Between the Noise and Silence: An Autoethnography Challenging Schools of Social Work to Evolve for Trans Students

Akapnitis, Isaac M.; Jenkins, Ginny; Mendoza, N. S.

doi:10.15453/0191-5096.4688

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Within the context of this lack of support, these student interns are forced to choose between acting on what they feel is right for their clients and communities versus what legal policy is telling them is right. The lack of response to anti-trans and anti-CRT policies from schools of social work therefore confirms what many TGD and racially minoritized students already know: that schools of social work (and the profession) do not support them (Akapnitis et al, 2023).…”

Section: Impact On Studentssupporting

confidence: 55%

“…Experiencing silence from schools and governing bodies of social work as students watch anti-trans and anti-Black policies being adopted makes us question our professional values, creates a sense of invisibility, and causes them/us to feel isolated and alone (Akapnitis et al, 2023;Greenwood & Paceley, 2023;Kinney et al, 2023). Furthermore, TGD students and students of color may experience constant "noise" or the persistent awareness of their own identities (Akapnitis, 2023;Olson-Kennedy, 2019), which is amplified in schools of social work that are typically predominantly white and cis/heteronormative. The noise manifests as hypervigilance and/or self-monitoring through, for example, self-editing and managing the perceptions of other people by engaging strategies such as code-switching.…”

Section: Impact On Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A New World Cannot be Built Alone: An Abolitionist Framework for Collective Action in Social Work

Sonsteng-Person,

Spoth,

Hostetter

et al. 2023

apsw

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States across the U.S. are increasingly passing anti-CRT and anti-trans policies, most of which have begun to pervade institutions of higher education, igniting a concerning trend that is harming our communities, clients, students, and each other. While social work has been quick to name the harms of the systems with which we engage, it fails to address the mechanisms underlying those systems. To better aid schools of social work to move toward meaningful action, this conceptual article presents an abolitionist framework for collective action that highlights how social work schools and educators can resist performative responses to legislative terror. This framework calls for social work to take on the role of fugitive as we critically examine, disrupt, and disinvest from harmful power structures in social work. By adopting an abolitionist approach to collective action, schools of social work can better prepare faculty and students to engage in collective action for a more just society.

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Section: Impact On Studentssupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Impact On Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New World Cannot be Built Alone: An Abolitionist Framework for Collective Action in Social Work

Sonsteng-Person,

Spoth,

Hostetter

et al. 2023

apsw

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Both the individual and collective discussions led to copious data that aligned with collaborative autoethnography’s intention to unearth one’s stories while making sense of how they relate to the group (Chang et al, 2013). Our process of rotating responsibilities, engaging in various forms of data collection, and attending to the institutional contexts that shape our work resembled other autoethnographies in higher education that investigated TQ realities in the academy (e.g., Akapnitis et al, 2023; Mobley et al, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An autoethnographic exploration of the realities of engaging in trans and queer center(ed) diversity work.

Oliveira,

González-Siegel,

Feldman

et al. 2023

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education

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Although research on trans and queer (TQ) center(ed) diversity work is on the rise, there is still a need to isolate how campus structures inform the experiences practitioners have and to what extent they can transform climates in ways they desire to. To address this gap, this article presents the results of a collaborative autoethnographic study featuring nine scholars and practitioners passionate about TQ center(ed) diversity work. Namely, the group formed and explored our past and present experiences with TQ center(ed) diversity work in higher education and how institutional structures inhibit/ed our advocacy for TQ communities. This study's attention to individual experiences of producing diversity work on campus revealed dynamics of hegemony and oppression. Findings illustrated how we found our way to TQ center(ed) diversity work and discovered the challenges and barriers present in doing so. We also speak to how institutional environments disenfranchise TQ center(ed) diversity work, affecting the practitioners who engage in these roles in the process. We conclude with implications for practice, highlighting how institutional leaders can create better conditions for those involved in TQ center(ed) diversity work.

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Transgender Lived Experience in Social Work: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Spoth

2024

Affilia

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To date, social work literature regarding transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals situates TGD individuals as objects of social work knowledge and intervention. While this existent work represents an important foundation, it may foreclose other positionalities for TGD individuals. Therefore, this feminist critical discourse analysis of social work literature utilizes professionalization and transnormativity as conceptual anchors to explore the phenomenon of “transgender lived experience” in social work literature in order to understand both the nature of transgender lived experience and who is permitted to have it. Ultimately, this project found that transgender lived experience within social work is a totalizing discourse centered on a wholly painful experience of othering that can only be ameliorated through medical intervention. While this experience can confer expertise upon some individuals, transnormativity and professionalization operate in concert with this discourse to situate TGD people as transgender in the first place, foreclosing any other subjectivity. Therefore, future inquiry into the experiences of TGD individuals in social work must be willing to embrace epistemic perspectives and methodologies that emphasize the nuance and diversity of individuals’ experiences and resist totalizing grand narratives.

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Between the Noise and Silence: An Autoethnography Challenging Schools of Social Work to Evolve for Trans Students

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

A New World Cannot be Built Alone: An Abolitionist Framework for Collective Action in Social Work

A New World Cannot be Built Alone: An Abolitionist Framework for Collective Action in Social Work

An autoethnographic exploration of the realities of engaging in trans and queer center(ed) diversity work.

Transgender Lived Experience in Social Work: A Critical Discourse Analysis

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