Reversing the legacies: asset-based discourses for racialized social workers

Abstract

Social work has a lengthy history of ignoring and invalidating the assets that racialized practitioners bring to their work. This article seeks to shift the discourse in social work away from invisibility and diminishment toward visibility, positive valuing, and asset-rich perspectives. The rationale is rooted in original research, theory, and experience. We close the article with concrete recommendations for change. Research conducted in [state], USA, partnered with four culturally specific organizations and the university research team. An in-person Delphi study identified a set of 25 assets that these organizations agreed were pronounced within their workforce, and that contributed to the wellbeing of racialized clients. Defined as “staffing assets,” these experiences were then affirmed by a sample of 505 clients. To help organize the 25 assets into more standard constructs, we identify six domains in which to embed the assets: culturally grounded worldview and beliefs, effective advocate, invested in long-term community wellbeing, demonstrated respect and recognition, organic problem solver, and relationally focused. We then theorize these assets, drawing from previously published work. Closing with recommendations for improvements in the field, we prioritize workforce diversification, social work education reprioritizing, supervision improvements, building inclusive workplaces, infusing equity into research, and a shifted discourse within social work that foregrounds practitioners of color as holding essential assets for the wellbeing of racialized clients and communities. This contribution is a mere opening – as a field, we must dedicate scholarship and practice to building out practice frameworks that include social workers of color.

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