Social Work Scholars Research Articles

Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic Review

Social work’s response to global climate change has dramatically increased over the last several years. Similarly, growing attention has been paid to rural social work; less clear, however, is how social work, responsive to global climate change, is developed, deployed, and understood in rural contexts; this systematic review elaborates on current social work contributions (research, practice, and policymaking), promoting environmental justice and sustainability in rural communities. Utilizing the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach, this article thematically analyzed and synthesized 174 journal articles on social work-specific interventions and environmental justice. The results illustrate insights into the experiences, practices, or objectives of rural social workers vis-à-vis climate change. Significant themes from the literature demonstrated that gender, age, and race limited access to social work services and climate-related disaster response support in rural settings; this article argues that rural community-driven social work practices focused on environmental justice and sustainability should be encouraged and that policy advocacy attentive to climate change and its impact on vulnerable and marginalized groups should be pursued. Current and prospective social work scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders should collaborate with local rural communities to address their unique needs related to climate change. In turn, grassroots strategies should be co-developed to promote climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, ultimately achieving the goal of building resilient, healthy, and sustainable rural communities.

Poverty, social work, and radical incrementalism: Current developments of the poverty‐aware paradigm

AbstractFacing the growing domination of neoliberalism and new public management in welfare services, social work scholars and practitioners are engaged in efforts to resist it. Using Schram's concept of radical incrementalism, this article describes and analyzes the development of the Poverty‐Aware Paradigm (PAP) in Israel in light of this resistance. The PAP is a critical framework that focuses on poverty as a central axis of the analysis of power relations between service users and social workers. Since 2015, when the Israeli welfare ministry adopted the PAP as a leading model for social work practice in the social service departments, the paradigm has had a surprisingly warm reception, and its implementation has been extended to the health and justice systems as well as to additional welfare ministry units. The article discusses these developments as examples of ‘radical incrementalism’ that is, strategies of resisting neoliberalism by collaborating with the establishment to ‘bend’ the power of the state to benefit marginalized groups. The article analyzes the contribution of specific elements of the PAP‐its dialectic process of bottom‐up and top‐down development; its discursive contribution; its organizational framework; and its training model. Finally, the article discusses the radical nature of the PAP.

Black M/Otherhood: A Content Analysis Exploring How Black Mothers Are Represented in Social Work Literature

The vast range of experiences of Black mothers are not adequately captured in social work scholarship. Motivated by observations made by a 2000 article written by Greif, Hrabowski, and Maton which noted that much of social work literature on Black mothers focused on the negative, this paper describes a content analysis examining how Black mothers are represented in social work literature. The authors conducted a search in Social Work Abstracts for articles written between 2000 and 2020 that focused on Black mothers. Of the over 18,000 articles published between 2000 and 2020 in Social Work Abstracts, 32 of them met the inclusion criteria. Findings revealed that most of the social work literature on Black mothers is concentrated on some perceived form of adversity ( n = 25). The remaining articles ( n = 7) were not oriented around difficulty. Also of note, only a third of the articles ( n = 10) spoke to issues of systemic and structural oppression that impact Black mothering. As evidenced by these findings, social work literature continues to perpetuate a system of dominance that misorients the experiences of Black mothers. Fundamentally, social work literature is in dire need of more representations of Black motherhood. This paper concludes with recommendations for research related to Black mothers.

Social workers' intervention during natural hazards.

Social work profession is anchored on theory and practice and has both primary and secondary methods of interventions. The knowledge base of social work is constituted by values, principles, theories, skills and techniques. Globally, social work scholars have developed paradigms, theories, approaches, perspectives, models, techniques, skills and principles that could be applied in a variety of settings to various social ills for the benefit of clients in communities. Thus, this study was aimed at exploring social workers’ intervention during natural hazards. The researchers used an interpretative qualitative research approach and case study design. Moreover, five social workers who provide psychosocial counselling and social relief of distress were purposively sampled to participate in this study. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically. The study found that social workers use three primary methods of social work: casework, group work and community work. Furthermore, the participants stated that they play roles such as educator, counsellor and broker when dealing with victims of natural hazards. Based on the findings, the researchers have noted that not all social workers are active in providing psychosocial counselling to the victims of natural hazards. As such, the researchers recommend more workshops to educate all social workers that social workers have an important role to perform in the midst of natural hazards.

Between othering and recognition: in search of transformative practice at the street level

ABSTRACT Critical social work scholars consider recognition a counterpractice to othering, but, empirical evidence of recognition as a contextualized and feasible challenge to othering in social services is scarce. This gap in the existing literature is significant in light of the operation of conservative and neo-managerial approaches known in the European context to enable othering while hindering critical practices. This article traces the implementation of the Poverty-Aware Paradigm in welfare agencies in Israel to qualitatively analyze the detailed ways in which 25 street-level social caseworkers navigated the tensions between othering and recognition. By showing how recognition operates at the discursive, relational, and institutional levels, the article expands the current articulation of recognition as solely relational. Its portrayal of recognition as posing a potential transformative challenge to othering contributes to its conceptualization as a contextualized challenge to neo-managerialism and to the feasible promotion of practice informed by social justice.

Conducting practice research

ABSTRACT The conduct of practice research is both similar and different from traditional social science and social work research. It is similar in terms of common research methods applied to essential social work practice issues. But practice research is quite different when it comes to framing and negotiating the research questions, engaging in participatory data analysis, and using research findings. This paper introduces core elements of practice research to social work scholars and researchers in relation the evolving context of social service delivery in China. This analysis features the evolving definition of practice research along with the principles that guide the conduct of practice research. Included in this discussion is a comparative analysis with other research methods and an illustrative case related to evidence-informed practice. It concludes with a discussion of considerations for scholars and researchers invested in the improvement of social services in diverse Chinese contexts.

Challenging Anti-Black Racism across the Curriculum: Situating the Social Work Legacy and Moving Forward

ABSTRACT As an introduction for a special journal volume on Challenging Anti-Black Racism across the Social Work Curriculum, this paper situates the volume’s contributions within a larger anti-racist tradition in social work including the often overlooked legacy of the profession’s Black leaders. It discusses multiple strands of anti-racist social work scholarship that provide scaffolding to support current and future anti-racist practices and thought. These include the paradigm shift from cultural competence to critical race theory; interpersonal and behavioral science approaches; Afrocentric perspectives; and decolonization theory. The article previews the volume’s contributions which both reflect these traditions and move beyond them. We argue that the endemic nature of anti-Black racism in the U.S. demands special attention in the social work curriculum.

Demanding migrant/immigrant labor in the coronavirus crisis: critical perspectives for social work practice

ABSTRACT The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 laid bare how migrant and immigrant workers are “essential workers” in the critical industries of agriculture/farming, meat production, restaurants/hospitality and health care in the United States. In this article, we discuss this demand for migrant labor and implications for social work. We argue that a labor-focused framework as critical perspective would complement the rights-based, participatory frameworks that inform social work scholarship and practice with immigrants, together accounting for systemic racism, global and national inequality, and discrimination embedded in immigration and social policies and forms of practice. In the first place, by recognizing how non-immigrants and immigrants are inextricably linked through structural means of production and consumption, social workers would develop deeper empathy toward immigrant clients and communities, leading to interactions that are empowering and affirming, and thus effective. Direct practice interventions would be richly informed, as practitioners account for immigrants’ work environment, such as difficult work conditions, low wages and lack of benefits, that often impact clients and families. A labor-focused perspective also points to areas of social work advocacy and meso/macro practice, those focusing on workers’ rights and immigration policy.

Social Work and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR): Past, Present, and Future.

The social work profession has made tremendous contributions to youth well-being, laying the foundation for social welfare systems and child protection laws. However, deficit-based constructions of youth are deeply engrained in the profession. Social work researchers have called for attention to critical approaches like youth participatory action research (YPAR). YPAR has an action-oriented epistemology and engages youth as coresearchers, providing an opportunity to shift social work research and practice paradigms. Yet, social work scholars lag behind cognate disciplines in adopting YPAR. This article examines challenges that have stymied YPAR in social work. The authors review the historical roots of the profession and its relationship to youth; examine present challenges, including social work's training and career progression; and make suggestions for the future, calling social work to affirm our values by reevaluating the way we do research on youth, the way we train future social workers, and the paradigms driving our practice.

Participatory Geographic Information Systems (GIS): A Critical Methodological Approach for Urban Social Work Research

This paper explores the utility of participatory GIS as a methodological approach for urban social work research focused on socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods and resident health and well-being. The discussion begins with a brief overview of social work’s person-in-environment framework and the historical use of mapping in social work research and practice. Participatory GIS is then outlined and evaluated in the context of social work values and critical social work scholarship. Finally, consideration is given to the steps social work researchers can take to develop GIS skills and integrate participatory GIS into their community-based scholarship.

“I’m coming out!”: An autoethnographic situation of sel/f/ves within queer fat chronically Ill identity

In this article, we (two fat, white, queer, nonbinary, chronically ill critical social work scholars) explore the parallel processes of coming out as fat and coming out as other identities (queer, femme, neurodivergent, nonbinary, chronically ill, disabled). We begin by reviewing literature from queer theories, crip theory, and fat studies, addressing concepts of “coming out” and identity. Next, taking an identity-centered autoethnographic and autoarchaeological approach, we explore how the processes in coming out as fat—growing critical consciousness, positive social identity reclamation, community belonging—mirrored other coming out processes, fostering resilience in our lives.We perform this reflection on sense(s) of self within a queer critical intersectional approach, as we individually and collectively examine how our fat identities are situated within our gender, racial, class, ability, health, and sexual orientation contexts. We interrogate how these identities of fatness and beyond, both privileged and oppressed, interplay in our personal, professional, and health-related experiences, and interactions with others. Finally, building off of the theoretical work proposed by Hunger, Major, and Blodorn (2015), we integrate concepts of critical consciousness, positive social identity, and community connectedness into the social identity threat model (as applied to weight stigma), hypothesizing how these potential positive outcomes of “coming out” may moderate the relationship between the psychological stress associated with marginalized identity and the adverse physical and mental health outcomes commonly associated with oppression and minority stress.

Operationalizing ICWA compliance to improve Native American child & family outcomes

AbstractObjectiveThe 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a federal law enacted to prevent the unnecessary removal of tribal children from their families and cultures. This methodological report describes how a research team operationalized court compliance with ICWA through a statewide record audit conducted over three years in a Midwestern state.MethodWe designed an ICWA Compliance Checklist to serve as a basis for evaluating ICWA compliance and used it to assess court records. We analyzed the process of developing a compliance tool and documented the lessons learned.ResultsMethodological difficulties included matching research strategies to available data and negotiating the project's scope with the partners. However, the Checklist provided a unique opportunity to report on statewide compliance and shape local practice.ConclusionsAmid increasing calls for the use of system data, social work scholars can consider strategies for a successful research partnership and bring an advocacy perspective to the assessment of public data, especially regarding sovereignty issues.

“Conscious compassion”: A co-created poetic representation of social workers’ experiences with compassion

Arts-based research methods have an important place in social work scholarship. Arts-based research methods, such as poetic inquiry, highlight lived experiences through creativity, emotion, and embodiment. This paper shares findings from a qualitative study that investigated social workers’ experiences with compassion in their professional practice through poetic inquiry. Findings are disseminated in a found poem that was collaboratively co-created by the researcher and study participants. The found poem highlights how compassion is a central and guiding force within social work practice. Compassion and connection remain core dimensions of the social work discipline and social work education, scholarship, and practice may benefit from continued exploration of compassion and related constructs.

Thinking boxes, behavioural boys and the politics of love: ‘Doing’ post-qualitative social work research

Post-humanist theories and feminist new materialism are a growing feature of social work scholarship. It is timely to explore how these theories inform qualitative social work research approaches. Drawing on post-qualitative methodology and Barad’s concept and method of diffraction, in this article we engage in a performative re-analysis of an account of school social work practice with a group of boys with behavioural concerns. We illuminate the interplay of neurological and behaviourist ways of knowing boys and social workers’ expertise and their linkages with the materiality of the place and space of the school-based group programme. Moving beyond merely representing these material-discursive happenings, this paper affirms new social worker identities and behavioural boys’ subjectivities which emerge within the entangled relations with non-human, material objects and things in schools. Doing post-qualitative inquiry, co-configures us as researchers actively involved in knowledge generation as we seek to make differences that matter in social work practice. Diffraction not only offers methods to engage with the material-discursive interface of social work knowledge practices, but also an ethical methodology for researchers to do justice in our engagement with research data.

Experiential Philanthropy in Social Work Education: Assessing Outcomes for Students as Active Learners, Community Members, and Social Activists

ABSTRACT Experiential philanthropy, or student philanthropy, is a type of service learning that helps students actively learn about community needs and non-profit organizations. This “learning by giving” approach has the potential to enhance various social work competencies identified by social work scholars and associations, such as the Council on Social Work Education. This article examines the outcomes of this approach for social work students, using a multifaceted conceptual framework that recognizes students as active learners, community members, and social activists. It analyses quantitative and qualitative data from a relatively large number of undergraduate and graduate students (N=219). The results indicate that experiential philanthropy had positive outcomes on various measures for the vast majority of respondents.

A conceptualisation of equitable social work practice with transgender and gender diverse communities

AbstractAlthough the experiences of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people are increasingly recognised as relevant sites of inquiry in social work scholarship, empirically substantiated insights on equitable approaches to social work practice with TGD communities remain scant. In this qualitative study, we draw on semi-structured virtual interviews with TGD social service users in a Canadian province (n = 20), along with social workers in the same jurisdiction (n = 10), to generate knowledge on equitable social work practice with TGD populations. We rely on critical ecosystemic and intersectional lenses as guiding theoretical frameworks, together with constructivist approaches to grounded theory, to inform our analytical process. Our findings highlight that equitable social work practice with TGD communities may involve the following constituents: (1) accounting for social and historical context; (2) practising allyship by way of humility and reflexivity; (3) challenging cisnormativity interpersonally and organisationally and (4) promoting structural measures of trans inclusion to transform social work and social services. Drawing on our findings, we call on social work scholars, educators and practitioners to adopt various reflexive, relational, organisational and structural measures that promise to enhance social work’s contribution to greater equity and social justice for TGD communities.

Tips and tricks: teaching scholars how to publish articles in English language social work journals

ABSTRACT In this article, I discuss how Chinese social work scholars can enhance their ability to publish their research in English language journals successfully. I describe the processes of developing sophisticated skills in writing research as one of gradual shaping, initially beginning with smaller-scale contributions to journals and only attempting to undertake and write up more sophisticated research projects by building upon past successes. A variety of forms of scholarship are described, with examples of each type being cited. Approaches to successfully navigating the journal publication system are presented, and various resources are cited to learn more about English language social work and other disciplinary journals in the social and behavioural sciences. Given China’s growing position in the worldwide profession of social work, it is crucial that advances in practice and research in that country be widely disseminated.

De-Centering Whiteness Through Revisualizing Theory in Social Work Education, Practice, and Scholarship

Institutions that frame social work education and prepare future practitioners are firmly rooted in hegemonic philosophies and practices that perpetuate colonization, oppression, and white supremacy. In recognizing that white supremacy is a mechanism of social control, that our current social structure is grounded in liberal-patriarchal capitalism, and that social work conforms to prevailing social norms, we, as social workers, must acknowledge our complicity in perpetuating a white supremacist master narrative (Pewewardy & Almeida, 2014). The white supremacist ideology inherent within Western social work literature, teaching methodologies, and practice strategies only serves to perpetuate an oppressive system. This structure does not envision social workers as agents of change, but rather as essential cogs of the status quo who foster client dependence on a system that is inherently marginalizing. One mechanism for disrupting the white supremacy that has become a master narrative in social work is to create a counter-narrative (Pewewardy & Almeida, 2014). This paper creates a counter-narrative by using the pyramid of white supremacy framework (Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, 2008; Tuzzolo, 2016) to critique social work and deconstruct post-racial fallacies ascendant within the profession, and re-visualizes ecological systems framework as a mechanism for de-centering whiteness in social work scholarship, practice, and education.

Whitewashing of Social Work History

Severe racial inequity has characterized the incorporation of ethnic minorities’ contributions to U.S. history and advancements (Sandoval et al., 2016). These disparities are inextricably connected to White Supremacist ideologies and practices, and are perpetuated in higher education through textbooks, pedagogy, and research. Social work, like many disciplines, teaches about its early roots with a whitewashed historical lens. Indeed, review of the social work literature reveals the scarcity of attributions to Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC). Without a more racially diverse perspective on social work’s history, social work scholars promote and sustain White Supremacy. The implications of this are crucial since social work education is predominantly populated by privileged White students who adopt this mentality, unaware of Black, Brown, Latino, Asian, Native or Other ethnic “Jane Addams” who have massively promoted the social welfare of communities for decades without historical recognition or the privileged positions of Addams and Richmond. Historical distortions also potentially discourage BIPOC social work students’ self-efficacy and future efforts to contribute and excel in the discipline. To properly address this issue, social work history must be refaced with a more equitable and just lens. This review seeks to address the gap in the literature pertaining to the need for a greater integration and infusion of racially diverse social work historical contributions in several ways. Recommendations will be made for future research in this area to dismantle racist perspectives in social work history, and strategies will be offered to help social work educators and researchers address this critical issue.

The Politics of Resistance From Within

Everyday racism embedded in all facets of society, coupled with ongoing injustices against racialized people globally, have reignited an urgent action to turn the gaze within social work education. There is a need to challenge and resist white supremacy that continues to institutionalize systemic racism and justify state control of social and political processes. These current realities are in direct contradiction to the neoliberal push for state withdrawal from social programming and essential services. Yet the interconnectedness between neoliberalism, white supremacy and fascist ideologies has gone undetected in social work circles resulting in a political and ideological vacuum in the profession. Within the social work curricula, there is a lack of attention and involvement to effectively dismantle white supremacy and racism that are perpetuated within and through the profession. The social work classroom has been a natural place to incubate a new wave of resistance that has the potential of changing the face of the profession. Considering the deleterious effects white supremacy has for racialized bodies within academic spaces, we assert the embodiments of resistance with a call to action for social work scholars, students, administrators and practitioners. These key actors must reject the legacy of white supremacy in our profession that acts as social control agents serving the state's interests and perpetuating its hegemony. We explore some of the ways in which we confront and disrupt white supremacy, which includes interrogating and dismantling dominant discourses, systemic and institutional academic racism (teaching, research and service), social work curriculum and priorities, and racist classroom dynamics that have been shaped by whiteness that continues to impact the interactions between racialized and white students and professors. We conclude with a call to infuse social work with practices and approaches that equip students with knowledge and tangible tools to enact change beyond academic spaces.