Through the Eyes of Hollywood: Images of Social Workers in Film

This article reports on research that investigated the images of social workers as portrayed in movies as a major medium of popular culture. Findings from an analysis of 44 movies spanning the period from 1938 to 1998 are presented with particular attention to the themes of gender, race, and class. Using the concept of motivated representations in popular culture, we suggest that these popular constructions of social workers are perhaps motivated by efforts to maintain the status quo of the dominant society, rather than to promote social change and social justice.