Social Class and Social Work in the Age of Trump

ABSTRACT

Social class has many meanings and components – economic, social, political, one’s sense of identity, and how class intersects with other social identities – so it is difficult to define it briefly and succinctly. These definitions are further complicated by a global lens, where family of origin, geography, and other factors can pre-determine social class. In this article, we explore the complexities and contradictions of social class in the context of the United States as we believe that this is important for social work, particularly in the age of Donald Trump, where class, and its intersection with race and immigration status, is often used as a weapon to divide society and seek political advantages. While such use of class categories is not new in this country or in political rhetoric globally, the current climate in the United States warrants a review.

KEYWORDS:

• Social class
• Trump
• SES
• social work
• intersectionality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hannah Karpman

Hannah Karpman’s broad research interests include the places where the child welfare, mental health, physical health and other child-serving systems intersect. In addition, Dr. Karpman is interested in innovative approaches to increasing the resiliency of at risk children and families. Karpman’s current research focuses on the outcome of a class action lawsuit about Medicaid-funded mental health services for children. The resulting court remedy mandated a re-design of children’s Medicaid-funded mental health services. Her research focuses primarily on the implementation of a state-wide behavioral health assessment for children and a wraparound process used for care coordination.

Josh Miller

Josh Miller teaches MSW courses on psychosocial responses to disasters as well as a course about integrating positive psychology into clinical practice. He co-facilitates a seminar for professors during the summer and field seminar leaders during the academic year called Pedagogy and Diversity. Miller works with undergraduate students who have DACA status or are undocumented, as well as supporting asylum seekers. Prior to teaching, Miller spent 20 years as a community organizer, family therapist, group worker and researcher, and was the director of public and private nonprofit child and family welfare agencies.