Reproductive Justice and the Social Work Profession: Common Grounds and Current Trends

Abstract

Reproductive rights and justice frameworks, which take an intersectional and social justice approach to reproductive health, are compatible with social work's philosophical and theoretical foundations and its practical goals of advocating and promoting social justice. However, reproductive rights and justice are not frequently addressed in social work publications, an important gap that should be addressed. The search term "reproductive justice" was used to identify 10 articles published between 1994 and 2018 among the top 50 social work journals (using SCImago Journal and Country rankings). Only 3 of these 10 articles focused substantively on reproductive justice. By comparison, 55 article were identified with the search term "reproductive rights." An analysis of the reproductive justice articles was conducted for purpose and topic, location, study population, year, journal, key findings, and implications for the social work profession. All articles called for an increase in research on reproductive justice topics. Encouragingly, these articles also included an analysis of the role of the social work profession with these frameworks. However, there is a lack of articles on reproductive justice, and the range of topics, and the methodological approaches, covered are limited. Although the increase in reproductive rights literature is heartening, there is a need for reproductive justice framings in social work practice and research.

Expected to be mother: Women’s experiences of taking on leadership roles in the academy

“…Women with administrative roles were renumerated at the same level as their male colleagues who did not have these responsibilities (Tower et al, 2019). Hence, while as a profession social work might subscribe to the notion that women have a right not to be mothers (Liddell, 2019), this does not necessarily apply when responsibilities are allocated within the academy. Moreover, assuming academics who appear to be women identify as such may wrongfully assume male/female binaries in respect of gender.…”

Soft Sterilization: Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives in the Carceral State

“…Despite not being frequently deployed as a theoretical framework within the social work scholarship (Liddell, 2019), reproductive justice is accordant with the mission of the social work profession. Tasked to work “with and on behalf of clients…to end discrimination, oppression, poverty, and other forms of social injustice” (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 1996, para.…”

Childbirth Distress: A Call for Professional Engagement

“…Childbirth is often experienced as a major life event (Bachman & Lind, 1997; Thomson, 2011) and a growing body of evidence suggesting many women experience childbirth as a significantly distressing experience, with between one third and one half of women describing their birth experiences as traumatic (Alcorn, O’Donovan, Patrick, Creedy, & Devily, 2010; Beck et al, 2013). However, as with many topics related to sexual and reproductive health, social work research is underrepresented in the field of childbirth distress (Liddell, 2018). Given the preponderance of social workers who work as mental health professionals, and the high likelihood that most social workers will work with (at some point) women who have given birth, this lack of a social work–specific understanding of the phenomenon of childbirth-related emotional distress is startling.…”

“…Reproductive justice comes from the work of black women in the United States (Ross & Solinger, 2017) and in a manner similar to how intersectionality has been taken up by white women, there is a risk of white researchers (such as myself) co-opting this framework to explain gender-based oppression while removing the specific analysis of racialized oppression (Bilge, 2013). Whether using a rights framework or a justice framework, calls have been made for social workers to be more involved in the movement for improved reproductive health (Alzate, 2009; Liddell, 2018), and as part of this movement, it is crucial for social workers to begin to recognize and address the harm being done to women (and likely those with other gender identities) in childbirth.…”

“…Further social work–specific research into childbirth distress is an important component of increasing our involvement in reproductive health research and practice as we have been called to do by Alzate (2009), Liddell (2018), and others. Research centering experience that keeps a critical lens will allow a deeper and broader perspective and knowledge base on this topic.…”