Understanding Privilege and Engaging in Activism: Elevating Social Justice in Social Work

Course overview

This course examines the social work profession's commitment to social justice with a research study of 310 MSW students, exploring which individual factors were most associated with activism and engagement.  The course finds that an increased understanding of privilege, power, and the intersecting systems of oppression is required in our efforts to elevate social justice. The concept of intersectionality is highlighted and provides a framework for understanding how individuals hold multiple, overlapping identities that result in various combinations of discrimination, oppression, and privilege.  Social justice is a core value of the social work profession and the NASW Code of Ethics establishes the ethical principle to challenge social injustice.