Jane McPherson

Integrating human rights principles into social work practice is essential for advocating and protecting clients’ rights. The Human Rights Lens in Social Work (HRLSW) scale, which measures social workers’ ability to see the human rights dimensions of their work, can be used to promote rights-based practices within social work. Originally developed in the USA, the scale requires validation in different cultural contexts to ensure its applicability and relevance. Therefore, to assess the scale’s reliability and construct validity in Portugal—and to examine its applicability among Portuguese social workers—a study was conducted to validate the HRLSW-PT, the Portuguese version of the HRLSW. The sample consisted of 138 social workers, mostly female (88.4%) with an average age of 31.63 years ( SD = 11.94). Principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis supported a revised two-factor structure for the HRLSW-PT, consisting of nine items (RMSEA = 0.019; TLI = 0.996; CFI = 0.997). The HRLSW-PT and its two factors, “clients seen as experiencing rights violations” and “social problems seen as rights violations,” demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s .84, .87, and .69, respectively). The HRLSW-PT is a reliable and valid tool for assessing Portuguese social workers’ perspectives and attitudes towards human rights issues. The HRLSW-PT can now inform educational and professional development programs, enhancing social workers’ capacity to advocate for and protect human rights, thereby promoting social justice and equity in Portugal. The authors argue for similar validations in countries worldwide to facilitate cross-national comparisons and promote rights-based practices among social workers worldwide.

Social work defines itself as a social justice profession, yet the historical record also shows social workers resisting social change, promoting social division and contributing to social exclusion. When social workers are unaware of these ‘hard’ histories, they are unable to identify destructive professional practices or reconcile with those whom social work has harmed. In this article, I present a model for using local history – in this case, the history of the University of Georgia School of Social Work – as a catalyst to help students confront and unpack ‘hard’ history. I unravel the interwoven local histories of cotton mills, women’s charitable activities and a system of entrenched racial hierarchy, and present a method for making the historical materials available and vivid to students. I conclude that we must welcome difficult history into our professional historiography as a necessary step towards becoming the liberatory profession we need to be.

Latino communities in the United States (U.S.) have long endured trauma due to multiple intersecting social and political forces. New restrictive immigration policies since 2016 and the COVID-19 pandemic have each created novel stressors for Latino communities, while escalating the risk of mental health disorders and highlighting the communities' vulnerabilities. The effects of these stressors have been particularly pronounced in southeastern states, such as Tennessee and Georgia, due to their state-level anti-immigrant legislation. Yet, we lack sufficient data to understand how these factors present among Latinos seeking services. To focus attention on the specific experiences of Latino communities living in the U.S. Southeast, the authors analyzed the perspectives of 44 service providers working with these communities in the region using qualitative data collected in an online survey administered during the COVID-19 pandemic and while President Trump's exclusionary immigration policies were in force. Four themes were identified: (1) Latino communities' strengths; (2) impact of the Trump administration on Latino communities; (3) impact of COVID-19's on Latino communities; and (4) strategies to enhance service delivery in Latino communities. Results provide meaningful data to inform micro- and macro-level service delivery in two exclusionary policy states and beyond. Findings suggest future research should include other new immigrant destinations and explore perceptions of Latino community members.

Background: Approximately 3600 infants die suddenly and unexpectedly annually in the United States. Research suggests limitations of current behavioral interventions to reduce the risk for sleep-related deaths among African American families living in under-resourced neighborhoods. Guided by the theory of planned behavior and the socio-ecological model, the My Baby’s Sleep (MBS) intervention intends to reduce the risk for sleep-related infant deaths while addressing complex needs of African American families living in under-resourced neighborhoods. Objective: To assess feasibility and acceptability of MBS, a 7-month intervention that includes four home visits and multiple check-ins via phone and text message. Methods: This was a single-arm feasibility and acceptability study with quantitative and qualitive measures. African American families were recruited from community agencies that served an under-resourced metropolitan area. Results: Eight families (eight mothers, nine co-caregivers) completed the intervention. Families reported high acceptability of MBS content, process, and format, as evidenced by qualitative data and mean evaluation scores. Conclusion: MBS is feasible and acceptable among African American families living in under-resourced neighborhoods. These results suggest further investigation of MBS intervention efficacy in a large-scale randomized controlled trial.

In this article, we explore how social workers are putting human rights into practice in Kosovo. We present a snapshot of the current human rights context in Kosovo; we discuss frameworks for rights-based practice within social work; and we explain the evolution of Kosovar social work education and the role of human rights within it. Ultimately, we focus on the results of a new survey that uses Albanian translations of the Human Rights Methods in Social Work scales to explore the use of eight rights-based practice methods by 100 social workers situated in Kosovo’s Centres for Social Work. In our sample, social workers endorsed the four micro (individually focused) practice methods—accountability, strengths perspective, anti-discrimination and participation—at higher rates than the four more macro (community/policy)-focused methods—capacity-building, micro/macro, collaboration and activism. We use these results to call for further training to support rights-based practice, emphasising the interdependence of micro and macro methods in advancing human rights as well as social work ethics. In conclusion, we offer suggestions that will allow social work to act as an agent of transformative change and social justice in Kosovo.

This exploratory qualitative study examines the impact of a short-term study abroad trip for U.S. social work doctoral students built around an international conference in Zagreb, Croatia. The program incorporated reflection and experiential learning. Data were collected using pretrip and posttrip written reflections from study participants (N=4). Two primary themes emerged from thematic analysis that showed a positive impact on participants: an enhanced understanding of themselves as global citizens and an enhanced sense of themselves as global professionals. Three themes also emerged supporting the pedagogic strategy: experiential learning promoted global engagement, reflection catalyzed robust learning, and the impact of the experience was greater than the sum of its parts. Directions for further research on short-term study abroad programs are discussed as well as strategies for enhancing short-term study abroad to promote global engagement in social work at the master’s and doctoral levels.

This article reports on the development of tools to measure rights-based social work practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Previously validated scales - Human Rights Exposure in Social Work (1 scale), Human Rights Lens in Social Work (2 scales), and Human Rights Methods in Social Work (8 scales) - were translated and adapted for the Bosnian context. To complete the validation, social work students (N=296) were surveyed, and the resulting data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The results yield 11 valid scales for measuring human rights constructs and promoting human rights goals in social work education, research, and practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina.