There are few things more frustrating to social workers than the portrayal of the profession in terms that are grossly distorted and negative. With social work being as difficult as it is, especially given the limited public support for programs and less than satisfactory working conditions, the prospect of things being improved is undermined when the nature of social work is inaccurately reflected in the media.
The Chapter's Image Project has been developed to tackle this problem. Last year at the Chapter's leadership retreat, enhancing the image of the profession was designated a Chapter priority with the recognition that this programmatic focus must be an on-going core activity of the Chapter in order to make a difference.
The goals of the Project were approved by the Board of Directors and read as follows:
The media is frequently highlighting practitioners in medicine who have produced promising innovations, and we intend to draw out the parallel in social work. As it is, the public is exposed every day to the failure in human services to deal with social problems but the media neglects to show what state-of-the-art practice can achieve.
Social workers who have a background in journalism, such as Deborah Shepherd, our Assistant Director and Editor of Currents, and Joan Westreich, a graduate of NYU, are giving leadership to this effort. In addition to approaching the major media such as the New York Times, which has already agreed to do one feature, the Chapter plans to contact magazines that are more likely to do feature articles than newspapers. Women's magazines are of particular interest, but we expect to elicit the interest of the broadcast media as well.
In a recent interview conducted with a social worker by Ms. Westreich, the effectiveness of social work in the face of the horror of sexual abuse with a young child was graphically drawn out. The assessment revealed that a string of events led to the abuse following the loss of child care, threatening the mother's ability to remain independent.
Logically enough, given the assessment, a key intervention was on restoring the child care. The dependence of the mother on an abusive boyfriend increased with the loss of child care, but with the child care being restored, she severed the relationship with her boyfriend and the child's situation improved dramatically, within a short period of time.
In another situation, a social worker, in attempting to help a woman apply for Medicaid after her diagnosis of breast cancer, discerned that a false identity was being used. This would have led to the certain denial of benefits, undermining the woman's need for immediate treatment. The worker, using the best skill to engender trust, was able to learn that domestic violence created concern about being tracked down. Appropriate interventions subsequently permitted the necessary health care to be received.
These are two examples of excellent practice. Our objective is to collect examples from each field of practice and the numerous program models within each field. At the national level, Executive Director Dr. Josephine Nieves is leading an effort to raise funds for a media campaign. Under her leadership, the entire NASW staff in Washington are being coordinated to see "image" as one of the most essential programmatic features for the professional organization. For me, all of this must represent the beginning in a long term effort to support jobs and salaries, and ultimately, the improvement of human service programs.
Members are asked to submit names of social workers whom they believe are exemplary practitioners. Send a letter with a brief description of the work to: Deborah Shepherd, NASW, 50 Broadway, New York, NY 10004.
A key element in the project is the focus, not on social problems in general, but social work practice in particular. The project reflects the recognition that there is an essential need to bring together the best examples of practice.
As an initial objective of the project, the Chapter is soliciting names of social workers (see the last issue of Currents) who are considered exemplary practitioners in their respective areas. The intent is to profile the work of these professionals and develop proposals for the media to feature their work as examples of how serious, persistent social problems can be resolved or managed.