Implementing media literacy training for social work programs at HBCUs: A literary analysis of barriers and opportunities

ABSTRACT

The image of the social work profession in the media is problematic for many reasons. Social work and its practitioners are often depicted as incompetent, ineffective, and unnecessary. Despite the necessity of the services provided to the public by social workers, public opinion of the profession remains low. To reverse the current trend, social work programs, particularly those at historically Black colleges and universities, can begin to provide media literacy training and media awareness within the curriculum to assist future social workers in stemming the tide of negative coverage and portrayals of the profession in the media. Using the media diffusion of information theory as an overview, this literary analysis provides a historical view of the profession and highlights current trends in social work practice, education, and media training.     

Representations of Social Work in the Australian News Media

How the news media constructs social work has been an area of great concern for the social work profession for several decades. It is a discussion within the professional literature that has been dominated by the assumption that the media has portrayed an unfairly critical representation of the profession. To address a significant dearth of knowledge surrounding this highly discussed but poorly researched topic, this article presents the findings from a study that analysed 12 months of social work coverage in Melbourne, Australia. The findings indicate that coverage was not necessarily unfairly critical, but rather relatively absent. Furthermore, the analysis found that existing reporting constructed the profession as being highly diverse in fields, practice methods, and worker demographics. The findings have significant implications for how the professional community understands the relationship, challenging dominant assumptions, but also informing future action and engagement with the news media.     

FEAR IN THE NEWS

Fear pervades popular culture and the news media. Whether used as a noun, verb, adverb, or adjective, an ongoing study finds that the word "fear'pervades news reports across all sections of newspapers, and is shown to move or "travel'from one topic to another. The use of fear and the thematic emphases spawned by entertainment formats are consistent with a "discourse of fear,'or the pervasive communication, symbolic awareness and expectation that danger and risk are a central feature of the effective environment. A qualitative content analysis of a decade of news coverage in The Arizona Republic and several other major American news media (e.g., the Los Angeles Times , and ABC News) reveals that the word "fear'appears more often than it did several years ago, particularly in headlines, where its use has more than doubled. Comparative materials obtained through the Lexis/Nexis information base also reveals that certain themes are associated with a shifting focus of fear over the years (e.g., violence, drugs, AIDS), with the most recent increases associated with reports about children. Analysis suggests that this use of fear is consistent with popular culture oriented to pursuing a "problem frame'and entertainment formats, which also have social implications for social policy and reliance on formal agents of social control.     

"THE NEWS MEDIA, THE PROBLEM FRAME, AND THE PRODUCTION OF FEAR"

The role of the news media in promoting a public discourse of fear is examined. A conceptual model is offered that is based on recent developments in communication formats and frames. The emphasis is on the impact of media forms and frames for guiding the selection and presentation of reports emphasizing fear (e.g., crime, drugs, violence). A "problem frame' compatible with format and entertainment needs is used by the news media as a secular version of a morality play. This promotes messages that resonate fear. The role of the problem frame is described as part of the process for promoting widespread messages stressing fear and danger. Materials from a qualitative content analysis approach, "tracking discourse,' of selected news media illustrate how the focus and content of "fear' shifts over a period of time. Conceptual and methodological implications of this approach are discussed.
The sociological imagination…consists of the capacity to shift from one perspective to another, and in the process to build up an adequate view of a total society and its components.
C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination .     

Film Portrayals of Social Workers Doing Child Welfare Work

This article reports on research that investigated the images of social workers engaged in child welfare work as portrayed in movies, a major medium of popular culture. Findings from an analysis of 27 movies spanning from 1938 to 1999 are presented with particular attention to themes about how children are depicted as recipients of child welfare services and how child welfare worker activities and interventions are portrayed. Ways that the results of the research can guide intervention efforts that more accurately and more completely portray the activities, values, and knowledge base of the profession of social work are suggested.     

A SWOT analysis of social work education in Canada

This paper draws upon the research carried out for a study of human resource needs of social workers in Canada to make a SWOT analysis of social work education and the profession. Strengths that were identified included a holistic practice orientation; the linkage between theory and practice; regulation and certification; a generalist approach to practice; increased cultural relevance of social work education; high quality social work programs; a continued demand for social workers; and the values of the profession. Weaknesses included a lack of professional identification, or identity crisis; an inability to promote the profession; the diffuse knowledge base of the profession; conflict between the values of social action and social control; a lack of preparation to manage the stress of our work; insufficient aboriginal, visible minority and multicultural members of the profession; and for aboriginal people, that social work can be seen as a residual effect of colonization. Threats to the profession included a trend to neoliberalism; increasing identification of social workers with the bureaucracy; increasing managerialization; increased community responsibility for service delivery; and interdisciplinarity. Opportunities identified included design of cost effective programs which meet service user needs; exercise of responsibility for social advocacy; development of managerial competence in social workers; extension of job opportunities through privatization; and articulation of social work competencies.     

In Our Own Image

Social work has an image problem in the popular media. Historically, social workers abdicated control for shaping public opinion to media producers who had no investment in the future of the profession. Since 1992, this author, colleagues, and students from the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Social Work, have been producing independent television documentaries for broadcast purposes. A systematic approach to media instruction has evolved. This article promotes the inclusion of such content in the traditional social work curriculum as an innovative educational approach.     

Surviving Hegemony Through Resistance and Identity Articulation Among Outreaching Social Workers

An understanding of outreaching social work in Hong Kong is viable through an analysis of discourses constructed and experienced by social workers. The discourses address hegemony by the government and consent, resistance, and identity arising from social workers. These discourses were the focus of the present study, which relied on repeated in-depth interviews with 20 practitioners in the outreaching social work field. The results give insight in three main ways: they unfold the discourses of hegemony and consent in terms of effectiveness, accountability, and social control; they address the discourses of resistance in terms of incompatibility, social defense, and others; and they examine professional identity in terms of respect for self-determination, relationship building, youth development, and unionization. All the discourses and identities emerged from a process of international spillover. Moreover, the study found that social workers realized that the hegemonic crisis triggered identity development because of the need to preserve the profession. The study implies that the social work profession has high levels of commitment and internationalization, both of which help proliferate the profession.     

The State of the Social Work Profession: A Systematic Review of the Literature on Antigay Bias

Antigay bias delimits the rights of sexual minorities. Given that the social work profession promotes social justice values, understanding the extent to which antigay bias exists within the profession is important. Two social work specific populations were included in this systematic literature review to capture the breadth of the profession: professionals and students. A total of 31 empirical articles met our inclusion criteria. Across the samples, social workers and students were found to have mostly positive attitudes toward gays and lesbians. The sociodemographic factors used to explain the variance in attitudes are reported, and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Social Work and Child Maltreatment Intervention in Disney Animated Feature Films: 1937–2006

Abstract

The 45 Disney animated feature films produced between 1937 and 2006 were analysed for representations of child maltreatment and child maltreatment interventions according to criteria set out in the US National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect. Although there are 263 maltreated child characters in 30 of the 45 films, they seldom show formal interventionists at work. The types of resolutions and interventions to child maltreatment in the films were analysed and contrasted with the single depiction of a social worker. The actions of this character were assessed according to national codes of ethics and standards for social worker interventions and decision making. Implications are drawn for the profession of social work and the findings are discussed within the context of previously published analyses of media representations of social workers.     

Computer Diffusion and Worker Empowerment

Abstract

Much anecdotal material describes various human impacts of computer adoption within the social work profession, however, there is scant research which confirms or challenges these assumptions. This article describes a study which investigates the diffusion of computers into the social work profession in terms of empowerment as an individual outcome for workers. A questionnaire returned by 520 social workers provided data on organizational computer diffusion, organizational centralization, and the Social Worker Empowerment Scale. Workers in organizations where computer diffusion was more advanced, and those in more decentralized decisionmaking environments were found to be more empowered.     

The Dawn is Too Distant: The Experience of 28 Social Work Graduates Entering the Social Work Field in China

Nurturing new, competent social work professionals requires multilevel preparation extending from school to the workplace. However, not much has been done to understand this school-to-work transition process in countries where the social work profession is still in an early stage of development. This paper reports the findings of an exploratory qualitative study of 28 new social workers in China, where social work is an emerging profession, on how they entered the field and what challenges they encountered. Their stories indicate that what they learned in school did form a foundation for the establishment of their professional identity in the workplace. However, due to workplace politics and to the lack of recognition of their professional status, they experienced an unsettling induction process. Coupled with the challenges of inadequate financial compensation, the careers of these new social workers may face an early end despite the great future for the profession promised by the government. Implications of this study for social work education in China are also discussed.     

THE USE OF THE INTERNET AMONG ACADEMIC GAY COMMUNITIESIN TAIWAN : AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

The rise of the internet has tremendous impacts on homosexual communities in Taiwan. The internet has created a medium where homosexual people can form virtual communities to seek for emotional support without fearing the disclosure of their sexual preferences and causing unwanted negative consequences. The internet has become a medium where homosexual communities can share information with each other and voice their concerns to the public. Thus, the internet may become what Ithiel de Sola Pool (1984) called 'the technology of freedom' for homosexual communities. The purposes of this paper are set to discuss whether academic homosexual individuals perceive the internet to be more fair and impartial in terms of news reporting than traditional mass media and to investigate why they use the internet. This paper employs a questionnaire survey method to collect data for the questions. The quantitative analysis of survey data (N=701), from a self-completed questionnaire using modified snowball sampling of gays and lesbians from Taiwan. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation led to seven factors that account for 66.31% of the variance. These factors are social interaction and information, entertainment and relaxation, personal revelation, preference, privacy and escapism, pass time and, novelty-seeking. Correlation analyses also suggested that respondents' demographics, internet usage frequency and, time are associated with their use motivation. As an exploratory study of an academic homosexual population and their internet use behaviour in Taiwan, this study raised more questions than it intended to answer. The use of individual media by this group needs further study.     

The Early Professional Experience of a New Social Worker in China

Social work is emerging as a rapidly developing profession in mainland China, a unique context that affects how these new social workers view themselves, their professional identity, and their work. Few studies explore the lived experiences of these new social workers as they enter agencies and begin working with clients while interacting with larger systems that influence clients and social workers alike. This case study highlights the experience of one of the first professionally educated social workers in Shanghai and describes the challenges and achievements of her first 5 years of professional practice. This case highlights the professional experiences and feelings of many social workers in China. We give recommendations for social work education and training.     

PRACTITIONERS' UNDERSTANDINGS OF SPIRITUALITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

Over the past 2 decades the topic of spirituality and its relationship to the social work profession has taken its place as a significant and important part of the agenda for social work research, education, and practice. In this article we discuss the results of a qualitative study that addresses how a group of social work practitioners defined spirituality and the implications of these findings specifically for social work education. Based on findings from a thematic analysis of interviews with 20 social workers, we explore the usefulness of the term spirituality in social work education and the importance of student engagement in a self-awareness process related to spirituality. A template to initiate discussion of these issues for use in the classroom is proposed.     

Time and Television News Work*

Combining theoretical and ethnographic material, this paper outlines why time is an important vehicle for analyzing the social organization of television news work and the social construction of television news. The paper investigates major events with problematic features—unscheduled “hard news”—as a means of understanding basic beliefs and organizational practices of news assemblers in a local television news station. Based on participant observation and interviews with photographers and reporters, the evidence shows that time is a key independent variable in the selection and assembly of hard news. Time is often more than a variable, it is a constituent feature of television news work—a contingency which must be attended to if the work is to produce what news workers consider to be “good television news.” The problematic elements of news work are magnified under the pressures of perishable hard news stories where adjustments to unfolding work demands cannot be predetermined or programmed. Some implications of the analysis are discussed in terms of the content of local news, the biases of news coverage, and the importance of considering time as a dynamic process in the study of work.     

Social Workers’ Perspectives Regarding the DSM: Implications for Social Work Education

There is a decades-old debate in social work regarding the appropriateness of the use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) by clinicians in this profession. Despite often contentious perspectives, there has been very little study regarding clinical social workers’ experiences, attitudes, and beliefs about the use of the DSM in their work. In this qualitative inquiry, 20 clinical social workers who had recently completed master’s of social work coursework and were working with children were interviewed using grounded theory methods. Results of the inquiry are presented and implications for social work education are discussed.     

The Psychoanalytic Social Worker/The Social Work Psychoanalyst: What Shall Be Our Message?

Many social workers experience a powerful bond with their profession and with the contributions of psychoanalysis. This paper explores these bonds and demonstrates the substantial overlap, and occasional divergence, which exists between these two important fields. It is especially gratifying to see the renewed emphasis on the treatment relationship in contemporary psychoanalytic writings because the relationship has always been central to social work practice. Finally, all psychoanalytic social workers are encouraged to invest themselves in transferring the legacy of their work to beginning social workers, social work students, and the generations of social workers that will follow them.     

Mental health in vietnam and the move to incorporate social work: A mixed methods study of staff perceptions and expectations

In 2010, Vietnam established social work as a profession. As part of their strategic plan, the government aims to incorporate social work into existing hospitals and health care facilities in the country, including psychiatric hospitals and mental health care centers. This paper, based upon survey and focus group data from 194 people working in three major mental health facilities in Hanoi, explores direct care staffs’ perceptions of this historic incorporation of social work, with a particular eye to the benefits and challenges of the transition. Results show most staff members thought social workers would provide great support to the many unmet needs of their largely underserved and impoverished patients. They also viewed social workers as a potential resource to the treatment team by reducing work overload. Existing staff, however, were less attuned to the clinical functions of social workers in mental health settings, often equating social work with community development and social movements. Some were concerned about social workers taking on their tasks; others about new social workers being hindered by the professional hierarchy in which doctors were placed at the top. Successful integration of social workers will hinge on strong support from policy-makers and leaders of mental health systems.     

‘You Could Damage Somebody's Life’: Student and Lecturer Perspectives on Commitment

Retention problems in the social work profession have been well documented. There is evidence that social workers experience a shorter working life compared to many other professional groups. Despite existing links between commitment to the job role and important work outcomes such as retention, few studies have investigated commitment in social work students. This study utilised qualitative data to examine this issue from the perspective of seven social work students and three lecturers. Aspects of commitment, as well as associated concepts such as perceptions of support and perspectives on the social work profession were explored. Commitment was primarily seen by students and lecturers as synonymous with dedication to the profession and its values. The extent and nature of support from a range of sources was seen as varying in quality, although peer support was generally seen in positive terms. It is suggested that interventions to enhance peer support have the potential to enhance student commitment and, consequently, retention.