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Columbia School of Social Work
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Evaluation

Panel Session

Social Welfare History

Revisiting Unfaithful Angels: Social Work's Complicity in Settler Colonialism in Pursuit of Clinical Practice

Friday, October 25, 2024
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM CT
Location: KC Convention Center, Room 2502A
Earn 1 CE Hour
Echoing Specht & Courtney's concerns in their 1994 book, Unfaithful Angels, this panel examines how social work drifted towards private practice, echoing their prediction of engulfment by psychotherapy. Thirty years later, their warnings hold. The profession must confront its complicity in settler colonialism, pursue justice, and reclaim its mission.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Upon completion, the participants will be able to critically examine and confront social work education’s complicity in ongoing settler colonialism and dispossession of indigenous knowledge in the pursuit of Western-dominated clinical education.
  2. Upon completion, the participants will be able to articulate and confront the historical consequences of a significant number of social workers transitioning to private clinical practices, exploring how this shift has influenced the profession's focus, priorities, and ability to address systemic issues.
  3. upon completion, the participants will be able to critically explore and confront the arguments and evidence presented regarding the conceptualization of clinical social work as an ongoing form of settler colonialism, examining specific parallels and examples to deepen their understanding of this perspective.