Social workers of the world unite! A call to unionize the social work profession

Farr, Paddy

doi:10.1177/0020872820948941

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Lastly, the state of employee wellbeing during the pandemic was a key concern that affected all healthcare professionals, including social workers, presented in the literature (Farr, 2020; McFadden et al, 2021; Peinado & Anderson, 2020; Samboma, 2021). In their UK study, McFadden et al (2021) found that employee wellbeing was below the national average, which significantly impacted the quality of care provided for clients, impacted client safety, and resulted in increased employee absences.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Scoping Review to Guide Social Work Policy-Practice for Pandemic Recovery

Ashcroft

Hussain

Lam

et al. 2023

Research on Social Work Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: The aim of this scoping review is to systematically scope the literature on social work, the COVID-19 pandemic, and health policy. The research question guiding the scoping review is: What are the policy issues emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic that are of importance for social workers working in health and mental health? Method: Scoping review methodology following Arksey and O’Malley's five-stage framework. Results: A final sample of 191 articles were included in the scoping review. The five themes identified are: (a) strengthening social work's capacity to address structural issues in practice, (b) gaps in social work education, (c) need for new and updated standards and guidelines, (d) need for professional clarity and professional supports, and (e) inadequate government response. Conclusions: By strengthening uptake of the policy-practice framework, social work practitioners concurrently address immediate client issues and address upstream factors perpetuating inequities emerging during the pandemic.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Scoping Review to Guide Social Work Policy-Practice for Pandemic Recovery

Ashcroft

Hussain

Lam

et al. 2023

Research on Social Work Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Survival is a matter of togetherness (Johannesen, 2020) for immunity and unity. Therefore, it is now time for professional social workers of the world to be unionized (Farr, 2020).…”

Section: Discussion and Applications To Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Responses to COVID-19 in Major Social Work Journals: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies, Comments, and Editorials

Cheung

2021

Research on Social Work Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest studies on COVID-19related social work issues. Method: This systematic review aimed to collect, review, and synthesize all COVID-19related papers published in 43 major social work journals, a year after the first known case was reported. Results: The final sample ( n = 256) consisted of 85 research articles and 171 in other formats. All the studies involved a total of 46,195 research participants. The majority of papers (75.4%) could be accessed freely online. Service users including families, students, older adults, caregivers, refugees, patients, health care workers, etc. were either researched or discussed. Discussion: Gerontological social work was one of the fields that received ample attention. Papers published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work yielded the highest number of citations. Academics and social workers came up with innovative ways of practicing and researching during the pandemic.

show abstract

“…Data reveal that social workers disproportionately represent vulnerable populations and are operating with low wages and in environments that are extremely stressful, coupled with high loan debt incurred during their professional education. Unlike nurses and teachers, many social workers are not unionized (Farr, 2021) and therefore conduct their work with few protections. While the reasons for the current state of affairs are debatable, there is no doubt that there are systemic issues that have situated social workers in positions in which they are called upon to care for others while barely meeting their own basic needs.…”

Section: Social Work Workforce and Employment Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite a strong interest in unionization (Lightman, 1982) and historical recognition that social workers should be taught more about labor relations (Shaffer, 1979), the profession has stayed largely outside of this movement (Farr, 2021). While there is some concern about the ethical issues associated with striking or other collective action that could result from unionization, there appears to be a consistent belief that unionization aligns with social work values (Douglass, 2016).…”

Section: Unionizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Missing the Mark?

Apgar

Parada²

2023

ASW

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The 2021 revision to the ethical code for social workers mandated engagement in self-care. A review of workforce data suggests that the need for self-care in social work is largely due to poor working conditions, inadequate pay, unavailability of quality supervision, and lack of professional recognition. Thus, making self-care largely a personal responsibility is adopting a “blaming the victim” mentality that the profession has historically rejected in its approach to client problems. Social work is rooted in examining the social conditions of people within their environments and focusing on making macro level changes to remedy systemic problems. Though not intentional, the ethical mandate for social workers to remedy the stress, trauma, and burnout resulting from environmental stressors is misplaced, though not surprising. In recent years, social workers have focused more on working with individuals to fix their problems rather than making contextual changes that are largely responsible for the ills. This article reframes the emotional and psychological problems experienced by social workers as a social justice issue, requiring mezzo and macro, rather than micro, level intervention. Embracing this alternative perspective requires a commitment to mobilization, advocacy, and political engagement—approaches that have been deprioritized by many within the social work profession.

show abstract

Social workers of the world unite! A call to unionize the social work profession

Cited by 12 publications

References 10 publications

A Scoping Review to Guide Social Work Policy-Practice for Pandemic Recovery

A Scoping Review to Guide Social Work Policy-Practice for Pandemic Recovery

Responses to COVID-19 in Major Social Work Journals: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies, Comments, and Editorials

Missing the Mark?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About