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Social Insights: Practice Issues

Written by Ms Ang Bee Lian (Director of Social Welfare 1 Nov 2013 - 30 Jun 2020; Director-General of Social Welfare 1 Jul 2020 - 31 Jul 2023), these series of letters are for anyone hoping to find out more and answer any questions you might have about Social Work. These are free for reproduction and distribution in its entirety or unaltered excerpts, as long as you do not charge a fee. Acknowledging the source of the letters on any distributed material is also appreciated.

You may download the e-book for Social Insights here: Volume Three, Volume Two and Volume One.

  • Practice Issues
  • Children and Family
  • Fundamentals of Social Work
  • Vulnerable Persons
  • Youth

Identifying Cases of Neglect

No. 1 / 2021

We are often asked: is it important to document what transpires in social service interventions? How much information...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Children and Family
  • Fundamentals of Social Works
  • Youth

Our Responsibility in Child Abuse Cases

No. 3 / 2020

In the course of your work, you may sometimes come across children with injuries (which do not look accidental in nature) or behavioural...

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  • SPECIAL EDITIONS
  • PRACTICE ISSUES

A New Better

No. 4 / 2020

The “New Normal” is a term that has been used so often to describe the times we live in now. The pandemic has brought...

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  • PRACTICE ISSUES

Framing Social Issues and Perspectives

No. 1 / 2020

Oftentimes as students or even social workers, you may become frustrated that social work becomes interpreted into a profession that is... 

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  • SPECIAL EDITIONS
  • PRACTICE ISSUES

Compassion: At the Heart of Management and Leadership

No. 2 / 2020

I hope you have learned about our journey towards recognition as a profession in the first letter. One of the challenges for social work...

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  • FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
  • PRACTICE ISSUES

Collective Learning and Co-creation

No. 1 / 2019

Many of us would have heard about the need to prepare for a future that seems to have more complex problems and challenging dynamics... 

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  • FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
  • PRACTICE ISSUES

Good Listening

No. 2 / 2019

Those of us who have been trained as social workers or counsellors would know the importance of listening when working with clients.... 

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  • FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
  • PRACTICE ISSUES

Multi-disciplinary Team (revisited)

No. 3 / 2019

In recent years, discussions over the medical-social divide have shifted towards health-social integration in a welcomed move...

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  • FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL WORK
  • PRACTICE ISSUES

Lessons from the Journey

No. 4 / 2019

As we commemorate Singapore’s bicentennial year, we take time to remember Singapore’s history and the people and events that have shaped our lives to be what it is today...

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  • PRACTICE ISSUES
  • Special Editions
  • Fundamentals of Social Work

Identifying Leaders and Talents

No. 5  / 2019

Identifying and deploying leaders has been a recurring topic in the social sector. This is not surprising, given that our sector relies heavily on people such as social workers, counsellors...

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