Utilising Action Research to Enhance Critical Social Work Practice: Ukraine's Experience of Introducing Community Paralegals

Kateryna Yeroshenko

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the course development process during which the perception of paralegal’s role in local communities of Ukraine was shaped. Based on action research and critical social work paradigm the study demonstrates the role of training participants in constructing new knowledge, and how the understanding of paralegals concept in Ukraine had changed under their influence. The findings from a few cycles of action research reveal that there are fewer limitations to be a paralegal in Ukraine, as it was presupposed, paralegals role has shifted from only service brokerage and providing information, to conflict-solving, and providing new initiatives in local communities, moreover, the educational program for paralegals was changed in terms of their requests and according to their regional specifics.

10.22178/pos.51-3


Keywords


paralegal; Ukraine; action research; community advisers

Full Text:

PDF


References


Berenschot, W. & Rinaldi, T. (2011). Paralegalism and Legal Aid in Indonesia: Enlarging the Shadow of the Law. Retrieved from https://namati.org/resources/paralegalism-and-legal-aid-in-indonesia-2011/

Branom, C. (2012). Community-Based Participatory Research as a Social Work Research and Intervention Approach. Journal of Community Practice, 20(3), 260–273. doi: 10.1080/10705422.2012.699871

Fenton, J. (2014). Can social work education meet the neoliberal challenge head on? Critical and Radical Social Work, 2(3), 321–335. doi: 10.1332/204986014x14074186108718

Franco, J., Soliman, H., & Cisnero, M. R. (2018). Community-Based Paralegalism in the Philippines. Community Paralegals and the Pursuit of Justice, 96–138. doi: 10.1017/9781316671801.003

Hansson, J., Höög, E., & Nyström, M. (2016). Action research for multi-level facilitation of improvement in health and social care: Development of a change facilitation approach for a local R&D unit. Action Research, 15(4), 339–356. doi: 10.1177/1476750316650928

Hatton, K, (2015). New Directions in Social Work Practice (2nd ed.). London: Learning Matters.

Heron, J., & Reason, P. (2001). The Practice of Co-Operative Inquiry: Research with Rather than on People. In P. Reason, H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of Action Research: Participatory Inquiry and Practice (pp. 179–188). London: Sage.

Stringer, E. T. (2007). Action Research (3d ed.). London: Sage Publications.

Warner, R., Elias-Jermany, C. & Elias, S. (2004). Independent Paralegal's Handbook. How to Provide Legal Services without Becoming a Lawyer (6th ed.). Berkley: NOLO.

Xing, Y. (2014). Dissemination of Law and Access to Justice at the Village Level: A Case Study of Barefoot Lawyers in the Villages of China. Positions: Asia Critique, 22(3), 603–633. doi: 10.1215/10679847-2685395

Yeroshenko, K., & Semigina, T. (2017). Сreating a training programme for community-based paralegals: action research. Social Work and Education, 4(2), 33–45.

Zornes, D., Ferkins, L., & Piggot-Irvine, E. (2015). Action research networks: role and purpose in the evaluation of research outcomes and impacts. Educational Action Research, 24(1), 97–114. doi: 10.1080/09650792.2015.1045538


Article Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Metrics powered by PLOS ALM

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Copyright (c) 2019 Kateryna Yeroshenko

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.