The full preprint (draft) of the research study is at https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/x3gch/.
Research Summary
Disability and Well-Being In Social Work Working Group researchers recently published a preprint of their exploration into the priorities, practices, and recommendations of disabled social workers and students.
The article is currently under consideration with the Journal of Community Practice. The full preprint and supplementary materials are available here.
In May and June of 2024, researchers engaged disabled social workers and students (using the term ‘disabled’ as inclusive of all people who face ableist barriers) in a survey to document their priorities and recommendations for the social work profession and to detail their existing disability-affirming practices.
Participants
The research sample consisted of 31 social workers, including professionals (about 80%) and students (about 20%) across 15 US states who identified as disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent, mad, or otherwise affiliated with the disability community. People identifying as women (~58%), gender non-binary (~26%) and men (~16%) were included in the sample and volunteers in this sample identified as about 80% White and 6.5% each identifying as Black, Bi- or Multi-racial, and Hispanic or Latina/o.
Respondents mentioned being professionally involved and/or interested in topics such as:
clinical work, community organizing and activism, case management, policy, leadership , and administration as well as research, writing, nonprofit work, medical social work, and veterinary social work.
Inclusion, Awareness, and Cultural Humility in Social Work
The first area researchers examined was around how disabled social workers and students viewed inclusion, awareness, and cultural humility related to disability across social work education, employment, and associations.
Respondents could rate inclusion, awareness, and cultural humility on a scale of 1 - 5, where 1 was ‘Very Poor’ and 5 was ‘Very Good’.
The majority of responses indicated that inclusion, awareness, and cultural humility related to disability in the social work field was ‘Poor’ or ‘Very Poor,’ with some choosing ‘Neutral’ and very few respondents indicating ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good.’
Current and Future Priorities
Next, researchers looked at opinions on current priorities and future initiative recommendations across the domains of social work education, employment, associations, and practice. The priorities were grouped into themes.
Priorities Themes
Social Work Education | Social Work Employment | Social Work Associations | Social Work Practice |
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Initiative Recommendations (Selected Examples)
Social Work Education | Social Work Employment | Social Work Associations | Social Work Practice |
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Explore more details related to priorities and recommendations in the full preprint available here.
Disability-Affirming Practice
Last, researchers explored how respondents make their practices neurodiversity- or disability-affirming. These were grouped into 3 themes: the social worker’s personal actions, neurodivergence- and disability-affirming practices, and social work approaches and perspectives as well as multiple sub-themes.
Social Worker’s Personal Actions | Neurodivergence- and Disability-Affirming Practices | Social Work Approaches and Perspectives |
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Explore more details related to disability-affirming practice in the full preprint available here.
Discussion
The majority of responses indicated that current perceptions of inclusion, awareness, and cultural humility related to disability in the social work field were ‘Poor' or ‘Very Poor.’
Overall, priorities focused on themes of competence, education, accessibility, representation, acceptance, and support.
Overall, initiative recommendations focused on opportunities for education, integrating disability justice principles into social work practice, accessibility, supportive policies and practices, dedicated disability spaces/groups, and opportunities for cooperative models of work.
Disability-affirming practices were grouped into 3 themes: the social worker’s personal actions, neurodivergence- and disability-affirming practices, and social work approaches and perspectives.
This research contributes by:
Documenting the lived experience of disabled social workers and students;
revealing practical opportunities for working towards a more disability-affirming social work practice, and
exhibiting parallels to the three levels of social work practice (micro, mezzo and macro).
As a whole, the results of this research may be helpful to reference when developing targeted plans for improving inclusion, awareness, and cultural humility related to disability across social work education, employment, associations, and practice.
The Disability and Well-Being In Social Work Working Group would like to formally acknowledge and thank, for their important contributions to this body of knowledge, the community members who participated in the survey.
Plain Language Summary
In May and June of 2024, researchers conducted a survey to look at which things are the most important to disabled social workers and students.
The results showed that disabled social workers and students think that disability topics are not included or discussed enough and that there is not enough cultural humility (ongoing learning and respect) related to disability in the social work field. This is similar to what previous researchers found.
Also, the disabled social workers and students who completed the survey said they would like to see:
more teaching on disability topics and about ableism (when people with disabilities are treated unfairly),
better access and policies,
more chances for getting advice from peers,
more disabled people represented in social work,
and more projects and groups that talk about disability topics.
Next, the research study talks about the many ways of working that support disabled social workers and students, like self-education, using language that supports disabled people or using ideas like disability justice. Last, the study talks about ways that others could apply the survey results, like for making future plans.
Key Points
The survey suggests that inclusion, awareness, and cultural humility related to disability in social work is currently not very good.
Information gathered directly from disabled social workers and students showed that there are many ways to improve inclusion, awareness, and cultural humility towards disability in social work.
This research can be used by teachers, managers, leaders, social workers, and others to inform plans for improvements.
Research Citation:
Tatman, C., & Bolton, M. J. (2024, September 5). Disabled Student and Professional Priorities for the Social Work Profession: A Preliminary Community Survey. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/x3gch
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