scholarly journals Whitewashing of Social Work History

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 274-297
Author(s):  
Kelechi C. Wright ◽  
Kortney Angela Carr ◽  
Becci A. Akkin
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Racially Diverse ◽  
Work History ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Work History ◽  
Diverse Perspective

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.

Art and Social Work: History and Collaborative Possibilities for Interdisciplinary Synergy

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 698-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Burney Nissen
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work History ◽  
Psychology Education ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Individual Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Work History ◽  
Current Potential

This article will stretch the boundaries of the interdisciplinary lens to consider the history of and current potential for the arts to enhance, advance, and amplify individual, family, and community social change goals of the social work profession. To begin, consider the following questions: What would inspire artists and social workers to intentionally work together to reveal new strengths, energy, and capacity in the areas we care about? What do the arts have to teach the profession of social work and vice versa? How have the arts already played a role in the profession, and what has impaired social work’s ability to make greater use of the strengths associated with the arts? How have other professions (public health, psychology, education, and others) incorporated partnerships with the arts? This article concludes with a call to action to advance the potential of the arts in coordination with social work and related disciplines.

scholarly journals Honoring Our Ancestors

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 259-273
Author(s):  
Jennifer McCleary ◽  
Estelle Simard
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
White Women ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Work History ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Work History

The US social work profession has historically claimed primarily middle-class white women as the "founders" of the profession, including Jane Addams and Mary Richmond. Scholarship of the history of the profession has focused almost entirely on settlement houses, anti-poverty advocacy, and charity in the late 1800s in the northeastern United States as the groundwork of current social work practice. Courses in social work history socialize students into this historical framing of the profession and perpetuate a white supremacist narrative of white women as the primary doers of social justice work that colonizes the bodies and knowledge of Indigenous people and their helping systems. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the US have always had indigenous systems of social care. Yet, the social justice work of BIPOC, and especially Indigenous people in the US, is left out of the dominant narrative of the history of social work practice for several reasons including racism, colonialism, and white supremacy. In this paper the authors contribute to the critique of the role of white supremacy as a colonizing process in social work history narratives and discuss frameworks for decolonizing social work pedagogy through a reconciliatory practice that aims to dismantle white supremacy.

Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Social Work Licensure: An Exploratory Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jay Miller ◽  
Stacy M. Deck ◽  
Erlene Grise-Owens ◽  
Kevin Borders
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
Dynamic Source ◽  
Social Work Licensure ◽  
Work Education

Professional regulation, namely licensing, has been a dynamic source of debate for the social work profession. Amid this debate, schools of social work are increasingly considering licensing factors as a mechanism to gauge programmatic outcomes. However, nominal literature exists on social work curricula and licensing. Further, few published articles explore social work licensing from the perspective of those most affected: social work students. This exploratory study used a scaled questionnaire, with supplemental open- ended questions, to examine undergraduate students' (N=207) perceptions about social work licensing. Data from this study suggest that although undergraduate students are confident in their ability to pass the exam, they are ambiguous about the process for taking the exam and need additional preparation. After a review of the literature, this article explicates key findings from the study, discusses implications for undergraduate social work education, and identifies relevant areas for future research.

Examining my place in social work history: a scholarly personal narrative

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan E. Gonyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Personal Narrative ◽  
Work History ◽  
Scholarly Personal Narrative ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Work History

The social work profession began in the early 1900s and has changed and evolved in many ways since then. The author raises the question: ‘Am I who the founding mothers of social work imagined when they began their work?’ Looking at the values of the profession with a focus on social justice and language, the author explores how she is working towards social justice and how it fits into the historical perspective of the profession.

scholarly journals The Cost of Being Black in Social Work Practicum

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 331-353
Author(s):  
Nia Johnson ◽  
Paul Archibald ◽  
Anthony Estreet ◽  
Amanda Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Black Students ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
The Social

The social work profession is not exempt from fueling institutional racism, which affects the provision of social work practicum education for Black social work students. This article highlights how the historical and current social cost of being Black in the United States presents itself within social work education’s signature pedagogy. Social workers who hold bachelor’s degrees in social work (BSW) are more likely to be Black than those holding master’s degrees in social work (MSW; Salsberg et al., 2017). It takes Black students longer to earn an MSW degree though they are more likely to hold a BSW while also having work experience related to the social work profession; this is indicative of a flawed system. The implications of this are explored by highlighting social work’s historical context and the role privilege holds within a profession charged with working towards social justice. Critical Race Theory (CRT) is utilized to unearth how the current state of social work practicum upholds a culture of white supremacy through covertly racist requirements and practices. Case examples are utilized to demonstrate the challenges Black students face as social work practicum mimics oppressive practices and perpetuates disparities in the social work landscape. Additionally, this article explores oppression’s role in treating vulnerable social work students and how that treatment is reflected in the workforce, ultimately informing service delivery.

scholarly journals Introduction

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Terry Bamford
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Work History ◽  
Social Work Training ◽  
Work Training ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Work History

The genesis of this book was a casual suggestion at a meeting of the Social Work History Network. Why don’t we do something to mark 50 years since BASW was formed in 1970, the Local Authority Social Services Act was passed and a unified social work training was about to be introduced? And this book is the something....

scholarly journals The effects of an exclusionary bursary policy on student social workers: an exploratory qualitative study on the effects of the 2013 policy to cap the allocation of bursaries in England

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-110
Author(s):  
Thomas Considine ◽  
Kim Heanue ◽  
Paul Hollingdale
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
Student Cohorts ◽  
Work Education

The social work bursary for England was introduced in 2003 for all students on qualifying degrees. Following a review of social work education funding, the bursary was capped in 2013. This meant that higher education institutions have had to develop policies for the allocation of bursaries and that student cohorts included students with a bursary and others who did not receive this financial support, thus creating an exclusionary system. This article presents the findings from an exploratory qualitative study that investigated the experiences of students who completed their placement under these new arrangements. The findings indicate that students who did not receive a bursary experienced additional stressors that had an adverse impact on their well-being. These findings may have significance for future research in light of considerations to abolish the bursary for all social work students.

scholarly journals GENERAL VALUES AND WORK VALUES OF SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS IN HONG KONG

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 19-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHUI-WAI WONG ◽  
MANTAK YUEN
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Intellectual Stimulation ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
The Social ◽  
Self Transcendence ◽  
Work Education

This paper reports research that examines general values and work values held by university students studying social work in Hong Kong. Comparison is also made with values held by similar students studying in different majors. Results indicated that social work students rated general values such as benevolence, self-direction, universalism and tradition higher than their non-social work counterparts. They also rated work values such as altruism, creativity, supervisory relations, independence and intellectual stimulation more highly. However, the social work students held lower values associated with economic returns, thus supporting a view that students with an inclination towards social work tend to espouse self-transcendence and intrinsic work values, and are less influenced by material rewards. Among the social work respondents, gender differences were found in both general and work values. Differences were also noted between the groups with different modes of study. Implications for social work education and future research are discussed.

Naming White Supremacy in the Social Work Curriculum

Affilia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-398
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Beck
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
The Social
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