scholarly journals Equity in social work employment: opportunity and challenge for social workers with disabilities in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 1399-1418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa R. Kiesel ◽  
Sharyn Dezelar ◽  
Elizabeth Lightfoot
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Employment Opportunity

Latinos and Latinas: Practice Interventions

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Ortiz Hendricks
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Institutional Barriers ◽  
English Only ◽  
Complex Population ◽  
Barriers To Service ◽  
Social Work Interventions

Latinos are a heterogeneous and highly complex population that presents the profession with one of the greatest challenges in understanding diversity and what constitutes culturally and linguistically competent social work interventions. At this point in history, Latinos are the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in the United States. This has given rise to strong anti‐immigration sentiment, English only legislation, and increased discrimination and racism, which Latino newcomers must contend with upon arrival in the United States. Social workers need to work to reduce both external and internal institutional barriers to service delivery for Latinos while responding effectively to their interpersonal and familial needs.

Is social work a green profession? An examination of environmental beliefs

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry V Shaw
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional

• Summary: Social work has developed to meet the needs of an industrializing society. As environmental concerns have increased, national, and international social work organizations have called on social workers to incorporate issues of the environment into their professional practice. Although there is a small body of literature related to social work and the environment, the profession has not fully embraced the need to incorporate these issues into social work education or practice. This cross-sectional survey in the United States of a random sample of National Association of Social Workers (NASW) members ( n = 373) was designed to gauge the environmental knowledge and attitudes of social work professionals. • Findings: Though social work shares many of the same underlying tenets of groups interested in environmental justice, results suggest that social workers as a profession are no more, nor less, environmentally friendly than the general population. • Applications: By failing to incorporate ecological issues facing the United States and abroad, our current social policies are at best not sustainable, and at worst dangerous for our continued social well-being. Social workers can play a leading role through an understanding of the interrelationship that exists between people and the environment, the integration of environmental issues into their social work practice, and advocating for vulnerable populations.

scholarly journals Amplified injustices and mutual aid in the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
pp. 147332502097332
Author(s):  
Finn McLafferty Bell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
The World ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Ways Of Being

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing injustices in the United States, which is exemplified in Ypsilanti, Michigan. However, the pandemic also provides an opportunity to re-imagine existing ways of being in the world, and mutual aid networks that have provided for people's basic needs during multiple crises while also working towards more radical change provide an opportunity for social workers to examine their relationship to “helping.” The author uses their personal experience with a local mutual aid network to examine the power and possibility of mutual aid, particularly in times of crisis, as well as sources of social work resistance to decentralized and non-professional forms of helping and caring. These lessons are carried beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to their consequences for the looming climate crisis.

scholarly journals Training experience for future social workers in USА

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 63-73
Author(s):  
Hannа Ridkodubska
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Independent Learning ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Usa

The article examines the training of future social workers in the United States and describes the ways of transforming positive experiences into the modern educational system of Ukraine. The author examines the main stages of the formation of American vocational training of social workers, which characterize the system of training, which was launched in 1898. The main differences in the training future social workers in the United States, the author notes the widespread use of practical forms of knowledge acquisition, a high percentage the tasks of the student's independent learning activities, the presence of slight specialization and a competent approach to the results of education. Training for social work in the United States is carried out in social work schools and colleges at universities. The programs provide three levels of training: a bachelor, a master, and a doctor of social work. The process of organizing the professional practice in future social workers in the United States is characterized by instructive, academic, and combining approaches. While studying in the United States, a student in each semester passes one to two practices under the direction of a social worker («field educator»). In general, in the USA during the training social workers, teachers are offered to perform two types of professionally directed practices: field, that is, without leaving the training and block, which is conducted with the separation from theoretical training during the semester. Now in America, the role of the state in the social sphere is increasing. Therefore, there are new forms of interaction and spheres of professional activity of social workers. The process of training social workers in the XXI century acquires new features and undergoes changes in the United States and Ukraine. Such changes include: changing the motives of professionalization - from social and educational to economic; development and possibility of competition in the international market of educational services.

scholarly journals Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Contributing to the Clarification and Elaboration of Social Work Practice and Theory

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine M. Gutiérrez ◽  
Larry E. Davis ◽  
Charles D. Garvin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Theory ◽  
The Social

Oxford Bibliographies in Social Work includes three articles describing the scholarly writings of a select group of deceased social workers who have been especially prominent and influential in the profession within the United States. These individuals are referred to social work luminaries. These three bibliographical articles can be used to identify the publications of prominent individuals who have been most influential in the development of social work; these individuals are identified by first reviewing the biographies of significant social workers from the Encyclopedia of Social Work and obituaries collected by the Council on Social Work Education since the publication of the Encyclopedia of Social Work. From this list come the biographical material and publications, with the most prominent luminaries for each of the three articles. For each luminary is provided a brief biographical overview and one to five annotated citations of their most important publications. Respectively, the three articles describe the publications of luminaries: (1) who were involved in the founding and creation of the social work profession in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; (2) who, subsequently, contributed to the clarification and elaboration of social work practice and theory; and (3) who contributed to social work theory and scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This article presents the luminaries who wrote primarily between the 1920s and 1960s. They were aware of the pioneer work of other luminaries who created the profession of social work and began the process of creating its theoretical, ethical, and historical foundations. During these four decades, these luminaries added to the theoretical foundation of social work while also leading the expansion of social work into many new areas. This resulted in scholarship related to different sizes of service systems (individuals, groups, families, communities); new settings for social work; and the evolution of university-based education and training for social workers. During this period, luminaries fell into several categories in terms of their contributions to the evolution of social work scholarship. One category was the development of each of the social work methods as now conceived. These consisted then of Casework (e.g., Interviewing: Its Principles and Methods, Theory and Practice of Social Casework, Social Casework: A Problem-Solving Process, A Functional Approach to Family Casework, and Common Human Needs [i.e., individual work]); Group Work (e.g., Group Work with American Youth: A Guide to the Practice of Leadership, Essentials of Social Group Skill, and Social Group Work Practice: The Creative Use of Social Process); and Community Organization (e.g., Community Organization for Social Welfare, Community Action against Poverty: Readings from the Mobilization Experience, Community Organization and Social Planning, and An Overview of the Community Organization Curriculum Development Project and Its Recommendations). A second category is the adaptation of social work for different fields of service—notably rehabilitation, health, mental health, corrections, and child welfare. Some luminaries during that time were devoting themselves to developing methods for social work research and the advancement of social work theory. Other luminaries focused on considering social work approaches to Policy development. Finally, some luminaries at that time were thinking of applications for different ethnic groups, primarily Jewish and African Americans. The following is a presentation of luminaries under these categories and some of their major scholarly publications.

scholarly journals Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries contributing to the founding of social work practice, policy, and research in the United States

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine M. Gutiérrez ◽  
Larry E. Davis ◽  
Charles D. Garvin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Social Work Theory ◽  
Select Group ◽  
The Individual

Oxford Bibliographies in Social Work includes three articles describing the scholarly writings of a select group of deceased social workers who have been especially prominent and influential in the profession within the United States. The authors refer to these individuals as social work luminaries. These three articles can be used to identify the publications of prominent individuals who have been most influential in the development of social work. We identified these individuals by first reviewing the biographies of significant social workers from the Encyclopedia of Social Work, edited by Cynthia Franklin (Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers Press, 2014), and obituaries collected by the Council on Social Work Education since the publication of the Encyclopedia of Social Work. From this list, the authors reviewed the biographical material and publications, selecting the most-prominent luminaries for each of the three articles. For each luminary, a brief biographical overview and one to five annotated citations of their most important publications are provided. Respectively, the three articles describe the publications of luminaries (1) who were involved in the founding and creation of the social work profession in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, (2) who subsequently contributed to the clarification and elaboration of social work practice and theory, and (3) who contributed to social work theory and scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This article focuses on luminaries who contributed to the founding of the profession. They came to their work from different backgrounds and began the process of creating the field’s theoretical, ethical, and historical foundations. The earliest luminaries in this list contributed to the foundations of social work, with the later luminaries working on defining the field, its scope and functions, and its role in larger health and human services systems. These luminaries include those who established some of the first schools of social work in the nation. These bibliographies are ordered in chronological order on the basis of when the individual made his or her most substantial contributions to social work. These individuals and their work must be seen in the context of the eras in which they worked. The language they sometimes used could be viewed by some in the 2020s as archaic, patronizing, sexist, racist, or offensive. Some of their work may express views, such as eugenic policies, that are antithetical to the profession in the early 21st century. The authors think it imperative that those in the field recognize these historical trends and views in order to see how our field has evolved and also how it has always reflected the context and values in which it exists.

Prisoner Re-entry

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Treitler ◽  
Beth Angell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Formerly Incarcerated ◽  
Stable Housing ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Physical Health Problems

Each year in the United States, more than 600,000 individuals transition from prisons back to the community upon release. This transition process, referred to as prisoner re-entry, is often fraught with challenges as individuals who in many cases already faced barriers to opportunity prior to incarceration are further marginalized because of the collateral consequences of incarceration. Common challenges experienced by released prisoners include difficulty securing stable housing and employment, limited social support, mental and physical health problems, barriers to social and political participation, and the stigma of a criminal record. Not surprising given the barriers to successful reintegration, recidivism rates are high, and more than half of released prisoners are re-incarcerated within five years. Although punitive approaches were dominant in the United States criminal justice system from the 1970s through the early 2000s, there has been a move toward a more rehabilitative approach since that time, resulting in policy changes that reduce incarceration and support reentry, and expansion of services for prisoners before and after release. Although relatively few social workers are employed in criminal justice settings, the ripple effects of incarceration on social and health outcomes imply that social workers employed in a wide variety of settings can expect to regularly encounter individuals who are at various points in the re-entry process, or families and significant others who are affected secondarily. Social workers will be better prepared to assist formerly incarcerated individuals with an awareness of the issues faced by this population, and the unique barriers they experience in accessing housing, employment, and other resources. This article therefore aims to provide an overview of prisoner re-entry, with a focus on matters relevant to social work researchers and practitioners. As a boundary-spanning profession, social work is ideally positioned to propel forward approaches that prioritize promoting social capital, strengthening communities that receive former prisoners, and adopting a strengths-based lens to rehabilitation and promoting desistance from crime.

scholarly journals Political Social Work in the United States

Social Work ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna Powers ◽  
Robert Fisher
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Policy Advocacy ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Elected Office

Political social work (hereafter PSW) is a specific term used to describe early-21st-century social work scholars and practitioners influencing policymaking by exercising power within electoral politics. Aimed at achieving social justice, social work is fundamentally political. The word political, however, has a complexity of meanings that enable both specificity and breadth. Political can be used as it relates specifically to policy practice, which is understood as a macro social work method of practice involved in policymaking processes. Political can also refer to politicized social work more broadly, which utilizes critical theories of power within all methods and fields of practice. While social workers have practiced political methods throughout the profession’s history, the term political social work first emerged in the United States during the 1980s with two distinct definitions—one related closely to policy practice and the other more akin to politicized social work. The contemporary conceptualization of PSW, introduced within the past decade, combines both. This current definition draws from politicized social work’s emphasis on political power and inclusion of all practice levels in order to expand policy practice. Thus, political social workers, whether generalist or specialist, engage with power dynamics across the various aspects of the policymaking process, with an emphasis on electoral politics. PSW involves social workers influencing social policy by exercising their power through policy practice (e.g., lobbying and policy advocacy) and within electoral politics (e.g., voting and voter engagement, working on political campaigns and within legislative offices, and holding elected office). Given the vast amount of social work resources on policy practice (also referred to as policy advocacy) and the relatively limited social work literature regarding electoral politics, this article focuses on PSW’s electoral-related channels that expand policy practice. PSW endorses nonpartisan political practices that are argued to be particularly applicable of social workers’ ethics and expertise related to empowering marginalized individuals and communities. PSW education and scholarship seek to infuse greater focus on social workers’ electoral-related political participation, voter engagement, and seeking elected office. PSW aims to increase the profession’s election-related participation by encouraging practitioners and students to include and improve their knowledge, experience, and perceptions of policy practice and electoral politics as part of their professional social work identities and roles.

scholarly journals Equity in social work employment: Opportunity and challenge for social workers with disabilities in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa R. Kiesel ◽  
Sharyn Dezelar ◽  
Elizabeth Lightfoot
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
The Social ◽  
Employment Participation ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Barriers And Opportunities

People with disabilities in the United States have had low levels of employment for decades, and the employment rate of people with disabilities remains virtually unchanged despite efforts to improve employment participation. This qualitative inquiry explored barriers and opportunities related to employment for social workers with disabilities through understanding their experiences of seeking, obtaining, and maintaining social work employment in the United States. Five themes emerged: anticipation and experience of hiring discrimination, accommodation confusion, disappointment with the social work profession, disability makes one a better social worker, and this could be different (and better). Findings suggest implications for employers and the social work profession.

Social work approaches to mental health work: international trends

2012 ◽  
pp. 1408-1413
Author(s):  
Shulamit Ramon
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Managed Care ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Professional Status ◽  
For Profit ◽  
The One

Mental health social work is a broad, rather than a rigorous, church. Since the 1980s social workers have gained in professional status by the introduction of the roles of the approved social worker (or licensed to carry out civil commitment in the American context), care co-ordinators, managers of managed care facilities, or psychotherapists. These gains have come at a price outlined in the text above. Often the cost of closer collaboration within the multi-disciplinary framework has led to the risk of giving up the attempt to hold on to, and further develop, an alternative and complimentary perspective from that of psychiatrists, nurses, or psychologists, as well as raising doubts as to the uniqueness of MHSW. The increased narrowness of the role is not simply the byproduct of the legal framework. It is also due to increased specialization within mental health on the one hand, and the effects of neo- liberal policies globally on public sector funding on the other hand. The move to privately contracted work, either in managed care or in psychotherapy so apparent in the United States, is yet another outcome of neo-liberal policies which fragments MHSW. As a trend we are likely to see growing beyond the United States, the increased concentration of mental health social workers within the private sector does not bode well for a profession whose value base focuses on the need to protect the more vulnerable and stigmatized populations, and to provide the dual perspectives of psychosocial input. Mainly due to governmental pressure related to fear of risk and its potential political fallout, the focus on working exclusively with people experiencing long-term severe mental illness has contributed to the increasing narrowness of the role of social workers in most First World countries. The paralleled withdrawal of social work involvement with people who have milder forms of mental distress within public sector and not-for-profit services, and its increased availability only to those who can afford it, is a reflection of this situation. The core qualities of belief, optimism, and caring of MHSWs identified in a cross-national research coupled with the ability of MHSW to innovate as highlighted in this chapter, illustrate the optimistic scenario for positive change within this branch of social work. However, unless theory building and research aspects are given the importance they deserve within MHSW globally, including an inevitable critical dimension of the existing system, mental health social work is likely to be no more than a reflection of the developments in other professions. This will not only mean curtailing its autonomous potential, but also the impoverishment of the multi-disciplinary framework as a whole of a crucial dimension necessary for its comprehensive work, as exemplified in some recent work on the social aspects of MHSW. In addition, mental health social work will have to develop a much stronger policy making function, if it is to provide a more responsive, effective, and comprehensive service to users, relatives, and the communities in which these people live.

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