Opinions of Social Work Students on Technology Use and Ethics in Social Work Practices

The use of technology in social work practices has increased due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. This situation has also revealed new ethical issues and opinions in the field of social work practices. This research aims to explore ethical issues and the increase of technology in social work practices from the perspectives of social work students. Social work students at the undergraduate level in Turkey constitute the sample of the research. The research data were collected through an online questionnaire consisting of students' socio-demographic information and their opinions on technology use and ethics in social work practices. It was tried to reach social work students through the student groups in social media by the typical case sampling technique. Statistical tests including descriptive and comparative statistics were applied in analyzing the data. There was a significant relationship among opinions of the participants on the use of technology in social work practices and ethics by gender, number of practice terms, and taking courses about ethics in social work.

Reflections on Teaching Against White Supremacy During a Time of Social Rupture and Transformation

Social Justice and Social Work is a foundational course required for all social work students in the master’s of social work program at Portland State University. Although the course has long focused on interrupting oppressions including White supremacy, teaching the course during the fall of 2020 required a nimble dance between our familiar modes of teaching and the need for spontaneous adaptation and creativity. The unique landscape for this course included teaching the course remotely (Zoom), inside a university embattled around the arming of its security force (that killed a Black man in 2018), in a city targeted by an armed federal response to the racial uprising led by Black Lives Matter, in a state with a long history of White supremacy and Black exclusion, and under a federal administration explicitly aligned with White supremacy. This paper offers a reflection of our teaching about and against White supremacy during this unique moment in time. We position our writing at the intersections of teaching and activism, of hope and uncertainty. It is from our shared commitment to the abolishment of White supremacy that the following tenets were derived, grounding our experimental teaching in complexity, complicity, and social transformation: (1) remembering for the future, (2) attending to collective grief and rage, (3) bringing the streets (racial uprising) into the classroom, and (4) repurposing the classroom for social transformation.

Disrupting Family Group Conference practice in Aotearoa New Zealand: A learning project

Participation in, or facilitation of, Family Group Conferences (FGCs) and hui-ā-whānau (family meetings) are key social work practice activities in Aotearoa New Zealand. Social work students are expected to graduate with the cultural competence necessary to work ethically with whānau Māori according to the bicultural practice principles of Te Tiriti ō Waitangi. This competence includes skills in the facilitation of joint decision making, shared responsibility and the use of Māori engagement principles, all of which are fundamental to the traditional and professional practice of hui (meetings).We argue that, for social work students to enter the profession with the ability to work effectively in a statutory setting, and with whānau Māori, learning must go beyond the processes of the FGC as set out in the Oranga Tamariki Act (1989)—originally the Children, Young Personsand Their Families Act, 1989—and embrace the historical and cultural intent of this practice. It must encourage students to be mindful of their cultural selves in the process and to reflect on the tensions arising from how the FGC sits within a statutory, managerial, and neoliberal policy framework. This article applies concepts of Māori and Western pedagogy to a learning strategy developed by the authors over a period of four years. The Reality FGC Project began as a way of assisting students to develop skills and apply theory to practice, and unexpectedly became an opportunity to reflexively and iteratively consider the role of social work education in re-thinking FGC practice in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Examining Social Work Students Knowledge of and Attitudes About Abortion and Curriculum Coverage in Social Work Education

Despite social work's stated commitment to abortion rights, research on this topic is not prolific within the discipline (Begun et al., 2016). If we are to live up to our ethical principles, this should be changed. The authors posit that increasing students’ exposure to and understanding of abortion is necessary in the preparation of competent social work practitioners. Using Begun et al.’s (2016) Social Workers’ Abortion Attitudes, Knowledge, and Training questionnaire, the authors expanded the survey by creating additional questions about social work curriculum coverage and training experiences, as well as further content on abortion. Findings indicate that most social work students believe abortion should be legal in at least some circumstances, and also that abortion laws should be less restrictive in the United States. Reported religion and political affiliation had significant effects on several of the abortion attitude statements. Only 7.2% of respondents indicated that abortion is regularly discussed in social work classrooms, and only 2.7% of respondents report they have received training on the topic of abortion in their field placement. The results suggest that social work curriculum coverage on reproductive justice is tenuous and inconsistent at best, leaving students to grapple without the necessary professional foundation.