Social workers are well positioned to meet the needs of the immigrant population in the United States (U.S.) and social workers across all fields and specializations should both feel competent and have the appropriate skills to work with immigrant clients. In this paper, we provide context around the immigrant population in the U.S. and discuss…

This paper discusses the utilization of a cultural humility model to educate social work students in understanding the importance of diversity, power, privilege, oppression, marginalization and social and economic justice in an increasingly diverse society. Social work programs are required to teach students to effectively engage a diversity of…

Over a quarter of the members of the social work profession are working in health related settings yet preparing students to work in such multi-disciplinary environments, with hierarchical organizations and problem-focused systems, can create value conflicts, principally with the strengths-based paradigm inherent in social work practice. In order…

Social work educators must prioritize effective preparation of MSW students for the pivotal roles they will play in supporting clients struggling with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs). Understanding what concerns MSW students have about working in the substance use field can highlight student training needs and inform learner-centered curricula.…

In today's society, it is of utmost importance to deliver services with compassion, understanding, and cultural competence. Students' awareness of personal cultural backgrounds, issues, and biases is essential to enhance their ability to serve others, particularly marginalized populations. This study demonstrates how students understood the impact…

This article addresses the concerns brought forth in this special issue by offering "a detailed and conceptually focused description and rationale for future plans" of addressing anti-Black racism across the social work curriculum. We focus on a less-discussed experience of anti-Black racism -- the experience of internalized racial…

While psychoanalysis played an important role in social work practice and education as far back as the 1920's, the period from the 1960s through the 1990s led to its diminishing presence. We believe incorporating psychoanalytic theory into social work education is now necessary to prepare students for contemporary direct practice and should be a…

Cultural competence and cultural humility dominate discourses on practice across difference within social work and other helping professions. Despite their prominence, they remain contested constructs, thoroughly critiqued within the literature, and fall short in providing guidelines for intersectional practice across myriad differences. This…

This research examines students' perceptions of how learning abroad programs furthered the development of the nine core EPAS social work competencies. Ninety MSW graduates who participated in a learning abroad course during their graduate program completed an anonymous online survey assessing the association between study abroad participation,…

Social workers are called upon and expected to work with immigrants in culturally appropriate ways, particularly during a time of increased xenophobia. Yet, few are given the educational tools necessary to answer this call. A global human rights lens, informed by theories on work with immigrants, can provide a framework for social work educators…

Developing critical consciousness is key to social workers becoming competent practitioners, but due to its multifaceted nature, finding a single classroom strategy to effectively engage all students in this process is challenging. Problem-posing education is a method that encourages students to examine the sociopolitical, historical, and cultural…

This study explored the use of simulation with Master's level students to determine the efficacy of this approach in teaching advanced social work skills with diverse client populations. Three instructors jointly developed a case scenario in which cultural beliefs differed strongly between clients who were a biracial couple. Instructors found that…

This study explored whether the experience of completing a Bachelor of Social Work degree with embedded diversity education has an effect on a student's cultural humility, specifically looking at the variables of cultural awareness and commitment to lifelong learning. Students were administered the Diversity & Oppression Scale at the beginning…

Features of the academic context of social work education threaten the loss of traditional educational attention to relational capacity, an indispensable condition for all forms of social work practice and thus a necessary priority for professional education. We argue that the development of relational capacity should occur in classroom as well as…

The online environment challenges social work educators in their approach to developing students' cultural awareness and culturally competent skills. To develop student competencies, it is important for accredited social work programs to consider both their explicit and implicit curricula. Although research has focused on the influence of…