The psychological goods on clinical social work: a content analysis of the clinical social work and social justice literature

Abstract

The purpose of this content analysis was to evaluate the extant literature on clinical social work and social justice. In July 2009, an online search of the university databases EBSCO Host (1988) was conducted to identify articles on clinical social work and social justice. Thirty-six peer reviewed journal articles were identified and extracted. The majority were non-empirical articles (75%) published in the United States (94%) over a 21-year period from 1988 to 2009. Overall, clinical social work practice was described as psychological and/or sociopolitical interventions that had a direct and/or indirect effect on psychological and sociopolitical level social justice outcomes. Theories and practices consistent with social justice were advanced. These findings suggest that clinical social work's promotion of psychological well-being remains an underdeveloped area in the scholarly and research literature. In this era of professional educational reform, additional research and professional training on social justice based clinical social work practice is warranted.

Missing the Mark: The Image of the Social Work Profession in an African-American Community

“…The return to an emphasis on the core values involving marginalized populations including African-Americans is not limited to macro practice interventions such as changes in policies and organizational structures. Students should also be exposed to clinical interventions that emphasize social justice and anti-discrimination elements (Basham, 2004;Maschi, Baer, & Turner, 2011).…”

Play and Preschool Children Who Are Deaf: A Review of the Literature

“…Content analysis is used to analyze written, verbal or visual information, artifacts, and pictures qualitatively and quantitatively (Creswell, 2012). Content analysis was used in previous literature reviews (Jamaludin, Alias, & DeWitt, 2015;Maschi, Baer, & Turner, 2011;Zainuddin & Halili, 2016).…”

Developing Social Justice Competencies

“…There is no consensus about the definition of social justice, partly because different fields of study interpret the term from varying conceptual and theoretical frameworks and because the term is vague and difficult to operationalize (Gewirtz, 2002). Scholars are in agreement that social justice refers to a society which values diversity by providing all people and groups with respect, dignity, fairness, basic rights, and opportunities (Maschi, Baer, & Turner, 2011;North, 2006;Rawls, 1971Rawls, , 2001; thus, most definitions incorporate aspects of liberty and equality (Vera & Speight, 2003). The key difference in the definitions rests in whether scholars include internal or psychological resources (e.g., psychological health, critical thinking, and/or awareness) in the definition alongside the typical external sociopolitical resources (e.g., economic, legal, political rights; Maschi et al, 2011).…”

“…Scholars are in agreement that social justice refers to a society which values diversity by providing all people and groups with respect, dignity, fairness, basic rights, and opportunities (Maschi, Baer, & Turner, 2011;North, 2006;Rawls, 1971Rawls, , 2001; thus, most definitions incorporate aspects of liberty and equality (Vera & Speight, 2003). The key difference in the definitions rests in whether scholars include internal or psychological resources (e.g., psychological health, critical thinking, and/or awareness) in the definition alongside the typical external sociopolitical resources (e.g., economic, legal, political rights; Maschi et al, 2011). Our definition of social justice incorporates the fair and equitable distribution of both internal and external resources in the society; this includes a broad vision in which all members in the society have access to psychological goods (see Maschi et al, 2011) or what some refer to as a good life (see Vera & Speight, 2003).…”