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A Rights-Based Framework in Global Social Work Education and International Development Work: Insights from a Global Independent Study in Tunisia

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Abstract

In this reflective analysis, we use a rights-based framework from international development studies to examine a global independent study (GIS) course as social work field education. Our GIS course entailed fieldwork with a Tunisia-based migrant-led organization that advocates for missing migrants who have gone missing en route from Tunisia to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea. We use our case study to illustrate the five elements to a human rights framework. Rights and obligations, as two elements, set the terms of the engagement for fieldwork. Capacity building moves beyond service delivery and teaches empowerment. Inequality and poverty focus on structural aspects: policies, institutions, and sociopolitical contexts related to fieldwork. Activism and advocacy facilitate the student’s participation in affecting change. The prioritizing of action in development work is thus applicable for teaching human rights in social work education “in the field,” which requires going from theory to practice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Detroit School of Urban Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

    Odessa Gonzalez Benson

  2. School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

    Antonio Siciliano

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  1. Odessa Gonzalez Benson
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  2. Antonio Siciliano
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Correspondence to Odessa Gonzalez Benson.

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Gonzalez Benson, O., Siciliano, A. A Rights-Based Framework in Global Social Work Education and International Development Work: Insights from a Global Independent Study in Tunisia. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work 6, 183–192 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-020-00158-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-020-00158-6

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