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Lauve-Moon, Katie; Bates, Samantha
doi: 10.1093/swr/svag002pmid: N/A
Social workers strive to end discrimination, oppression, and other forms of social injustice. Despite social work’s commitment to antioppressive practices, the profession has historically lacked a critical lens on patterns of oppression that impact Indigenous, Black, Asian, Latina biracial, and multiracial (IBALBM) women. Intersectional frameworks and methods provide analytical tools that identify patterns of racism and sexism and centralize the experiences of IBALBM women in research design. The current study examines the extent to which mainstream social work research investigates the intersection of structural racism and sexism. Researchers conducted a content analysis of research articles from three different social work journals between 2015 and 2022 to examine the extent to which mainstream social work literature centralizes the lived experiences of IBALBM women through intersectional frames and methodologies. Findings reveal a dearth of research examining the lived experiences of IBALBM women through a critical lens. Among the 854 articles included in the analysis, 2.2% examined the lived experiences of IBALBM women, and only two studies applied a structural analytical lens. If the social work profession aims to fulfill the value of social justice, social work research must disrupt patterns of compounding oppression that persist at the intersection of race and gender.
Osborn, Preston R; Kagotho, Njeri
doi: 10.1093/swr/svag005pmid: N/A
This study responds to calls for explicitly antiracist social work practice by examining how racial identity shapes professional development and practice among White MSW students. In a profession historically dominated by White practitioners, it explores how students understand and cultivate anti-oppressive skills. A purposive subsample of 21 students from the Midwestern United States participated in virtual semistructured interviews. Innovative data collection and analysis techniques were used to comprehensively investigate development of anti-oppressive capacities across levels of one’s ecological context. Guided by a socioecological framework, data were thematically analyzed using structural coding to identify perceived barriers, facilitators, and opportunities for anti-oppressive skill development. Four key themes emerged: (1) effective cognitive strategies, (2) processing emotional reactions, (3) opportunities for diversity exposure, and (4) external supports to growth. Findings highlight the cyclical relationship between cognitive and emotional processes that are impacted by external factors including exposure opportunities and growth supports. These insights underscore the need for emotionally responsive learning environments that foster empathy and address negative racial affect—particularly racialized fear and shame—among social workers in training. Findings have important implications for professional education and training systems for social work and in other helping professions.
doi: 10.1093/swr/svag003pmid: N/A
Studies have documented pervasive ableism faced by disabled parents within the child welfare system. However, the experiences of disabled parents facing multiple forms of oppression in this context remain understudied. Recognizing the heterogeneity of disabled parents, this study investigated intersectional oppression from the perspective of attorneys who represent disabled parents in child welfare cases. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 23 attorneys in the United States who represent disabled parents in child welfare cases. Content analysis revealed three main themes related to the experiences and outcomes of disabled parents facing intersectional oppression: systemic mechanisms of oppression, intermediate impacts, and ultimate outcomes. Drivers of intersectional oppression included system structure and institutional barriers, power dynamics, and cross-system interactions. Intermediate impacts encompassed the child welfare system’s response and parent experiences, whereas ultimate outcomes included case outcomes and long-term family impact. Addressing intersectional oppression faced by disabled parents necessitates substantive and comprehensive system restructuring, including rules, statutes, practices, and services that currently punish and marginalize affected disabled parents. Paired with structural and policy reform, intersectional training must also be required for all professionals involved with the system to erode individual-level bias.
Cain, Shannon M; Held, Mary Lehman
doi: 10.1093/swr/svag004pmid: N/A
Trauma-informed care (TIC) in medical settings, such as neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), is recommended but not widespread. This article examines trauma-informed (TI) perspectives and beliefs, previous training, self-efficacy, and practice behaviors of nurses and social workers who serve infants exposed in utero to opioids/opiates in Level III and IV NICUs in the United States. An online anonymous survey was conducted with NICU nurses and social workers (N = 69). Relationships between perspectives, beliefs and previous training, and self-efficacy and practice behaviors were examined using multiple regression. Results suggest that trauma awareness positively influences whereas judgment of maternal substance abuse negatively influences providers’ level of TI practice behaviors; training in TIC and years of practice experience both positively influence providers’ TIC self-efficacy. Implications exist for social work education and nursing education as well as practicing nurses and social workers in the NICU setting. Specifically, trainings in TIC and trainings that increase trauma awareness and decrease judgmental attitudes are needed. Additionally, increasing support for current NICU unit staff is recommended.
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