted the challenges in translation such as choosing the appropriate terminology to convey the intended message or maintaining the language readability to suit the target readers. In addition, she suggested the need to improve the translator training to cover social work topics through establishing a network where translators can work alongside Arab social workers to localise the intervention.

The conference continued on the second day with the fourth session, which concentrated on the Social Work in Arab countries and the impact of colonialism and post-colonialism.

Prof. Dr. Christine Huth-Hildebrandt, from the German Jordanian University, gave a speech on the "Postcolonial Impact on Transnational Education and Research Projects in Social Work". She started with an overview of the past colonial empires the Arab World had witnessed and the many changes that were applied to the culture. Afterwards, she continued with providing a specific example for the necessity of localising the education system of social work: A genogram is a visual family mapping that allows clients and clinicians to explore more about family relationship dynamics. In this matter, it is important to consider the Arabic culture, where family ties are strong. A tool like this genogram cannot be used as it was developed originally in the West, but must be adapted to meet the Arab context.

The fifth session concentrated on the several needs for localisation and potentials of authentication in Arab countries with three experts from Arab countries and one from Germany.

Prof. Dr. Ayat Nashwan, from Yarmouk University in Jordan, began her presentation by focusing on the history of social work in Jordan where she explained that the profession had been recognised as a form of effective assistance in Jordan since the beginning of the 20th century. Back then, charitable organisations emerged as a response to a growing need for social support in communities. In addition, she highlighted that Jordan currently had four social work bachelor's programmes and two master's programme. She continued by pointing out the role of the social workers working in the area of community development – especially in the field of social work with refugees – and their desire to use localised methods and practices. Finally, she stated that social work in Jordan was still at an early development stage and, that until that moment, it was not as professionalised as in the West. 

Prof. Dr. Rania Mansour, from the Lebanese University, conducted a comparative study on the Lebanese academic curricula of the universities graduating social workers in Lebanon. The aim of the study was to identify if crises – in particular the Syrian crisis 2011 – affected the development of social work concepts, approaches and mechanisms of the academic community in Lebanon. Yet, the study concluded that among the six universities teaching social work in Lebanon, only three indicated the term "crisis" in their curriculum, while the other three did not mention the term "crisis" in the curricula (ALJINAN, LAU and Haigazian University). Furthermore, crisis intervention is known as theory and considered one of ten theories taught in courses on social interventions with individuals and families. Thus, components related to crisis intervention are partially enclosed in various other courses. 

Prof. Dr. Ferdoos Al-Issa, from Bethlehem University, started her session by explaining that social work in Palestine had a long history based on colonial and imported models of practice. Education was based on Westernised curricula. However, localised cultural sensitivities required localised attention such as in the cases of honour killings. The absence of a comprehensive view of Palestinian national rights and the trend towards fragmentation, such as in dealing with social issues, had deepened women's oppression and experiences of inequality. A localised social work focusing on the barriers on-site could tackle these issues. 

Prof. Dr. Christoph Merle, from the University of Vechta in Germany, gave a speech about human rights from an Islamic perspective. Since 1990, there have been attempts to develop an Islamic version of human rights by scientists working on the Islamic foundation of human rights. Fundamental rights and freedoms according to Islam are to be considered as integral part of the Islamic religion. In the European tradition of human rights, they are based on fundamental legal interests and related to fundamental needs. However, the Sharia is not to be seen as an institution against that what human rights protect, but the institution that provides them. Nevertheless, from this perspective, objective norms of the state need to be considered rather than subjective rights. Yet, traditional human rights are linked to human dignity that belongs to all human beings. Applying this to the Middle East, reformers in the Arab World also discussed the relation of human rights to the "Qur’an" and the "Sunnah".

The sixth working session was an open discussion moderated by Prof. Dr. Vathsala Aithal and involved several experts, namely Prof. Dr. Marja Katisko (Finland), Prof. Dr. Stefan Borrmann (Germany), Prof. Dr. Ferdoos Al-Issa (Palestine), and Dr. Wajdi Akef Fakhouri (USA). The experts reviewed the content of the prior conference sessions, examined questions from the plenum, and discussed further approaches to foster localisation.

In conclusion, it was obvious that all experts were on the same page when it came to acknowledging the relevance of localisation of social work and regarding measurements. Identifying contextualised needs of beneficiaries in a participatory manner rather than determining them only based on external and theoretical knowledge was an often-repeated preferable approach throughout the conference. The experts furthermore recognised the lack of methods and models for localising the profession directly on-site.