The Social Work-Community Medicine Connection: Bess Dana, MSSA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Peter DeCarlo

This commentary contributes to the ongoing conversation about racial bias in social work licensing exams. It reviews recent public statements by the organization that describe the process for assessing racial bias in examinations developed and implemented by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). It demonstrates that, contradicting the purported policies forbidding the collection of demographic and exam outcomes data, such data is collected on all test-takers. ASWB performs analyses on them and reports one-line conclusions; however, they refuse to release the data to the social work community, and indeed, claim to have no relevant data to share. The commentary concludes that the social work community must take action rather than demand the ASWB reform itself.


Legal Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Kirkham ◽  
Jadwiga Leigh ◽  
Kenneth McLaughlin ◽  
Aidan Worsley

AbstractThe norm in fitness to practise proceedings (FTPP) is that where sanctions might be imposed procedural fairness requires a court-like hearing. This paper questions that paradigm, using empirical research to focus on the FTPP to which social workers must account. Procedural fairness is a multi-faceted legitimising concept used to justify the design of decision-making processes. With FTPPs, the major justification is an ‘instrumentally’ focused model of procedural fairness which prioritises making decisions that look right, a goal which is delivered in the context of social work. But other justifications for procedural fairness are inadequately fulfilled, with in particular a ‘dignitarian’ respect not achieved due to the high levels of non-attendance by registrant social workers. Further, procedural fairness as ‘public accountability’ is undermined due to the relative lack of engagement of FTPPs with the perspective of the social work community. These findings hint that in the context of a poorly organised and resource-poor profession other hybrid forms of FTPP might have a stronger claim to procedural fairness than the court-like model.


2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Miyake Geron ◽  
Christina Andrews ◽  
Kathy Kuhn

As social work advances into the 21st century, dramatic increases in the aging of the U.S. population, shifting policy imperatives, and the emergence of new technologies have transformed the professional landscape in which social workers operate. To survive in today's world, social workers must be able to learn new skills and adapt to change. This article reviews the challenges facing the profession in transferring practice skills to social workers and describes the strategies of the Institute for Geriatric Social Work (IGSW) that address them. Well-designed training should provide a learning experience that is affordable, accessible and grounded in skill-based competencies. The challenge facing IGSW—and the broader social work community—is how to promote continuing education that maximizes these ends.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Ross

Social workers have many different demands placed upon them daily. From a necessity to consistently engage in professional development and reflection through to the requirement to challenge social injustice and strive for social change, much is made of our ethical respon- sibilities and practice standards. This is as it should be due to the complex and demanding nature of our work. Yet far less is said about how social workers can effectively meet these strong commitments and who can support us to do so. The question of who ‘advocates for the advocates’ remains side-lined in the continuing development of our profession. This article examines unionism and how it may provide the support and advocacy needed to progress some of the long-standing issues faced by the social work community, as well as some of the key obstacles to this. In addition, an overview of the Social Workers Action Network (SWAN) within the Public Service Association (PSA) is provided to examine how these conceptual dilemmas are being dealt with in practice. 


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