Worship of the Written Word in Social Work Academia

Overview: Worship of the written word is a characteristic of white supremacy culture. This workshop will engage participants in discussion of how this characteristic presents in social work academia and how it hinders DEI efforts. Presenters will share their experiences as a workgroup as an example and offer ideas for disruption.Proposal text: In the past few years, there has been increased attention on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education. Many colleges, universities, and schools of social work have committed to creating inclusive environments by implementing practices such as recruiting “diverse” students, staff, and faculty. While representation is important, additional emphasis should be placed on examining the beliefs, values, and norms in academia that prioritize and protect whiteness and other hegemonic identities. The beliefs, values, and norms in academia align with characteristics of white supremacy culture identified by Okun (1999) and are counterproductive to newly energized DEI efforts because they do not make space for other ways of being, doing, and knowing.

White supremacy culture affects us all even if it does not affect us in the same way (Okun, 2021a). Okun (2021a) described white supremacy culture as the water in which we swim. As a result, we must make intentional and concerted efforts to address it, particularly as social workers who should be driven by values of social justice and equity. This is perhaps even more important given the demographic composition of the field. White women are disproportionately represented across all levels of social work education (BSW, MSW, DSW, and PhD) and in social work faculty (CSWE, 2018). Plummer et al. (2021) suggested that white women and white women social workers have a history of perpetrating and perpetuating violence against people and communities of color and that deep reflection is needed for the field to move forward. One way to do that is to examine white supremacy culture in academia and how we as individuals engage in it. Our participation in white supremacy culture affects how we educate and train future social workers and can affect our ability to retain students, staff, and faculty from historically excluded groups.

One characteristic of white supremacy culture is worship of the written word. This characteristic values only things that are written and written in a specific way, which minimizes, invalidates, or erases other ways of communicating, other forms of knowledge that are not written, and the people who do not conform to this written standard (Okun, 2021b).

This workshop will engage participants in a discussion of how worship of the written word shows up in social work academia, how it impacts faculty, staff, and students, and how it hinders DEI efforts. Presenters will share their experiences as a workgroup examining white supremacy culture as an example. Finally, presenters will offer ideas for disrupting worship of the written word in social work academia and will specifically address (1) the alignment of EPAS competencies and the Code of Ethics with course assignments and expectations, (2) the preparation of social workers through internships that emphasize the importance of documentation in practice, and (3) priority of the written word in evaluating the impact and productivity of social work academics.