Summary

This study examines\ perceptions of\ the social work profession among those who employ social workers.\ It investigates whether organizational or workplace\ perceptions\ of social work practice align with the profession’s articulated\ perception of itself, as\ stated by the code of ethics and standards of practice. Individuals receiving services from social workers\ expect fair and\ equitable access and delivery of services;\ yet organizations that employ social workers do not\ frequently acknowledge or value\ the social justice\ mandate of professional social work practice.\ Under investigation are\ perceptions and\ potential (in)congruency between organizational\ aims or\ outcomes and\ the\ professions ethical aims for social justice.  Critical inquiry and constructivist grounded theory\ are used to locate and interrogate historical,\ social, and situational contexts to make visible power dynamics and discourses that may otherwise remain undetected. We\ employ situational maps in the analysis\ to clarify and elucidate relationships among concepts, dominant or marginalized discourses, and\ to contextualize complex practice environments that give rise to\ perceptions of social work professionalism in the workplace. \ This study\ identifies discrepancies or gaps in understanding of the value base, role,\ and scope of practice of professional social work among those who employ social workers. These discrepancies\ impact the ability of social workers to work to their full skill set and may hamper job satisfaction.\ The central social work value, the pursuit of social justice, does not appear in most social work job postings nor is it a job requirement\ identified by employers.\ This is of critical importance to the future development of the social work profession and for the relevance of their social justice mission. It is also critical to those clients who rely on social workers to advocate for their individual and collective needs.\ Vulnerable social work clients\ require professionals whose commitments to justice are clear and supported.\ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

workforce, advocacy, code of ethics, employers, social justice

Summary

Background/Rationale: In the last 2 decades, domestic and global service-learning have flourished in higher education. Although positive academic and personal outcomes have been demonstrated (Choo et al., 2018), critics point to evidence of negative outcomes that perpetuate existing systems of class, privilege, & norms of harmful disparities (Augustine et al., 2017). Experiential learning can reinforce deficit-based views of marginalized groups, stereotypes, and privileged perspectives. For example, global service-learning has a long history of volunteering in residential care institutions (“orphanages), primarily in lower resourced, developing countries, perpetuating inequitable and harmful systems of care (Rotabi et al., 2017). Sigmon’s (1970) reciprocal service-learning approach between student learner and host community and the influences of Paulo Freire (1973) aim to “overcome the usual power differentials established in the donor/recipient relationship” (Tapia, 2003, p. 145). As a pedagogical method, students develop solidarity through service to the real needs of the community, improve academic learning, and encourage the formation of personal values and responsible citizenship (Tapia, 2003). Fair Trade Learning’s reciprocity in goals and relationships (Prado et al., 2014) and justice-oriented service-learning’s community nurturing practices (Augustine et al., 2017) further inform decolonized global service-learning approaches. Methods/Methodology: Using a case study approach, this presentation identifies approaches to global service-learning applied to field education that integrates reciprocity (Tapia, 2003) and liberatory consciousness (Love, 2018) aimed to increase awareness and actions that challenge inequitable educational practices. Reflective practices, defined as the “intentional consideration of an experience in light of particular learning objectives,” are key for fostering moral development and strengthening critical thinking in service-learning. Results/Conclusions: Reflective practices that are regular, use multiple modalities, and structured toward student goals (engagement, empathy, communication, research-informed practice), critical for identifying discrepancies and barriers to justice-oriented learning goals (Hatcher et al., 2004; Clayton and Ash, 2009), will be explored.

Keywords (separate with commas)

field education, decolonizing global service-learning

Summary

Recent calls have challenged us to critically examine our profession’s ethics (Koh, 2023; O’Leary & Tsui, 2023). Drawing a parallel to prison abolition, Stovall (2018) proposed a “radical imaginary” that challenged “us to think about the world as it is while committing to a process that systemically changes it” (p. 53). Invoking this “radical imaginary” paradigm, this presentation calls upon our moral imagination to radically reimagine the institution of social work ethics; this reimagination will be a movement toward ethical emancipation. The proposition to define social work ethics as an institution is supported by Foucault who made this prescient observation in a 1972 roundtable discussion: “…social work has become programmatic and institutionalized” (Chambon, Irving, & Epstein, 1999, p. 91).This presentation will consider one vision of a “radical imaginary” to incrementally build an epistemically just and emancipatory ethics infrastructure in the coming decade; this vision will center race, ethnicity, and culture. This centering seeks to align one’s moral lived experience of race, ethnicity, and culture with our ethical mandates. Existing barriers to including the dominance of moral absolutes and Eurocentric ethics curriculum will be discussed. Three change processes (i.e., praxis per Freire, 1970) will be proposed to help build a futuristic infrastructure for ethics praxis with a thicker, more equitable, and more inclusive moral social fabric. First, decentering ethnocentric and Eurocentric ethics curriculum. Second, integrating the neuroscience of bias in ethical deliberation. Third, utilizing heuristics informed by intersectionality (e.g., Koh, 2022) to conduct power analyses that invite probing, discovery, and critical reflection in deliberative processes.Collectively we must call upon our moral imaginations to envision this proposed “radical imaginary” that has the potential to transform (Johnson-Bailey, 2012) and liberate (Freire, 1970) social work ethics education within the next decade. This presentation presents an opportunity for long overdue action.

Keywords (separate with commas)

ethics, justice, social work education, liberation

Summary

The marginalisation of minoritised theories, ways of knowing, being and doing and racially driven human rights violations have fuelled the campaign to decolonise social work education in the UK and internationally. However, whilst much have been written about decolonising the social work curriculum, limited research exists on decolonising social work practice. The paper reports the findings of an empirical study undertaken in England which explored stakeholders’ perspectives on decolonising social work curriculum and practice identifying challenges and opportunities. The study is situated in the qualitative research tradition consisting of semi-structured interviews with post-graduate social work students (n=5), undergraduate social work students (n=5) practice educators (n=5) and social work academics (n=5). The interview data were analysed focusing on identification of salient repeated themes relating to the research question and issues similar to those located in the literature review, drawing from the interfacing strengths of yarning, an Indigenous research method approach (Bessarab and Ng’andu, 2010), and the practical iterative framework developed by Srivastava and Hopwood (2018). Fricker’s (2007) concept of epistemic injustice and the concept of cultural humility (Foronda, 2020) were used to examine the data.Findings identified the silencing of other ways of knowing, being and doing and the centring of Eurocentric White middle-class values and ways of doing in social work practice. The paper concludes by arguing that the concepts of epistemic injustices and cultural humility are especially relevant for understanding why and how social work education might be decolonised.Although social work practice is underpinned by anti-oppressive practice theories, ways of knowing, being and doing are predominately shaped by Western White middle class epistemology. Decolonising social work practice offer a unique opportunity to explore other ways of knowing, being and doing.    

Keywords (separate with commas)

decolonising the curriculum, decolonisation, social work, yarning, epistemic injustice, cultural humility