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The Integration of Human Rights in US Social Work Education: Insights from a Qualitative Study

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Abstract

While social justice is an explicit value of social work, the concept of human rights has garnered more attention in social work education in the USA in recent years. This article focuses on findings from qualitative research on US-based social work educators’ efforts to incorporate human rights perspectives into undergraduate and graduate courses. The research indicates that the integration of human rights throughout the social work curriculum remains a sometimes contested and fragmented process and is often based on individual professors’ interest. Many interviewees focused on barriers to infusing human rights in the curriculum. Yet, interviewees also expressed the importance of the “human rights turn” in social work and the desire to incorporate rights-based learning and practices within the profession to reinvigorate earlier mandates for social justice work as the underpinning of social work values.

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Notes

  1. The term commonly used referring to the United States is American Exceptionalism. However, the authors note that American refers to peoples of North America, Central America, and South America.

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Funding

A portion of this research was funded through the University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute Human Rights Graduate Research Funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Social Work Department, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, USA

    C. M. Chiarelli-Helminiak

  2. Master of Social Work Program, Pacific University, Eugene, OR, USA

    M. Eggers

  3. School of Social Work, Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, USA

    K. R. Libal

Authors
  1. C. M. Chiarelli-Helminiak
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  2. M. Eggers
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  3. K. R. Libal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. M. Chiarelli-Helminiak.

Ethics declarations

The University of Connecticut Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved this study. Participants were given two written consent forms to review and sign prior to participating in an interview. The consent form explained all aspects of the research including the purpose, procedures, potential risks and benefits, and confidentiality. One copy of the consent form was given to each participant, and the other was contained for the researchers’ records. During transcription, all potential identifying information about participants was removed.

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Chiarelli-Helminiak, C.M., Eggers, M. & Libal, K.R. The Integration of Human Rights in US Social Work Education: Insights from a Qualitative Study. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work 3, 99–107 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-018-0050-y

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