Is Social Work Racist? A Content Analysis of Recent Literature

R ACISM IS ENDEMIC in Ameri-can society and so are its effects. By the end of the 1980s, minorities were more likely to be poorer, be less educated, live shorter lives, be less healthy, andhave theirchildren placed in foster care or given up for adoption than whites (Hogan Siu, 1988; Ozawa, 1986; V. Washington, 1987). The situation is not expected to im-prove in the near future (Day, 1989) and therefore should be of great con-cern to social workers. Ofequal signifi-cance are social workers responses to minorities increasedneed for services. Social work operates within a racist society and, like other services that target minority populations, social work is open to charges of racism. Billingsley and Giovannoni (1972), as well as Solomon (1976), regarded the history ofsocial welfare as an example ofinstitutional racism directed atMri-canAmericans. Blanchard(1982), writ-ing on behalf of Native American women, viewed social workers as coer-cive, racist, controlling, and generally lacking inknowledge ofother cultures. Hogan and Siu (1988) provided cur-rent and past evidence of racism in child welfare practice with minorities. In addition, there are a number of studies that establish that racial and ethnic minorities receive differential treatment within the social welfare system (for example, Gruber, 1980; Olsen, 1982). When commentators say that social work is racist or not racist, they are making a judgment about the way in whichsocialworkoperates. Inresponse, the professionhas demonstrated a con-cern · about racist practice,whether actual or potential. Since 1978, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has required schools of social work to establish cultural diversity in enrollment of students, hiring of fac-ulty, and development of curricula