Cognitive change and learning from practice: A longitudinal study of social work students

Anti-racist and black perspectives signalled a significant shift in the discourse on oppression in social work practice and education. However, the contributions of such perspectives have not been recognised and documented fully. This paper presents a review of the contributions of anti-racist and black perspectives to anti-discriminatory practice. It also offers a critique of the limitations of anti-racist ideas and suggests that the way forward is not to reinforce a 'flight' from anti-racism, but to build on the gains of anti-racist ideas and struggles in social work practice towards developing a more integrated understanding of oppression. This paper is written from the perspective of a black man from African background.     

“I Stay by Myself”: Social Support,Distrust, and Selective Solidarity Among the Urban Poor

Significant debate exists about whether the black urban poor rely on each other for support. Currently, two perspectives dominate: the pervasive solidarity perspective, which asserts that support is widespread in poor, black communities, and the distrust‐individualism perspective, which claims that, in these communities, pervasive distrust undermines social cohesion and people use individualistic strategies for solving problems. Based on fieldwork in an African American public housing development, I present the concept of selective solidarity, which suggests that social life in these communities is neither as cohesive nor as individualistic as what past perspectives suggest. With selective solidarity, people rely on one another for support but selectively choose exchange partners, restricting exchange networks. Selective solidarity helps us understand how people manage sentiments of distrust while developing strategies for coping with material deprivation. Findings also have implications for the study of urban poverty. While my informants frequently stated that they “stay by themselves,” which implies individualism, they actually have meaningful exchange relationships. I argue that this contradiction suggests that they have multiple frames for approaching social life. We must consider such frames to avoid drawing misinformed conclusions, such as that the urban poor do not have supportive relationship when in fact they do.     

Putting Principles Into Practice: Addressing Historical Trauma,Mistrust, and Apprehension in Research Methods Courses

The social work profession has articulated commitments to acknowledging and affirming how diversity and culture shape the human experience and to developing social workers who can competently engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. However, there remains a need in social work education for more widespread use of culturally relevant pedagogies that can help achieve these goals. Informed by historical trauma theory and the Black perspective, this article presents a model we used for teaching research to master’s-level social work students at a historically Black university. The article describes assignments and classroom exercises that were used and discusses the implications of this model for culturally informed research curricula that promotes antioppressive research in diverse classroom settings.     

Empowerment:

It has been twenty years since Robert Hill's seminal research on Black family strengths revolutionized the perceptions, attitudes and modalities related to the coping abilities of Black people. His findings were instrumental in effecting changes in a body of knowledge from one that focused on a monolithic, ethnocentric deficit model to one that affirmed strengths within an historical, culturally diverse conceptual framework. Much of the information available is theoretically based on the Euro-centric worldview resulting in limited use, acceptance and credibility among social work practitioners, social policy analysts and social work academicians. This paper revisits the literature relative to the strengths of Black families. Utilizing recent works of Billingsley (1990), Boyd-Franklin (1989) and others, the strengths of Black families will be re-examined for the purposes of comparing Hill's strength model with the contemporary model of African-American families and its implications for social work education, practice and policy. Additionally, new imperatives are described that possibly will insure African-Americans greater power and control over life situations in the decade of the 90s and into the twenty-first century.     

#BlackLivesMatter: Innovative Black Resistance

Since 2013, extrajudicial police killings of black people have captured the attention of U.S. and international media, substantially because of the work of leaders in the Black Lives Matter (#BLM) movement. #BLM is simultaneously a group of localized organizations and a broad online social movement. In this article, we examine the #BLM movement in detail, with particular emphasis on the following aspects of the movement: (1) its innovative organizational practices and social media use; (2) its accent on black perspectives (counterframing) of systemic racial oppression, heteronormativity, and capitalism; and (3) its broad emphasis on oppressed Americans, including black women and LGBTQ people. We also situate the #BLM movement within the surrounding system of racial oppression, including the historical role of racialized policing in maintaining social control of blacks. We detail the long tradition of black social movements, especially black feminist organizing, against systemic racial oppression. In doing so, we intend to contribute social movement theorizing that more fully considers powerful counterframed perspectives of black activists in U.S. social movements. Although the #BLM movement reflects black feminism and past civil rights movement struggles, it is a uniquely twenty‐first‐century social movement that uses new technologies for innovative social protest.     

From these roots: The role of historically Black colleges and universities in preparing the nation’s gerontologists for an aging society

ABSTRACT

The aging of the United States population is creating an increased need for social workers and other helping professionals with training in gerontology. Recent estimates indicate that less than 3% of MSW students are enrolled in an aging concentration, as compared to 19% enrolled in children/youth concentrations. In addition, the phenomenon of a diverse baby boomer generation joining the ranks of persons age 65 and older has created a plethora of scholarship and curriculum development aimed at readying the aging network for the unprecedented growth of older persons. Social work can make unique professional contributions to the field of gerontology and older persons. This study asserts, however, that social work is not adequately prepared to practice in an increasingly diverse aging society. The social work profession has articulated commitments to acknowledging and affirming how diversity and culture shape the human experience and to developing social workers who can competently engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. However, there remains a need in social work education for more widespread use of culturally relevant pedagogies that can help achieve these goals. Informed by both the Afrocentric and Black perspectives, this study presents a content analysis of the curricula infused at two historically Black universities. The nature and extent of the contributions of historically Black universities to social work education is the focus of this article. The scope of this investigation also includes the identification of prominent Black social work educators and discusses the implications of these perspectives for more culturally informed gerontology curricula that promote culturally competent gerontological social workers.     

Social Work Training or Social Work Education? An Approach to Curriculum Design

Population ageing, economic circumstances and human behaviour are placing social welfare systems under great strain. In England, extensive reform of the social work profession is taking place. Training curricula are being redesigned in the context of new standards of competence for social workers—the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF). Students must be equipped on qualifying to address an extensive range of human problems, presenting major challenges to educators. Critical theory suggests an approach to tackle one such challenge—selecting the essential content required for areas of particular practice. Teaching on social work with older people is used to illustrate this. Habermas' theory of cognitive interests highlights the different professional roles served by the social work knowledge base—instrumental, interpretive and emancipatory. Howe's application of sociological theory distinguished four social work roles corresponding to these. It is suggested that curriculum design decisions must enable practitioners to operate in each. When preparing students to work with older people, educators therefore need to include interpretive and emancipatory perspectives, and not construct social work purely as an instrumental response to problems older people present. This approach provides one useful rationale for curriculum design decisions, which is applicable to other areas of practice, and to contexts outside England.     

Racial identity attitudes and interracial communication: Implications for social work practice in Britain

This paper is written from a psychological perspective and explores the relationship between black people's stages of racial identity development and interracial communication. It describes Cross's model of psychological nigrescence for black people and Helms's model of white identity development–in which she describes how whites go through the process of defining themselves as racial beings. Since the majority of social workers in Britain are white, it is argued that white identity development and its implication for interracial communication are important aspects to consider. It is argued that one's stage of racial identity may have a stronger impact on the communication process between white social workers and black clients than 'race' per se.     

Health Inequalities at the Heart of the Social Work Curriculum

Efforts to reduce the widening gap between the health and social well-being of people within and between countries have become an urgent priority for politicians and policymakers. The Rio Declaration called on governments worldwide to promote and strengthen universal access to social services and to work in partnership to promote health equity and foster more inclusive societies. This paper contributes to international debates about the role of social work in promoting social justice by reducing social and health inequalities. Despite clear commitments to promote good health, there is a notable absence of a social determinants of health perspective in international social work curricula standards. The current review of social work education in England presents a timely opportunity to integrate such a perspective in teaching and learning and to disseminate this more widely. Employing the concepts of downstream and upstream interventions, the first part of the paper examines the distinctiveness of the social work contribution to this global agenda. In the second part of the paper, we consider how the content of learning activities about health inequalities can be incorporated in international social work curricula, namely, human rights, using Gypsy and Traveller families as an exemplar, inter-professional education and international perspectives.     

The Role of Perceived Racial Discrimination in the Marriage Gap Between Black and White People

Abstract

Many explanations offered for the gap in marriage rates between Black and White people are economic and cultural. Less often considered are how racial social psychological factors influence marriage rates. In this study, we use critical race theory and the life course perspective to investigate how perceived racial discrimination impacts the likelihood of marriage for Black and White people. Data for the study are taken from the Portraits of American Life Study (N?=?678). The results of logistic regression analyses show that among people who report perceived racial discrimination, White people generally have a higher probability of being married compared to Black people. Analyses by age demonstrate that among younger adults, Black people who perceive racial discrimination are equally likely to be married as White people and have a higher probability of being married than Black people who do not report perceptions of racial discrimination. A negative influence on the odds of marriage related to perceived racial discrimination for Black people becomes clearer as respondents age. The findings highlight the importance of considering perceptions of racial discrimination to better understand the marriage gap between Black and White people across the life course.     

Black women’s mental health matters: Theoretical perspectives and future directions

Despite recent sociological research exploring how stratification systems impinge on the health of socially disadvantaged populations, Black women’s mental health is rarely a topic of investigation among scholars of medical sociology, sociology of race and racism, or sociology of gender. In this review, we incorporate perspectives from sociology, social psychiatry, psychology, and social work to develop a transdisciplinary intersectional model of Black women’s mental health. We also present critical interventions in the extant literature. First, though stress exposure is generally associated with poor mental health, more research is necessary to ascertain the gendered-racialized stressors to which Black women are exposed, owing to their racial and gender oppression. Second, we admonish mental health scholars to incorporate other status dimensions (e.g., nativity, sexual orientation, age) to provide a more nuanced depiction of Black women’s psychological health. Third, the unique and enduring relationship between the U.S. punishment system and the mental health of Black women should be further explicated in future research. Last, we envision a body of work on Black women’s mental health that captures the ways in which they cope with societal level marginalization, as these forms of resilience and resistance may be mental health protective.     

A feminist look at social psychology / Una mirada feminista a la psicología social

This theoretical revision starts from the consideration that the gender perspective constitutes a critical, explanatory and alternative vision that comes from feminism and generates an analysis framework that takes into consideration and pays attention to the differences and inequalities between women and men in any activity or area of social development, research or public policies. The objective of this revision is to provide clues to understanding what gender or feminist social psychology is. To this end, firstly, we briefly describe feminist theoretical assumptions and the gender or feminist perspective, which constitute its starting point, and secondly, we analyse what it means to integrate these principles into psychology.     

Conspiracy theories and social movements studies: A research agenda

It is surprising to note the scarcity of contributions in social movement literature related to so-called conspiracy theories. A considerable amount of the work on these topics has been produced in political science, history, media studies, social psychology and other disciplines. These accounts have often adopted a stigmatizing approach, looking at conspiracy theories as forms of pathologies (whether psychological, social or political). Moving from such a perspective to a constructivist one, I argue that conspiracy theories should represent an object of interest for social movement scholars: conspiracies supporters go into the streets to highlight their issues, protest against authority, propose alternative lifestyles and often claim to look for a better/different society. Applying the social movements toolkit can allow to better understand this phenomenon and apply critical perspectives in a more effective manner. On the basis of this premise, the first part of this article reviews the existing literature on conspiracy theories, also identifying the main lacunae; the second part outlines some possible research questions and lines of inquiry, moving beyond the classical theories in the field of social movement studies. The paper also introduces a number of new concepts, such as conspiracy mobilizations and conspiracy coalitions.     

Black process in clinically depressed women: A conceptual framework for practice

Summary Emphasis throughout this paper has been placed on the importance of viewing black patients in their current social context. The positive impact of the Black Power movement has been observed in black patients who are involved in issues of black separatism and activism. Bennett's four stages of black process provide a means of identifying the position of individual blacks in terms of racial identity. Since relationships with whites are highly determined by the black patient's stage of black process, use of this conceptual frame work will assist the therapist in determining the indirect way in which black patients express racial issues.The author's experience has confirmed the existence and importance of two problem areas: the longer time needed to establish a therapeutic alliance in interracial work and the lack of knowledge of the black experience and culture in the white professional. The knowledge that additional time must be expended by both therapy partners must raise questions about the ethics of interracial practice and the need for more black mental health professionals. The second area of concern, the white professional's lack of knowledge, could be remedied. The fact that whites have not attempted to learn more about the black culture suggests the problem is a philosophical one. Liberal professionals are generally committed to the ideal of a truly integrated society where there are no differences among people. Black people appear to be telling us that they are different from whites here and now, and they like the difference.Supported by U.S.P.H.S. Grant # MH 15650 and MH 17728 from the National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare     

Working with social complexity in a neoliberal society: challenges for social work in Estonia

This article deals with Estonian social workers' perspectives on the fundamentals of the social work profession in a society where radical social, political, and economic changes have occurred within a very short period of time. Estonia typically figures as a model country, sometimes as a positive model, sometimes as a negative one, but according to most commentators, Estonia has pursued social and economic transformations in a particularly dramatic way. Social workers have recognized that radical changes have created new types of problems and social work should deal with vulnerable people and families under uncertain and unforeseeable conditions. Estonia is a challenging example to understand social work in the context of a neoliberal market society. It is therefore necessary to find out what the new challenges for the development of social work as a profession are. This article explores a ‘direction’ toward which social work in Estonia is developing, focusing mainly on the influence of the Estonian political context. The results of the research are relevant to the entire social work profession, insomuch as they address questions about the essence of social work and the ethical principles of the social work profession in society and how they can be strongly influenced by neoliberal thinking and increasing complexity.     

Reframing Black Social Work Students' Experiences of Teaching and Learning

This article draws on critical race theory (CRT) to foreground the role of race and racism in the ways in which Black students experience social work teaching and learning. It reviews some of the available literature on Black social work students' experiences of teaching and learning. The article reframes understandings of the perceived failures of this group of students to adapt to the world of higher education. It is argued that race and racism are salient determining factors in the experiences of Black students within social work education. Emphasis is placed on understanding the specificity of this group of students taking into cognisance the social, cultural, economic, and political contexts within which they are located. The article uses CRT as critical lens to reflect on peer support groups as potential counter spaces that can disrupt the negative experiences of black social work students.     

PATTERNS OF RELIGIOUS MOBILITY AMONG BLACK AMERICANS

Using data from the National Survey of Black Americans (NSBA) and the General Social Survey (GSS), this study tests hypotheses distilled from two competing perspectives on black religious mobility. First, some analysts during the 1960s predicted that the rise of economic ambition and political militancy among blacks would foster discontent with the "otherworldly" black mainline churches. These researchers projected high levels of switching and burgeoning apostasy. Second, however, there are reasons to anticipate much more stable patterns of black religious affiliation. Recent research stresses that social embeddedness, cultural solidarity, and personal spirituality are more important influences on black religious behavior than are status-seeking or sociopolitical concerns. Except for rising apostasy, the findings of this study are broadly consistent with the second perspective. Several directions for future research on the religious mobility of black Americans are suggested.     

Embracing the Village and Tribe: Critical Thinking for Social Workers From an African-Centered Approach

The social work department at a small historically Black college implemented an African-centered approach to the course Critical Thinking for Social Workers for freshmen students who declared social work as their major. We firmly believe that knowing and understanding the history and legacy of people of African descent is extremely important in educating African American students. Various pedagogical techniques, assignments, and intentional lecture topics were used in the implementation of this unique teaching style. This article reports the findings from using the African-centered approach in pedagogy and offers implications for social work education in the 21st century for historically Black colleges and universities and other programs with minority student populations.     

Postmodern synergistic knowledge creation: extending the boundaries of disability studies

The tensions between the competing discourses of the medical and the social models of disability have traditionally provided a platform for discussion and research in the fields of disability studies and special needs education. Over the last 30 years a wealth of literature has consolidated the debate and produced particular knowledge of impairment and disability. In this paper we argue that by privileging notions of ‘deficit’ within these medical or social model perspectives the richness of the lived experience of people with impairments is denied. The individual becomes lost within a framework of medical symptoms or social inequalities. This paper considers alternative approaches which reveal a fuller picture of the lives of people with impairments. The authors conducted two separate empirical studies, one employing a Deleuzo‐Guattarian perspective, the other a Bourdieusian perspective. In this paper we illustrate how these theories of practice can reveal situated understandings of the individual with impairments and his/her daily life. By embracing new understandings and different theoretical perspectives we show how new knowledge can emerge to illuminate the fluid and ever‐changing notions of ‘disability’, ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’, which form elements of the individual lived experience of the research participants.     

Normal stress and coping

Many Black families have chosen alternative lifestyles to accommodate the realities in their lives. The diversity in their lifestyles has often been viewed as “deviance” or “pathological” by White-oriented social science professionals. Black families, however, encounter the pressures any American family may face, and in addition they live under the continuous and varying stress of racially motivated oppression and inequalities that affect many aspects of their lives. The alternative lifestyles many Black American families have developed help to illuminate how Black families cope with the dual stresses of race and life events. This article describes the impact of stress in the lives of two of the variant alternative family forms found in Black families—a single parent family and an extended family. The two families are part of a comprehensive longitudinal study of Black families and their children, the Toddler and Infant Experiences Study (TIES). In addition to documentation of family stress, the data are examined within a conceptual framework that recognizes the dual stress factors of race and life events.