The use of critical theory in social work international study program: instilling racial and epistemic justice

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an example of transformative learning afforded to social work students participating in an international study program between United States and Germany focusing on Genocide and the Holocaust. Using epistemic justice as a frame, it foregrounds the experience of a Black female social work student who was the target of microaggressions while abroad and highlights the critical theories, such as critical consciousness, critical realism, and intersectionality, used to help students reflect on and make meaning of their experiences. Through self-reflection and sustained dialogue, the experience offers examples of how students were engaged in a learning process that enabled them to become critically aware of the various individual and social forces that impact the lived experience of others. It also demonstrates how examining past issues of social injustice and oppression can be central to transformational learning about agency and advocacy in the modern day.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical theories
• reflective learning
• Microaggression
• Study Abroad
• Transformational learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The following material presented is the account of the second author’s experience as a participant in the international study program. This information along with the reporting of the discussions held with other program participants was submitted to the IRB of UConn and deemed as not constituting human subjects research #NHSR22-0015.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lisa Werkmeister Rozas

Lisa Werkmeister Rozas, Ph.D. and MSW from the Smith College School of Social Work. She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut School for Social Work. Her research, teaching and consulting expertise are in the area of Anti-racism, coloniality, implicit bias, and microaggressions. Along with many peer reviewed journal publications she is an author of the book Racism in the United States: Implications for the helping professionals 3rd Edition.

Aliyah Henry

Aliyah Henry is a macro social worker who specializes in Research. She has a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Connecticut and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Central Connecticut State University. She is currently employed as a Research Associate with the Consultation Center at Yale.