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Are Social Work Students Concerned About the Environment?: The Role of Personal Beliefs

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Abstract

The profession of social work is committed to social justice issues, and part of this mission includes the environment. Specifically, the Council on Social Work Education supports equality in environmental justice, ecological unity among species, and using ecological resources in a responsible way. However, a dearth exists in the literature with regard to social work students’ concern about the environment and what predicts their support. This study sought to redress this gap. Social work students (N = 724) from programs throughout the country were surveyed about their environmental beliefs and behaviors. An ordinary least squares regression indicated that holding more liberal political beliefs, identifying as a nonreligious individual, placing greater personal importance on environmental issues, participating in environmentally conscious behaviors, espousing greater confidence in scientists’ understanding of climate change, and being older were associated with greater environmental concern, and these variables explained 51.5% of the variance. Greater inclusion of environmental justice and avenues for advocacy that create social change should be part of the social work curricula if practitioners who are ready for this area of practice across the micro–macro continuum are to be developed.

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... The broader context of personin-environment was prevalent in early social work. However, the last century led many social workers to focus on the social environment and social relationships (Chonody et al., 2020;Hawkins, 2019;Shaw, 2013) which Shaw (2013) describes as a "narrower conceptualization" (p. 4). ...
... Given that environmental justice issues may surface when practitioners are working with clients, the importance of including environmental justice in education is recognized by the profession, and it is therefore important to understand how and where to integrate environmental justice into the social work curriculum. Chonody et al. (2020) contend that the first step is to understand social work students' attitudes about the environment. However, it is suggested that attitudes and actions can only be shaped when awareness is present; thus, the first step is to understand social work students' awareness. ...
... The first stage of TTM (preparation) is defined by lack of awareness of the negative consequences of behavior. Consistent with this stage, Chonody et al. (2020) found, while graduate and undergraduate students (n = 724) only mildly to moderately believed that environmental issues are pertinent to practice, students who showed greater concern were influenced by taking a university course that included environmental injustice. Faver and Muñoz (2013) similarly found that students who felt moderately informed on the environment (2.69 on a 4-point scale), held moderately high levels of concern for the environment (3.07 on 4-point scale). ...
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The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) requires social work programs to integrate environmental justice into their programming. The purpose of this study is to determine if undergraduate and graduate social work students at a southern Appalachia university had an increase in awareness, a shift in attitudes, and a rise in action related to environmental justice since starting their program. This study also sought to identify where students felt environmental justice content would best fit in the social work curriculum. Participants completed a semi-structured focus group or an open-ended survey answering identical questions. Findings indicate the need for social work educators to provide students with clarification of environmental conservation and environmental justice; an understanding of the breadth of environmental justice across the micro, mezzo, and macro-levels; and the opportunity to have direct practice experiences and reduce feelings of being overwhelmed by the enormity of environmental justice. Participants endorsed the importance of environmental justice content in the curriculum.
... QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH VOLUME 36 • NUMBER 3 • 2024 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL WORK by urging social workers to engage in critical and ethical discussion around climate change, sustainable development, and environmental justice (Dominelli, 2013;Gray & Coates, 2013). In recent years, environmental and sustainable social work is gaining momentum in the social work literature and research (Rambaree et al., 2019;Ramsay & Boddy, 2017) with studies that have examined social work students' (Chonody & Olds Sultzman, 2022;Chonody et al., 2020) and social workers' attitudes, beliefs and knowledge (Nesmith & Smyth, 2015;Yildirim et al., 2021). Although the focus on environmental issues and sustainability in social work has been included in the international social work agenda (Jones & Truell, 2012), there are only a handful of research studies on the relevance and connection between social work and environmental issues currently available in Aotearoa New Zealand (Ellis, 2020;Ellis et al., 2018;Hamerton et al., 2018;Pitt, 2013). ...
... Likewise, in social work training, educators were more likely to include environmental justice in their own curriculum if they had received education themselves (Strayer et al., 2022). Proenvironmental attitudes are also shown to be linked to the belief that environmental and sustainability issues should be part of the social work curriculum (Chonody et al., 2020;Chonody & Olds Sultzman, 2022). Reu and Jarldorn (2023) found that students believed eco-social work should be included in core subjects, explaining that it should be integrated throughout practice and not be a specialist subject. ...
... The social work profession can play a significant role in responding to the environmental crisis that impacts human health and well-being. Chonody et al. (2020) argued that protection of the environment and promotion of sustainability is part of the social work mission to create a better world for people and their communities, and social workers need to have the skills and knowledge to identify resources to advocate for marginalised communities. Social work education is being urged to include theoretical perspectives to incorporate the natural environment, environmental justice and values and skills across the curriculum to enhance practitioners to advance the social justice mission to tackle environmental and climate issues that negatively affect those who are vulnerable and oppressed (Hawkins, 2023;Ramsay & Boddy, 2017). ...
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Abstract INTRODUCTION: Environmental and sustainable social work is gaining momentum in social work due to the rising concern of climate change and environmental degradation. Despite the social work profession being committed to social justice, the perspectives of social workers practising in Aotearoa New Zealand on environmental/green social work are yet to be explored. This study explored social workers’ attitudes and beliefs on environmental justice and sustainable practice. It also examined what factors support them to consider environmental issues in social work practice. METHODS: A survey using an online portal was conducted with qualified social workers to assess their attitudes and knowledge. Descriptive, correlation and regression analyses were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: A total of 102 questionnaires were analysed. The results indicated moderate levels of pro-ecological perspectives and awareness of sustainability attitudes, high level of agreement including Māori and other indigenous tradition and wisdom in ecological justice, strong belief in climate change and the importance of factoring environmental issues in social work practice. While over 80% of the participants thought that environmental issues should be part of social work practice, there are still gaps in translating these into practice. Participants would like to see more environmental issues being integrated into social work education to better prepare graduates entering the profession. CONCLUSIONS: Social work education is urged to incorporate the natural environment, environmental justice and values and skills across the curriculum to advance the social justice mission to reduce the disparity among those who are vulnerable and marginalised.
... Universities have an "ethical duty towards evidence-based social work education" (Yaffe, 2013, p. 525), yet there is a disconnect between the urgency of the climate crisis portrayed in eco-social work literature and social work codes of ethics (Liu & Flynn, 2021) and the lack of eco-social work content in the curricula (Chonody et al., 2020;Papadopoulos, 2019). Harris and Boddy's (2017, p. 344) research found that of the minimal social work subjects that did address environmental issues, most did so in a "broad and cursory manner". ...
... Understanding values, attitudes, and beliefs that social work students have about the environment is crucial in exploring how to make changes to social work curricula and in producing graduates who are well equipped to address environmental injustice. Three major studies in the field of social work have sought to gauge students' attitudes toward the environment (Chonody et al., 2020;Faver & Muñoz, 2013;Miller & Hayward, 2014). Although these studies found that social work students viewed environmental issues as important for social work (Miller & Hayward, 2014), each found that students were most likely to engage in individual proenvironmental behaviours such as recycling rather than applying eco-social work in their professional practice (Faver & Muñoz, 2013). ...
... Most could articulate how they would be affected: "Social workers will be part of frontline respondents to climate emergencies associated with climate change like bushfires and floods" (SR-2). This echoes findings from previous research (Chonody et al., 2020;Miller & Hayward, 2014) where environmental issues were deemed key issues for social work. Participants could see how environmental factors would affect their clients and understood how environmental issues would affect disadvantaged population groups disproportionately: "Social work clients already impacted by adversity or oppression may be more significantly affected by problems associated with climate change" (SR-2). ...
Article
Despite the growing number of publications focusing on eco-social work, there remains a lack of eco-social work approaches taught in social work degree programs. Social workers are often at the forefront of responding to the needs of communities post natural disasters, and it has become apparent that the natural environment is increasingly a major influence on social work practice. However, the apparent dearth of eco-social work content in social work education leaves practitioners uncertain about how they might respond to environmental issues. This study explored social work students’ perceptions of eco-social work, the extent to which they felt prepared to respond to environmental issues, their desire to learn more about eco-social work, and where they felt those lessons might fit within their degree. This research contributes to a growing body of literature by arguing that to adequately prepare social workers to practice in a world increasingly impacted by environmental changes, eco-social work must be embedded in the coursework of Australian social work degrees. • IMPLICATIONS • Social work students understand environmental issues as a key factor influencing the individuals and communities they work with. • For social workers to address environmental injustice, they need to learn about eco-social work practice approaches. • Social work educators need to include eco-social work approaches in their curricula.
... In a study conducted by Miller and Hayward (2014) on social work students' attitudes, interests, and practices toward the environment and their perceptions of the place of environmental issues in the social work curriculum, it was found that the attitudes of social work students (N ¼ 205) toward the environment were generally compatible with that of the U.S. population, and that social work students want environmental issues to be included more in the education curriculum. In a study conducted by Chonody et al. (2020) on social work students in the United States, it was found that the social work students were moderately concerned about the environment. ...
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The objective of this quantitative study was to develop a valid and reliable scale to examine the environmental sensitivity of social workers, the Environmental Sensitivity Scale. First, the researchers created an item pool by considering the information in the literature. Then, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analyses were carried out. A total of 314 social workers practicing in the field in Türkiye (previosly referred to as Turkey) participated in the study. The EFA conducted for validity indicated an 11-item structure composed of two factors. The first factor provides information about environmental sensitivity in macro practices ; the second factor provides information about environmental sensitivity in micro and mezzo practices. The reliability analyses also revealed that the resulting structure was reliable. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for the first factor, second factor, and total score were .830, .815, and .875, respectively. The developed scale can be utilized to figure out the attitudes of social workers about environmental sensitivity.
... Dichos estudiantes perciben que el TS está encajonado en las prácticas asociadas a lo clínico, lo familiar e individual y se hace necesario ampliar el espacio de acción hacia un nivel estructural que incluya lo ambiental y sus emergencias políticas. Chonody et al. (2019) estudiaron las preocupaciones ambientales de estudiantes de TS en Estados Unidos. El estudio concluye que poseen mucha confianza en los conocimientos científicos para entender el cambio climático y consideran que la ciencia es importante para el TS. ...
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Objetivo. Conocer las representaciones sociales de estudiantes de trabajo social, respecto de los desastres socio-naturales que ocurren en su territorio y opciones de intervención/gestión social que reconocen. Metodología. Cuantitativa, de diseño estudio de caso. Participaron estudiantes de las regiones de Atacama y Coquimbo en Chile, que han enfrentado DSN recientes como aluviones, terremoto y sequía. Resultados. Los hallazgos dan cuenta del reconocimiento de la influencia antrópica en los desastres a partir del extractivismo, la prevalencia de una noción de naturaleza de tipo ecocéntrica y la importancia de la acción profesional como vía para la reducción del riesgo. Conclusiones. Relevancia de incluir en la formación en trabajo social, eco-saberes teóricos, metodológicos y procedimentales que problematicen la dimensión ética del vínculo sociedad-territorio-naturaleza.
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Environmental injustice is a growing human rights issue as climate change and environmental degradation rapidly increases. As a social justice problem, it is relevant to the social work profession, yet not integrated into our curricula. This study of 373 social work professionals found that environmental justice is a significant practice issue across broad client populations and that professionals felt unprepared to address it. Qualitative and quantitative data revealed high levels of client exposure to environmental hazards with little power to change it. Respondents reported dissatisfaction with their education to help them understand environmental issues. Moreover, they indicated that they would like to see environmental justice integrated into social work education and better-prepared graduates entering the profession. Implications for practice and education are discussed.
Article
An online survey investigated environmental concern and action among 105 Latino social work students (85% female) residing in a high poverty region near the U.S.–Mexico border. Approximately 85% of the respondents reported being moderately or very concerned about environmental issues, but the respondents' level of environmental concern exceeded their self-reported levels of knowledge and attention regarding environmental issues. Rates of practicing five pro-environmental behaviors varied from a low of 27% who used renewable sources of energy to 95% who turned off unneeded lights. Level of environmental concern predicted only one pro-environmental behavior. To address gaps in environmental knowledge and behavior, social work educators can help students analyze the connections between the health of the natural environment and human well-being, identify obstacles to pro-environmental behavior, and propose changes in organizations and communities to encourage environmentally responsible behavior.
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The person-in-the-environment concept has largely been interpreted by social workers to indicate social networks and relationships, ignoring the physical environment and its complex impact on human health and wellbeing. This article examines the environmental domain, noting the critical role social workers can have in this field as a consequence of climate events and global warming. The article notes the significance of gender as a key factor in vulnerability to disasters and outlines the need for social workers to consider gender as a critical indicator in their work in this emerging area. Embodiment, connection to place, poverty, and cultural awareness are also significant, but often overlooked, factors in a social work response to environmental disasters. Ecological and ecofeminist theories give a direction for social work theory and practice in the postdisaster space. The article challenges social workers to reconsider the person-in-the-environment as a complex and critical emerging domain of social work theories and practice, a domain where gender awareness is fundamental.
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This paper reports the results of several independent investigations of the reliability and validity of the Environmental Concern Scale, a 16-item Likert scale assessing respondents' concerns about conservation and pollution issues. The scale exhibited both satisfactory internal consistency on samples drawn from a Western city and a New England town (Cronbach's alpha?.85, Scott's Homogeneity Ratio >.26) and satisfactory stability over a six-week test-retest interval (r = .83, p <.001). Validity data was collected in two separate studies. A known-groups comparison indicated that Sierra Club members exhibited greater concern (p < .001) and were more homogeneous (p <.02) in their environmental attitudes than a random sample of adults. The second study involved an elaborate behavioral follow-up of 44 subjects who had previously completed the attitude measure. Scores reflecting the degree of participation in a variety of ecologically relevant projects over an eight-month period were combined to form a reasonably comprehensive environmental behavior index. The correlation between scores on this index and scores on the attitude scale was quite strong (r = .62, p <.001). The potential utility of the Environmental Concern Scale for future research is discussed.
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Effective efforts to shift attitudes and behaviors impacting the health of the ecological environment may be found to be similar to those efforts that are effective for changing personal health behaviors. This investigation examines the relationship between environmental attitudes and self-care behaviors in a sample of twenty-seven women in their forties. Environmental concern, as measured by an updated version of Weigel and Weigel's (1978) Environmental Concern Scale, was significantly correlated with self-reported personal health care behaviors as measured by a new self-report Health Questionnaire. Implications for social work practice and future research are discussed.
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Latinos in the United States are an increasing segment of the population and are becoming important stakeholders in the management of natural resources. Although Latinos have been included in attitudinal research on environmental concerns, few studies have focused exclusively on Latino attitudes toward natural resources and the environment. We surveyed Texas college and university students of Mexican descent (n = 635) to determine their environmental concerns. Using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), we determined an environmental concern score for each respondent and compared this index to several demographic variables. We found that gender, a political candidate's environmental position, mother's education, combined parental income, and, to a lesser degree, the number of grandparents born in the United States and religiosity (church attendance), were important model variables. We hypothesized that acculturation would be an important factor in predicting NEP scores; however, acculturation level was not an important predictor in our study, which we attribute to both the nature of our sample (i.e., highly acculturated college students) and small sample sizes of less-acculturated college students. We recommend that future research consider determining the importance of acculturation in Latino attitudes toward natural resources and the environment.
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This paper reports a meta-analysis of studies using the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale over the last 30 years. A review of 69 studies from 36 countries (including 58,279 participants from 139 samples) shows that there is considerable variation in the way the NEP Scale is used, particularly with regards to the number of items used and the number of points on the Likert scale employed. Results from weighted regression analyses reveals that variations in sample type and scale length have a significant effect on NEP scores. In particular, environmentalist and white-collar samples scored significantly higher on the NEP Scale than nationally or regionally representative samples, while blue-collar samples scored significantly lower; and participants scored higher on 6-item versions of the scale than on the revised 15-item version, and lower on versions of the scale containing 5, 7, 8 or 10 items. Implications of this research for the comparability of previous studies using the NEP Scale are discussed and guidelines for future research are presented.
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This article examines the relationship between materialism, environmental beliefs, environmental concern, and environmental behaviors. The study used a random telephone survey of 337 US adults. Using a causal modeling approach, the study demonstrates that materialism has a negative effect on environmental beliefs, and these beliefs positively affect environmental concern and environmentally responsible behaviors. The article then provides implications of the results for consumer and environmental policy.
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Despite the growing scientific consensus about the risks of global warming and climate change, the mass media frequently portray the subject as one of great scientific controversy and debate. And yet previous studies of the mass public's subjective assessments of the risks of global warming and climate change have not sufficiently examined public informedness, public confidence in climate scientists, and the role of personal efficacy in affecting global warming outcomes. By examining the results of a survey on an original and representative sample of Americans, we find that these three forces-informedness, confidence in scientists, and personal efficacy-are related in interesting and unexpected ways, and exert significant influence on risk assessments of global warming and climate change. In particular, more informed respondents both feel less personally responsible for global warming, and also show less concern for global warming. We also find that confidence in scientists has unexpected effects: respondents with high confidence in scientists feel less responsible for global warming, and also show less concern for global warming. These results have substantial implications for the interaction between scientists and the public in general, and for the public discussion of global warming and climate change in particular.
Promoting ecosocial transition through permaculture
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