Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice
Social workers understand how racism and oppression shape human experiences and how these two constructs influence practice at the individual, family, group, organizational, and community levels and in policy and research. Social workers understand the pervasive impact of White supremacy and privilege and use their knowledge, awareness, and skills to engage in anti-racist practice. Social workers understand how diversity and intersectionality shape human experiences and identity development and affect equity and inclusion. The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersectionality of factors including but not limited to age, caste, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, generational status, immigration status, legal status, marital status, political ideology, race, nationality, religion and spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status. Social workers understand that this intersectionality means that a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege and power. Social workers understand the societal and historical roots of social and racial injustices and the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination. Social workers understand cultural humility and recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values, including social, economic, political, racial, technological, and cultural exclusions, may create privilege and power resulting in systemic oppression.
Social workers:
a. demonstrate anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice at the individual, family, group, organizational, community, research, and policy levels; and
b. demonstrate cultural humility by applying critical reflection, self-awareness, and self-regulation to manage the influence of bias, power, privilege, and values in working with clients and constituencies, acknowledging them as experts of their own lived experiences.
Competency #3 in Practice
Competency three is integral to Social Work practice in how it gives us tools to tackle issues on multiple levels. In other words, by providing a focus not only on how these issues impact our clients personally and individually, but by instead looking at all of the different ways that our systems intersect to cause these issues, we can more comprehensively address the problems of racism, discrimination, and inequity. For example, with issues as complex as systemic oppression, we have various tools we can use. We use cultural humility and empathy in understanding and coming alongside groups that have different experiences than ours, but we do not stop there. After a lot of listening, we can take steps to create grassroots leadership, community organizing, and advocate for policies at local, state, and federal levels. By utilizing our systems and environment approach to addressing social issues, we play a vital role in working towards a world where we increasingly see diversity, equity, and inclusion in practice. This competency challenges me as I continue to explore how diversity and intersectionality impact my world and the lives of the clients I work with. This is a topic that needs continual assessment and adjustments as I interact with people in my day-to-day life and in the field. I am committed to making these adjustments to be competent in my practice with the diversity of clients I will encounter, and to continually seek out material that can educate me on cultural and racial topics.
Evidence from class work:
I completed this Debate Outline with my classmates, arguing that an increased immigration quota is beneficial for the United States. We integrated social work values into the argument and dispelled common myths about immigrants that often get in the way of helpful discussions and agreement on this issue. I chose this assignment as evidence for this competency because it demonstrates my skill in addressing systemic oppression. As a society, we rationalize our oppression by creating and sharing narratives that benefit those in power. By spreading fear about those immigrating to the US, the news makes oppressive policies desirable to the public. By countering this narrative with stories that emphasize our common humanity and the economic benefits of increased immigration quotas, our group and I demonstrated an ability to engage diversity and equity in practice.
Evidence from field:
To become an advocate with CASA, I had to complete a 40 hr training shown by this certification. In this training, I learned how poverty and racial discrimination affect our work in child welfare. Because families who are experiencing poverty are involved more heavily in our social services system, there are more incidents of child abuse and neglect reported in that demographic, even though rates of child mistreatment do not differ widely based on income. We also learned how minority families experience higher rates of child removal because of prejudices among child welfare workers and court systems. This evidence demonstrates a thorough understanding of the foundations of the CASA values, framework, and practices, a core part of which is anti-racist values and empowering to families of varying economic levels. I have seen this in play in my time while observing discrimination in the courtroom. Our county is overwhelmingly white, and clients of color and with limited English proficiency do not always get treated with the same respect and offered the same services as those who are white. The first step in learning how to engage ADEI in practice is recognizing the racism inherent in our systems. This certificate laid the foundation for me to demonstrate this competency by using self-awareness and reflection to address my own bias when working with clients throughout my practicum.
Other evidence:
I was involved in facilitating a Salvation Army Street Store event MLK Day in 2020, which is directly related to economic equity and inclusion in practice. This event is unique in that it not only provides clothes to those who need clothes but do it in a way that upholds our NASW ethic of supporting the dignity and worth of a person. This event supports individuals’ dignity by allowing them to “shop” for their clothes by choosing them out from a selection and, for the most part, off of hangers instead of rummaging through bins or tables full of clothes. By recognizing the alienation that people experiencing homelessness and poverty experience and creating an opportunity to provide clothes and empower them to get them in a way that respects their dignity, I demonstrated this competency through this service activity.