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Reimagining Social Work’s Digital Future: The Critical Role of Interdisciplinary Tech Partnerships
Abstract
The social work field is a relative latecomer to the digital revolution. To advance the Social Work Grand Challenge “Harnessing Technology for Social Good,” the social work field needs a transformative reorientation—towards seeing itself not only as critical adopters of technology but as necessary contributors in interdisciplinary tech partnerships. The purpose of this article is to describe the collective contributions the social work and tech fields can make through interdisciplinary collaboration. We will discuss the potential of technological innovations in social work settings. Then we will describe how social work’s emphasis on structural inequity and social justice can develop equity-focused technologies. Strategies will be discussed to overcome barriers to partnerships in the interest of creating a more just society.
... "Social work education has an ethical responsibility to prepare students, as best as is possible, for the world they face today, and through an examination of the evidence the world they are most probable to be interacting in tomorrow" [19]. Accordingly, recent publications have called for social work educators to play a greater role in in teaching, learning, developing, and researching AI [20][21][22]. ...
... Therefore, it is crucial for social work educators to engage meaningfully with AI and consider its benefits and impact on teaching and assessment. Our study aligns with recent calls for social work educators to take a more active role in AI teaching, learning, development, and research [20][21][22]. Furthermore, the significant predictors of ChatGPT usage identified in this study, particularly perceived usefulness, highlight the importance of demonstrating the practical benefits of AI tools to students. ...
Recent advancements in natural language processing (NLP) and large language models (LLM) such as ChatGPT, have generated high expectations and concerns regarding the future impact of AI on education and learning. In light of this, our goal was to investigate the usage of ChatGPT among social work students and to identify factors that predict its adoption according to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). To achieve this, we conducted an online study with a large sample of social work students (N = 875). The results revealed that ChatGPT has been widely adopted, with 80% of social work students reporting its use for study-related tasks. However, the frequency of use was moderate. Thus, although students experiment with ChatGPT, they do not use it very frequently for their studies. Its primary applications include clarifying questions, explaining concepts, analysing, editing, and writing texts, as well as conducting literature reviews. The frequency of ChatGPT use was primarily predicted by its perceived usefulness, followed by perceived ease of use. Interestingly, affinity for technological interaction did not emerge as a significant predictor. This suggests that even students who are typically less interested in technology are utilizing ChatGPT for their studies due to its perceived usefulness. Overall, these findings highlight the widespread adoption of ChatGPT among social work students and emphasize the importance of perceived usefulness in driving its usage.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a global disruption of daily routines. Children with behavioral disabilities were particularly impacted, losing access to critical face-to-face behavioral health services. In response, many providers and parents attempted to recover these routine services, primarily with digital technology.
In April-July 2020, we conducted a mixed-methods study with parents of children with behavioral disabilities. Using a six-week survey study followed by semi-structured interviews, we identified how disrupted behavioral health routines impacted children, and how care teams recovered these services using digital technology.
The recovery of children's behavioral health services was delayed, resulting in negative consequences for the children. The stoppage of services undermined care teams' coordination mechanisms, necessitating they establish digital communication channels. This digital communication supported the recovery of some services, but not most. Video conferencing was overstimulating for some children, and most recovered services required parental involvement.
Our findings have substantial implications for the CSCW community regarding the design of digital technology to increase usability by (and supports for) children with disabilities, and how behavioral health practice could enable resilient behavioral health services that could withstand the impact of future disruption.
Digitalization has reached a remarkable point in recent years. We observe that it has become increasingly important in every aspect of economic and social life, including but not limited to education, public and local administration, health, tourism, and all processes and organizations involve in economic activity. Among these areas, social work is the focus of this study. It is impossible to think that the social work profession and discipline, which is involved in social life and aims to find permanent solutions to social problems and create an ideal society, remains outside of digitalization. This study emphasizes the position of social work in the digitalized world, highlighting the research conducted and the benefits of digitalization in the management and practices of social work. This literature-based study, examines and interprets recent research on the role of digitalization in this field. In a world where digitalization rapidly increases, the importance of reevaluating the management and organizational structures within the field of social work and the organizations providing these services is highlighted. Consequently, it has been evaluated that incorporating digital technologies in social work management and practices can be useful and necessary.
Keywords: Digitalization, social work, management, social work management
Dijitalleşmenin son yıllarda geldiği nokta oldukça çarpıcıdır. Eğitim, yönetim-kamu ve yerel yönetimler dahil-olmak üzere, sağlık, turizm, pazarlama gibi akla gelebilecek, ekonomik ve sosyal hayatın her alanında, mal ve hizmet üretimi yapılan tüm organizasyon ve süreçlerde gittikçe daha önemli hale geldiğini görmekteyiz. Bu alanlardan birisi de çalışmanın konusunu oluşturan sosyal hizmettir. Sosyal hayatın içinde yer alan, sosyal sorunlara kalıcı çözümler bulmak ve ideal bir toplum oluşturma gayesi içinde olan sosyal hizmet mesleği ve disiplinin dijitalleşmenin dışında kalması düşünülemez. Bu çalışmada; özellikle sosyal hizmetin dijitalleşen dünyada halen bulunduğu yer, yapılan çalışmalar ve sosyal hizmet yönetim ve uygulamalarında dijitalleşmenin getirebileceği avantajlar üzerinde durulmuştur. Çalışma, bir literatür araştırmasıdır ve bu konuda son yıllarda yapılan araştırmaların incelenmesi ve yorumlanması şeklinde gerçekleşmiştir. Dijitalleşmenin yoğun olarak yaşandığı bir dünyada sosyal hizmetin ve bu hizmetleri sunan örgütlerin yönetim ve örgüt yapılarının yeniden ele alınmasının önemine dikkat çekilmiş, sosyal hizmetin yönetim ve uygulamalarında dijital teknolojilerden yararlanması gerektiğinin oldukça faydalı ve gerekli olabileceği değerlendirilmiştir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Dijitalleşme, sosyal hizmet, yönetim, sosyal hizmet yönetimi.
Severe racial inequity has characterized the incorporation of ethnic minorities’ contributions to U.S. history and advancements (Sandoval et al., 2016). These disparities are inextricably connected to White Supremacist ideologies and practices, and are perpetuated in higher education through textbooks, pedagogy, and research. Social work, like many disciplines, teaches about its early roots with a whitewashed historical lens. Indeed, review of the social work literature reveals the scarcity of attributions to Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC). Without a more racially diverse perspective on social work’s history, social work scholars promote and sustain White Supremacy. The implications of this are crucial since social work education is predominantly populated by privileged White students who adopt this mentality, unaware of Black, Brown, Latino, Asian, Native or Other ethnic “Jane Addams” who have massively promoted the social welfare of communities for decades without historical recognition or the privileged positions of Addams and Richmond. Historical distortions also potentially discourage BIPOC social work students’ self-efficacy and future efforts to contribute and excel in the discipline. To properly address this issue, social work history must be refaced with a more equitable and just lens. This review seeks to address the gap in the literature pertaining to the need for a greater integration and infusion of racially diverse social work historical contributions in several ways. Recommendations will be made for future research in this area to dismantle racist perspectives in social work history, and strategies will be offered to help social work educators and researchers address this critical issue.
The objective of this study was to understand the attitudes of professionals who work in mental health regarding the use of conversational user interfaces, or chatbots, to support people’s mental health and wellbeing. This study involves an online survey to measure the awareness and attitudes of mental healthcare professionals and experts. The findings from this survey show that more than half of the participants in the survey agreed that there are benefits associated with mental healthcare chatbots (65%, p < 0.01). The perceived importance of chatbots was also relatively high (74%, p < 0.01), with more than three-quarters (79%, p < 0.01) of respondents agreeing that mental healthcare chatbots could help their clients better manage their own health, yet chatbots are overwhelmingly perceived as not adequately understanding or displaying human emotion (86%, p < 0.01). Even though the level of personal experience with chatbots among professionals and experts in mental health has been quite low, this study shows that where they have been used, the experience has been mostly satisfactory. This study has found that as years of experience increased, there was a corresponding increase in the belief that healthcare chatbots could help clients better manage their own mental health.
To increase access to counseling and advocacy services and respond to changes in communication preferences, many victim service programs are expanding their traditional telephone hotlines and adding web chat or text hotlines. However, there is little research available about these web and text-based hotlines. We examined program data collected in the first year of operation of a web-based crisis hotline for sexual assault survivors at a large Midwestern university in the United States as part of a larger evaluation project. We examined how often the web-based chat hotline was used and explored patterns of use by time of day and month, comparing to records from the phone hotline operated by the same campus-based victim service program. We also conducted interviews and two group discussions with volunteers and staff about their experiences with providing crisis intervention in a web-chat medium. Findings suggest that the web-based crisis hotline is being used frequently, nearly as often as the telephone hotline and doubling the total number of crisis contacts the organization had in the year prior to adding the web-based chat hotline. Staff and volunteers identified a number of advantages of a web-based hotline, including increased privacy and accessibility for survivors. Difficulty identifying and conveying emotions in the web-chat context was one of the primary challenges described by staff and volunteers. Operating the web-hotline, therefore, requires additional training for volunteers and staff on how to translate crisis intervention skills into a text-based medium. Suggestions for how to communicate effectively in text-based crisis intervention are discussed, along with other considerations for designing a web or text hotline.
The objective of this study was to examine differences in change over time in health and safety outcomes among female college students randomized to myPlan, a tailored safety planning app, or usual web-based safety planning resources. Three hundred forty-six women (175 intervention, 171 control) from 41 colleges/universities in Oregon and Maryland completed surveys at baseline, 6- and 12-months from July 2015 to October 2017. Generalized estimating equations were used to test group differences across time. Both groups improved on four measure of intimate partner violence (IPV; Composite Abuse Scale [CAS], TBI-related IPV, digital abuse, reproductive coercion [RC]) and depression. Reduction in RC and improvement in suicide risk were significantly greater in the myPlan group relative to controls (p = .019 and p = .46, respectively). Increases in the percent of safety behaviors tried that were helpful significantly reduced CAS scores, indicating a reduction in IPV over time in the myPlan group compared to controls (p = .006). Findings support the feasibility and importance of technology-based IPV safety planning for college women. myPlan achieved a number of its objectives related to safety planning and decision-making, the use of helpful safety behaviors, mental health, and reductions in some forms of IPV.
Social work historiography has neglected to engage meaningfully with the most troubling aspects of the profession’s past: the histories of complicity, or at least acquiescence, in acts of state violence and institutionalised oppression. Through the exploration of historical case studies, this article provides a tentative typology of social work’s ‘horrible histories’ focusing on the project of engineering the ideal-type family, in colonial and oppressive socio-political contexts. The authors argue that practices of oppression and complicity can neither be reduced to the ‘few bad apples’ approach nor judged through the individualising prism of moralism, prevalent in Kantian Ethics. Instead, they propose an ethics of transformative reconciliation which is based on the principles of apology, respect for victims and collective action for—professional and social—change.
During the last three decades in both the United States and Europe, neoliberal policies, especially privatization, have restructured services in ways that dramatically affect the capacity of human services workers and agencies to serve all clients. Privatization means not only transforming public programs such as Social Security, but also managerialism-the incorporation of business principles, methods, and goals into public and nonprofit human services organizations. Few researchers have looked at the impact of market-based managerialism (focused on productivity, accountability, efficiency, and standardization) on social work's mission and the effectiveness of human services workers and organizations. Using an anonymous survey of 3,000 New York City human services workers, authors examined the impact of managerialist practices including performance measures, quantifiable short-term outcomes, and routinized practices on frontline workers and service provision. A troubling trend emerged. Workers in agencies with a high commitment to managerialism found it considerably more difficult to adhere to social work's mission and fundamental values. This conflict between the "logic of the market" and the "logic of social work" subsided dramatically in agencies with a low commitment to managerialism, indicating that even in today's competitive environment, agencies can protect the social work mission.
A new way of thinking about data science and data ethics that is informed by the ideas of intersectional feminism.
Today, data science is a form of power. It has been used to expose injustice, improve health outcomes, and topple governments. But it has also been used to discriminate, police, and surveil. This potential for good, on the one hand, and harm, on the other, makes it essential to ask: Data science by whom? Data science for whom? Data science with whose interests in mind? The narratives around big data and data science are overwhelmingly white, male, and techno-heroic. In Data Feminism, Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren Klein present a new way of thinking about data science and data ethics—one that is informed by intersectional feminist thought.
Illustrating data feminism in action, D'Ignazio and Klein show how challenges to the male/female binary can help challenge other hierarchical (and empirically wrong) classification systems. They explain how, for example, an understanding of emotion can expand our ideas about effective data visualization, and how the concept of invisible labor can expose the significant human efforts required by our automated systems. And they show why the data never, ever “speak for themselves.”
Data Feminism offers strategies for data scientists seeking to learn how feminism can help them work toward justice, and for feminists who want to focus their efforts on the growing field of data science. But Data Feminism is about much more than gender. It is about power, about who has it and who doesn't, and about how those differentials of power can be challenged and changed.
The open access edition of this book was made possible by generous funding from the MIT Libraries.
Objective:
Increases in depression among adolescents have been concurrent with increases in digital media use. In this article, recent trends in mental health among U.S. adolescents and young adults are discussed and theories about their possible connection with concurrent increases in digital media use are presented.
Methods:
Large studies of trends in mental health in the 2000s and 2010s are described and possible mechanisms for the trends are discussed based on existing literature.
Results:
After remaining stable during the early 2000s, the prevalence of mental health issues among U.S. adolescents and young adults began to rise in the early 2010s. These trends included sharp increases in depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide, with increases more pronounced among girls and young women. There is a growing consensus that these trends may be connected to the rise in technology use. Increased digital media and smartphone use may influence mental health via several mechanisms, including displacement of time spent in in-person social interactions, individually and across the generation, as adolescent cultural norms evolve; disruption of in-person social interactions; interference with sleep time and quality; cyberbullying and toxic online environments; and online contagion and information about self-harm.
Conclusions:
U.S. adolescents and young adults are in the midst of a mental health crisis, particularly among girls and young women. The rise of digital media may have played a role in this problem via several mechanisms.
An exploration of how design might be led by marginalized communities, dismantle structural inequality, and advance collective liberation and ecological survival.
What is the relationship between design, power, and social justice? “Design justice” is an approach to design that is led by marginalized communities and that aims expilcitly to challenge, rather than reproduce, structural inequalities. It has emerged from a growing community of designers in various fields who work closely with social movements and community-based organizations around the world.
This book explores the theory and practice of design justice, demonstrates how universalist design principles and practices erase certain groups of people—specifically, those who are intersectionally disadvantaged or multiply burdened under the matrix of domination (white supremacist heteropatriarchy, ableism, capitalism, and settler colonialism)—and invites readers to “build a better world, a world where many worlds fit; linked worlds of collective liberation and ecological sustainability.” Along the way, the book documents a multitude of real-world community-led design practices, each grounded in a particular social movement. Design Justice goes beyond recent calls for design for good, user-centered design, and employment diversity in the technology and design professions; it connects design to larger struggles for collective liberation and ecological survival.
The open access edition of this book was made possible by generous funding from Knowledge Unlatched and the MIT Press Frank Urbanowski Memorial Fund.
This paper considers the potential for participants to experience psychotherapeutic effects through their involvement in design research. Drawing on literature in human-computer interaction, psychotherapy, and feminist sociology, I argue that vulnerable participants may experience qualitative interviews therapeutically when they engage in reflexive activity about sensitive topics with researchers who employ psychotherapeutic techniques that encourage disclosure and reflection. I discuss ethical concerns and suggest the need for trauma-informed research practices, updated consent procedures, and revised pedagogy that better support researchers and participants engaged in emotionally charged encounters.
Digital dating abuse is a term used to describe physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence that occurs between romantic partners through the use of texting, social media, and related online mediums. Survey data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 2,218 American middle and high school students (12–17 years old) who have been in a romantic relationship. About 28% of students in a relationship in the previous year had been the victim of digital dating abuse. Males were more likely to report having experienced it (32% compared to 24%), though no other demographic differences emerged. Several covariates did emerge as significantly related to experience with digital dating abuse, including depressive symptoms, sexual intercourse, sexting, and being the victim of cyberbullying. Experiencing offline dating abuse was by far the strongest correlate. Implications for prevention and policy within schools and the community are discussed, along with considerations for future research in this important area.
Infant maltreatment is a devastating social and public health problem. Birth Match is an innovative policy solution to prevent infant maltreatment that leverages existing data systems to rapidly predict future risk through linkage of birth certificate and child welfare data then initiate a child protection response. Birth Match is one example of child welfare policy that capitalizes on recent advances in computing technology, predictive analytics, and algorithmic decision making. We apply frameworks from business and computer science as a case study in ethical decision-making in child welfare policy. Current Birth Match policy applications appear to lack key aspects of transparency and accountability identified in the frameworks. Although technology holds promise to help solve intractable social problems such as fatal infant maltreatment, the decision to deploy such policy innovations must consider ethical questions and tradeoffs. Technological advances hold great promise for prevention of fatal infant maltreatment, but numerous ethical considerations are lacking in current implementation and should be considered in future applications.
In various industries, individuals from different professions have to work together in a team to achieve their collective goal. Having gone through different educations, team members speak different professional languages, which poses a challenge to communication, and coordination in interprofessional teams. A shared language is believed to improve collaboration. In this study, we examine if a shared language in interprofessional healthcare teams is associated with better relational coordination and if both are connected to higher quality of care as well as job satisfaction of the staff. We shed light on possible mechanisms between shared language, and quality of care and job satisfaction, respectively, investigating relational coordination and psychological safety as mediators. We surveyed 197 healthcare workers (HCWs) from different professions in three rehabilitation centers in Switzerland. Multiple regression analyses showed that shared language was positively related to perceived quality of care and job satisfaction. Moreover, we found evidence for a serial mediation of these relationships by relational coordination and psychological safety. We discuss implications for healthcare and other types of interprofessional teams.
LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc.) youth are at increased risk for negative outcomes. Yet little is known about their engagement with communities and resources that may ameliorate risk, particularly online. Oriented by a uses and gratifications approach, this secondary analysis (n = 4,009) of LGBTQ+ youth (aged 14-29) compares online versus offline experiences. Respondents were significantly more likely to participate in LGBTQ+ communities online. Youth were also more active, and felt safer and more supported, when participating in online LGBTQ+ communities. Additionally, respondents sought online information, support, and resources at higher rates than offline. Increased attention toward online programming and resource development is warranted.
Technology has transformed the nature of social work education. Whether it is used to supplant or supplement face-to-face instruction, social worker educators must keep pace with rapidly developing standards of practice and related ethical standards. Standards promulgated jointly by the Council on Social Work Education, National Association of Social Workers, Association of Social Work Boards, and Clinical Social Work Association create new benchmarks for social work educators. This article provides an overview of the new standards, especially related to the diverse ways in which technology is being used in social work education, instructor competence, academic standards, and field education. This article explores the new standards’ broad implications for contemporary social work education in the digital age.
This article explores the digital divide among young people in Spain by examining four traditional socio-demographic variables (gender, age, education and employment situation). It proposes the concept of ‘technological capital’ as a means to put people’s socioeconomic conditions of existence into relation with the different forms of accessing and using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Methodologically, a quantitative approach is taken, based on the National Statistics Institute’s survey of ICT Equipment in households, which makes use of both bivariate and multivariate analysis. Finally, a typology of young users of the Internet is proposed (1–Digitally Excluded; 2–Basic Users; 3–Users in Mobility; 4–Cyber Consumers; 5–Cyber Experts) which takes into account the importance of technological capital, the socio-economic position and cultural resources of subjects in their incorporation of ICTs into their daily life. © 2019
Ready data availability, cheap storage capacity, and powerful tools for extracting information from data have the potential to significantly enhance the human condition. However, as with all advanced technologies, this comes with the potential for misuse. Ethical oversight and constraints are needed to ensure that an appropriate balance is reached. Ethical issues involving data may be more challenging than the ethical challenges of some other advanced technologies partly because data and data science are ubiquitous, having the potential to impact all aspects of life, and partly because of their intrinsic complexity. We explore the nature of data, personal data, data ownership, consent and purpose of use, trustworthiness of data as well as of algorithms and of those using the data, and matters of privacy and confidentiality. A checklist is given of topics that need to be considered.
Despite growing evidence ofn the effects of social media on the mental health of adolescents, there is still a dearth of empirical research into how adolescents themselves perceive social media, especially as knowledge resource or how they draw upon the wider social and media discourses to express a viewpoint. Accordingly, this paper contributes to this scarce literature. Six focus groups took place over three months with 54 adolescents aged 11–18 years, recruited from schools in Leicester and London (UK). Thematic analysis suggested that adolescents perceived social media as a threat to mental wellbeing and identified three themes were identified; 1) it was believed to cause mood and anxiety disorders for some adolescents, (2) it was viewed as a platform for cyberbullying, and (3) the use of social media itself was often framed as a kind of ‘addiction’. Future research should focus on targeting and utilising social media for promoting mental wellbeing among adolescents and educating youth to manage the possible deleterious effects.
There has been a long history of subjecting marginalized women to forced and coerced sterilization. In recent years, the practice has been documented in countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It has targeted women who are ethnic and racial minorities, women with disabilities, women living with HIV, and poor women.
A handful of courts have issued decisions on the recent forced sterilization of marginalized women finding that such actions violate the women’s rights. However, they have all failed to address the women’s claims of discrimination. The failure to acknowledge that forced sterilization is at its core a violation of the prohibition of discrimination undermines efforts to eradicate the practice. It further fails to recognize that coerced and forced sterilization fundamentally seeks to deny women deemed as “unworthy” the ability to procreate.
Four key principles outlined in the human rights in patient care framework highlight the importance of a finding that the prohibition of discrimination was violated in cases of forced sterilization: the need to highlight the vulnerability of marginalized populations to discrimination in health care settings; the importance of the rights of medical providers; the role of the state in addressing systemic human rights violations in health care settings; and the application of human rights to patient care.
Based on these principles, it is clear that finding a violation of the prohibition of discrimination in forced sterilization cases is critical in addressing the systemic nature of the practice, acknowledging the marginalization of specific groups and effectively ending forced sterilization through addressing the underlying purpose of the practice. If litigators, non-governmental organizations and judicial officers are mindful of these principles when dealing with cases of forced sterilization, it is likely that they will be better able to eradicate forced sterilization.
Despite the promise of digital technologies to strengthen social work practice, like many other social service organizations, service providers at domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault (SA) organizations have yet to fully embrace their use in their work. Our study explores teen dating violence (TDV) service providers’ perceptions of both the benefits and the risks of using digital technologies in their service delivery system. We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with TDV staff at agencies throughout the United States (N = 35). Findings suggest service providers are actively negotiating the ways technology can nurture their clients’ safety or perpetuate harm including exacerbating the digital divide. DV service providers contend that while technology can be lifesaving, important considerations must address associated harms.
This edition of the Grand Challenges for Social Work and Society builds on the successful first edition (2017) by updating original reviews of the field, presenting new accomplishments, and offering a blueprint for the next 5 years of the grand challenges. January 2021 marked the midpoint for what has been identified as a 10-year effort. Each of the, now 13, grand challenges shares a fresh review of the state and progress of the related field, including enhanced examination of the intersection with considerations of race and gender equity, and a discussion on future direction for the work. The progress documented in this volume in advancing measurable outcomes, building networks, creating implementation plans, determining metrics to monitor outcomes, and drafting policy recommendations can lead to profound influences on society’s major social problems. The process and framework of the Grand Challenge Initiative can also serve to inform other social and academic movements. As the initiative advances, there is a continued need for interdisciplinary and cross-sector innovation, research and collaboration to address some of society’s grandest challenges.
Youth survivors of teen dating violence (TDV) are hesitant to reach out for services from social service providers for fear of judgement and not being believed. Given the central role that technology plays in youths’ lives, it has been suggested that digital innovations can help overcome some of these barriers. The present study explores the perceptions of service providers at Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) regarding ways in which technology can increase service access and utilization for youth. Using qualitative methodology, the interview sample includes thirty-five IPV service professionals in the United States. Analysis involved thematic content analysis methods that included multiple rounds of open and focused coding and the utilization of data matrices to facilitate within- and across-case analyses.
The analysis yielded four primary thematic domains related to how technology facilitates youths’ access to services: 1) youths’ preference for and comfort with using digital modes of communication, 2) perceptions that digital forms of communication are less threatening and could thus function as an entry point for receiving services, 3) the potential for digital communication to help overcome the physical barriers to service access, and 4) youths’ belief that digital modes of communication were more confidential.
This study constructs knowledge regarding how technology might nurture youths’ engagement with services at IPV organizations by functioning as a metaphorical bridge to service providers. Providers viewed digital communication as a tool to augment existing services rather than replace current in-person prevention or advocacy. While these findings provide evidence for the important role technology can play at GBV organizations, both providers and service users need to be cognizant of the limitations and biases associated with emerging technologies.
The Grand Challenge to Harness Technology for Social Good is unique among the grand challenges in that it sets out not to address a specific issue or problem, but to transform the field of social work fundamentally with respect to its relationship to technology. This chapter updates the chapter from the first edition by listing achievements of the harness technology for social good initiative; reviewing advances in scholarship on technology at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels, with special attention paid to big data and integrated data systems; addressing racism and gender bias in technology; and recommendations for practice and policy that should be addressed by the end of the initiative’s 10-year time frame.
This article presents an information science perspective on Social Work (SW) education based on the results of a comparative policy content evaluation (PCE) of accreditation documents in Canada and the U.S. It investigates to what extent information and technology education is integral to the accreditation documents that guide the SW curriculum in both countries. Empirical results are presented in the context of current advances in information science, technology, and artificial intelligence affecting the practice of SW, social justice, and social change. With accreditation documents viewed as stage-setters for SW programs, it is proposed that technology- and information-driven change may not be reflected in the SW curriculum design in an adequate or timely fashion but is seen as a bonus, not essential knowledge. The article suggests some ways to revise the current accreditation documents and positions Information Science is a potential partner that can contribute to SW education.
Social media platforms are essential tools for contributing to feminist social movement building. There has been limited research theorizing how domestic and sexual violence (DV/SA) organizations use social media in their work with youth. Using thematic content analysis, this study interviews DV/SA (n = 35) staff to explore the role of social media in organizational settings. Results indicate that social media is used to advance organizational functionality including publicizing services, fundraising, and youth engagement. There is limited use of movement-oriented hashtags and numerous barriers to social media optimization. This work addresses strategies for expanding social media usage in DV/SA organizations.
Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) is a prevalent phenomenon, yet an under-researched topic. Due to the complex nature of balancing love and fear, individuals who experience IPSV have unique needs and face unique barriers to seeking care. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the literature on help-seeking and barriers to care in IPSV. Articles were identified through PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Search terms included terms related to IPSV, intimate partner violence (IPV), domestic violence, sexual assault, and rape. The review was limited to the United States, and articles that were included needed to specifically measure or identify sexual violence in an intimate relationship and analyze or discuss IPSV in relation to help-seeking behaviors or barriers to care. Of the 17 articles included in this review, 13 were quantitative studies and four were qualitative studies. Various definitions and measurements of IPSV across studies included in this review make drawing broad conclusions challenging. Findings suggest that experiencing IPSV compared to experiencing nonsexual IPV (i.e., physical or psychological IPV) may increase help-seeking for medical, legal, and social services while decreasing help-seeking for informal support. Help-seeking can also reduce risk of future IPSV and decrease poor mental health outcomes. Barriers to seeking care in IPSV included social stigma, fear, and difficulty for individuals in identifying IPSV behaviors in their relationships as abuse. More inclusive research is needed among different populations including men, non-White individuals, nonheterosexual, and transgender individuals. Suggestions for research, practice, and policies are discussed.
Nearly one in three adolescents in our country experience stress or anxiety to the extent that it negatively effects their ability to cope with daily life demands. However, educators are not well prepared to support students who have anxiety-related issues. One approach for supporting adolescents with anxiety-related issues involves the use of wearable technologies. These devices support self-regulation by providing real-time physiological marker information. Wearers can then become more mindful of their stress at that moment and implement positive stress or anxiety-reducing interventions. This article provides an overview of wearable technologies and related research and describes steps that support adolescents who have wearables for addressing their anxiety.
Social innovation within Human Service Organization (HSO) is gradually gaining momentum, however tools and techniques to promote the same are still in their infancy. Human Centered Design is one tool that could assist HSO managers and leaders in fulfilling organizational mission through innovation that is grounded in social work values and social work management competencies. This article describes the Human Centered Design, draws parallels with social work management competencies and concludes with state and county level illustrations of how the Human Centered Design has been used to address complex, wicked and recalcitrant social and organizational challenges.
Importance
Social media use may be a risk factor for mental health problems in adolescents. However, few longitudinal studies have investigated this association, and none have quantified the proportion of mental health problems among adolescents attributable to social media use.
Objective
To assess whether time spent using social media per day is prospectively associated with internalizing and externalizing problems among adolescents.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This longitudinal cohort study of 6595 participants from waves 1 (September 12, 2013, to December 14, 2014), 2 (October 23, 2014, to October 30, 2015), and 3 (October 18, 2015, to October 23, 2016) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study, a nationally representative cohort study of US adolescents, assessed US adolescents via household interviews using audio computer-assisted self-interviewing. Data analysis was performed from January 14, 2019, to May 22, 2019.
Exposures
Self-reported time spent on social media during a typical day (none, ≤30 minutes, >30 minutes to ≤3 hours, >3 hours to ≤6 hours, and >6 hours) during wave 2.
Main Outcomes and Measure
Self-reported past-year internalizing problems alone, externalizing problems alone, and comorbid internalizing and externalizing problems during wave 3 using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs–Short Screener.
Results
A total of 6595 adolescents (aged 12-15 years during wave 1; 3400 [51.3%] male) were studied. In unadjusted analyses, spending more than 30 minutes of time on social media, compared with no use, was associated with increased risk of internalizing problems alone (≤30 minutes: relative risk ratio [RRR], 1.30; 95% CI, 0.94-1.78; >30 minutes to ≤3 hours: RRR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.36-2.64; >3 to ≤6 hours: RRR, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.74-3.49; >6 hours: RRR, 2.83; 95% CI, 1.88-4.26) and comorbid internalizing and externalizing problems (≤30 minutes: RRR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.06-1.82; >30 minutes to ≤3 hours: RRR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.83-3.00; >3 to ≤6 hours: RRR, 3.15; 95% CI, 2.43-4.09; >6 hours: RRR, 4.29; 95% CI, 3.22-5.73); associations with externalizing problems were inconsistent. In adjusted analyses, use of social media for more than 3 hours per day compared with no use remained significantly associated with internalizing problems alone (>3 to ≤6 hours: RRR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.11-2.31; >6 hours: RRR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.15-2.77) and comorbid internalizing and externalizing problems (>3 to ≤6 hours: RRR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.51-2.66; >6 hours: RRR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.73-3.43) but not externalizing problems alone.
Conclusions and Relevance
Adolescents who spend more than 3 hours per day using social media may be at heightened risk for mental health problems, particularly internalizing problems. Future research should determine whether setting limits on daily social media use, increasing media literacy, and redesigning social media platforms are effective means of reducing the burden of mental health problems in this population.
On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066-the primary action that propelled the removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. From the last days of that month, when California's Terminal Island became the first site of forced removal, to March of 1946, when the last of the War Relocation Authority concentration camps was finally closed, the federal government incarcerated approximately 120,000 persons of "Japanese ancestry."
Social workers were integral cogs in this federal program of forced removal and incarceration: they vetted, registered, counseled, and tagged all affected individuals; staffed social work departments within the concentration camps; and worked in the offices administering the "resettlement," the planned scattering of the population explicitly intended to prevent regional re-concentration. In its unwillingness to take a resolute stand against the removal and incarceration and carrying out its government-assigned tasks, social work enacted and thus legitimized the bigoted policies of racial profiling en masse.
Facilitating Injustice reconstructs this forgotten disciplinary history to highlight an enduring tension in the field-the conflict between its purported value-base promoting pluralism and social justice and its professional functions enabling injustice and actualizing social biases. Highlighting the urgency to examine the profession's current approaches, practices, and policies within today's troubled nation, this text serves as a useful resource for students and scholars of immigration, ethnic studies, internment studies, U.S. history, American studies, and social welfare policy/history.
How inclusive methods can build elegant design solutions that work for all.
Sometimes designed objects reject their users: a computer mouse that doesn't work for left-handed people, for example, or a touchscreen payment system that only works for people who read English phrases, have 20/20 vision, and use a credit card. Something as simple as color choices can render a product unusable for millions. These mismatches are the building blocks of exclusion. In Mismatch, Kat Holmes describes how design can lead to exclusion, and how design can also remedy exclusion. Inclusive design methods—designing objects with rather than for excluded users—can create elegant solutions that work well and benefit all.
Holmes tells stories of pioneers of inclusive design, many of whom were drawn to work on inclusion because of their own experiences of exclusion. A gamer and designer who depends on voice recognition shows Holmes his “Wall of Exclusion,” which displays dozens of game controllers that require two hands to operate; an architect shares her firsthand knowledge of how design can fail communities, gleaned from growing up in Detroit's housing projects; an astronomer who began to lose her eyesight adapts a technique called “sonification” so she can “listen” to the stars.
Designing for inclusion is not a feel-good sideline. Holmes shows how inclusion can be a source of innovation and growth, especially for digital technologies. It can be a catalyst for creativity and a boost for the bottom line as a customer base expands. And each time we remedy a mismatched interaction, we create an opportunity for more people to contribute to society in meaningful ways.
Any definition of social work science must make its philosophy of science manifest. While not the only ones in social work to espouse realism, especially critical realism, the IslandWood Group used key ideas from this school of thought to guide many discussions. The main tenets of scientific realism are described followed by a description of some key features of critical realism. Basic tenets of the realisms include the existence of a mind-independent reality, the existence of the unseen, upward and downward causation, stratified reality, emergence, the embrace of multiple methodologies, and the importance of theory in science. This epistemological and ontological stance differs from positivist and behaviorist approaches. The chapter concludes with a summary of other frameworks—pragmatism, constructionism, and critical theories—that are also relevant to a science of social work.
As seen in Wired and Time
A revealing look at how negative biases against women of color are embedded in search engine results and algorithms
Run a Google search for “black girls”—what will you find? “Big Booty” and other sexually explicit terms are likely to come up as top search terms. But, if you type in “white girls,” the results are radically different. The suggested porn sites and un-moderated discussions about “why black women are so sassy” or “why black women are so angry” presents a disturbing portrait of black womanhood in modern society.
In Algorithms of Oppression, Safiya Umoja Noble challenges the idea that search engines like Google offer an equal playing field for all forms of ideas, identities, and activities. Data discrimination is a real social problem; Noble argues that the combination of private interests in promoting certain sites, along with the monopoly status of a relatively small number of Internet search engines, leads to a biased set of search algorithms that privilege whiteness and discriminate against people of color, specifically women of color.
Through an analysis of textual and media searches as well as extensive research on paid online advertising, Noble exposes a culture of racism and sexism in the way discoverability is created online. As search engines and their related companies grow in importance—operating as a source for email, a major vehicle for primary and secondary school learning, and beyond—understanding and reversing these disquieting trends and discriminatory practices is of utmost importance.
An original, surprising and, at times, disturbing account of bias on the internet, Algorithms of Oppression contributes to our understanding of how racism is created, maintained, and disseminated in the 21st century.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive social issue. Younger women tend to experience the highest rates of violence, associated with a range of negative health outcomes. Although interventions in health settings have shown promise, younger women may be reluctant to access services or discuss relationships with a health professional. Delivering an IPV intervention online or via a smartphone has the potential to overcome some of these barriers. Little is known, however, about how young women might perceive such an intervention, or what factors might influence its uptake. Drawing on focus groups interviews, we explore the views of young Australian women on using a website or application to address IPV. Azjen’s Theory of Planned Behavior is used to help understand the beliefs and norms around technology and help-seeking for IPV. Findings highlight the potential for technological interventions to become a valuable addition to the resources available to young women.
Debate has arisen in social work about the value of online education, with proponents providing examples of innovative approaches to online teaching and those against it citing the need for face-to-face interactions to suitably teach and assess social work skills. At the same time, social workers are increasingly making use of social media, websites, online databases, email, and text messaging services for work with clients. Consequently, social workers must be adequately prepared to make use of online technologies in their practice. Drawing on examples of online interactive activities used at two regional universities and informed by Chi’s conceptual framework of cognitive processes of learning, this article argues that learning via information and communications technology (ICT) helps prepare graduates for emerging digital practice and should be an integral part of social work education. Further, ICT enables educators to monitor the levels and quality of student rehearsal of practice skills and knowledge in interactive learning experiences helping promote competent practice, grounded in social work values.
Social media and other online technologies have transformed communication between social workers and service users, with many practitioners engaging and working with clients through social networking sites. While there are numerous ethical issues associated with online practice related to confidentiality, dual relationships, and boundary crossing, there is lack of clarity about how to deal with such issues. This article uses a case example to develop a nuanced understanding of ethical issues and ethical behaviour in online spaces. We argue that social workers need to link their knowledge of the complex interplay between discourses that underpin daily practice like those related to power, permanency, authorship, audience, embodiment, and professionalism to social media created spaces. In doing this, social workers must retain their commitment to ethical values and critical reflective practice. We conclude with recommendations for education, research, and practice.
This experience report describes some recent experiences in user interface design for responsive websites, native mobile applications, and mobile-first designs for a corporation supporting multiple platforms, multiple products, and multiple customer types. In order to situate the information and comparisons, the paper includes discussion of certain supporting methodologies, technologies, skill sets, and approaches typical in each. Some of the expected and perceived benefits and drawbacks to these design methods are discussed in the contexts of various stakeholders. This discussion is not an attempt to define or teach these methodologies, but rather to examine certain relative merits and shortfalls of each in context.
With a foreword by Steve Krug, author of Don't Make Me Think. "What makes so many products so difficult for the average person to use?" Carol Barnum posits this question in her introduction to this book. Too many perfectly functioning products are being returned because they are not usable. Strong usability testing is the key. But what do we do if under a strict budget and time constraints? How do we properly prepare, test, analyze, and measure across a multitude of cultures, generations, and countries? There are many different testing methods and numerous situations in which to test; however, all are grounded in the same basics of usability testing.Usability Testing Essentials presents a practical, step-by-step approach to learning the entire process of planning and conducting a usability test. It also explains how to analyze and apply the results and what to do when confronted with budgetary and time restrictions. This is the ideal book for anyone involved in usability or user-centered design-from students to seasoned professionals.*Provides a comprehensive, step by step to usability testing, a crucial part of every product's development*The fully-updated four color edition now features important usability issues such as international testing, persona creation, remote testing, and accessibility*Follow-up to Usability Testing and Research (9780205315192, Longman, 2001), winner of the highest-level award from the Society for Technical Communication *Presents a step-by-step approach to the entire process of planning and conducting a usability test--an essential component of designing usable products *Comprehensive coverage of one of the most important skills necesary for usability and user experience practioners, and the first book of its kind to include international testing *Follow-up to Usability Testing and Research, which won the highest-level award from the Society for Technical Communication, and is already listed among the most widely recommended books in the field.
Background:
Considerable research has documented that exposure to traumatic events has negative effects on physical and mental health. Much less research has examined the predictors of traumatic event exposure. Increased understanding of risk factors for exposure to traumatic events could be of considerable value in targeting preventive interventions and anticipating service needs.
Method:
General population surveys in 24 countries with a combined sample of 68 894 adult respondents across six continents assessed exposure to 29 traumatic event types. Differences in prevalence were examined with cross-tabulations. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine whether traumatic event types clustered into interpretable factors. Survival analysis was carried out to examine associations of sociodemographic characteristics and prior traumatic events with subsequent exposure.
Results:
Over 70% of respondents reported a traumatic event; 30.5% were exposed to four or more. Five types - witnessing death or serious injury, the unexpected death of a loved one, being mugged, being in a life-threatening automobile accident, and experiencing a life-threatening illness or injury - accounted for over half of all exposures. Exposure varied by country, sociodemographics and history of prior traumatic events. Being married was the most consistent protective factor. Exposure to interpersonal violence had the strongest associations with subsequent traumatic events.
Conclusions:
Given the near ubiquity of exposure, limited resources may best be dedicated to those that are more likely to be further exposed such as victims of interpersonal violence. Identifying mechanisms that account for the associations of prior interpersonal violence with subsequent trauma is critical to develop interventions to prevent revictimization.
Patients with a history of traumatic life events can become distressed or re-traumatized as the result of healthcare experiences. These patients can benefit from trauma-informed care that is sensitive to their unique needs. However, despite the widespread prevalence of traumatic life experiences such as sexual assault and intimate partner violence, trauma-informed care has not been widely researched or implemented. The purpose of this synthesis of the literature is to examine existing research on trauma-informed care for survivors of physical and sexual abuse. The following themes are discussed: trauma screening and patient disclosure, provider-patient relationships, minimizing distress and maximizing autonomy, multidisciplinary collaboration and referrals, and trauma-informed care in diverse settings. This synthesis also explores implications for trauma-informed care research, practice and policy. The themes identified here could be used as a framework for creating provider and survivor educational interventions and for implementing trauma-informed care across disciplines. The findings of this synthesis support further research on patient and provider experiences of trauma-informed care, and research to test the efficacy of trauma-informed care interventions across healthcare settings. Universal implementation of trauma-informed care can ensure that the unique needs of trauma survivors as patients are met, and mitigate barriers to care and health disparities experienced by this vulnerable population.