P

Participatory Action Research - A type of community work which refers to a process of research comprised of education, investigation and action directed at changing the structures that promote inequality and the structures that produce knowledge which perpetuates the current power structures.

Patriarchy - It literally means the rule by the father but, in a broader sense, it has come to mean the domination of society by men. Men are still the major stakeholders in Canadian society, men continue to be represented in higher numbers in positions of authority and male interests continue to take precedence over those of females.

People with disabilities - The term describes a person whose physical or mental condition limits his or her abilities to perform certain functions. Terms such as cripple, defective, abnormal, handicapped, physically challenged or mentally challenged have been applied to people who are disabled. The most acceptable terms are terms which put the person first not the disability: people with disabilities, person with a disability, person with intellectual disability, etc. Disabled person is now also generally acceptable usage.

Personal tragedy theory of disability - The view that problems faced by disabled people are not the result of physical impairments alone, but also of the social and political inequality which exists between people with disabilities and able bodied people.

Person-in-the-environment - A key aspect of effective social work practice is to go beyond only internal (psychological) factors and examine the relationship between individuals and their environments. This person-in-the-environment approach is partly what distinguishes social work practice from other helping professions. These environments extend beyond the immediate family and include interactions with friends, neighbourhoods, schools, religious groups, laws and legislation, other agencies or organizations, places of employment, and the economic system.

Physical abuse - Physical assaults such as hitting, kicking, biting, throwing, burning or poisoning that cause, or could cause, physical injury as well as behaviours or omissions that cause, or could cause, physical injury to a child.

Political economy - The economic outlook that believes that the operation of economic markets is tied to private concentrations of ownership of the productive enterprise and is essentially exploitative. Social spending is a right fought for by the working class. Some within this approach believe that social spending serves to prop-up and justify the economic system. This is called the accumulation and legitimating functions of welfare state.

Political rights model of disability - A theory of disability, primarily concerned with broader social and political change. It contends that a comprehensive understanding of disability can only occur through examination of a social oppression theory of disability along with the already predominant personal tragedy theory of disability.

Poor relief - The early English legislation, the Poor Law, required local parishes to provide relief to the deserving poor (those who were elderly, ill or disabled). Parishes were administrative districts organized by the Church of England. Each had a local council that was responsible for assistance to the poor, known as poor relief.

Portability - One of the five principles of Canada Health Act. Health services must continue to be covered when residents move from one province to another. It is supposed to cover Canadians temporarily out of the country.

Post-modernism view about sexuality - The view that difference is personally mediated by life experience, recognizing that sex and sexuality are only one of many contested domains of living. Such factors as historical period, ethnicity, financial resources and opportunities will all play a significant role in self-definition. The homosexual/ heterosexual dichotomy is the result of scientific explanations of sexual expression that attempt to bring organization to a domain of human behaviour and experience viewed as threatening to a defined social order.

Poverty gap - Poverty rates do not show whether poor people are living in abject poverty or merely a few dollars below the poverty line. To determine this, we need to measure the poverty gap or how much additional income would be required to raise an individual or household above the LICO.

Power theory in wife abuse - A feminist-based theory, explains that wife abuse is a societal problem which occurs because of the power imbalance between men and women, specifically because of the dominance of men and men's roles. Wife abuse continues because there has been historical acceptance of abuse and of men's right to control women, even by force.

Praxis - A process that involves a combining and re-combining of actions into new ways of looking at things- a process of "action-reflection-action."

Prejudice - An adverse opinion that pre-judges entire groups, based on incomplete and inaccurate information.

Pre-payment health plans - From 1880 to the 1950s, there were a variety of pre-payment health plans in place across Canada, sponsored by local governments, industries and volunteer agencies. These voluntary insurance plans did not cover all medical services, and they were available only to those who could afford to pay the premiums.

Preventive medicine - Provincial governments have begun to practice preventive medicine, policies designed to anticipate and reduce the likelihood of illness from happening or getting worse.

Private charities - The pre-industrial phase of the development of social work includes the period from the formation of Canada up to the 1890s. Private charities developed during this time, offering material relief and lessons in moral ethics. Many were explicitly associated with religious organizations, and it was religiously motivated individuals working through these organizations who became the early social workers.

Private social welfare - Social welfare programs funded by voluntary charitable contributions of individuals and private organizations, by fees people pay for the services they receive, or which are provided by funds spent by corporations to provide social welfare services for their employees.

Privately funded disability programs - Privately funded disability programs include programs that are provided through private insurance plans or through long-term disability plans as part of job benefits. These private income security programs are based on the amount of funding that the recipient has contributed directly to the plan, or funding which has been contributed to a plan on behalf of the recipient.

Privatization - The use of the private sector to provide social welfare services, often in addition to or instead of existing public services.

Problem-solving techniques - An approach to social work which breaks down every problem into component parts and develops objectives which must be met in order to solve overall problem.

Professional associations - Today most Canadian social workers are members of public sector unions as well as members of professional associations. The associations represent social workers in issues pertaining to the development of the profession, the education of its members and in discussions of social issues and social policy. The unions represent them in the areas of pay or working conditions.

Public administration - Provincial health care plans must be publicly administered and operated on a non-profit basis, and subject to public audit.

Public welfare - Public welfare refers to the provision of welfare services at the three levels of government: the federal or national government, the provincial and territorial governments and the regional and municipal governments.

Public welfare - Social welfare programs funded by tax monies or through income obtained from legally mandated programs.

Publicly funded disability programs - Publicly funded disability programs are programs covered by federal, provincial and municipal legislation. These programs include the Canada Pension Plan-Disability Pension (a federal program), and various provincial disability support programs.

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