Exploring the Political Diversity of Social Workers

Abstract

A barely audible conversation exists within social work on the diversity of political ideology among social workers. Although diversity is a rich area of study in social work, a comprehensive exploration of social workers' political ideologies remains largely absent (Rosenwald, 2004). The assumption that social workers subscribe to liberal economic, social, and moral values prevails, as evidenced in NASW policy statements (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2003), even though this assumption has rarely been explicitly and fully examined. This assumption occurs despite the NASW Code of Ethics's inclusion of respecting fellow social workers' diversity of political belief (NASW). As a result, ideologies of social workers that differ from liberal political ideology may not be represented. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES Political ideology refers to individuals' support of policy positions that reflect their attitudes on society's relationship with technology, power distribution, dependency, and nationalism (Gamson, 1992). This support is commonly detailed among a multitiered ideological continuum (Brint, 1994; Knight, 1999; Lowi & Ginsberg, 1994; McKenna, 1998). At one end of the continuum is a ideology that focuses on major systemic changes to address oppression (Wagner, 1990). Liberal ideology emphasizes government protection of individual rights (Lowi & Ginsberg) and the separation of church and state (Brint; McKenna). Moderate political ideology combines conservative and liberal views and favors rational, incremental change (McKenna). Conservative ideology emphasizes the for-profit and voluntary sectors' abilities to address social problems, socially traditional values, and suspicion of government control (O'Connors & Sabato, 2000). Finally, at the opposite end of the spectrum is the right political ideology, which promotes policy relating to biblical literalism, the patriarchal family, and fiscal conservatism (Hyde, 1991). The literature on political ideology provides some insight into social workers' political ideologies. Political ideology, reflected in Democratic Party membership, suggests social workers are predominantly liberal (Abbott, 1988, 1999; Epstein, 1969; Reeser & Epstein, 1990). However, when ideology was examined as political philosophy, findings were mixed; most social workers were liberal in Abbott's (1988, 1999) research but were fairly evenly liberal and moderate (Hodge, 2003) or more moderate (Varley, 1968) in other studies. Hodge also found MSWs tended to be slightly more liberal than BSWs. Social workers tended to be more liberal on general political ideology and specific policy positions than people in other professions (Abbott, 1988, Hendershot & Grimm, 1974;Jensen & Bergin, 1988; Rubinstein, 1994) and the general public (Koeske & Crouse, 1981; Hodge). Scant attention has been given to studies involving social workers who identify as radical left (but see Fisher, Weedman, Alex, & Stout, 2001; Wagner, 1990) or radical right. Although the literature provides a good introduction, the full range of social workers' political ideology was rarely examined as the central focus of any study. No study examined multiple measures of political ideology as dependent variables. Therefore, the purpose of this exploratory study was to identify both the range and correlates of social workers' political ideologies. METHOD The dependent variable of political ideology was principally measured by the 40-item Professional Opinion Scale (POS) (Abbott, 1988). The POS was selected as the main measure because it appeared to be the most comprehensive and reliable scale that gauged political ideology by examining policy statements linked to the social work profession. The POS was based on NASW policy statements from 1985. Since that time, the positions reflected in these policy statements have not substantially changed as compared with current NASW policy positions (personal communication with A. …