White Social Workers Research Articles

At Cross roads: White Social Work in Australia and the discourse on Australian multiculturalism

The profession of social work intervenes in the lives of the vulnerable and marginalised. In the majority, social work policy and practice in Australia has been founded on a western practice paradigm. Recent and rapid developments in the migratory trends of migrants and refugees places additional demands on social workers to practice with and for diverse communities. This article argues that the profession of social work is reluctant to embrace the multicultural face of Australia and lacks the intellectual apparatus to respond to diversity. The article underpins Professor Andrew Jakubowicz's analysis to multiculturalism as a powerful platform for social work academics and students to critically engage with by challenge existing racism and discriminatory trends towards multicultural communities that may possibly arise in social work practice.

Social Work as a Career: Comparative Motivations of Black and White Social Workers

This research investigated differential career choice factors (CCFs) that motivated Black and White graduates to enroll in MSW programs. The purposive sample (N=1,020) was mostly White (66.4%), and consisted of individuals living primarily in Tennessee (71%) and Florida (13.2%), with MSWs from CSWE-accredited schools in 45 states. Most (36%) were social work majors as undergraduates, followed by psychology (27.3%) and sociology (7.2%) majors. Data were collected using the Career Development Subscale of the Preparation for Graduate Social Work Education Scale. Influential CCFs were different for Blacks and Whites, with the former emphasizing a desire for increased income and the latter emphasizing a desire for recognition and acquiring new skills. Results affirmed the idea of data-based MSW program recruitment strategies based on race and cultural preferences. BSW faculty were found to be ideally suited to influence MSW program recruitment and should be more deliberate toward that end.

Conceptions of Immigrant Integration and Racism Among Social Workers in Sweden

ABSTRACTDrawing on 22 qualitative interviews with social workers in Sweden, this article analyzes how social workers conceive immigrant integration and racism and tackle racism within their institutions and the wider Swedish society. The majority of the white social workers framed integration in relation to cultural differences and denied or minimized the role of racism in structuring their services and the ethnic relations in Sweden. In contrast, social workers with immigrant backgrounds were less compromising in discussing racism and assumed it as a problem both for themselves as institutional actors and as immigrants in everyday life and institutional settings. Social institutions in Sweden have been important actors in endorsing equality and accommodating differences. However, it is of paramount importance for social justice-minded social workers to identify and unsettle those structures and discourses that enable racist and discriminatory policies and practices against those groups who are not viewed as “core” members of the Swedish society. The absence of anti-racist social work within Swedish social work is primarily related to the idea of color-blind welfare universalism that is assumed to transcend the particularity of the needs, experiences, and perspectives of different groups in Sweden. While integration is envisioned and framed as a political project of inclusion of non-white immigrants, it tends to become a political device through which hierarchies of belonging are constructed. Following such conception of integration, cultural/religious differences and equality are framed as conflicting where cultural conformity underpinned by assimilationist discourses becomes a requirement for political, social, and economic equality.

White Privilege and Clinical Social Work Practice: Reflections and Recommendations

This exploratory study examined how seasoned White social workers grappled with the presence and effects of White privilege on their clinical practice. Data were collected in focus groups; findings were surfaced through thematic analysis. Five themes emerged: the role of engaging in continuous self-awareness in clinical practice; the complexity of using intersectionality to inform our work; the necessity of addressing White privilege in clinical conversations; the importance of creating strategies for use of power; and the process of engaging in life-long growth. These workers demonstrated awareness of, and accountability for, White privilege. Implications for progressive social work practice are discussed.

The emotional labor of playing cool: How Black male transracial adoptees find ways to cope within predominately White settings

This article is concerned with the efforts used by Black male adoptive children to cope with systemic White racial oppression when raised by White adoptive families, specifically the emotional labor expended through the use of cool pose. Drawing from theoretical concepts and frameworks from the social and behavior sciences, this article analyzes the “cool” element as a protective factor and posits this phenomenon is more than esthetic, but instead a fundamental aspect of Black male survival no matter the context. The central aim of this paper is to provide information to White adoptive parents, social workers, psychologist, academics, and other childcare advocates or professionals with cognitive tools to understand the behavior of Black male adoptees, as they search for meaning in their lives and find ways to manage the pain and frustration they often hide deep beneath the skin.

Embodying Social Work as a Profession

The purpose of this research is to highlight competing and contrasting definitions of social work that have been the subject of continuous ideological debate. These opposing interpretations have characterized public and professional discourse. It is the growth of, and struggle over, these conflicting versions of social work that we trace by exploring and expanding on the work of African American and White social work pioneers, feminist and empowerment epistemologies, and implications for social work practice and pedagogy. Our discussion emphasizes the construction of meaning through personal experiences by reuniting the head, hands, heart, and soul of our profession. We offer a reconstructed framework that echoes the groundbreaking work of our historical pioneers and collectively weaves their wisdom into contemporary social work practice.

Attitudes towards Working with Older Adults: Differences between African American and White Social Work Students

Attitudes towards Working with Older Adults: Differences between African American and White Social Work Students

Color-Blind Racial Attitudes in White Social Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Focusing on the results of one hypothesis in a larger study, this article examines level of social work education and color-blind racial attitudes in White social workers. Participants (n = 179) who were members of the National Association of Social Workers and self-identified as White, responded to an online survey and completed the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS). Color-blind racial attitudes have been linked to prejudice in other studies. BSW-level practitioners were found to be less aware of racial privilege and blatant racial issues. The article addresses the findings and explores the implications for social work educators and social work practitioners.

Dance of Family and Community

Dance of Family and Community Susan Henderson (bio) On the Outskirts of Normal: Forging a Family against the Grain. Debra Monroe. Southern Methodist University Press. http://www.tamupress.com. 232 pages; paper, $22.50. Click for larger view View full resolution Detail from cover In her memoir, On the Outskirts of Normal, Debra Monroe tells a compelling personal story of a twice-divorced single white woman adopting a black child in small-town Texas. But it's what her journey reveals about our culture and the universal trials of motherhood that make it larger than one woman's story. The very idea of adoption brings about scrutiny of who you are and how you've lived. On paper, Monroe's career as English professor and published author look impressive, but what of the qualities she hoped would remain hidden—a shaky past with her own family, a history of choosing men who physically abused her, her habit of not letting people get too close? Given her track record in other relationships, she begins to question whether she deserved to raise a child "because it's not your life you might ruin but a life depending on you." And this honest look at where doubt meets longing had me rooting for her from the start. As the interview process continues, Monroe let the agency know that she was open to adopting a child of another race, a choice that had the extra benefits of a shorter waiting list and a higher chance that she'd be in the care of a newborn. This choice, however, proves to be a bigger issue in her small town, prompting questions like, "Have you thought that through—what you're putting yourself and the kid up against?" Potential birth mothers express concern, as well, wondering whether Monroe was a racist, a startling reminder that adoption for some carries "the specter of history—humans bought and sold. Giving a child to a white social worker is a last resort." After a series of false alarms, the baby who would become Monroe's daughter is born, a moment she describes as "letting my heart exist outside my body, and as she'd grow, letting my heart roam around the risky world." Their relationship is met with nonstop curiosity from the white community, including such shocking questions as, "What is she?" and "Is that a crack baby?" From the black community, she collects opinions about how to care for her daughter's hair. How she responds to others, Monroe realizes early on, will teach her daughter about herself and her world. Furthermore, Monroe writes of re-engaging with her own parents while, at the same time, trying to offer her child a very different upbringing. And it's this dance with the outside world—this learning to trust her own instincts as she also learned how much she needed this imperfect community—that gives her story its hard-earned wisdom. Exhausted by the intense focus on what was best for her child, Monroe's own needs suddenly intrude with guilt and urgency: "What about me? What has happened to my health? What has happened to the book I was writing? Do I dare consider dating? What if I screw up again and choose someone who's no good? What will I be modeling for my child?" It's the dance again—the tug and pull of love and fear, vulnerability and courage, care of others and care of self. My only criticism of the book is that there's a circular quality to the storytelling. Events are revisited again and again—the call that the adoption has gone through, the death of a family member, a hospital visit, the memory of a threatening neighbor. Sometimes this circular aspect of the book feels as if maybe the chapters were once separately published essays and the author chose not to unpack those essays and work them into a chronological or thematically building story. I have to admit, however, that something about this nonlinear storytelling also feels true to life. Memories are like that. They circle back on us—reminders of old wounds and vulnerabilities, roads we don't want to...

Precious: a film based on the novel Push by Sapphire.

Precious: a film based on the novel Push by Sapphire.

Modernising Social Work - Edited by John Harris and Vicky White Social Work, Politics and Society: From Radicalism to Orthodoxy - By Kenneth McLaughlin

Modernising Social Work - Edited by John Harris and Vicky White Social Work, Politics and Society: From Radicalism to Orthodoxy - By Kenneth McLaughlin

Critical Multiculturalism, Whiteness, and Social Work

In this paper, I suggest that most cultural diversity classes in social work are taught from a liberal or conservative multicultural perspective that precludes a power analysis and a critical discussion of whiteness. In order to undo this status quo, social educators and practitioners need to incorporate critical multiculturalismas a tool in subverting racism. A critical multicultural practice includes an analysis of whiteness and a commitment on the part of white social workers to take up an antiracist practice. Pedagogical strategies are described that unmask whiteness. Finally, Stephen Madigan's oppositional whiteness, illustrated in a case vignette, is illustrated as an antiracist practice in which a white social worker/therapist situates his own privilege and becomes an ally.

Students “at Risk”: Dilemmas of Collaboration

Students “at Risk”: Dilemmas of Collaboration

White Social Workers' Attitudes about People of Color

This study evaluates the utility of a measure of White social workers' attitudes about people of color and provides some preliminary normative data to facilitate more systematic evaluation in practice, education, and research. The Cognitive and Affective Racial Attitudes Scales of the Quick Discrimination Index (QDI) (Ponterotto, Potere & Johnson, 2002) were completed by 257 White members of the National Association of Social Workers. Results strongly support the use of these scales among professional social workers and indicate that most respondents in the study were positive and supportive of people of color and of the concept of multicultural diversity. Nevertheless, a closer examination of specific professional vulnerabilities suggests that these social workers' cognitive attitudes were more positive than their affective attitudes, that they possess the same ambivalence and social distance about race that characterizes contemporary American society, and that 12% do not believe racism is a major social problem in the United States.

The Relationship Between Optimism About Race Relations, Black Awareness, and Attitudes Toward Transracial Adoption

Social workers in the United States were queried on their attitudes toward transracial adoption (TRA), defined here as African American children being adopted by White parents. An analysis of 363 questionnaires found that optimism about the future of race relations was the most powerful predictor of TRA attitudes. For both African American and White social workers, more optimism about race relations was associated with positive attitudes toward transracial adoption. Among White respondents, optimism about race relations was also related to lower levels of conservatism and higher levels of altruism; among African American respondents, racial optimism was associated with less emphasis on Black awareness. For African American social workers, a stronger commitment to promulgating Black awareness was also associated with less support for TRA. Implications of the findings for social work practice were discussed.

Race, Religion, Altruism, and the Transracial Adoption Debate

Abstract An analysis of 363 questionnaires assessing social worker attitudes toward transracial adoption (TRA)‐i‐e., black children being adopted by white parents‐found interactions between race, religion, and altruism in influencing TRA views. Among white social workers, those who were Catholic and those who were altruistic had more favorable attitudes toward TRA than those who were Protestant and those who were less altruistic. However, altruism was not correlated with TRA score among white Catholics. Among black social workers, no relationship between religion, altruism, and TRA score was found. Religiosity was not related to TRA score for either black or white social workers. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Race, Practice Behaviors and the NASW Code of Ethics

The NASW Code of Ethics is intended to serve as a guide to the everyday professional conduct of social workers. While the code is relatively comprehensive, it is viewed as a set of guidelines, and social workers are not necessarily obligated to abide by the code. This study examines the perceptions of African American (n = 219), Asian American (n = 185), Hispanic (n = 185), and White (n = 502) social workers on the appropriateness of a variety of professional behaviors utilizing random samples from the NASW membership directory.

Transracial Adoption in Black and White

ABSTRACT An analysis of 363 questionnaires filled out by social workers in the United States assessing their attitudes on transracial adoption (TRA)-i.e., black children being adopted by white parents-found: (1) White social workers were more in favor of TRA than were black social workers; (2) African American respondents who were members of the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) had less favorable attitudes toward TRA than black social workers who were not NABSW members; (3) for black respondents, TRA attitudes were also associated with income level and identification with one's own ethnic group. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Perceptions Among Social Work and Non-Social Work Students Concerning Causes of Poverty

Feagin’s Poverty Scale was used to measure social work students’ and non-social work students’ perceptions of the causes of poverty. Present social work students, like previous ones, attribute poverty more to structural factors than individual factors. Further analysis, however, suggests that this may only be true for female and white social work students. Male and nonwhite social work students appear to attribute poverty to both structural and individual factors. White social work students perceive structural factors as more important in causing poverty than white non-social work students. Non-social work students did not overwhelmingly attribute poverty to individualistic factors as expected.

Racial identity attitudes and interracial communication: implications for social work practice in Britain

Abstract This paper is written from a psychological perspective and explores the relationship between black people's stages of racial identity development and interracial communication. It describes Cross's model of psychological nigrescence for black people and Helms's model of white identity development–in which she describes how whites go through the process of defining themselves as racial beings. Since the majority of social workers in Britain are white, it is argued that white identity development and its implication for interracial communication are important aspects to consider. It is argued that one's stage of racial identity may have a stronger impact on the communication process between white social workers and black clients than 'race' per se.