With Equality and Opportunity for All? Emerging Scholars Define Social Justice for Social Work

Abstract

Abstract Social justice is globally acknowledged as a guiding principle in social work professional doctrines. Yet, a lack of conceptual and practical clarity concerning the role of social justice in social work persists. In particular, little is known about how doctoral students conceptualise social justice for social work. The present study emerges from a national survey of Ph.D. students in social work in the USA asking: ‘What are some of the core components of your personal understanding of social justice as it pertains to social work and social welfare?’ Content and thematic analyses were conducted on responses to this open-ended prompt. A summary of responses is presented, including frequencies and themes related to the aims of and actions towards social justice for social work. Findings indicated modern liberalism drove the dominant discourse of social justice among emerging social work scholars in the USA, emphasising equality, opportunity and advocacy. The limitations of modern liberalism informing social justice discourse within the current neo-liberal context are discussed. Implications for doctoral education, Master of Social Work (MSW) education and social work practice are drawn.

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