Reproductive Health Justice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia M. Chávez-Baray ◽  
Eva M. Moya ◽  
Omar Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Reproductive Justice ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
Care Models ◽  
Macro Social Work ◽  
Health Justice

Reproductive health endeavors in regard to prevention, treatment, and emerging disparities and inequities like lack of access to comprehensive and equitable reproductive health for immigrants and LGBTQ+ populations are discussed. Practice-based approaches for reproductive health justice and access care models, to advance reproductive justice, are included. Implications for macro social work practice and historical perspectives, practices, and social movements of reproductive health justice in the United States to promote reproductive health justice in the context of political, legal, health, and social justice efforts are salient to advance social justice.

Reproductive Justice and the Social Work Profession: Common Grounds and Current Trends

Affilia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Liddell
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Reproductive Rights ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Search Term ◽  
Reproductive Justice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Country Rankings ◽  
Location Study

Reproductive rights and justice frameworks, which take an intersectional and social justice approach to reproductive health, are compatible with social work’s philosophical and theoretical foundations and its practical goals of advocating and promoting social justice. However, reproductive rights and justice are not frequently addressed in social work publications, an important gap that should be addressed. The search term “reproductive justice” was used to identify 10 articles published between 1994 and 2018 among the top 50 social work journals (using SCImago Journal and Country rankings). Only 3 of these 10 articles focused substantively on reproductive justice. By comparison, 55 article were identified with the search term “reproductive rights.” An analysis of the reproductive justice articles was conducted for purpose and topic, location, study population, year, journal, key findings, and implications for the social work profession. All articles called for an increase in research on reproductive justice topics. Encouragingly, these articles also included an analysis of the role of the social work profession with these frameworks. However, there is a lack of articles on reproductive justice, and the range of topics, and the methodological approaches, covered are limited. Although the increase in reproductive rights literature is heartening, there is a need for reproductive justice framings in social work practice and research.

scholarly journals Impact of Emerging Technology in Social Work Practice

Social Work ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Freddolino
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Potential Impact

There is little doubt that social work practice has been, is, and will continue to be impacted by emerging technologies, generally defined in terms of information and communication technologies (ICT), in the United States and around the globe. However, while it is relatively easy to locate descriptions of innovative technologies and social work services utilizing these technologies, it is somewhat more difficult to locate concrete evidence to illustrate actual widely-adopted changes in the practice arena brought about as a result of ICTs. It is harder still to identify concrete, data-based evidence concerning the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these technologies and services, the “real impact” that changes clients’ lives. Furthermore, there is little discussion concerning the concurrent impact of other significant ongoing transformations in social work practice that in some ways support increased impact of emerging technologies and in other ways limit their potential impact. Such trends as the following: the increasing prevalence of integrated mental health and substance abuse services into “behavioral health”; the promotion of inter-professional and multidisciplinary approaches; greater awareness of, and in some venues now required, focus on patient/client-centered care; heightened acknowledgement of the role of caregivers and their enhanced influence and power as advocates; heightened prevalence of universal design principles; increased attention to mindfulness; and greater sensitivity to the short- and long-term impact of trauma are all relevant. These trends create an environment in which emerging ICTs can have greater potential impact. They interact with both the development of new technologies and the escalating awareness of the potential of these technologies by practitioners, the agencies that employ them, and the clients and caregivers who utilize their services. Also involved are for-profit enterprises that see in this technology-enhanced arena a potential to earn substantial profits. The available sources make clear that little is indeed clear, and that there are both challenges and opportunities confronting the use of emerging technologies, with critical trade-offs between access and privacy, and between enhanced services and technology-related barriers to these services. Throughout this review social work’s commitment to social justice provides a lens that cannot be ignored, demanding recognition of sources whose description of impact may be less optimistic than that of ICT cheerleaders. The current state of affairs should serve as a call to action for all stakeholders in the human services to share information and data about these emerging trends, and to play an active role in their further development to ensure that the demands of social justice are addressed.

Critical Race Theory and Macro Social Work Practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aswood Bousseau ◽  
Diane Martell
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Organizational Policies ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
Macro Social Work

American racism has produced systems of oppression that continue to impact Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in the United States. Critical race theory (CRT) asserts that racism is a longstanding, pervasive, and permanent component of social structure. Perceptions of and concepts relating to race are used to manipulate societal conditions to add value to and benefit the dominant, white population. CRT can be used as a lens to (a) understand current social and economic conditions, (b) analyze policies including municipal, state, and federal laws, regulations, and court decisions, and (c) develop and implement policies and programs that increase racial justice. For social work administrators, CRT provides a framework for identifying and assessing implicit and explicit racism in internal and external organizational policies, structures, and practices. In community work, CRT places race and racism at the center of localized patterns of disempowerment and inequality.

“Doing Hope”: Ecofeminist Spirituality Provides Emotional Sustenance to Confront the Climate Crisis

Affilia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 088610992098724
Author(s):  
Finn McLafferty Bell ◽  
Mary Kate Dennis ◽  
Glory Brar
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Catholic Sisters ◽  
The World ◽  
Right Relationship ◽  
Environmental Work ◽  
Climate Crisis

Environmental crises caused by our changing global environment evoke intense and difficult emotions, particularly the paralysis that often results from despair. Understanding how people who are deeply engaged in environmental activism deal with their emotions can help in emotionally equipping people to address the climate crisis. Ecofeminist spirituality directly addresses these issues through an environmental stewardship that offers hope and healing for the world. This study includes 14 interviews with workers at an ecojustice center founded by an order of Catholic sisters in the United States. We used thematic analysis to identify three main themes that collectively describe the participants’ perspectives on (a) experiences of difficult feelings, (b) strategies for coping with those feelings, and (c) perspectives on cultivating hope. Participants shared how they were able to cope with difficult emotions and cultivate hope that the work they are doing matters, which was essential to sustaining their ecojustice work. As social workers respond to the changing environment, understanding how to sustain environmental work at the macro-level is essential to addressing largescale problems while also attending to difficult emotions at the microlevel. Further implications for social work practice include the importance of intergenerational organizing, living in “right relationship,” incorporating spirituality, and reinhabiting the profession.

scholarly journals Centering Social Justice in Mental Health Practice: Epistemic Justice and Social Work Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 104973152110109
Author(s):  
Marjorie Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Policy Advocacy ◽  
Health Practice ◽  
Epistemic Justice

This article examines how mental health social work practice can move outside the hegemony of the medical model using approaches that honor the centering of social justice. By using the philosophical analysis of epistemic injustice and the ethics of knowing, I move out of the traditional psychiatric and psychological conceptual frameworks and discuss new guiding principles for practice. In the context of the radical tradition in social work and the impetus to blend theory with practice, I consider the use of narrative and anti-oppressive approaches to center social justice principles in individual dyadic work as well as in wider systems family and community work and policy advocacy. I evaluate these approaches through the principles of epistemic justice and discuss the importance of a relational collaborative approach where honoring the client and exploring lived experience are central to both the concepts of testimonial justice, hermeneutic justice and anti-oppressive practice.

scholarly journals Exhaustion and possibility. The wor(l)dlyness of social work in (G)local environment worlds during a pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 54-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona B Livholts
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Writing Genres

Exhaustion is not about being tired. It is an intense feeling of restlessness, of insomnia, and awakening when I ask myself: have I exhausted all that is possible? Such a state of restlessness and wakefulness represents a turning point for having enough, and opens for new possibilities to act for social change. This reflexive essay departs from the notion that the language of exhaustion offers a wor(l)dly possibility for social work(ers) to engage in critical analytical reflexivity about our locations of power from the outset of our (g)local environment worlds. The aim is to trace the transformative possibilities of social change in social work practice through the literature of exhaustion (eg. Frichot, 2019 ; Spooner, 2011 ). The methodology is based on uses of narrative life writing genres such as poetry, written and photographic diary entrances between the 4th of April and 4th of June. The essay shows how tracing exhaustion during the pandemic, visualises a multiplicity of forms of oppression and privilege, an increasing attention and relationship to things, and border movements and languages. I suggest that social work replace the often-used terminology of social problems with exhaustive lists to address structural forms of racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, which has been further visualized through death, illness, violence, and poverty during the pandemic. I argue that the language of exhaustion is useful for reflexivity and action in social work practice through the way it contributes to intensified awareness, attention, engagement, listening, and agency to create social justice.

scholarly journals Opportunities to “Make Macro Matter” through the Grand Challenges for Social Work

2021 ◽  
pp. 104438942097248
Author(s):  
Samantha Teixeira ◽  
Astraea Augsberger ◽  
Katie Richards-Schuster ◽  
Linda Sprague Martinez ◽  
Kerri Evans
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Grand Challenges ◽  
Macro Practice ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
The Social ◽  
Macro Social Work ◽  
Instrumental Role

The Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative, led by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW), aims to organize the social work profession around 12 entrenched societal challenges. Addressing the root causes of the Grand Challenges will take a coordinated effort across all of social work practice, but given their scale, macro social work will be essential. We use Santiago and colleagues’ Frameworks for Advancing Macro Practice to showcase how macro practices have contributed to local progress on two Grand Challenges. We offer recommendations and a call for the profession to invest in and heed the instrumental role of macro social work practice to address the Grand Challenges.

Visions of community

1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-38
Author(s):  
Pauline Jivanjee ◽  
Susan Tebb
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Women's Movements ◽  
Work Education

Experiences traveling in Kenya provide a backdrop to an examination of the principles and practices of the Harambee and women’s movements in Kenya as they compare with feminist social work practice in the United States. Concluding remarks address the implications of our learning for our work in social work education.

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