Social Worker Preparedness to Work with Far-Right Clients

Background and Purpose: The far right in the United States has been growing since 2001. This growth has also led to the mainstreaming of far-right ideologies in America. As a consequence of this mainstreaming and growth, social workers will likely work with clients who have far-right beliefs or affiliations (i.e. far-right clients). In this exploratory study, we examined social workers’ preparedness to work with far-right clients. Specifically, we addressed two research questions: (1) To what extent are social workers prepared to work with this population? and (2) What factors are associated with their preparedness to work with far-right clients?

Methods: We recruited social workers with an MSW across the U.S. by emailing them through listservs or directly. Respondents (n=9,146 from 50 states) completed a survey about their preparedness to work with clients with far-right values and beliefs (6-point scale) and clients who were a part of far-right groups (6-point scale). We asked respondents about their demographics, practice characteristics (setting and years since they obtained their MSW), political leanings, and political leanings of the state where they practice. To address the research questions, we employed descriptive analyses, and mixed-effects regression models. Missing data were handled using multivariate imputation by chained equations (MICE).

Results: Respondents primarily identified as female (86.1%) and White/non-Latinx (79.7%). Most worked in private practice (37.8%) or in outpatient/community-based behavioral health agencies (25.2%). On average, respondents reported that their preparedness to work with far-right clients fell between fair and good on the preparedness scale (M=2.59, SD=0.01). Results of the mixed effects model indicated that respondents who identified as male reported more preparedness to work with far-right clients (b=0.31, p<.001) than respondents who identified as female. Respondents in outpatient/behavioral health agencies (b=0.16, p< .001), medical/physical health related organizations (b=0.18, p<.001), inpatient behavioral health programs (b=0.23, p<.001) and other settings (b=0.09, p=.014) reported higher levels of preparedness than respondents in private practice. All respondents who obtained their MSW less than 20 years ago reported less preparedness compared to respondents who obtained their MSW 20 or more years ago. Similarly, respondents who identified as liberal reported less preparedness than respondents who identified as conservative (b=-0.54, p<.001). Analysis revealed mixed results for race and sexuality. Relative to respondents who were White, those who were Black or African American reported less preparedness (b=-0.10, p=.023) and those categorized as “Other” for race reported more preparedness (b=0.15, p =.023). Relative to respondents who identified as heterosexual, those who identified as gay (b=-0.23, p=.004) or queer/multiple/other sexualities (b = -0.20, p < .001) reported less preparedness to work with far-right clients.

Conclusions and Implications: This study is one of the first to explore social workers’ preparedness to work with far-right clients. It demonstrated that, on average, social workers reported low levels of preparedness for serving this population. There was significant variation in preparedness depending on demographic characteristics, practice setting, years of professional experience, and personal political views. These findings highlight the need for increased training, education, and support for social workers to work with far-right clients.