Dismantling Constructs of Whiteness in Social Work Practice, Leadership, and Education

Catalog description

The complete title for this course is *Dismantling Constructs of Whiteness in Social Work Practice, Leadership, and Education: An Abolitionist Pedagogy for Reimagining the Social Work Profession.* This course begins with the discussion and exploration of historical Institutions that frame social work education and prepare future practitioners who are firmly rooted in hegemonic philosophies and practices that perpetuate colonization, oppression, and center whiteness. In recognizing that white supremacy is a mechanism of social control, that our current social structure is grounded in liberal-patriarchal capitalism, and that social work conforms to prevailing social norms, we, as social workers, must acknowledge our profession's role in perpetuating a white supremacist ideology. These ideologies are inherent within Western social work literature, teaching methodologies, and practice strategies which only serve to perpetuate an oppressive system. Therefore, students will utilize an abolitionist framework to envision how social work leaders in the DSW program serve as agents of change, instead of the historical essential cogs of the status quo who foster client dependence on a system that is inherently harmful. The course will explore, develop, and implement mechanisms for disrupting the white supremacy that has become a binary narrative in social work and create a counter-narrative. The goal of this course is to create a counter-narrative by using the pyramid of white supremacy framework to critique social work and deconstruct post-racial fallacies ascendant within the profession, and re-visualize an ecological systems framework as a mechanism for de-centering whiteness in social work scholarship, practice, and education.