Doin’ Meth or Doin’ Math: What Client Constructions of Social Class Mean for Social Work Practice |
| |
| Authors: | Kori R Bloomquist Leila Wood Sabrina Sullenberger Carol Hostetter |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Social Work, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SCbloomquistk@winthrop.edu;3. Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX;4. Department of Social Work, Belmont University, Nashville, TN;5. School of Social Work, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN |
| |
| Abstract: | The voices of people experiencing poverty are underrepresented in social work research, public policy development, and practice interventions. This study explored the social class attributions of clients receiving poverty-related services through qualitative interviews. Findings reveal dynamic contributions of individual, environmental, and structural factors of social class positioning and significant stress and stigmatization associated with experiencing economic hardship. Participants indicate a sense of lived contradiction, viewing social class to be the result of fate while simultaneously endorsing individualistic attributions of poverty. Results have implications for social work research and practice, as well as poverty-related policy and program development. |
| |
| Keywords: | Poverty social class social justice |
|
|
