Borders play a profound role in human life. In many settings, land borders are highly permeable and provide little barrier to movement, communication and interaction. In other circumstances, borders are highly rigid, difficult to cross and can demarcate vast economic and social disparities. The widely differing circumstances related to border creation and maintenance have deep effects that are worthy of social work attention and engagement. There has been serious attention to issues of globalisation, immigration and human rights in the social work literature. Our focus on borders is related to, but distinct from these issues, and therefore, has something unique to offer. Increased globalisation has led to a major reconceptualisation in our understanding of borders. The COVID-19 epidemic demonstrates the limited relevance of borders in some circumstances (spreading of the virus) but the heightened relevance of borders in other circumstances (travel restrictions). Social work practitioners have a role in framing the understanding of borders and resulting policies. Our focus is to address the question: How has social work engaged with border issues? We examine three international cases and conduct a comparative analysis to examine similarities and differences. From the analysis, we draw conclusions to further understanding for social work.

中文翻译：

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边界：社会工作反应的国际比较分析

边界在人类生活中发挥着深远的作用。在许多情况下，陆地边界具有高度渗透性，对移动、交流和互动几乎没有障碍。在其他情况下，边界高度僵化，难以跨越，并且可以划定巨大的经济和社会差距。与边界创建和维护相关的广泛不同的情况具有值得社会工作关注和参与的深刻影响。在社会工作文献中，全球化、移民和人权问题得到了认真的关注。我们对边界的关注与这些问题相关，但又不同于这些问题，因此可以提供一些独特的东西。全球化程度的提高导致我们对边界的理解发生了重大的重新概念化。COVID-19 疫情表明边界在某些情况下（病毒传播）的相关性有限，但在其他情况下边界的相关性更高（旅行限制）。社会工作从业者在构建对边界的理解和由此产生的政策方面发挥作用。我们的重点是解决这个问题：社会工作如何处理边界问题？我们研究了三个国际案例并进行了比较分析，以检查异同。通过分析，我们得出结论，以进一步了解社会工作。社会工作如何处理边界问题？我们研究了三个国际案例并进行了比较分析，以检查异同。通过分析，我们得出结论，以进一步了解社会工作。社会工作如何处理边界问题？我们研究了三个国际案例并进行了比较分析，以检查异同。通过分析，我们得出结论，以进一步了解社会工作。