Sexism in the Social Work Curriculum

Abstract

There is sexist bias in social work education, as teaching materials for the courses Human Growth and Development and Family Casework exemplify. Two leading authorities on adolescence, for example, accept a stereotypic view of female development. Family treatment writers reveal their ambivalence about male dominance within family structures, as they invoke such concepts as the “male head of the house,” and “sex role reversal,” while simultaniously encouraging independent development of each partner. In addition, the Women's Liberation Movement has created complex reactions among student practitioners.