Putting love (back) into social work

You might be surprised to know that love is not part of social work as shown by its absence in official documents about social work’s values and social justice mission. This is not to say it is not integral to how some social workers practice but there is little research-based evidence of love in social work. This podcast puts the argument that love is needed for social justice to matter. Further, that social workers’ professional integrity can be enabled by adopting a love informed ethical positionality to address oppression (injustice) of all kinds.

I conducted a systematic literature review with Dilip Karki, a colleague of mine, to ascertain if other social workers were researching and writing about love in social work. We found 16 articles met the search criteria of English language, using the words love and social work that were published in the last ten years. I provide a summary of many of these articles to show the diversity of ways love is thought about and practiced. For example, in Norway, the national government has passed legislation whereby social workers need to use love in how they engage with young people. A Catholic University mandates that all its programs are premised on caritas which is the Latin word for love. This article explores how students in a Master of Social Work program understand caritas in a case study as part of their assessment. Articles by social work educators, a social work student, community development practitioners, child safety workers, criminal justice lived experience co-researchers provide just some of the diversity of ways love is used in social work.

Potential challenges in adopting love are identified such as the risk of blurring professional boundaries, the extra pressure on already over stretched practitioners and the potential for misunderstanding of how to practice with love in unequal relationships.

If you are interested in any of the mentioned articles, please drop me a note in comments and include a contact email address.

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