U.S. Social Work Practitioners’ Attitudes Towards Immigrants and Immigration: Results From an Online Survey

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to survey social work practitioners regarding their attitudes towards immigrants, and to develop a multidomain scale measuring these attitudes. A convenience sample of 1,124 practitioners in 47 states participated in the survey, which was administered online. The 28 attitude questions were designed as Likert scale items probing five domains: immigrant assimilation, perceived threat, immigration policy, receipt of social services, and responsibilities of social workers towards immigrants. The practitioners exhibited positive attitudes towards immigrants in general, but were less favorable towards undocumented immigrants, reflecting the bifurcation of immigrants into deserving and undeserving populations, a problematic trend evident in society at large. Scale scores for the five domains were all strongly intercorrelated and did not appear to tap into different underlying domains around which attitudes varied. Thus, data from the five domains were collapsed into a single attitudes scale that had a test−retest reliability of 0.97 and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.95. More favorable attitude scales scores were predicted by Hispanic ethnicity, a liberal political outlook, higher income, and more community and professional contact with immigrants. Those working at organizations with “don't ask, don't tell” policies regarding client's documentation status and at agencies that provide services to undocumented immigrants had more favorable attitude scale scores. This study illustrates the need for social work to better address the impact of immigrant policies on access to services and clarify the professional ethics towards both legal and undocumented immigrants.