Critical Consciousness, Socialization, and Political Engagement in Anti-CRT Context

Background/Purpose: More than 30 years since social workers organized for the enactment of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the populations with whom social workers engage still vote at lower rates. Due to electoral barriers and a political class often unresponsive to poor and working-class voters, the U.S. maintains racial and class-based voter turnout gaps. The ethical imperative to support the self-determination of clients and communities often translates into a mandate to engage clients and communities as political actors. Other scholars have found that recognizing racial injustice has motivated political action, but if social work educators cannot forthrightly discuss institutionalized racism in the political process, does this affect social work student’s ability to engage their clients as political actors? This study seeks to respond to that question. Implications highlight how social work researchers can lead the academy in influencing social policy.

Methods: Data come from a self-administered survey of a sample of geographically and racially diverse MSW students. There were a total of 435 responses from 24 different states, with 55% of respondents enrolled in Californian social work programs. Respondents were asked to rate whether they agree, or disagree, with four statements that assess for teaching about racism, e.g. In class, you’ve had opportunities to discuss institutional racism. Six statements on their beliefs about the U.S. political system were assessed to measure general beliefs about democracy (e.g. The American political system is the best system). Their political behavior was assessed by asking whether they voted in the 2022 Midterm Elections, a single manifest variable. To assess willingness to engage clients as political actors, respondents were asked whether they are willing to or have encouraged clients to influence the political process, e.g. Encourage clients to attend community meetings about an issue that affects their community. All items were latent constructs. Data were analyzed in Mplus version 8.9 and relevant demographics were included in the structural equation model.

Results: The structural equation model indicated good fit (CFI/TLI = .912/.892; RMSEA = .048; 90% CI .041, .055). Teaching students about institutional racism was a predictor of social work students’ political behavior with clients (B = .136, p = .014) while political system beliefs were not (B = .136, p = .014). Having voted in the 2022 Midterm Elections was also positively associated with political behavior with clients (B = .195, p < .001). Lastly, students who identified as macro social workers reported greater willingness to engage their clients to engage in political behaviors (B = .206, p < .001).

Conclusion and Implications: Preparing social work students for their ethical obligation to respect self-determination and engage in political action requires them to recognize how institutionalized racism operates. In states banning racial justice education, social work faculty may avoid certain topics, limiting students' ability to empower their clients to engage in political action. Given that social work students work with politically marginalized individuals it is imperative that students learn about institutional racism as a tool to inform socially just policies and practices.