Britney Spears's 2020 testimony about her 13-year conservatorship highlighted ethical concerns surrounding surrogate decision making. Social workers engage with families and clients in conservatorship/guardianship arrangements. However, social work educational programs spend little time preparing students for surrogate decision making and…

This study examines individual factors that influence activity in antiracism advocacy and political-social advocacy among MSW students. The research team sent an online survey link to the current MSW students and recent graduates of five schools in the United States. The results indicate that people who identify as bisexual and queer, study a…

Despite the growing recognition of social workers' important role in addressing environmental injustices, there is a gap in the literature concerning approaches for educating social work students about these issues. This article examines the effectiveness of a collaborative community-based intervention whereby students, community members, and…

Professor Marion Bogo's stellar academic career was distinguished by her long-standing advocacy for high quality assessment of social work students. Her work was a driving force behind the development of meaningful, authentic and relevant field assessment that incorporates specific, definable, observable skills with higher-order thinking. This…

This article highlights the importance of social work participation in the political arena through the seeking of elected office. Social workers have a rich history of involvement in political activities, yet little is known about social workers holding elected office. Through a review of the literature, this article has found that social workers…

While there is an urgency to offer graduate students' inter-professional education (IPE) in child advocacy, there are no templates for educators to utilize. Participants (n=34), inclusive of students, community stakeholders, and faculty from a northeastern university, participated in focus groups to describe what IPE should entail. Grounded theory…

This article highlights the current sociopolitical reality surrounding reproductive rights in the United States, and the ambivalence of social work education in integrating reproductive justice into the curriculum and professional preparation of students for practice. The authors deconstruct a multisystem equivocation that manifests through the…

Social work has a long history of engaging in advocacy efforts in support of vulnerable and marginalized populations, yet there are those that maintain the profession has lost its way in embracing the provision of direct service at the expense of its historical mission. While the literature abounds in articles on many types of social work advocacy…

In recent years, immigrant family apprehensions at the United States southern border have more than doubled. Those wishing to stay enter a complex legal process as they either fight for lawful status or remain unauthorized. The trauma many experienced may inhibit their ability to articulate claims to legal status. Yet several relief options are…

Legislative advocacy is an integral part of social work practice and is one way students can engage in activities toward a more just society. Rigorous, comprehensive, and experiential training in legislative advocacy builds competency in policy practice. The purpose of this study was to measure changes in social work students' attitudes and…

This teaching note discusses a teach-in organized in response to a racist incident on a college campus. An examination of the history of teach-ins demonstrates that social work educators have been involved with them since the beginning of the profession, and the method is a natural fit for social work given its historic role. Social work educators…

This article presents the conceptual underpinnings of a homelessness intervention program, accompanied by a social work course, that provide direct services and cause advocacy with and on behalf of people experiencing homelessness. A program goal is to educate students in social work, medicine, law, pharmacy, public health, and nursing?about…

To foster development of cultural humility in social work students, educators must listen carefully to students to uncover and disrupt implicit biases about other groups. This study was a narrative analysis of undergraduate social work student papers about identity and intersectionality where most students wrote about religion/spirituality and how…

The Council on Social Work Education mandates that students be prepared to work competently across lines of difference. Research suggests that social work programs have inadequate curricula for preparing students to work with LGBTQ+ people, and can be unsupportive of the needs of LGBTQ+ students. Little is understood about the experiences of…

Abraham Flexner contended that "something more than a degree or claim" is needed to make a profession. He further asserted that the definitions of a profession require recasting over time. This article critically considers recasting licensing as something more for social work. Analysis of past and present discourse on licensing in social…