Human rights practice in social work: a US social worker looks to Brazil for leadership

Abstract

Social work is a local profession. Our practices are largely governed by the habits and practices of social workers practicing around us, by the policies of the agencies we work in, and by applicable local and national laws. Still, we are also influenced by international trends and mandates from the social work profession. Internationally, social work has recently embraced human rights as a fundamental aspect of our profession, and yet—at least in the English-language literature—there are few practice examples of what rights-based social work practice looks like. For social workers who practice in countries where rights-based practice is not yet prevalent, this paper posits that examples of rights-based practice from other nations offer helpful guidance. The author describes three examples of Brazilian rights-based practice and discusses the possibilities and challenges that face US practitioners who might want to adopt/adapt such models in the USA. These practice examples may be useful to social workers worldwide who aspire to support universal human rights in their practices.

O serviço social é uma profissão de alcance local. Nossas ações são, em grande parte, influenciadas pelas práticas dos assistentes sociais à nossa volta, pelas políticas dos órgãos em que trabalhamos, e pelas leis locais e nacionais em vigor. Mesmo assim, ainda somos influenciados por tendências internacionais e por estatutos da profissão de serviço social. No âmbito internacional, o serviço social incorporou os direitos humanos como aspectos fundamentais da nossa profissão, porém - ao menos no que se refere à literatura acadêmica publicada em inglês - há poucos exemplos de como deveria ser a prática do serviço social baseada nos direitos humanos. Este artigo apresenta exemplos a fim de oferecer orientação para assistentes sociais em países em que esse serviço social baseado nos direitos humanos ainda não prevalece. A autora descreve três exemplos de práticas baseadas em direitos humanos no Brasil, e discute as possibilidades e os desafios que os assistentes sociais norte-americanos podem encontrar na aplicação desses modelos brasileiros nos Estados Unidos. Essas amostras também podem auxiliar assistentes que almejam apoiar suas práticas sociais nos direitos humanos universais.

Keywords:

• human rights
• comparative approaches
• participation/citizenship
• Brazil
• USA

Palavras-chave:

• direitos humanos
• abordagens comparativas
• participação
• cidadania
• Brasil
• Estados Unidos

Acknowledgments

Many social workers, researchers, human rights advocates, and friends helped me get to Brazil and sustained me once I arrived. I am most deeply indebted to Terezinha Fagundes, Isabel Lima, James Riordan, Tania Cordeiro, and Andrija Almeida in Salvador, Bahia; Ana Vieira, Ana Brito, Carmelita Maia, Valeria Nepomuceno, Eduardo Paysan, and Marco Mondaini in Recife; Renato Alves, Gorete Marques, Sylvia Dantas, Maria Fernanda Peres, Heidi Ann Cernaka, and Liduina Oliveira in São Paulo; Yolanda Guerra, Eliana Amorim Moura, Marilea Venancio, Andre Felix Sousa, Erika Fernanda Carvalho, Maria Inez Bravo, Silene Freire, Andreia Clapp, Jacqueline Pitanguy, Cecília Maria Bouças Coimbra, and Vera Vital Brasil in Rio. I am tremendously grateful to Terry Coonan and Vania Llovera at Florida State University's Centre for the Advancement of Human Rights, which provided funding for the trip, to Lisa Schelbe who reviewed the manuscript, and to Jon Jefferson for his many contributions.

Funding

This work was partially supported by a travel grant from the Florida State University Centre for the Advancement of Human Rights.

Notes on contributor

Jane McPherson is a doctoral candidate at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL, USA. Her work is located at the intersection of human rights and social work. Recent projects include developing scales to measure human rights exposure and engagement in social workers, incorporating human rights activism into the social work classroom, and interviewing service providers to asylum-seeking women. She is also an organizer for One Million Bones, an arts and education initiative that calls attention to genocide and mass atrocity through the creation and public installation of handmade ceramic bones. Ms. McPherson is clinical social worker with over 20 years experience in the field. Her work has been global and local in scope, extending from rural Florida to New York City, Egypt, and Brazil. Recent publications: Using arts activism and poetry to catalyze human rights engagement and reflection in social work education, Social Work Education: The International Journal (available online) and Does narrative exposure therapy reduce PTSD in survivors of mass violence? Research in Social Work Practice, 22, 2012, 29–42.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This work was partially supported by a travel grant from the Florida State University Centre for the Advancement of Human Rights.