Domestic violence continues to pose a profound challenge for public health and human rights, producing enduring social, psychological, and intergenerational consequences. Although extensive research has examined prevalence and risk factors, few studies have explored how survivors understand violence as a prolonged process shaped by both psychological experiences and structural conditions. This study explores the lived experiences of women survivors of domestic violence in five municipalities in Albania, Southeastern Europe, and examines how social and community services influence their recovery trajectories. The study adopted a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore lived experiences in depth. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with women survivors, alongside a focus group with professionals involved in coordinated referral mechanisms. The data were analysed via thematic analysis. Violence was experienced as a continuum of control extending beyond physical separation from the perpetrator. Survivors described chronic fear, emotional instability, and the use of children as tools of coercive control. Gaps in institutional coordination and implementation of protection measures, together with persistent social stigma, continued to shape survivors’ experiences of safety. Community services emerged as critical spaces for rebuilding trust, restoring agency, and supporting long-term recovery. The analysis highlights the importance of coordinated, trauma-responsive support structures capable of addressing survivors’ needs over time. Strengthening coordination across institutions and reducing stigma are essential to improving safety and recovery outcomes for survivors.
Recent research on resilience extends beyond the individual perspective and considers other potential contributing factors such as social support, age, and gender. This study analyses the association of these variables with perceived resilience among residents of a socially disadvantaged neighbourhood, characterised by extreme poverty and systemic shortcomings in the protection of human rights. A total of 200 individuals aged between 11 and 71 years completed the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Duke-UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire. Results of both correlation and hierarchical multiple regression approach by blocks showed that perceived resilience was significantly associated with social support, age, and gender, with ratings being higher among older residents, women, and those who perceived more confidant support within the community. A significant indirect association was observed between time living in Los Asperones and resilience via confidant support consistent with mediation. These findings highlight the importance of a community and provide a platform for the design of resilience-building initiatives by social welfare professionals, while pointing to the need for public policies and socio-educational interventions that tackle structural inequalities and respond to persistent shortcomings in the legal protection and enforcement of human rights. Together, these efforts are crucial for fostering resilience among individuals in contexts of social exclusion.
Substance use disorders remain a significant public health, social, and human rights challenge, with profound consequences for individuals, families, and communities worldwide. While social work responses have traditionally emphasised therapeutic, rehabilitative, and individual-level interventions, comparatively less attention has been paid to macro-level strategies that address the structural conditions underpinning substance-related harms. Drawing on the South African context, where the legacies of historical inequality, poverty, social exclusion, and unequal access to services continue to shape patterns of substance use, this narrative review argues that substance use disorders should be understood not only as health conditions but also as manifestations of human rights and social justice concerns. Using the social action model as its theoretical framework, the review synthesises literature from social work, public health, community development, and human rights scholarship to examine how social action can operationalise a rights-based approach to substance use interventions. The review demonstrates that integrating human rights principles with social action enables social workers to move beyond predominantly individualised practice towards interventions that promote community mobilisation, collective participation, advocacy, policy engagement, and structural transformation. Rather than positioning therapeutic and community-based responses as competing approaches, the paper argues that they are complementary and mutually reinforcing. By integrating these perspectives within a coherent conceptual framework, this review advances understanding of how social workers can simultaneously uphold human dignity, address structural inequalities, and strengthen equitable responses to substance use disorders. The paper concludes that embedding social action within a human rights-based approach enhances social work’s contribution to prevention, intervention, policy development, and community-led social change in South Africa and other contexts characterised by social inequality.
A rights-based approach provides a practice framework for ensuring that family reunification processes uphold the dignity, participation, and well-being of children and families. However, there is limited empirical articulation of how such principles are operationalised in practice. Based on a quantitative study conducted in child protection organisations (n = 5), this study examines the rights-based principles that guide social workers in rendering family reunification services in South Africa and explores their implications for practice. Utilising a survey design, data were collected from child protection social workers (n = 127) and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The eight principles of a rights-based approach, namely participation, considering the views of the child, empowerment, relevancy, transparency, accountability, cultural competency, and accessibility, were rated by social workers on a questionnaire with a Likert scale that had five response categories. The study results reveal that “Considering the views of the child” received the highest mean rating (M = 4.66, SD = 0.50), followed by “Accountability of all stakeholders” (M = 4.63, SD = 0.52) and “Transparency in the family reunification process” (M = 4.60, SD = 0.55). Paired t-tests with Bonferroni correction revealed that “Considering the views of the child” was rated significantly higher than “Locally relevant interventions” [t(126) = 2.75, p = 0.007, d = 0.24] and “Cultural competency of the social worker” [t(126) = 3.12, p = 0.002, d = 0.28]. In conclusion, these principles collectively shift practice toward inclusive, participatory, and contextually grounded interventions, while promoting social justice and reinforcing children and families as rights holders.
This conceptual paper applies social movement theory (SMT) to the United Nations (UN) Blue Heart Campaign to examine how a symbolic anti-trafficking initiative can support coordinated action along the Mexico–US corridor. Drawing on the campaign’s bilingual QR-coded resources, community outreach, coalition-building, and institutional pathways involving healthcare, education, shelters, and transit hubs, the paper examines how framing, resource mobilization, and network diffusion can transform public awareness into actionable protection. Moving beyond a quantitative evaluation, the analysis identifies potential indicators for future empirical assessment, including successful referrals, service access, safety planning, safe reporting, and survivor-reported agency. The paper connects SMT with social work practice by positioning empowerment, anti-oppressive practice, and asset-based development as complementary lenses for addressing systemic exploitation, gender-based violence, and migration-related vulnerabilities. A hypothetical practice vignette illustrates potential social work applications while emphasizing survivor autonomy. The paper concludes by proposing directions for empirical research on SMT-informed anti-trafficking strategies and protective outcomes.
