Establishing environmental social work : investigating the pragmatic application of an under-developed subfield in New South Wales

Abstract

Climate change is already having a major impact on the global ecosystem, and the consequences are predicted to become increasingly severe in coming decades. These consequences are not just environmental but socio-environmental. Social work as a profession has both an opportunity and a duty to respond to this contemporary crisis. Current social work literature acknowledges this responsibility. Despite this, the specific subfield of environmental social work remains heavily under-explored in terms of both theorisation and its pragmatic application. This project addresses this gap, which is both academic and professional. Thus, the present research audited the current pragmatic application of environmental social work in New South Wales (NSW) utilising a concurrent web-based survey. It aimed to identify the number of environmental social workers practising in NSW between April and August of 2018. Only four social workers meet the criteria for inclusion in this study. This demonstrates there is a discrepancy between the current social work literature and what is occurring in the field. Consequently, the research was altered to investigate why there were so few environmental social workers in the field. The amendment included semi-structured, in-depth interviews with three environmental social work practitioners. Critically, the research found there were social workers practicing but not identifying with the term, and there were barriers inhibiting practise. Additionally, the research highlighted the need for a professional paradigm shift constituting a change in values, education, and research. This entails a change from the human-centric and modernist paradigm to one that recognises the connection between humans and nature and acts in accordance with promoting biodiversity. The research suggests that this paradigm shift has to be entrenched in the practical application of environmental social work. Moreover, the research provides important evidence to progress this paradigm shift and strengthen future research and practice within the subfield.

Date of Award	2018
Original language	English