Social work education and the recognition of rights in the digital tech age: implications for professional identity

ABSTRACT

The use of digital technology by law enforcement apparatuses raises important social justice implications for existing race- and economic-based disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system. The purpose of the present survey research study is to describe and ascertain statistically significant differences and non-differences between, and predictors of, U.S. social work students regarding their attitudes toward, and intersectional knowledge of, law enforcement, privacy rights, and digital technology. With Human Subjects approval, in Fall 2019, the authors administered a 66-item survey across 150 institutions of higher education in the United States with both a Council on Social Work Education-accredited undergraduate and graduate social work program, including collaboratives, using a stratified, random sampling method (N = 430). Results include that students who do not challenge bigotry on social media are approximately two times more likely to: Endorse law enforcement’s use of technology to assist in the apprehension of persons who merely stand accused of committing a crime; and, lack awareness that facial recognition programs result in false positives for people of color (who are overrepresented in the U.S. criminal justice system). Based on these findings, the authors discuss implications for social work education, making recommendations accordingly.

KEYWORDS:

• Discriminatory design
• digital technology
• criminal justice
• social work education
• social work ethics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lauren A. Ricciardelli

Dr. Ricciardelli, PhD, LMSW is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work and Human Services at Troy University in Phenix City, Alabama since 2018. She teaches social policy, ethics, human behavior and the social environment, and direct practice with groups. Her overarching, mixed-methods research focus is the intersection of social policy and social work professional ethics across the following topics: disability policy; criminal justice policy and the death penalty; and, immigration policy. Her secondary research trajectory focuses on social work ethics and digital technology. She is editor of the authored textbook, Social Work, Criminal Justice, and the Death Penalty.

Stephen McGarity

Dr. McGarity, PhD, MSW, joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee in Fall 2018. He received his M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. His research around poverty and disability is motivated by his post-M.S.W. experience helping individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Dr. McGarity is focused on increasing financial opportunities and financial access for all people with disabilities through community, state, and federal partnerships. Additionally, his research looks at how poverty in the U.S. is perpetuated at individual, cultural, and institutional levels.

Larry Nackerud

Dr. Nackerud’s, PhD, MSW, primary teaching and research interests explore the formulation of social welfare policies and the applied practice of social work. He became interested in the mix of policy and practice while working as a child protection worker on a reservation in northern Montana. His interest intensified during his years working as a clinical social worker in the state psychiatric hospital of Alaska. He focused on the public policy area of U.S. immigration and refugee policy after the completion of his doctoral studies in the Texas-Mexico border region. In his teaching and research Nackerud pays a great deal of attention to the elements of research methodology, particularly the use of an interpretive inquiry paradigm, different sampling strategies, and combining quantitative and qualitative methods.