Little is known about if and how social work programs are preparing students to work with people experiencing homelessness or in homelessness-related macro and policy spaces. This study identified 18 programs that offer a BSW and/or MSW homelessness course, which yielded 22 unique course syllabi. Using content analysis, the primary aim was to understand how homelessness is taught across programs, including the course objectives used, topics and populations addressed, and to what extent courses focused on micro, macro, and policy topics. Course objectives most often addressed background knowledge on homelessness and related service offerings. The most common topics addressed in course descriptions and sessions/modules were non-housing-specific policy issues; describing the size, scope, and nature of homelessness; and services, service delivery, and service models. Topics receiving the least attention included race/racism, oppression, and social justice. Recommendations include reflecting on how an existing or potential course fits within the program’s curriculum, aligning course content with the new CSWE competencies, and ensuring consistency between descriptions, objectives, and session/module topics.
Menstrual health equity and period poverty create barriers to attendance at work, school, and social events, in addition to serving as barriers to menstruating with dignity, autonomy, and choice. Social workers need to accurately understand the impact of inequitable menstruation and period poverty on the lives of their clients who live with these experiences of social injustice. Current literature on these topics in the United States does not center research in a social justice lens, nor does it accurately represent the population of menstruators within this country. This scoping review aims to answer the question: Based on current research, what is known about menstrual health equity and period poverty as it relates to social justice within this country? A thorough literature search warranted 17 articles meeting the inclusion criteria for the scoping review. Themes found across the literature include taboo and stigma, menstrual health management (MHM) and menstrual hygiene, systems of oppression, health equity and period poverty, and intersectionality and menstruation. Recommendations for creating menstrual health equity for all American menstruators require the assessment of accessibility to MHM products for clients across all areas of social work practice.
Social work education and practice have maintained a dual commitment to individual change and societal reforms since the 1900s. This dual emphasis has sparked numerous intra-professional debates about the degrees to which micro- and/or macro-systemic change should be foregrounded. Such discussions also revealed the need for a unifying theoretical orientation for social work education and practice that highlighted the profession’s change and reform foci. Eventually, the Person-in-Environment model became social work’s guiding paradigm. While this model champions the interconnectedness between people and their environments, it narrowly focuses on social environments, often excludes natural and physical environments, and inadvertently raises power and language concerns. To address these concerns, the Individual-in-Contexts Model (ICM) is proposed, and its conceptual framework is detailed. This article concludes with a brief case study to illustrate the ICM’s application to social work practice, as well as a recommendation to empirically validate the model in future research projects.
We take this opportunity to thank the 160 reviewers from 105 universities and institutions, 7 countries, 42 states and territories, who completed 227 reviews of 106 submissions in 2025 and along with the authors, editors, and board, make Advances in Social Work possible. This issue contains 18 articles by 48 authors, representing both national and international perspectives. While many contributions are empirical, employing qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods, there are also pieces with scoping or systematic literature review designs, and conceptual and theoretical papers that critically examine social work education, pedagogy, and the profession’s guiding frameworks. Collectively, the articles address how social work prepares students and practitioners for contemporary challenges through innovative teaching strategies, anti-racist and decolonial approaches, and strengthened research literacy. Taken together, these contributions reflect a field actively grappling with how to align education, practice, and scholarship with social work’s ethical commitments to equity, justice, and accountability.
This paper provides a case study analysis of the Culturally Informed Responses to Grief and Loss (CIRGL) Professional Development Program, which equips school-based social workers and other professionals with skills and critical consciousness to support minoritized students in navigating grief and loss. By detailing the CIRGL program’s development, implementation, and culturally responsive evaluation (CRE), the paper outlines the process for developing anti-racist and culturally responsive approaches in social work. The case study draws on the evaluation data including quantitative surveys of participants at the start and near the end of the program, qualitative interviews with a sample of participants near the end of the program, and the critical reflexivity of the developers and evaluators throughout the process. Overall, participants met the learning goals of the program and experienced the content as relevant and meaningful. Most participants also stated they felt confident applying the content in their work settings. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for anti-racist program development in school social work, highlighting shared values, strategies for addressing White fragility, and the importance of grounding the work in anti-oppressive practices. This case study demonstrates both the feasibility of such professional development programs and the need for such professional development opportunities.
Social work education requires students to possess knowledge of structures of oppression and discrimination, as well as the tools to dismantle practices that perpetuate power and privilege for dominant cultures. Teaching social justice in social work, while required, has not been operationalized. A dominant narrative influences teaching social justice, mostly excluding a BIPOC perspective. This preliminary study highlights how Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) infuse social justice in their curriculum. The results explore the value of social work education at MSIs, making the case for amplifying voices of the marginalized when operationalizing teaching social justice.
There are increasingly more undergraduate and graduate social work programs online, with almost all social work practice doctorate programs built on an online model. Despite some concern about the proliferation and quality of select online offerings, the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) has not developed separate or additional accreditation standards for online programs. Workforce data indicates that Black social workers are more likely than their White counterparts to attend online social work programs and have higher student loan debt. The proliferation of newly accredited social work programs, many of which are online with national catchment areas, has caused some to question whether there are too many programs and whether the quality of social work education has deteriorated given the need to chase the market share. As CSWE has publicly enhanced its commitment to antiracist practices in social work education, the time has come to institute standards to ensure that the benefits of accessibility of social work education have not resulted in unequal outcomes, especially at the economic expense of students of color. Suggestions to guide preliminary discussions about online quality standards are presented.
Synchronous simulation—an experiential learning approach replicating “real-world” practice contexts—offers important opportunities for social work students to apply course concepts, rehearse skills, and increase their competence. However, scant research has considered approaches to delivering synchronous simulation opportunities to students online. This case study examines the experiences of master of social work (MSW) students (n = 52) who participated in a synchronous online simulation activity designed to promote the development of students’ assessment and documentation skills in the context of working with a client with suspected opioid use disorder. Multiple data sources were leveraged, including activity recordings, exit surveys, and submitted materials. Data were analyzed via thematic analysis. Three overarching themes emerged: (1) the realism of the assessment and documentation process; (2) student performance of assessment; and (3) student performance of documentation. Social work educators should consider the use of synchronous online simulation as an approach to enhancing students’ practice readiness.
Stakeholder collaboration is crucial in enhancing the psychosocial functioning of women with hypertension. By engaging various stakeholders such as healthcare providers, community organizations, and patients, responsive interventions can be tailored to address the unique needs of this population. This collaborative approach not only fosters a supportive environment but also promotes treatment adherence and improves overall health outcomes. The values of inclusivity and empowerment which are essential in fortifying collaboration with a shared goal make a community development approach pertinent. A narrative review was used to identify and synthesize the literature to obtain a broad overview of the topic. This narrative review aims (1) to explore stakeholders’ collaboration in addressing psychosocial needs confronting women living with hypertension and (2) to identify an appropriate theoretical approach for stakeholder collaboration. To enhance the psychosocial functioning of women living with hypertension, efficient, effective and sustainable multi-stakeholder collaboration is essential. Although the roles and functions of social workers are under-recognized in the provision of psychosocial needs for women living with HTN, they are equipped with professional knowledge and skills to facilitate stakeholder engagement in addressing psychosocial needs, enhancing community support, and promoting treatment adherence. Literature shows that coordinated efforts by multiple stakeholders to address chronic illnesses have been successful across various healthcare settings. The significance of stakeholder participation in supporting women living with HTN warrants a scientific investigation. A multi-sectoral, collaborative approach that combines medical care, psychosocial support, and community resources will ensure women with hypertension are supported holistically to improve their social functioning.
Leadership development is integral to the social work profession and competencies, yet classroom teaching of leadership skills remains elusive. The purpose of this article is to describe a promising approach to developing student leadership skills through a 1-credit seminar using project-based learning and student-faculty collaboration. In two consecutive years, students and faculty collaborated to design and lead a student-driven social work health policy and practice conference attended by over 220 learners. Student planners co-led all aspects of the project including selecting themes, inviting speakers, marketing, leading workshops, moderating panels, emceeing, and evaluation. A novel, fast-paced “360 Roundtable” event engaged over 30 students in leading multi-faceted mini-workshops. The planning team evaluated the impact of their efforts by collecting post-conference feedback in which attendees self-reported high satisfaction. Conference planning and implementation served as a pedagogical context for students to demonstrate learning by leading. They successfully solicited the expertise of policymakers, recruited peers, collaboratively handled conference logistics, and led confidently in public venues. Overall, this collaborative, pedagogical approach to conference planning illustrates how engaging students as leaders and co-designers in their own education can produce impactful real-world outcomes and build student leadership capacity. We describe each stage of project implementation and discuss its rationale to enable other educators to adapt and modify this promising leadership teaching strategy for their own contexts.
The Advanced Standing Master of Social Work (AS-MSW) option allows students with a bachelor’s of social work degree to save time, effort, and money on education. However, AS-MSW programs that require the completion of a thesis for graduation may seem overwhelming due to (a) time constraints and (b) students’ reluctance to learn research. To address these burdens and facilitate a smooth transition from baccalaureate to graduate education, this paper proposes a 12-week research methodology template for writing the first three chapters of a thesis: problem formulation, literature review, and methodology. This research template could be one of the bridge courses that AS-MSW students would take, preferably during summer terms. This conceptual paper carries implications for social work education and research since the existing literature largely ignores the mechanisms of the thesis option for AS-MSW programs. Social work faculty can utilize this course template to help their students build confidence vis-à-vis research.
Social work has long struggled to square its commitments to social justice with the desire to ground knowledge production in scientific empiricism. Such tensions are magnified in the face of so-called “woke” ideology (Secular Social Justice Religiosity or SSR), an ambient quasi-religious worldview that grew out of postmodern and critical theories and Christianity. Opponents of SSR outside of social work commonly take aim at its religious elements, while critics within the discipline focus narrowly on epistemology. This article explores the links between epistemology, spirituality, and an ethic of social justice grounded in equality and anti-authoritarianism. It frames SSR as one of many secular attempts to meet the human need for transcendent meaning left unfulfilled by political liberalism’s cold rationality and what many view as liberalism’s unmet promise for material equality. While conceding the limitations of rational empiricism in explaining human experience and ameliorating inequality, this analysis contends that the comprehensive philosophical liberal tradition from which it arose is nevertheless superior to SSR because liberalism actually is the anti-authoritarian engine that SSR purports to be. This article ultimately argues that social work ought to reject SSR as a guiding framework, not because it is irrational or religious, but because it is authoritarian, and authoritarian systems bode poorly for most people and most poorly for the most oppressed.
This article presents the Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ADEI) Teaching and Course Critique Framework (ADEI-TCCF), a comprehensive and reflective process for social work educators (SWE) to critically examine their power, privilege, pedagogical approaches and curriculum development. The tool was developed to guide SWEs through a self-assessment process to review classroom content, environment, and culture, with the aim of establishing inclusive, culturally relevant, and affirming teaching practices for diverse student identities and needs. Created by a committee dedicated to advancing diversity and social justice issues, the ADEI-TCCF integrates the Council on Social Work Education 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, Culturally Relevant Teaching, Queer Pedagogy, and Decolonization Theory, offering a framework that consists of a self-assessment, peer review, observation, and feedback. Using the ADEI-TCCF uncovers how instructors can improve the content, accessibility, and community of their courses by focusing on diversifying content, increasing inclusive practices, and understanding the importance of lived experience as truth and knowledge alongside more traditional text. Additionally, the tool can be utilized as a self-assessment or group study, and offers crucial self-reflection of ADEI content and how the field of social work education upholds the value of social justice for our students and communities.
Social work education for practice with refugees remains underdeveloped, and refugee resettlement organizations in the United States are understaffed. A promising new approach engages community sponsors to resettle refugees, providing opportunities for civic engagement and wider understanding of refugee policy. We provide a research-based assessment of the community sponsorship model based on semi-structured interviews with 56 community sponsor volunteers, resettlement organization staff, and health providers in several states in the United States. Participants were recruited using key informants, direct outreach, and snowball sampling. We used a modified Sort and Sift, Think and Shift methodology. The paper underscores how community sponsors are “doing social work” through their voluntarism and the challenges they have faced. These include struggles in accessing transportation and affordable housing, obtaining employment, and navigating educational, social service, and health care systems. We argue that social workers and social work educators are well-positioned to build skills and preparedness among community sponsor groups and train professional staff to better meet the needs and challenges facing newcomers. They are also equipped to help volunteers confront culturally insensitive tropes and stereotypes, provide trauma-informed training, and foster volunteers’ advocacy for social welfare policy reform that is inclusive of newcomer populations. These benefits of the program are even more evident in a context of anti-immigrant and refugee policy-making during the second Trump administration and may provide important bridging for refugees and other newcomers when resettlement organizations are forced to limit operations or shut down.
Professionalism is part of ethical social work practice; however, the presence of professionalism and soft skills in new social workers appears to be decreasing. This creates negative effects that extend to clients, coworkers, agencies, and the discipline itself. The influence of social media, aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ineffective self-care appear to be related to lack of professionalism displayed by new social workers. The thematic analysis involving participants from five large, multi-campus, not-for-profit social service agencies (n = 148) and their apprehensions regarding new social workers are discussed. The study explores two research questions. First, do new social workers display an appropriate level of professionalism, both professionally and personally? Second, where specifically do gaps in professionalism exist for new social workers entering social service employment? Significant concentrations of concerns involving lack of professionalism, specifically decreased professional behaviors and displayed soft skills, commitment to self-interest above service, and appropriate displays of personal/professional boundaries are discussed. Implications to social work education programs and social service agencies are explored, as well as innovative interventions to instill and increase professionalism in new social workers.
Advocacy is often identified as a necessary component of social work practice. However, both the National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) Code of Ethics and the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) do not provide a uniform understanding of advocacy, leaving the understanding of advocacy ambiguous. Through a systematic review of forty-three articles published between 2000-2023, this study explores the conceptualization of advocacy within contemporary social work literature. While reviewing the articles, the authors utilized a case-to-cause paradigm to identify how advocacy has been applied throughout contemporary social work literature. While the findings indicate that contemporary literature confirms advocacy as fundamental to social work practice, it leaves the concept of advocacy vague. However, this study is limited to its understanding of advocacy in the social work literature base, and not how advocacy is understood by social work students, educators, and practitioners. This article provides a conceptual definition of advocacy as well as strategies for advocacy’s clarification.
Firearm violence in the United States is increasing and is a major cause of death for many demographic groups, especially Black Americans. Policy attempts to reduce deaths and injuries face difficult hurdles, including legislatures and courts that place primacy on the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Thus, clinicians across disciplines are encouraged to engage in prevention practice across diverse contexts. Evidence suggests that few social workers have been prepared to recognize and respond to the risks of gun violence amongst their clients beyond a few specific practice contexts. This article lays out a framework for the education of social work students on essential aspects of firearm violence: the nature of violence, misunderstandings of the connections to mental illness, recognizing risks, engaging with clients on mitigating those risks, and understanding key policy debates that affect practicing social workers. This article seeks to spark conversations about the need to educate social work students on this topic, including curricular developments related to the Council on Social Work 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards.
This literature review examines the importance of decolonizing social work by integrating Contextual Indigeneity (CI) into the profession. It emphasizes aligning social work practices with the needs and perspectives of Indigenous communities, as recognized by global organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the International Federation of Social Work (IFSW), and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Drawing on recent scholarship by Indigenous scholars and allies, it highlights the need to dismantle colonized systems and infuse culturally grounded approaches into social work education and practice. Indigenous communities hold unique strengths that support eco-social justice and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, Nations, and Tribes. Theoretical frameworks such as Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit), Indigenous Decolonial Feminism (IDF), Indigenous Wholistic Framework (IWF), and Indigenous Ways of Knowing provide critical insights for developing culturally sensitive and effective practices. Indigenizing curricula, research, and community programming is essential for promoting educational justice, inclusion, diversity, representation, and, where appropriate, reparations. Social workers have an ethical duty to acknowledge the historical and ongoing trauma Indigenous Peoples face while recognizing their resilience and continued existence. The Contextual Indigeneity in Social Work (CISW) model offers a pathway to embed Indigenous sovereignty into social work, transforming theory into actionable, decolonial practice.
This case study explores the implementation and outcomes of an asynchronous Motivational Interviewing (MI) training program integrated into a Master of Social Work (MSW) course on community mental health. MSW (n=64) students completed a five-module intervention known as the MI Companion, designed to strengthen reflective listening, open-ended questioning, and support for client autonomy through deliberate practice. Students participated in pre- and post-intervention mock interviews with standardized clients, which were coded using artificial intelligence (AI) trained with the MITI 4.2.1 coding system. Findings from this case study demonstrate significant improvements in MI skills, including an increase in open questions and a reduction in non-adherent behaviors. This case study contributes to the evidence base supporting asynchronous training tools as a flexible, low-burden method for enhancing practice readiness in social work education.
This article presents results from an original study on the experience of health care and social work (SW) practitioners within interprofessional (IP) teams. This qualitative research project is based on an interpretive paradigm and seeks to understand various aspects of the interprofessional collaboration (IPC) experience. Participants in this study (n=35) work in different practice settings, both urban and rural regions of New Brunswick, Canada. Research team used semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions for data collection. The results discussed in this article highlight aspects (individual, inter-relational, organizational, and macrostructural) that foster or hinder IPC as well as benefits of collaborative work for service users, professionals, and agencies. To conclude, we propose ideas for future research, as well as ways to think about education for health and SW programs. More specifically, it is important to foster a culture of collaboration and to develop learning opportunities with regard to complex situations and interprofessional collaboration by offering students as well as practitioners common spaces for collaborative work.
