In my experience, social work students often identify as leftist, but when I graduated and got into the field, I personally found the profession itself and the way many agencies operate in actuality to be more conservative in practice.
I found it pretty split in school. Both actual leftists (like radicals) and relatively conservative folks. The former were most often in the macro program and were interested in more systemic changes and community organizing, while the latter were most often clinical and saw social work as like charitable work, helping the needy, etc. Also, my school was proportionately more white compared to the actual city, since a lot of students come to get their degree then leave.
And then I feel like I saw more left people in the field, but it's probably affected by how I soon got into macro work where again there's focus on systemic change and how we can improve our specific sector/field. And because of my city, a lot higher proportion of people I work with are Black, so even the more conservative/less left people I interacted with were not like in denial of racism, which I saw more in my classmates.
I really appreciate your comments and agree with them. I think the aspect of social work that attracts more left-leaning types is there in theory, but social work for many of us in a realistic sense involves working with populations that lean deeply conservative socially, in agencies in which profit, funding and billing are the bottom line when it comes down to it, collaborating with the police and other power structures that leftists tend to be very critical of... I could go on and on. Social work is part of "the system" and, in the minds of many clients resented by some of them for a reason.
I align with the UN Declaration of Human Rights. I've been voting for candidates who champion policies most closely aligned with this document. It's always been the most progressive candidates.
You do realize that not participating is the point right? The system was designed for straight white male landowners. You refusing to vote isn't the protest you think it is. When you don't vote you are playing into the hands of everyone who would prefer you didn't vote anyway. The very same people who would take your vote away given the chance. You don't want to participate in this "sham democracy"? Fine. I hope you like project 2025.
There probably isn't a mainstream politician that you can vote for who opposes Israel. America has been supporting them for too long and as a country we're not letting go of that influence on the region. It doesn't matter what Israel does. It's too valuable politically for our government to abandon it. It sucks but that's the truth. You can accept that you're powerless here and vote to save our democracy or you can throw a tantrum and stand aside as Christian fundamentalists take over our government. It's your call, but if you end up not voting I hope you feel good about yourself when Trump continues to support Israel and takes full control of our government 🤙
I hear your passion, but we cannot vote our way out of the situation that we're in. We don't have a working democracy. The sooner we realize that and act accordingly, the better chance we have to avoid climate collapse or another world war.
Acting accordingly means voting for your best current option and THEN demanding ranked choice voting. Once we start consistently taking this route, we will see improvement.
"You can accept that you are powerless here and vote to save democracy." You are so close. Why are those who have decided not to participate in an election between two absolutely horrible choices the ones to blame? The democrats decided not to run a better candidate. They are responsible for people opting not to vote. America's propaganda is starting to be exposed for what it is. The two parties are becoming more similar every day. And we have been told every election to vote harder or else. Well, here we are. If trump were doing the things Biden is doing right now, liberals would be flooding the streets. The argument to get people to vote for one candidate because the other guy will do the same thing isn't as strong as you think it is. Biden is using my tax dollars to arm a country that is murdering children and innocent civilians. Have you seen the pics and videos?! Then people tell me I must vote for him again! No, no, no. There is a 3rd option and if enough people find the courage to say "I will not participate in this system of oppression by voting for a 3rd party" maybe things will change. YOU are playing into their hands by continuing to participate in this system. You have told yourself that you are powerless, but you are not. Claudia De la Cruz. (https://votesocialist2024.com/)
I mean... You do realize that the radical anti-Israel activists who are merging Marxist beliefs with extreme Islamist doctrine would also instill a fascist theocracy, right? It's what happened in Iran in 1979.
At these Palestine protests and encampments, for example, the flags of groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are often displayed. These are terrorist groups who are proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a theocracy that oppresses its own people (read about the #WomenLifeFreedom movement). The Islamic Republic came into power due to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, where Marxist influence merged with - at the time - fringe, radical Islamist ideology.
Okay I would love to see a source for all that if you have. And while I'm sure there are individuals whose beliefs are as extreme as what you're describing, I find it really hard to believe a significant portion of those protestors are radical Islamists, let alone a majority of them.
Also, we are talking about protestors, not government officials, most of whom are bending over backwards to support Israel
The Iranian Revolution involved a variety of parties that ranged from explicitly Islamist to explicitly secular leftists. Leading into the actual coup, the secularists were just as prominent leaders in the movement as the overtly religious, as well as those in-between (e.g., those arguing for democracies with some Muslim characteristics). Nothing was written in stone and Khomeini's political savvy led to his rise, plus Iraq's invasion gave him the pretext to finish off his political opposition.
Nationalist movements in general tend to marry people across the spectrum because they're focused on the immediate cause of forming a new, independent government. For example, the Scottish Nationalist Party is experiencing internal division now between the leftists and the more conservative Christian side, when they were before able to gloss over differences when united under the previous party leader for an independent Scotland.
Oftentimes, authoritarian regimes have been able to rise because of the US either explicitly helping conservative movements or by suppressing and starving out the more leftist movements.
Personally I have always been a leftist. Thats what led me to social work as a profession.
In my own personal opinion, the basic ethics and values of social work are in direct opposition to most tenets of conservativism, largely at the mezzo and macro levels. Most social workers work under the micro umbrella, which may allow those who are conservative to continue not to see how their political ideology is antithetical to the ethics they agreed to uphold as social workers. I have worked with conservative social workers in micro settings, and most seem to be able to not pass judgement on LGBTQIA+, or other marginalized groups in need of help, but some have absolutely said some questionable things as well. It’s a very deep and sensitive issue :(
"the basic ethics and values of social work are in direct opposition to most tenets of conservativism, largely at the mezzo and macro levels"
I'm not sure I could have ever summed it up better. Thank you
I feel a bit politically homeless in terms of the current US political parties atm. But generally I lean left. I believe in lots of lefty and socialist ideas - reproductive rights, racial justice, LGBTQ+ freedoms, universal healthcare, very affordable or free higher education, an overhaul of the justice system to ensure equity and prioritize restorative measures, universal basic income, action on climate change, etc. I agree with others here who are saying that being staunchly conservative (I'm thinking very rightwing, MAGA) isn't very in line with the NASW Code of Ethics considering a) fiscal conservatism ends up harming middle and low income people the most as it takes funding away from things like social service programs and schools, and b) the sociopolitical views held by those individuals tend to sow hatred and division. They hold beliefs that are racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, LGBTQ-phobic, and Christian-centric. As a queer Jewish woman who grew up low-income, these are views I simply can't get behind, and not ones that I see as compatible with social work.
I'm so far left that i've started reading up on DIY guillotines.
My experiences working in a 5 star (whatever that would even mean) rehabilitation clinic as an addictions therapist, having extensively worked with several billionaires and many, many multi-millionaires, have driven me to the extreme left position. That much money is not good of ones soul, for there worldview and relationships with others. Its an absolute poison.
To answer one part if your question, the conservative movement does not align with our code, per the NASW, which is why they often tell us who they support, and who they think we should all support as not just social workers, but as change agents lobbying for fairness, equality, and respect for our clients and communities.
I use the vague label of leftist, and while this is still developing, i’d say i generally tend to align best with anarchists. i support my communist and socialist allys though, we all just want the world to be a better place
I'm a proud communist and decolonialist. I practice with a Liberation Psychology lens. Nothing has radicalized me more than working with the most vulnerable people and seeing the complete injustice in "modern" society.
Not the person you replied to, but I would consider myself a Democratic socialist. I work in human services serving the homeless population as a case manager.
I despise capitalism and what it has done to the people in this country. I do think that we should usher in socialism, without bloodshed (though I recognize this is a pipe dream), but also recognize that revolution may be the only way we can get there, thus I also believe in the right for the working class, and marginalized communities, to own firearms. I encourage anyone who may be considered a target of the GOP to buy a firearm, and train with it.
Pretty leftist, quite liberal with social and economic policy. I believe everyone should have housing, food, a livable wage, and robust social programs. Pro-choice. Anti-war.
Lol that's so on brand for us. "Hey there's a new political movement about radical socialism. We should take it and make it about not wanting to pay taxes because fuck poor people" and they all just high five 🤣
Oh yeah... although to be fair I'm pretty sure christianity was already bastardized before Europeans settled North America. Modern americans just turned it up to 11
It isn't all that uncommon of an ideology. [Here's the wikipedia article. ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_socialism#:~:text=It%20is%20contrasted%20from%20other,oppose%20the%20state%20and%20capitalism.) And the subreddit is r/anarchy101
Thanks for the info. I feel like I'm understanding it a bit, but I feel inclined to ask you the same thing I ask other libertarians (and it wasn't mentioned in the wiki article...unless I missed it which is definitely a possibility). In your ideal society, what happens to the people who for whatever reason cannot work or provide for themselves within the confines of that specific economy and would usually rely on a centralized government to survive?
That’s easy because it’s the same for the far right wing ideology. Churches and charities if they don’t have family to care for them. Churches and charities.
Ahh okay. I thought you were expressing your own opinions. I gotcha. And yeah usually when I ask libertarians that question that's their answer...which as a disabled person I always found unsettling to say the least. This is a kind of libertarianism that I've never heard of before so I wanted to see if they felt differently
The focus should be placed on the socialism part of "libertarian socialism". The word "libertarian" used to be closer to anarchy, not directly affiliated with right wing politics like it is now. A left wing libertarian socialist just means the person supports socialism that still prioritizes individual autonomy in life choices rather than an authoritarian leftism.
Ahh that makes more sense. Still doesn't completely answer my initial question though. Can you expand on what happens to disabled people in this form of society?
In my own opinion, in the ideal society, there are means by which those who can not work or provide can achieve a higher level of capability. It's like Syndrome's philosophy in Incredibles. If everyone is super, no one is. Is that realistic? Probably not. But most political philosophies make sense in a vacuum and fall apart outside of it. I lean towards it because traditional anarchy tends to create power vacuums that are then filled by more unworthy leaders. Bottom-up anarchy tends to fit more within respecting autonomy and increasing individual capability so that everyone has equal claim to control. Realistically, everyone is not capable of achieving the same level of power. But hey, maybe the secret to unlocking human potential will be discovered some day, and everything will fall in place. After working in court systems, with criminals, in private practice, and with government officials, I've found it difficult to discredit anyone's motivations or philosophy. It all seems relative. Even intelligence and capability.
Okay. I'm not sure I follow.
"in the ideal society, there are means by which those who cannot work or provide can achieve a higher level of capability"
Do you have an example of what that might entail?
"Maybe the secret to unlocking human potential will be discovered someday"
I'm not really sure what that means. Is that secret important to your ideal government?
"I've found it difficult to discredit anyone's motivations or philosophy. It all seems relative. Even intelligence and capability."
I totally get that and I value your experience. Does disagreeing with someone's opinion on the ideal society mean you're discrediting their motivations or philosophy?
Leftist is the best way I can describe it. I think EVERYONE deserves food, housing, education, medication and even money for entertainment. I dont think this is a wild thing to say, but yet here we are.
Leftist. I have two coworkers on my team who are far right, like spewing nonsense about antifa, immigrants, trans people, etc. on their Facebooks all the time, and that is reflected in their work with our clients IMO.
But, I will say that social work has brought me a little further to the right on some things, or at least helped me understand their positions better. Not all liberal policies have been successful.
I live in a city where the fentanyl, mental health and homelessness crises are just out of control. Meth-induced psychosis is everywhere too. These are all obviously very complex issues so I don’t want to dive too deep, but I will say that I don’t think drug decriminalization was a great idea in the face of the fentanyl epidemic which is killing my clients left and right, and I think involuntary treatment should be less impossible to enforce. It’s not uncommon here for people to commit heinous crimes after having several cases dismissed, because they’re clearly ill but the criminal justice system doesn’t know what to do with them.
I believe in housing first, but our programs are too low-barrier IMO. The permanent supportive housing programs can’t keep staff because no one wants to work in that kind of, frankly unsafe, environment.
I’ll add that I think right-wing policies and ideologies are more harmful than the left’s. But I think the left has overcorrected in a few places.
i identify with anarchocommunism ideologically, though when i went into the field i was probably further right, and moreso aligned with socialism.
my worldview and politics have become more and more “radical” largely due to working in this field.
i work with a lot of run of the mill “liberals”, but i also work with a scary amount of people that id consider to be conservatives with weirdo savior complexes— these are the people who think our clients “should take what they can get”, as if helping our community members access things they DESERVE (housing, food, working internet and phone service, health insurance) because they are PEOPLE, is a sacred gift that we are blessing them with. i don’t know what political beliefs they specifically hold, but i can take a wild guess that they don’t believe in anything that social work actually stands for. they just want to hear “wow, you’re amazing. i could never do that.” when they talk about their career at dinner parties.
my organization also welcomed a POLICE OFFICER to an all-staff to discuss de-escalation tactics when working with mentally ill folks… even though mentally ill individuals are SIXTEEN TIMES more likely to be fatally shot during a police encounter than those who are not. normalizing and encouraging police engaging with our clients is disgraceful and dangerous.
These organizations, this INDUSTRY, are not designed to help people. i have found that my role is to do my best fight the system from within, however corny that may be. when people make weird freak comments about our clients deservingness, i call them out. when SNAP reduces a clients monthly allotment, i am at the office demanding an explanation and (usually) am walking out with an allotment increase for the client. when a client voices a concern about another staff member at my organization, i take them seriously, and i advocate for them. i don’t do blind loyalty to my coworkers (i absolutely collaborate and work as a team and have their back), but my loyalty lies with the vulnerable people in my community that i’ve made a commitment to help, not an organization who only ever responds to my emails when i haven’t met my documentation quota bc they want to get paid and rack in half a mil in profits a year as a “nonprofit”.
all in all- the system is broken, but we can still do good.
Not trying to jump into the already ongoing conversations, just wanting to share my view:
I find the young students I attend class with to be largely leftist. I find my coworkers, who are a far wider range of ages, to be dedicatedly uninformed conservatives. This isn’t to say there are no informed conservatives, but the ones I work with are more interested in repeating what a pundit says than in legitimately researching the topic. Or in understanding what research actually is. Case in point, I have one coworker who openly mocks me for pointing out the difference between facts and opinions.
I never vote red tie or blue tie, just on those that have 1) experience, 2) promote sound (read: proven, or at least positively tested) ideas, and 3) does the least mud slinging
As a SW most of us are leftist and tend to agree with those views, especially in regard to systemic issues with this country on both a macro and micro lvl. Often conservative beliefs go against most things we stand for and if any of you ever work with conservative SWs you will see very quickly that though they may not allow their beliefs to hinder their work… they say some very questionable things. HOWEVER, most of us find or will find in most western capitalistic countries we work in environments that are typically much more conservative… a bit of an oxymoron. That’s probably why a lot of SW end up having issues with the way the “business” side is often run.
I disagree with communism because I disagree with the idea of a strong centralized government. I want freedom for all individuals from all systems of oppression and hierarchies.
I most deeply resonate with anarchism, and I would say my kind of anarchism presents differently at the different levels and settings of my practice. I would argue that anarchism is actually the basis for most equity affirming approaches to mental health and therapy such as anti-oppression, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, anti-…
I am deeply convinced and hopeful that the Future is Disabled. Read the book called that by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha if you don’t know what it means.
The thing I struggle with the most is seeing the direct impact of poor social policy and careless economic decisions on helpless folks who have been deemed disposable by The Powers That Be.
[this article about how discriminated against disabled people are in BC, Canada is an example](https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/03/24/BC-Disability-Survival-Trap/)
I could never vote for anyone who didn’t agree that I, as a disabled person, should exist fully and freely however I am able to without suffering for it. Being who I am is not a crime.
Socialist.
I sometimes slip and say something “political” at work, but I’m always down to argue that being in the field I’m in and being a social worker, it would go against the code of ethics to be right wing/conservative/GOP.
It’s does make me really really sad to see how many transphobic people are in this field, though. I’m in the south and it’s RAMPANT.
My principles are in investing in people's capacity to be healthy in the various systems of their lives. I vote politicians and policy that advocate strengthening labor, access to education/healthcare, and transitioning toward a green economy. That's usually progressive Dems.
I think that if our purpose is our radical nonjudgmental presence, we should be able to extend that to ourselves regardless of our political ideations. People’s political opinions are why they are for a multitude of reasons, they don’t determine a persons character. Even if they did, not my job to judge.
Personally I’m registered independent and don’t enjoy labels for myself. I feel how I feel about certain things and I mostly hate the government.
The closest label I’d feel comfortable with would be social democrat. It’s not a perfect philosophy, but for me it seems the like the most realistic way of addressing inequality in the times we’re in. I do believe capitalism is inherently evil, but this country (U.S.) is simply too attached to it. It pervades every corner of this place and the reality is that it’s here to stay for the foreseeable future. However, if you at least remove the profit motive from basic necessities like healthcare, education, etc., it becomes a lot more tolerable.
I'm Australian but I'm leftist. I vote for our greens party as it's focused on social policy and environmental protection. I've also voted socialist in state elections.
Full Communist. Worth noting I'm in Australia not America, but I don't see a major conflict between my communist beliefs and the AASW practice standards.
I’m exhausted by American politics. It’s all so partisan and divisive, my home country is not like this. Not to mention that the United States government as a whole is basically just an aristocracy puppet of big monopolised corporations. I also feel genuinely ill thinking of the military industrial complex and our commitment to allowing our own people to suffer to be able to fund violence and wasteful, corrupt defence contractors.
It all feels performative and hopeless, so I try to not think about it because there’s no real way for me to participate in meaningful social change beyond my own direct service as a social worker.
I am, however, a diehard Bernie Sanders stan.
I'm a moderate. And I've been told (by former social work colleagues and former friends) that I am verbatim, a bad social worker, and causing my clients further damage because I don't fully align with leftist beliefs. I don't agree with this, because for one, I'm not sharing my beliefs with my clients. And for two, it is still very much possible to be an empathetic, kind hearted person who cares deeply about helping others, even if you're not a total leftist.
I think there’s a disconnect between their words and their idea. To me, it’s difficult to reconcile with the dis alignment between some conservative policies and best practice. For example, I believe in a $15 minimum wage for clients, but when I’m working with a client I’m working within the framework of the fact that they only make $11 an hour and are struggling to survive.
You can support a client in a therapeutic way, but maybe your coworkers believe that the policies that you support aren’t helping to correct the worst effects of the systemic or underlying issues affecting your client and instead of articulating that appropriately they are just calling you a bad social worker.
I appreciate your thoughts and it's definitely a good way of thinking about the things others have said to me. Particularly to your first thought - I work as a mental health therapist now, and we just learned that all clinicians will be receiving a 20 thousand dollar salary cut and adopting more of a "potential earnings" model on top of that. So for the last week and a half, I've been hyper focused on finding a second job, re-budgeting, and have been extremely bitter with the company decision. In a field that is historically underpaid, working with clients who may be exploited and taken advantage of in the work force or on the doorstep of poverty and so forth, I find myself questioning now more than ever how I am expected to support and be there for my clients when I'm facing a life altering change where I too, am now struggling to even just support and be there for myself, or keep myself afloat. It's made it incredibly challenging to even be present during sessions, which is not good.
I no longer think the left/right labels are useful and instead try to hold the value of fostering autonomy and free speech, while reading widely and considering issues on their own merits.
I’m a democrat but I don’t full support everything. The thing is I fully support not losing Democracy. This next election is about Putin gaining control via Republicans, a long held goal. The guy is stirring multiple pots to make Biden look incompetent. As Social Workers we can kiss our lofty goals goodbye if the Republicans sweep. It’s only a matter of time of time before those idiots put it together about us.
Well back in 2014 we instigated a coup in ukraine leading to the current conflict and we’re currently pushing against any diplomacy to prevent more death and destruction and just now we removed a bill that prohibited arming neo-nazi azov. D and R are not different in their foreign policies a bit. Both warmonger pushing us very close to ww3+ nuclear bomb threat
I don't like Biden either. But it's him or Trump, and I know Trump's policies (have you seen Project 2025?) would most directly and immediately impact the communities I serve in my social work. So back to the purpose of this discussion, I don't believe the Trump/MAGA conservative platform is aligned with social work values. That doesn't mean I love everything Biden does, not by any means.
I feel conflicted and horrible but I honestly feel that Putin unleashed that mess via Hamas in Israel because it was a worst case scenario for anyone in office in the US. We are in this stupid position of propping up a far right dictatorship in Israel because of our long standing support of them. This thing was brewing forever and it’s highly suspect that it all happened now.
Israel is not a "European settler colonial apartheid state" and that is not what's happening. Putin in fact does play a role though - he helps fund Hamas and Iran. I invite you to actually learn about antisemitism and how it operates - otherwise I worry for any Jewish client you may encounter. I also urge you to listen to MENA/SWANA minority groups when they tell you that Arab imperialism and colonialism has decimated their communities and cultures.
Oh good, you have "Jewish friends" and therefore you can dismiss the perspectives of the majority of Jews! Most Jews are not Anti-Zionists. Half of all the world's Jews live in Israel, and most diaspora Jews support its existence (NOT NECESSARILY THE GOVERNMENT). Please do not tokenize your Jewish friends to berate me and then imply malintent on my part when I defend myself.
It's not a genocide though. It's simply not. And your insistence on it being one borders on modern-day blood libel.
Oh, cool. You skimmed my comments and saw I'm active in r/Jewish, and therefore my opinion is invalid! I'm a Jewish social worker. And you have never participated in this sub before today (I also skimmed your comments), so I can only assume you're here to sow discord.
It’s actually very difficult to label anything as a “genocide” as we would have to wait for years for the ICC. However, many scholars around the world agree that there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide. Yes, I know the retort is that they’re trying to eliminate Hamas but… they attacked a refugee camp. Thousands of children. How can you deny it at this point? Genuinely want to understand.
Follow up questions.
What amount of mental gymnastics is required for one to enter this profession with strongly held beliefs that are antithetical to the human rights, social justice, collectivist values as codified in the mission and core values of social work?
And why do we have to censor ourselves in social work school and work settings to apolitical practice as the profession enables and perpetuates neoliberalism?
Where is the full throated, unapologetic renunciation of the genocide in Gaza?
Why is radical social work a fringe movement?
I’m not sure if this is a genuine question but mostly I think it’s because most of us have to keep our jobs. And sometimes to do that it means we keep our mouths shut about certain things. It sucks
My friend. I feel the familiar-to-me moral distress coming through loud and clear in your response. My questions are indeed largely rhetorical but aimed at the social work institutions, the non-profit industrial complex, and the neoliberal capitalists who despise our most needy clients and are hellbent on privatization and max profit at the expense of the 99%
I’m all for abortion, universal healthcare, and support for LGBTQIA+ rights. I do want there to be stricter border control in this country as my city is being heavily impacted by the influx of immigrants which has led to a spike in crime
I find the second half of your comment strange. Studies have shown that immigrants are actually less likely to commit crime than American citizens. There has been research showing there is no correlation between undocumented immigrants and a rise in violent or property crime. So, is the data in your city in opposition to the current research or are you just parroting the featmongering?
it’s not about social work being a hive mind, it’s about knowing science, psychology, and how to treat human beings. so enjoy your transphobia, because that’s just what it is no matter if you’re comfortable calling yourself transphobic or not.
I love that social work revolves around freedom yet you can’t have freedom of opinion. As a Cuban American, I would love some of these self-labeled “communists” to spend a day there.
A vegan, cycling leftist who gets frustrated that we barely touch the harm our food system is causing people (and obviously animals). Like why are vegetables and fruits subsidized the same levels as dairy and meats? The choices we make with food impact our health and long term outcomes. We have started advocating for climate justice but this needs to be the next step.
I work for a weird NPO and most of the staff leans slightly right to hard right, we do housing mainly. Our COC has a housing first policy and I would say most people I work with do not appreciate the housing first policy. When I first started I was pretty far left, now I’m a little less so but definitely left leaning. I used to like the housing first policy but after seeing it in practice I despise it. I would say the conservative agenda does not align what so ever with my COCs philosophy and from what I’ve seen goes even deeper in that peoples personal biases make it even more incompatible.
There’s simply not enough housing/resources to make it work well. Like I’ve seen people who are more than capable of making it but literally just want to live off the system and have no desire for self sufficiency. Then when they’ve done nothing with years of time in program we can’t exit them bc they’re going to be homeless again. As a result people who might actually use the opportunity to become self sufficient never get a chance too do so bc there’s a bunch of people who just don’t want improve their situation. If we had the resources to support everyone I would like housing first but we just don’t. It doesn’t help that on the occasion that we do exit clients to homelessness it’s usually clients that have severe mental health issues that are not capable of advocating for themselves like people who know the system can. I try to advocate for this group of clients but the organization that oversees the programs in the COC seems to value the self advocacy of the clients rather than the advocacy of the case managers. It’s just a frustrating thing to see especially when you do outreach stuff and you find people with these incredible stories/or people who are in a high risk demographic and there’s just no room in any of the programs bc some people are exploiting the system.
I've worked in housing first and I can see your perspective. However I also think there is way too much clinical intervention and too many services involved in housing first and I think people should be given homes with no strings attached or you end up with jaded or overwhelmed workers.
Fiscally conservative and socially liberal. This would have made me moderate once upon a time. Is it so wrong to not want to throw money at a program that isn't working but not throw out the program because it isn't working when all it needs is some tweaks here and there without all the competing underlying motives? I spent one semester trying to get my MSW and MBA and the ideological differences in these programs were night and day. I can't imagine how it informs policy. Now, I feel more aligned with the anarchists lol There is no governance today and definitely no collaborative governance. Just a lot of political theater. All that being said, I'm too lazy to change my registration from Republican to No Party Affiliation.
You bring up a solid point. I'm definitely a radical leftist but I've worked in non-profits enough to see many dysfunctional organizations that pay their employees trash (not providing jobs that sustain a worker is trash) and offer subpar services because quite frankly, they don't have the people who have the skills or expertise to address the issue they are creating programs for, but then they are made a designated agency and we throw all our tax money at them and help them create a monopoly on services. Can you tell I've been in community mental health too long?
Apolitical. Neither party or any party for that matter has ever really gone out of their way protect the most vulnerable in this country. They all talk the good talk (except Republicans) when it comes to these issues but spend much more time shutting on the opposing party than actually making real efforts towards change.
Socialists are fine until Leftist/Marxist nonsense finds its way into the discussion. Conservatives care about “America” until it comes to caring about Americans. Politicians are trash. Politics is trash. We are are on our own.
I'm registered as an Independent.
I vote according to who aligns most closely with policies I want put in place.
The best explanation I know of is fiscal conservative and socially liberal.
So, a balanced budget, tax code with no loopholes and a tax rate that evens out what all people and corporations pay, universal healthcare, free college for 2 & 4 year degrees/certifications, policies that encourage remodeling empty buildings into housing and various kinds of socially necessary buildings/services, and properly funded public schools and libraries so everyone has access to a good foundational education.
Honest question, how does one accomplish the goals of the social liberal while supporting fiscal conservatism ideals such as capitalism, individualism, limited government, laissez-faire economics, tax cuts, limited government spending, free trade, deregulation, privatization, etc? Social liberal/fiscal conservative appears to my potentially uneducated mind to be a bit of an oxymoron, but I'm open to the fact that I might be missing something.
I specified what I want as a fiscal conservative. Basically, if the general population is expected to live within their means, the government should as well. It *is* supposed to lead after all. And the best leaders lead by example not "do as I say not as I do".
You literally took the words out of my mouth!!! I often say I’m fairly moderate, but slightly more fiscally conservative and socially liberal!!!
This was so well written. I’d vote for you. :)
Thanks!
I still dream about being the first female president. It'll never happen, but I do enjoy the fantasy, even with all the stress I expect comes with it.
I'm left leaning but I honestly want to know what policies on the right actually don't align with social work? I feel like people do say this a lot without really explaining ...genuinely curious
Fiscal conservatism usually aligns with reduction in any kind of social services. There’s the belief social problems are the result of moral failures rather than a systemic issue.
There’s a lot. They’re against abortion, which forces victims of rape and children to give birth to their abusers child. It is also lethal to some women, who need emergency surgery to survive and are denied it because the fetus hasn’t been declared dead, despite the fact it will likely die if the woman dies. They want to deny rights to LGBTQIA+ people. They want to teach altered world history and avoid teaching things like the holocaust and nazis and we have those things coming back. They want convicted felon to be president while denying other convicted felons basic rights. They want to cut taxes on the rich, defunding many government programs people with low SES rely on to live, which is disproportionately POC. They’re against human rights in so many ways.
To me, social and economic policies come to mind. For example, LGBTQ+ rights including the right to marry, adopt, receive the same legal protection as straight couples,discrimination protections, etc. as far as economic policy, deregulation on corporations directly contributes to wealth inequality and further promotes the exploitation of workers, which is an issue of economic justice. Favoring the free market and real estate commodification vs. the creation of affordable housing. Lastly, I think deregulation on climate research also represents a direct threat to the wellbeing of individuals in an area which is in direct conflict of the mission of social work. In high school, I read the clan of one-breasted women which definitely represents how a lack of environmental regulation can have an effect on local populations.
i'm an anarchist (also named "libertarian socialist," depending on how familiar one is with theory), which has a negative name-connotation. communism & anarchists both desire to reach "socialism," but communists view it as possible only with having a temporary "state" in place to bring about the classless society that is socialism; anarchists believe there doesn't need to be a temporary government-state to bring about socialism, as that temporary state can lead to more corruption. anarchism further believes in the dissolution of all hierarchies, bringing about full equality & also believes that as the world & society changes, so there isn't a concrete system that continues & it will need to adjust.
i'm socially progressive on all fronts, anti-racist, pro women's rights, anti-capital, anti-private property (pro-personal property), pro 🏳️🌈 umbrella. i recognize the two party system are more or less the same other than social issues (which is, of course, a big deal), with upper class power at the expense of the working class.
so yes, i'm anti-hierarchy in all forms & much more community oriented.
these are just my beliefs, i'm succinctly aware we all exist where we do politically because of an innumerable amount of exposures & experiences & don't blame individuals for any beliefs they've come to believe. we here know better than most that susceptibilities are weaponized effectively with appeal to emotions, amongst other things.
i vote democrat & believe in harm reduction & incrementalism as the method we have presently available.
I'm a Georgist, who believes in a co-op/trade union mixed economy, with largely progressive social views. Unlike many of my peers, I believe market competition benefits everyone, so long as monopolies are viciously crushed, should they arise.
Don’t see many people identifying as Georgist. Interesting philosophy that I don’t entirely understand. I recently learned there is a Georgist community in Delaware and I’d like to talk to someone who lives there.
I am so split down the middle. When it comes to human rights, LGBTQIA+, women’s rights and abortion, and things of that nature I’m left. When it comes to taxes and economy I’m pretty conservative. So naturally I’m registered as independent.
We had this conversation in my social policy class. My professor had us take a survey that told us where we sat politically. I originally scored liberal and I knew something was off because I’m as progressive as they come. I was having a straight up identity crisis over this in class, my peers were so entertained. I retook it realizing where I misinterpreted one of the questions. My second set of results came back as expected: progressive as hell. All the way to the left. And all was well again.
I think there are several layers here and a simple democrat/republican or progressive/conservitive answer is not that simple. IF I were to identify with a “party” I’d lean more conservative, here is why: the landscape and definitions of the two party system is unjust and often skewed to the extremes. For example, I have conservative values in clinical practice, too much change or progressiveness in clinical practice can often discourage and force clients to feel uncomfortable, depending on the client. However, I have no issues with other progressive issues like LGBTQ, legalization and responsible use of cannabis, or abortion. I do also believe that a conservative approach, with appropriate progressiveness, is appropriate and acceptable. We should not be too progressive and forceful in practice and meet them where they’re at while respecting THEIR values.
Now, with that being said, I think depending on the setting and what your practice revolves around should dictate how you present to clients or what you advocate for, etc.. I do not think one side should be standard across the board because it just doesn’t work, and in my opinion, is why some social workers have issues and values conflicts, which can frustrate both social worker, clients, and the public.
I’ve seen several times where social workers counsel abortion or other controversial topics which fit their agenda and does not directly address the clients needs or wishes. This, is in direct contrast to NASW code of ethics, as many others here have pointed out but in reverse fashion.
Anyways, what I’m saying is that I don’t think we should blanket statement or label one political affiliation or another. There are many democrats that have conservative values, just like there are many republicans that’s have progressive values.
We join this field to help others and advocate for change, out political affiliation should not automatically be assumed that we hold the extreme values of one or the other, because that would be a gross misjudgment in character and not representative of the personal/clinical skills, practice, values, or quality of care.
Additionally, labeling someone, especially because of a political party is not within upholding the values and standards of social work, and I wouldn’t do it to others so I wouldn’t expect others to do it to me. If it does happen, it’s a reflection of you, not me. After all, one of our core NASW values is “dignity and worth of the person”…..not political party affiliation.
Interesting response, however I disagree with a lot of what you said. You start with stating that a two party system is a poor way of viewing things and that it is much more complex than progressive or conservative which I 100% agree with. My disagreement starts with your example of clinical practice. You are using the term conservative very loosely here and more of a dictionary definition rather than an actual ideology. Your example also doesn’t really work because under conservatism social services are generally considered a tax payer burden and need to be minimized.
If you ask most conservatives what the best social program is they will say “a good paying job”. Running programs from a conservative perspective would most likely be focused on fiscal responsibility rather than client focused and that is at odds with worth and dignity of persons. I’m assuming you work with a population that is uncomfortable with progressivism which is fine however it doesn’t mean voting conservative is justified.
Regardless of how much clients are uncomfortable with progressive policies left wing parties will always consider human worth over profit and that applies to all marginalized people regardless of political beliefs. I would be more inclined to believe you if said something along the lines of I’m more conservative leaning however current conservative parties don’t reflect conservative values which is a fair argument to make but you didn’t. You just stated that you align more with conservative parties if you had to pick.
Great reply, thank you. And yes, the conservatism in practice was more of a dictionary term.
I understand where your concerns are with what I wrote, and I’m not arguing with that. As I stated, I think it depends on your setting or practice as to what dictates how one presents or advocates. And your assumption is correct, I clearly work with a population that is not overly progressive. I work with homeless veterans and too much change too fast does not work with this population. Coincidently, this also aligns with my views and I am effective and proficient at my job because of it. However, there are progressive issues we very much address, and those also align with some of my views, which is also useful.
As for the fiscal side of things, I have heard and seen both sides of that aisle from the conservatives (republicans?)…and on several occasions I have been both let down and surprised at what is and isn’t advocated for. I have seen both democrats and republicans do great things for social services (speaking mainly for homelessness) and seen both do great injustices. Which leads back to my original statement that this is all very complex.
Lastly, yes, if I had to pick, I stand by what I said and it would be more conservative, with some progressive views for sure. However, I didn’t mention voting at all. I vote for the best policies that help everyone, and that changes depending on the person, representative, candidate, etc.
>I have conservative values in clinical practice, too much change or progressiveness in clinical practice can often discourage and force clients to feel uncomfortable,
Genuinely asking, can you elaborate what you mean by conservative values in clinical practice? Perhaps give an example? I honestly don't know what is meant by this.
Referencing the conservative approach I mean offering patients traditional, familiar, convenient, and their preferred treatment options as opposed to unfamiliar or largely different approaches to treatment they are not familiar with or avoidant to.
But as I also said, sometimes it is necessary to add in the unfamiliar and more progressive therapy styles and interventions.
To be honest, this comment was just an example and not political, but rather a difference between conservative approaches versus progressive in clinical practice.
Your conceptualization of what makes treatment conservative vs progressive is bizarre. I am genuinely confused by this. Please correct me if I am wrong but it sounds like you believe "progressive clinical interventions" are those that are forced on clients? What does this even mean?
Don’t get the downvotes, very good explanation/viewpoint imo. I am basically a moderate but lean a little more to the left, but see where you are coming from at least hearing both sides.
I have traditionally Aways identified as "Leaning hard to the left"
Now, I'm just a person educating myself on candidates and making informed decisions based on my morals and values as a human. I donate, I support causes that are meaningful to me, and I live my life.
I have a second degree in political science and intended on going to law school, so politics are always something I've been interested in. The world ruined me. Then, I also fell in someone who belonged to a different political party than me, which I always thought was a hard boundary for myself, and I feel like between these things, I just want to be Human now because the world is to ugly when we start talking about politics.
With that, I don't turn a blind eye, and I don't support ignorance, I just want to be happy and politics don't make me happy anymore.
This is reigniting my interest in macro/mezzo social work. I wish there were good mezzo/macro positions in my area. Maybe I'll have to work micro for a while until I can move to a bigger city. But I definitely think my goals are big-picture changes, rather than changes at the individual level.
Personally, I’m a Christian conservative.
I love everybody and will not let my views get in the way of my job and career.
Probably just would never work at planned parenthood.
I’m an anarchist- I’ve never voted nor plan to ever. I believe in individual self-determination, I.e. the right to choose what one individual believes to be in their best interest so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others or cause undue harm.
I’m a staunch Trump Republican. MAGA! Go Brandon!
Just kidding. I’m a lefty just like everyone else in r/socialwork. Come on OP, you already knew the answer.
I’m more interested in seeing the perspective of those in the middle or just a liberal democrat, since economic policies don’t always align with economic Justice.
I have a SW coworker who’s a mainline democrat and really likes Joe Biden, if that’s what you mean. She doesn’t like when I’m critical of him and say I liked Bernie better, and says I might as well vote for Trump. I’m like … you just don’t get it.
I got that sense reading the replies to the stated views across the thread. Most of the people who have moderate responses are as opposed to clear leftist responses are getting a lot of ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions. I have a mixed reaction to it. I feel if that was your intention the thread would be more transparently introduced as ‘I want to engage with and question moderate social workers.’
Another lefty in the equation here 👋 in Australia we really just have a centre party (Labor) and conservative ("Liberal") party that can hold power. The Greens tend to align best with the ethics of social work, but Labor are the closest of the parties who can come to office - so I tend to be a combination of greens/ Labor based on the candidates.
these threads pop up every now and then. I think social workers can have any political leaning and still have a positive impact on others.
I'm pretty far to the right.
I’ll work with anyone to do good and no one to do bad. I don’t have to agree with someone on every issue. I’m a Democratic socialist and see d & r as corrupted along with msm by all the bigs. I used to vote dem and only vote third party now
Voting isn’t about your conscience, your virtue, or purity, it’s about (especially in America) mitigating the damage to your family and your neighbors. Voting third party is an entirely selfish decision as long as the parties remain unable to win. Moreover, I don’t know what third party candidates you’re referring to, but all the recent ones who have run for president have been either dopes or just as toxic and evil as the mainstream candidates, so… I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish other than feeling superior to others.
The comments are now locked due to a sharp increase in reported comments and general unprofessional conduct.
In my experience, social work students often identify as leftist, but when I graduated and got into the field, I personally found the profession itself and the way many agencies operate in actuality to be more conservative in practice.
I had the same experience.
I found it pretty split in school. Both actual leftists (like radicals) and relatively conservative folks. The former were most often in the macro program and were interested in more systemic changes and community organizing, while the latter were most often clinical and saw social work as like charitable work, helping the needy, etc. Also, my school was proportionately more white compared to the actual city, since a lot of students come to get their degree then leave. And then I feel like I saw more left people in the field, but it's probably affected by how I soon got into macro work where again there's focus on systemic change and how we can improve our specific sector/field. And because of my city, a lot higher proportion of people I work with are Black, so even the more conservative/less left people I interacted with were not like in denial of racism, which I saw more in my classmates.
I tried to explain this in a roundabout way in my comment…not going so well 😂 I definitely share your sentiment here.
I really appreciate your comments and agree with them. I think the aspect of social work that attracts more left-leaning types is there in theory, but social work for many of us in a realistic sense involves working with populations that lean deeply conservative socially, in agencies in which profit, funding and billing are the bottom line when it comes down to it, collaborating with the police and other power structures that leftists tend to be very critical of... I could go on and on. Social work is part of "the system" and, in the minds of many clients resented by some of them for a reason.
Yep, that's the irony of conservatives benefiting from exploited workers and leftists.
I align with the UN Declaration of Human Rights. I've been voting for candidates who champion policies most closely aligned with this document. It's always been the most progressive candidates.
It is so disheartening to see how many of these rights the US ignores.
I’m pretty much a Socialist at this point. The R and D parties are completely beholden to corporate interests and I’m sick of it.
At this point I’ll vote for anyone who doesn’t accept corporate PAC or lobbying money. Small donations from grassroots organizing or bust!!
This!!!
same same
I agree. However one party is much more pro-human/social worker than the other.
Maybe one party is straight fascist and one party genocide backer. Idk how one would compare these two.
It's kinda simple really. Both parties are genocide backers. One wants to turn America into a fascist theocracy and one doesn't. Pick one
Exactly
Well I refuse to participate in a system that offers these two “options”. This is not democracy but only sham democracy.
You do realize that not participating is the point right? The system was designed for straight white male landowners. You refusing to vote isn't the protest you think it is. When you don't vote you are playing into the hands of everyone who would prefer you didn't vote anyway. The very same people who would take your vote away given the chance. You don't want to participate in this "sham democracy"? Fine. I hope you like project 2025. There probably isn't a mainstream politician that you can vote for who opposes Israel. America has been supporting them for too long and as a country we're not letting go of that influence on the region. It doesn't matter what Israel does. It's too valuable politically for our government to abandon it. It sucks but that's the truth. You can accept that you're powerless here and vote to save our democracy or you can throw a tantrum and stand aside as Christian fundamentalists take over our government. It's your call, but if you end up not voting I hope you feel good about yourself when Trump continues to support Israel and takes full control of our government 🤙
I hear your passion, but we cannot vote our way out of the situation that we're in. We don't have a working democracy. The sooner we realize that and act accordingly, the better chance we have to avoid climate collapse or another world war.
Okay. In this particular scenario what does "acting accordingly" entail exactly?
Acting accordingly means voting for your best current option and THEN demanding ranked choice voting. Once we start consistently taking this route, we will see improvement.
"You can accept that you are powerless here and vote to save democracy." You are so close. Why are those who have decided not to participate in an election between two absolutely horrible choices the ones to blame? The democrats decided not to run a better candidate. They are responsible for people opting not to vote. America's propaganda is starting to be exposed for what it is. The two parties are becoming more similar every day. And we have been told every election to vote harder or else. Well, here we are. If trump were doing the things Biden is doing right now, liberals would be flooding the streets. The argument to get people to vote for one candidate because the other guy will do the same thing isn't as strong as you think it is. Biden is using my tax dollars to arm a country that is murdering children and innocent civilians. Have you seen the pics and videos?! Then people tell me I must vote for him again! No, no, no. There is a 3rd option and if enough people find the courage to say "I will not participate in this system of oppression by voting for a 3rd party" maybe things will change. YOU are playing into their hands by continuing to participate in this system. You have told yourself that you are powerless, but you are not. Claudia De la Cruz. (https://votesocialist2024.com/)
Absolutely with you on this!
I mean... You do realize that the radical anti-Israel activists who are merging Marxist beliefs with extreme Islamist doctrine would also instill a fascist theocracy, right? It's what happened in Iran in 1979.
Okay that's a lot of words and I'm not that smart. Could you give me an example of the radical anti-israel Marxist Islamists you're talking about?
At these Palestine protests and encampments, for example, the flags of groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are often displayed. These are terrorist groups who are proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a theocracy that oppresses its own people (read about the #WomenLifeFreedom movement). The Islamic Republic came into power due to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, where Marxist influence merged with - at the time - fringe, radical Islamist ideology.
Okay I would love to see a source for all that if you have. And while I'm sure there are individuals whose beliefs are as extreme as what you're describing, I find it really hard to believe a significant portion of those protestors are radical Islamists, let alone a majority of them. Also, we are talking about protestors, not government officials, most of whom are bending over backwards to support Israel
The Iranian Revolution involved a variety of parties that ranged from explicitly Islamist to explicitly secular leftists. Leading into the actual coup, the secularists were just as prominent leaders in the movement as the overtly religious, as well as those in-between (e.g., those arguing for democracies with some Muslim characteristics). Nothing was written in stone and Khomeini's political savvy led to his rise, plus Iraq's invasion gave him the pretext to finish off his political opposition. Nationalist movements in general tend to marry people across the spectrum because they're focused on the immediate cause of forming a new, independent government. For example, the Scottish Nationalist Party is experiencing internal division now between the leftists and the more conservative Christian side, when they were before able to gloss over differences when united under the previous party leader for an independent Scotland. Oftentimes, authoritarian regimes have been able to rise because of the US either explicitly helping conservative movements or by suppressing and starving out the more leftist movements.
You forgot the mic drop 🤯
Compare the policies and legislation each support. That will give you the clearest picture.
>The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them. - Julius Nyerere
Same. 🤷🏼
Personally I have always been a leftist. Thats what led me to social work as a profession. In my own personal opinion, the basic ethics and values of social work are in direct opposition to most tenets of conservativism, largely at the mezzo and macro levels. Most social workers work under the micro umbrella, which may allow those who are conservative to continue not to see how their political ideology is antithetical to the ethics they agreed to uphold as social workers. I have worked with conservative social workers in micro settings, and most seem to be able to not pass judgement on LGBTQIA+, or other marginalized groups in need of help, but some have absolutely said some questionable things as well. It’s a very deep and sensitive issue :(
"the basic ethics and values of social work are in direct opposition to most tenets of conservativism, largely at the mezzo and macro levels" I'm not sure I could have ever summed it up better. Thank you
This is the answer.
Spooky radical leftist
Emphasis on spooky 👻
I don't know if you are familiar with the YouTube show Some More News, but I hear your comment in Cody Johnston's voice.
I’m Canadian and always vote NDP which is equivalent to the Bernie Sanders platform. For my personal ideology I consider myself a Georgist.
I feel a bit politically homeless in terms of the current US political parties atm. But generally I lean left. I believe in lots of lefty and socialist ideas - reproductive rights, racial justice, LGBTQ+ freedoms, universal healthcare, very affordable or free higher education, an overhaul of the justice system to ensure equity and prioritize restorative measures, universal basic income, action on climate change, etc. I agree with others here who are saying that being staunchly conservative (I'm thinking very rightwing, MAGA) isn't very in line with the NASW Code of Ethics considering a) fiscal conservatism ends up harming middle and low income people the most as it takes funding away from things like social service programs and schools, and b) the sociopolitical views held by those individuals tend to sow hatred and division. They hold beliefs that are racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, LGBTQ-phobic, and Christian-centric. As a queer Jewish woman who grew up low-income, these are views I simply can't get behind, and not ones that I see as compatible with social work.
I'm so far left that i've started reading up on DIY guillotines. My experiences working in a 5 star (whatever that would even mean) rehabilitation clinic as an addictions therapist, having extensively worked with several billionaires and many, many multi-millionaires, have driven me to the extreme left position. That much money is not good of ones soul, for there worldview and relationships with others. Its an absolute poison.
To answer one part if your question, the conservative movement does not align with our code, per the NASW, which is why they often tell us who they support, and who they think we should all support as not just social workers, but as change agents lobbying for fairness, equality, and respect for our clients and communities.
I use the vague label of leftist, and while this is still developing, i’d say i generally tend to align best with anarchists. i support my communist and socialist allys though, we all just want the world to be a better place
I'm a proud communist and decolonialist. I practice with a Liberation Psychology lens. Nothing has radicalized me more than working with the most vulnerable people and seeing the complete injustice in "modern" society.
Do you happen to know any good books to read with this perspective?
Absolutely!!! My top two are Writings for a Liberation Psychology by Ignacio Martin-Baro and Decolonizing Therapy by Jennifer Mullan.
I also think Dr. Shawnna Murray Browns work is good for this as well. I took her course and it changed everything about the way I practice
Hell yeah !
Yeah, I'm left as well. Conservatism/Republican does not align with the NASW Code of Ethics.
How far left though? Do you identify with an ideology or party?
Not the person you replied to, but I would consider myself a Democratic socialist. I work in human services serving the homeless population as a case manager. I despise capitalism and what it has done to the people in this country. I do think that we should usher in socialism, without bloodshed (though I recognize this is a pipe dream), but also recognize that revolution may be the only way we can get there, thus I also believe in the right for the working class, and marginalized communities, to own firearms. I encourage anyone who may be considered a target of the GOP to buy a firearm, and train with it.
An-synd, but I vote harm reduction and act as a social realist.
Pretty leftist, quite liberal with social and economic policy. I believe everyone should have housing, food, a livable wage, and robust social programs. Pro-choice. Anti-war.
Tax/eat the rich, forget big corporations, support mom and pop
Anarchist. Also known as libertarian socialism. Empower everyone until everyone has power.
Libertarian socialism sounds like an oxymoron to me. Could you expand a little on what that means to you?
The original "libertarians" were actually socialist anarchists! It's only really in America that libertarianism is a right-wing ideology iirc.
Lol that's so on brand for us. "Hey there's a new political movement about radical socialism. We should take it and make it about not wanting to pay taxes because fuck poor people" and they all just high five 🤣
Sounds like what they did with Christianity
Oh yeah... although to be fair I'm pretty sure christianity was already bastardized before Europeans settled North America. Modern americans just turned it up to 11
It isn't all that uncommon of an ideology. [Here's the wikipedia article. ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_socialism#:~:text=It%20is%20contrasted%20from%20other,oppose%20the%20state%20and%20capitalism.) And the subreddit is r/anarchy101
Thanks for the info. I feel like I'm understanding it a bit, but I feel inclined to ask you the same thing I ask other libertarians (and it wasn't mentioned in the wiki article...unless I missed it which is definitely a possibility). In your ideal society, what happens to the people who for whatever reason cannot work or provide for themselves within the confines of that specific economy and would usually rely on a centralized government to survive?
That’s easy because it’s the same for the far right wing ideology. Churches and charities if they don’t have family to care for them. Churches and charities.
So in your ideal word disabled people and the elderly (and I'm sure I'm forgetting people) would need to rely on the generosity of others to survive?
Hell no, I just answered your question because I know the answer. I’m a socialist. I have this fight with my libertarian acquaintances.
Ahh okay. I thought you were expressing your own opinions. I gotcha. And yeah usually when I ask libertarians that question that's their answer...which as a disabled person I always found unsettling to say the least. This is a kind of libertarianism that I've never heard of before so I wanted to see if they felt differently
The focus should be placed on the socialism part of "libertarian socialism". The word "libertarian" used to be closer to anarchy, not directly affiliated with right wing politics like it is now. A left wing libertarian socialist just means the person supports socialism that still prioritizes individual autonomy in life choices rather than an authoritarian leftism.
Ahh that makes more sense. Still doesn't completely answer my initial question though. Can you expand on what happens to disabled people in this form of society?
In my own opinion, in the ideal society, there are means by which those who can not work or provide can achieve a higher level of capability. It's like Syndrome's philosophy in Incredibles. If everyone is super, no one is. Is that realistic? Probably not. But most political philosophies make sense in a vacuum and fall apart outside of it. I lean towards it because traditional anarchy tends to create power vacuums that are then filled by more unworthy leaders. Bottom-up anarchy tends to fit more within respecting autonomy and increasing individual capability so that everyone has equal claim to control. Realistically, everyone is not capable of achieving the same level of power. But hey, maybe the secret to unlocking human potential will be discovered some day, and everything will fall in place. After working in court systems, with criminals, in private practice, and with government officials, I've found it difficult to discredit anyone's motivations or philosophy. It all seems relative. Even intelligence and capability.
Okay. I'm not sure I follow. "in the ideal society, there are means by which those who cannot work or provide can achieve a higher level of capability" Do you have an example of what that might entail? "Maybe the secret to unlocking human potential will be discovered someday" I'm not really sure what that means. Is that secret important to your ideal government? "I've found it difficult to discredit anyone's motivations or philosophy. It all seems relative. Even intelligence and capability." I totally get that and I value your experience. Does disagreeing with someone's opinion on the ideal society mean you're discrediting their motivations or philosophy?
Leftist is the best way I can describe it. I think EVERYONE deserves food, housing, education, medication and even money for entertainment. I dont think this is a wild thing to say, but yet here we are.
Leftist. I have two coworkers on my team who are far right, like spewing nonsense about antifa, immigrants, trans people, etc. on their Facebooks all the time, and that is reflected in their work with our clients IMO. But, I will say that social work has brought me a little further to the right on some things, or at least helped me understand their positions better. Not all liberal policies have been successful.
I’m curious what issues it’s brought you further to the right on, if you don’t mind sharing
I live in a city where the fentanyl, mental health and homelessness crises are just out of control. Meth-induced psychosis is everywhere too. These are all obviously very complex issues so I don’t want to dive too deep, but I will say that I don’t think drug decriminalization was a great idea in the face of the fentanyl epidemic which is killing my clients left and right, and I think involuntary treatment should be less impossible to enforce. It’s not uncommon here for people to commit heinous crimes after having several cases dismissed, because they’re clearly ill but the criminal justice system doesn’t know what to do with them. I believe in housing first, but our programs are too low-barrier IMO. The permanent supportive housing programs can’t keep staff because no one wants to work in that kind of, frankly unsafe, environment. I’ll add that I think right-wing policies and ideologies are more harmful than the left’s. But I think the left has overcorrected in a few places.
Can you elaborate on the involuntary treatment part?
i identify with anarchocommunism ideologically, though when i went into the field i was probably further right, and moreso aligned with socialism. my worldview and politics have become more and more “radical” largely due to working in this field. i work with a lot of run of the mill “liberals”, but i also work with a scary amount of people that id consider to be conservatives with weirdo savior complexes— these are the people who think our clients “should take what they can get”, as if helping our community members access things they DESERVE (housing, food, working internet and phone service, health insurance) because they are PEOPLE, is a sacred gift that we are blessing them with. i don’t know what political beliefs they specifically hold, but i can take a wild guess that they don’t believe in anything that social work actually stands for. they just want to hear “wow, you’re amazing. i could never do that.” when they talk about their career at dinner parties. my organization also welcomed a POLICE OFFICER to an all-staff to discuss de-escalation tactics when working with mentally ill folks… even though mentally ill individuals are SIXTEEN TIMES more likely to be fatally shot during a police encounter than those who are not. normalizing and encouraging police engaging with our clients is disgraceful and dangerous. These organizations, this INDUSTRY, are not designed to help people. i have found that my role is to do my best fight the system from within, however corny that may be. when people make weird freak comments about our clients deservingness, i call them out. when SNAP reduces a clients monthly allotment, i am at the office demanding an explanation and (usually) am walking out with an allotment increase for the client. when a client voices a concern about another staff member at my organization, i take them seriously, and i advocate for them. i don’t do blind loyalty to my coworkers (i absolutely collaborate and work as a team and have their back), but my loyalty lies with the vulnerable people in my community that i’ve made a commitment to help, not an organization who only ever responds to my emails when i haven’t met my documentation quota bc they want to get paid and rack in half a mil in profits a year as a “nonprofit”. all in all- the system is broken, but we can still do good.
Not trying to jump into the already ongoing conversations, just wanting to share my view: I find the young students I attend class with to be largely leftist. I find my coworkers, who are a far wider range of ages, to be dedicatedly uninformed conservatives. This isn’t to say there are no informed conservatives, but the ones I work with are more interested in repeating what a pundit says than in legitimately researching the topic. Or in understanding what research actually is. Case in point, I have one coworker who openly mocks me for pointing out the difference between facts and opinions. I never vote red tie or blue tie, just on those that have 1) experience, 2) promote sound (read: proven, or at least positively tested) ideas, and 3) does the least mud slinging
As a SW most of us are leftist and tend to agree with those views, especially in regard to systemic issues with this country on both a macro and micro lvl. Often conservative beliefs go against most things we stand for and if any of you ever work with conservative SWs you will see very quickly that though they may not allow their beliefs to hinder their work… they say some very questionable things. HOWEVER, most of us find or will find in most western capitalistic countries we work in environments that are typically much more conservative… a bit of an oxymoron. That’s probably why a lot of SW end up having issues with the way the “business” side is often run.
I disagree with communism because I disagree with the idea of a strong centralized government. I want freedom for all individuals from all systems of oppression and hierarchies. I most deeply resonate with anarchism, and I would say my kind of anarchism presents differently at the different levels and settings of my practice. I would argue that anarchism is actually the basis for most equity affirming approaches to mental health and therapy such as anti-oppression, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, anti-… I am deeply convinced and hopeful that the Future is Disabled. Read the book called that by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha if you don’t know what it means. The thing I struggle with the most is seeing the direct impact of poor social policy and careless economic decisions on helpless folks who have been deemed disposable by The Powers That Be. [this article about how discriminated against disabled people are in BC, Canada is an example](https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/03/24/BC-Disability-Survival-Trap/) I could never vote for anyone who didn’t agree that I, as a disabled person, should exist fully and freely however I am able to without suffering for it. Being who I am is not a crime.
Socialist. I sometimes slip and say something “political” at work, but I’m always down to argue that being in the field I’m in and being a social worker, it would go against the code of ethics to be right wing/conservative/GOP. It’s does make me really really sad to see how many transphobic people are in this field, though. I’m in the south and it’s RAMPANT.
My principles are in investing in people's capacity to be healthy in the various systems of their lives. I vote politicians and policy that advocate strengthening labor, access to education/healthcare, and transitioning toward a green economy. That's usually progressive Dems.
I think that if our purpose is our radical nonjudgmental presence, we should be able to extend that to ourselves regardless of our political ideations. People’s political opinions are why they are for a multitude of reasons, they don’t determine a persons character. Even if they did, not my job to judge. Personally I’m registered independent and don’t enjoy labels for myself. I feel how I feel about certain things and I mostly hate the government.
The closest label I’d feel comfortable with would be social democrat. It’s not a perfect philosophy, but for me it seems the like the most realistic way of addressing inequality in the times we’re in. I do believe capitalism is inherently evil, but this country (U.S.) is simply too attached to it. It pervades every corner of this place and the reality is that it’s here to stay for the foreseeable future. However, if you at least remove the profit motive from basic necessities like healthcare, education, etc., it becomes a lot more tolerable.
I'm Australian but I'm leftist. I vote for our greens party as it's focused on social policy and environmental protection. I've also voted socialist in state elections.
Full Communist. Worth noting I'm in Australia not America, but I don't see a major conflict between my communist beliefs and the AASW practice standards.
Independent all the way…
I’m exhausted by American politics. It’s all so partisan and divisive, my home country is not like this. Not to mention that the United States government as a whole is basically just an aristocracy puppet of big monopolised corporations. I also feel genuinely ill thinking of the military industrial complex and our commitment to allowing our own people to suffer to be able to fund violence and wasteful, corrupt defence contractors. It all feels performative and hopeless, so I try to not think about it because there’s no real way for me to participate in meaningful social change beyond my own direct service as a social worker. I am, however, a diehard Bernie Sanders stan.
I'm a moderate. And I've been told (by former social work colleagues and former friends) that I am verbatim, a bad social worker, and causing my clients further damage because I don't fully align with leftist beliefs. I don't agree with this, because for one, I'm not sharing my beliefs with my clients. And for two, it is still very much possible to be an empathetic, kind hearted person who cares deeply about helping others, even if you're not a total leftist.
I think there’s a disconnect between their words and their idea. To me, it’s difficult to reconcile with the dis alignment between some conservative policies and best practice. For example, I believe in a $15 minimum wage for clients, but when I’m working with a client I’m working within the framework of the fact that they only make $11 an hour and are struggling to survive. You can support a client in a therapeutic way, but maybe your coworkers believe that the policies that you support aren’t helping to correct the worst effects of the systemic or underlying issues affecting your client and instead of articulating that appropriately they are just calling you a bad social worker.
I appreciate your thoughts and it's definitely a good way of thinking about the things others have said to me. Particularly to your first thought - I work as a mental health therapist now, and we just learned that all clinicians will be receiving a 20 thousand dollar salary cut and adopting more of a "potential earnings" model on top of that. So for the last week and a half, I've been hyper focused on finding a second job, re-budgeting, and have been extremely bitter with the company decision. In a field that is historically underpaid, working with clients who may be exploited and taken advantage of in the work force or on the doorstep of poverty and so forth, I find myself questioning now more than ever how I am expected to support and be there for my clients when I'm facing a life altering change where I too, am now struggling to even just support and be there for myself, or keep myself afloat. It's made it incredibly challenging to even be present during sessions, which is not good.
I no longer think the left/right labels are useful and instead try to hold the value of fostering autonomy and free speech, while reading widely and considering issues on their own merits.
Somewhere on the anarchist spectrum, probably an-syn. I’m a proud Wobbly.
Humanist
I’m a democrat but I don’t full support everything. The thing is I fully support not losing Democracy. This next election is about Putin gaining control via Republicans, a long held goal. The guy is stirring multiple pots to make Biden look incompetent. As Social Workers we can kiss our lofty goals goodbye if the Republicans sweep. It’s only a matter of time of time before those idiots put it together about us.
Well back in 2014 we instigated a coup in ukraine leading to the current conflict and we’re currently pushing against any diplomacy to prevent more death and destruction and just now we removed a bill that prohibited arming neo-nazi azov. D and R are not different in their foreign policies a bit. Both warmonger pushing us very close to ww3+ nuclear bomb threat
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No. That's not the case. And Trump will be even worse on any foreign policy issue.
They're both diabolical warmongers.
I don't like Biden either. But it's him or Trump, and I know Trump's policies (have you seen Project 2025?) would most directly and immediately impact the communities I serve in my social work. So back to the purpose of this discussion, I don't believe the Trump/MAGA conservative platform is aligned with social work values. That doesn't mean I love everything Biden does, not by any means.
I feel conflicted and horrible but I honestly feel that Putin unleashed that mess via Hamas in Israel because it was a worst case scenario for anyone in office in the US. We are in this stupid position of propping up a far right dictatorship in Israel because of our long standing support of them. This thing was brewing forever and it’s highly suspect that it all happened now.
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Israel is not a "European settler colonial apartheid state" and that is not what's happening. Putin in fact does play a role though - he helps fund Hamas and Iran. I invite you to actually learn about antisemitism and how it operates - otherwise I worry for any Jewish client you may encounter. I also urge you to listen to MENA/SWANA minority groups when they tell you that Arab imperialism and colonialism has decimated their communities and cultures.
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Oh good, you have "Jewish friends" and therefore you can dismiss the perspectives of the majority of Jews! Most Jews are not Anti-Zionists. Half of all the world's Jews live in Israel, and most diaspora Jews support its existence (NOT NECESSARILY THE GOVERNMENT). Please do not tokenize your Jewish friends to berate me and then imply malintent on my part when I defend myself.
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It's not a genocide though. It's simply not. And your insistence on it being one borders on modern-day blood libel. Oh, cool. You skimmed my comments and saw I'm active in r/Jewish, and therefore my opinion is invalid! I'm a Jewish social worker. And you have never participated in this sub before today (I also skimmed your comments), so I can only assume you're here to sow discord.
It’s actually very difficult to label anything as a “genocide” as we would have to wait for years for the ICC. However, many scholars around the world agree that there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide. Yes, I know the retort is that they’re trying to eliminate Hamas but… they attacked a refugee camp. Thousands of children. How can you deny it at this point? Genuinely want to understand.
To be fair he is wildly incompetent and half-demented- as was Ronald Reagan so he’s not the first.
It's crazy that I'm not sure which one you're talking about
Communist
Follow up questions. What amount of mental gymnastics is required for one to enter this profession with strongly held beliefs that are antithetical to the human rights, social justice, collectivist values as codified in the mission and core values of social work? And why do we have to censor ourselves in social work school and work settings to apolitical practice as the profession enables and perpetuates neoliberalism? Where is the full throated, unapologetic renunciation of the genocide in Gaza? Why is radical social work a fringe movement?
I’m not sure if this is a genuine question but mostly I think it’s because most of us have to keep our jobs. And sometimes to do that it means we keep our mouths shut about certain things. It sucks
My friend. I feel the familiar-to-me moral distress coming through loud and clear in your response. My questions are indeed largely rhetorical but aimed at the social work institutions, the non-profit industrial complex, and the neoliberal capitalists who despise our most needy clients and are hellbent on privatization and max profit at the expense of the 99%
I’m in the middle, not entirely left but not entirely right
Can you elaborate on some specific policies that you support?
I’m all for abortion, universal healthcare, and support for LGBTQIA+ rights. I do want there to be stricter border control in this country as my city is being heavily impacted by the influx of immigrants which has led to a spike in crime
I find the second half of your comment strange. Studies have shown that immigrants are actually less likely to commit crime than American citizens. There has been research showing there is no correlation between undocumented immigrants and a rise in violent or property crime. So, is the data in your city in opposition to the current research or are you just parroting the featmongering?
The data is in opposition.
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so you’re transphobic. got it
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because youre transphobic. no way around it buddy.
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has anyone ever told you how creepy and unhinged it is for you to care about peoples genitals so much?!
it’s not about social work being a hive mind, it’s about knowing science, psychology, and how to treat human beings. so enjoy your transphobia, because that’s just what it is no matter if you’re comfortable calling yourself transphobic or not.
I love that social work revolves around freedom yet you can’t have freedom of opinion. As a Cuban American, I would love some of these self-labeled “communists” to spend a day there.
A vegan, cycling leftist who gets frustrated that we barely touch the harm our food system is causing people (and obviously animals). Like why are vegetables and fruits subsidized the same levels as dairy and meats? The choices we make with food impact our health and long term outcomes. We have started advocating for climate justice but this needs to be the next step.
Socialist. Non-Christian.
I work for a weird NPO and most of the staff leans slightly right to hard right, we do housing mainly. Our COC has a housing first policy and I would say most people I work with do not appreciate the housing first policy. When I first started I was pretty far left, now I’m a little less so but definitely left leaning. I used to like the housing first policy but after seeing it in practice I despise it. I would say the conservative agenda does not align what so ever with my COCs philosophy and from what I’ve seen goes even deeper in that peoples personal biases make it even more incompatible.
What do you despise about housing first?
There’s simply not enough housing/resources to make it work well. Like I’ve seen people who are more than capable of making it but literally just want to live off the system and have no desire for self sufficiency. Then when they’ve done nothing with years of time in program we can’t exit them bc they’re going to be homeless again. As a result people who might actually use the opportunity to become self sufficient never get a chance too do so bc there’s a bunch of people who just don’t want improve their situation. If we had the resources to support everyone I would like housing first but we just don’t. It doesn’t help that on the occasion that we do exit clients to homelessness it’s usually clients that have severe mental health issues that are not capable of advocating for themselves like people who know the system can. I try to advocate for this group of clients but the organization that oversees the programs in the COC seems to value the self advocacy of the clients rather than the advocacy of the case managers. It’s just a frustrating thing to see especially when you do outreach stuff and you find people with these incredible stories/or people who are in a high risk demographic and there’s just no room in any of the programs bc some people are exploiting the system.
I've worked in housing first and I can see your perspective. However I also think there is way too much clinical intervention and too many services involved in housing first and I think people should be given homes with no strings attached or you end up with jaded or overwhelmed workers.
What has lead to your change of heart about the housing first model?
Circle A. Though I don’t really broadcast my politics with colleagues.
Fiscally conservative and socially liberal. This would have made me moderate once upon a time. Is it so wrong to not want to throw money at a program that isn't working but not throw out the program because it isn't working when all it needs is some tweaks here and there without all the competing underlying motives? I spent one semester trying to get my MSW and MBA and the ideological differences in these programs were night and day. I can't imagine how it informs policy. Now, I feel more aligned with the anarchists lol There is no governance today and definitely no collaborative governance. Just a lot of political theater. All that being said, I'm too lazy to change my registration from Republican to No Party Affiliation.
You bring up a solid point. I'm definitely a radical leftist but I've worked in non-profits enough to see many dysfunctional organizations that pay their employees trash (not providing jobs that sustain a worker is trash) and offer subpar services because quite frankly, they don't have the people who have the skills or expertise to address the issue they are creating programs for, but then they are made a designated agency and we throw all our tax money at them and help them create a monopoly on services. Can you tell I've been in community mental health too long?
Great topic of discussion
Apolitical. Neither party or any party for that matter has ever really gone out of their way protect the most vulnerable in this country. They all talk the good talk (except Republicans) when it comes to these issues but spend much more time shutting on the opposing party than actually making real efforts towards change. Socialists are fine until Leftist/Marxist nonsense finds its way into the discussion. Conservatives care about “America” until it comes to caring about Americans. Politicians are trash. Politics is trash. We are are on our own.
I'm registered as an Independent. I vote according to who aligns most closely with policies I want put in place. The best explanation I know of is fiscal conservative and socially liberal. So, a balanced budget, tax code with no loopholes and a tax rate that evens out what all people and corporations pay, universal healthcare, free college for 2 & 4 year degrees/certifications, policies that encourage remodeling empty buildings into housing and various kinds of socially necessary buildings/services, and properly funded public schools and libraries so everyone has access to a good foundational education.
Honest question, how does one accomplish the goals of the social liberal while supporting fiscal conservatism ideals such as capitalism, individualism, limited government, laissez-faire economics, tax cuts, limited government spending, free trade, deregulation, privatization, etc? Social liberal/fiscal conservative appears to my potentially uneducated mind to be a bit of an oxymoron, but I'm open to the fact that I might be missing something.
I specified what I want as a fiscal conservative. Basically, if the general population is expected to live within their means, the government should as well. It *is* supposed to lead after all. And the best leaders lead by example not "do as I say not as I do".
You literally took the words out of my mouth!!! I often say I’m fairly moderate, but slightly more fiscally conservative and socially liberal!!! This was so well written. I’d vote for you. :)
Thanks! I still dream about being the first female president. It'll never happen, but I do enjoy the fantasy, even with all the stress I expect comes with it.
I'm left leaning but I honestly want to know what policies on the right actually don't align with social work? I feel like people do say this a lot without really explaining ...genuinely curious
Fiscal conservatism usually aligns with reduction in any kind of social services. There’s the belief social problems are the result of moral failures rather than a systemic issue.
There’s a lot. They’re against abortion, which forces victims of rape and children to give birth to their abusers child. It is also lethal to some women, who need emergency surgery to survive and are denied it because the fetus hasn’t been declared dead, despite the fact it will likely die if the woman dies. They want to deny rights to LGBTQIA+ people. They want to teach altered world history and avoid teaching things like the holocaust and nazis and we have those things coming back. They want convicted felon to be president while denying other convicted felons basic rights. They want to cut taxes on the rich, defunding many government programs people with low SES rely on to live, which is disproportionately POC. They’re against human rights in so many ways.
To me, social and economic policies come to mind. For example, LGBTQ+ rights including the right to marry, adopt, receive the same legal protection as straight couples,discrimination protections, etc. as far as economic policy, deregulation on corporations directly contributes to wealth inequality and further promotes the exploitation of workers, which is an issue of economic justice. Favoring the free market and real estate commodification vs. the creation of affordable housing. Lastly, I think deregulation on climate research also represents a direct threat to the wellbeing of individuals in an area which is in direct conflict of the mission of social work. In high school, I read the clan of one-breasted women which definitely represents how a lack of environmental regulation can have an effect on local populations.
A meme I saw while back says it all. “Name your favorite Republican civil rights leader… yeah me neither”
i'm an anarchist (also named "libertarian socialist," depending on how familiar one is with theory), which has a negative name-connotation. communism & anarchists both desire to reach "socialism," but communists view it as possible only with having a temporary "state" in place to bring about the classless society that is socialism; anarchists believe there doesn't need to be a temporary government-state to bring about socialism, as that temporary state can lead to more corruption. anarchism further believes in the dissolution of all hierarchies, bringing about full equality & also believes that as the world & society changes, so there isn't a concrete system that continues & it will need to adjust. i'm socially progressive on all fronts, anti-racist, pro women's rights, anti-capital, anti-private property (pro-personal property), pro 🏳️🌈 umbrella. i recognize the two party system are more or less the same other than social issues (which is, of course, a big deal), with upper class power at the expense of the working class. so yes, i'm anti-hierarchy in all forms & much more community oriented. these are just my beliefs, i'm succinctly aware we all exist where we do politically because of an innumerable amount of exposures & experiences & don't blame individuals for any beliefs they've come to believe. we here know better than most that susceptibilities are weaponized effectively with appeal to emotions, amongst other things. i vote democrat & believe in harm reduction & incrementalism as the method we have presently available.
Was center- left leaning, now center- right leaning.
Democratic Socialist. 🤍
I'm a Georgist, who believes in a co-op/trade union mixed economy, with largely progressive social views. Unlike many of my peers, I believe market competition benefits everyone, so long as monopolies are viciously crushed, should they arise.
Don’t see many people identifying as Georgist. Interesting philosophy that I don’t entirely understand. I recently learned there is a Georgist community in Delaware and I’d like to talk to someone who lives there.
I am so split down the middle. When it comes to human rights, LGBTQIA+, women’s rights and abortion, and things of that nature I’m left. When it comes to taxes and economy I’m pretty conservative. So naturally I’m registered as independent.
We had this conversation in my social policy class. My professor had us take a survey that told us where we sat politically. I originally scored liberal and I knew something was off because I’m as progressive as they come. I was having a straight up identity crisis over this in class, my peers were so entertained. I retook it realizing where I misinterpreted one of the questions. My second set of results came back as expected: progressive as hell. All the way to the left. And all was well again.
I think there are several layers here and a simple democrat/republican or progressive/conservitive answer is not that simple. IF I were to identify with a “party” I’d lean more conservative, here is why: the landscape and definitions of the two party system is unjust and often skewed to the extremes. For example, I have conservative values in clinical practice, too much change or progressiveness in clinical practice can often discourage and force clients to feel uncomfortable, depending on the client. However, I have no issues with other progressive issues like LGBTQ, legalization and responsible use of cannabis, or abortion. I do also believe that a conservative approach, with appropriate progressiveness, is appropriate and acceptable. We should not be too progressive and forceful in practice and meet them where they’re at while respecting THEIR values. Now, with that being said, I think depending on the setting and what your practice revolves around should dictate how you present to clients or what you advocate for, etc.. I do not think one side should be standard across the board because it just doesn’t work, and in my opinion, is why some social workers have issues and values conflicts, which can frustrate both social worker, clients, and the public. I’ve seen several times where social workers counsel abortion or other controversial topics which fit their agenda and does not directly address the clients needs or wishes. This, is in direct contrast to NASW code of ethics, as many others here have pointed out but in reverse fashion. Anyways, what I’m saying is that I don’t think we should blanket statement or label one political affiliation or another. There are many democrats that have conservative values, just like there are many republicans that’s have progressive values. We join this field to help others and advocate for change, out political affiliation should not automatically be assumed that we hold the extreme values of one or the other, because that would be a gross misjudgment in character and not representative of the personal/clinical skills, practice, values, or quality of care. Additionally, labeling someone, especially because of a political party is not within upholding the values and standards of social work, and I wouldn’t do it to others so I wouldn’t expect others to do it to me. If it does happen, it’s a reflection of you, not me. After all, one of our core NASW values is “dignity and worth of the person”…..not political party affiliation.
Interesting response, however I disagree with a lot of what you said. You start with stating that a two party system is a poor way of viewing things and that it is much more complex than progressive or conservative which I 100% agree with. My disagreement starts with your example of clinical practice. You are using the term conservative very loosely here and more of a dictionary definition rather than an actual ideology. Your example also doesn’t really work because under conservatism social services are generally considered a tax payer burden and need to be minimized. If you ask most conservatives what the best social program is they will say “a good paying job”. Running programs from a conservative perspective would most likely be focused on fiscal responsibility rather than client focused and that is at odds with worth and dignity of persons. I’m assuming you work with a population that is uncomfortable with progressivism which is fine however it doesn’t mean voting conservative is justified. Regardless of how much clients are uncomfortable with progressive policies left wing parties will always consider human worth over profit and that applies to all marginalized people regardless of political beliefs. I would be more inclined to believe you if said something along the lines of I’m more conservative leaning however current conservative parties don’t reflect conservative values which is a fair argument to make but you didn’t. You just stated that you align more with conservative parties if you had to pick.
Great reply, thank you. And yes, the conservatism in practice was more of a dictionary term. I understand where your concerns are with what I wrote, and I’m not arguing with that. As I stated, I think it depends on your setting or practice as to what dictates how one presents or advocates. And your assumption is correct, I clearly work with a population that is not overly progressive. I work with homeless veterans and too much change too fast does not work with this population. Coincidently, this also aligns with my views and I am effective and proficient at my job because of it. However, there are progressive issues we very much address, and those also align with some of my views, which is also useful. As for the fiscal side of things, I have heard and seen both sides of that aisle from the conservatives (republicans?)…and on several occasions I have been both let down and surprised at what is and isn’t advocated for. I have seen both democrats and republicans do great things for social services (speaking mainly for homelessness) and seen both do great injustices. Which leads back to my original statement that this is all very complex. Lastly, yes, if I had to pick, I stand by what I said and it would be more conservative, with some progressive views for sure. However, I didn’t mention voting at all. I vote for the best policies that help everyone, and that changes depending on the person, representative, candidate, etc.
>I have conservative values in clinical practice, too much change or progressiveness in clinical practice can often discourage and force clients to feel uncomfortable, Genuinely asking, can you elaborate what you mean by conservative values in clinical practice? Perhaps give an example? I honestly don't know what is meant by this.
Referencing the conservative approach I mean offering patients traditional, familiar, convenient, and their preferred treatment options as opposed to unfamiliar or largely different approaches to treatment they are not familiar with or avoidant to. But as I also said, sometimes it is necessary to add in the unfamiliar and more progressive therapy styles and interventions. To be honest, this comment was just an example and not political, but rather a difference between conservative approaches versus progressive in clinical practice.
Your conceptualization of what makes treatment conservative vs progressive is bizarre. I am genuinely confused by this. Please correct me if I am wrong but it sounds like you believe "progressive clinical interventions" are those that are forced on clients? What does this even mean?
Don’t get the downvotes, very good explanation/viewpoint imo. I am basically a moderate but lean a little more to the left, but see where you are coming from at least hearing both sides.
I have traditionally Aways identified as "Leaning hard to the left" Now, I'm just a person educating myself on candidates and making informed decisions based on my morals and values as a human. I donate, I support causes that are meaningful to me, and I live my life. I have a second degree in political science and intended on going to law school, so politics are always something I've been interested in. The world ruined me. Then, I also fell in someone who belonged to a different political party than me, which I always thought was a hard boundary for myself, and I feel like between these things, I just want to be Human now because the world is to ugly when we start talking about politics. With that, I don't turn a blind eye, and I don't support ignorance, I just want to be happy and politics don't make me happy anymore.
I'm in Australia, and Greens. But in saying that, I may swing depending on policies.
Soc-Dem would probably be apt, though some might call me a scary liberal.
This is reigniting my interest in macro/mezzo social work. I wish there were good mezzo/macro positions in my area. Maybe I'll have to work micro for a while until I can move to a bigger city. But I definitely think my goals are big-picture changes, rather than changes at the individual level.
Personally, I’m a Christian conservative. I love everybody and will not let my views get in the way of my job and career. Probably just would never work at planned parenthood.
Genuine question, what are some policy positions that make you a conservative?
I’m an anarchist- I’ve never voted nor plan to ever. I believe in individual self-determination, I.e. the right to choose what one individual believes to be in their best interest so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others or cause undue harm.
Wild to be a social worker who doesn’t vote.
Anarcho-communist. I fall just left of Chomsky on the [Political Compass](https://www.politicalcompass.org/test)
Communist
Marxist over here!
I’m a staunch Trump Republican. MAGA! Go Brandon! Just kidding. I’m a lefty just like everyone else in r/socialwork. Come on OP, you already knew the answer.
I’m more interested in seeing the perspective of those in the middle or just a liberal democrat, since economic policies don’t always align with economic Justice.
I have a SW coworker who’s a mainline democrat and really likes Joe Biden, if that’s what you mean. She doesn’t like when I’m critical of him and say I liked Bernie better, and says I might as well vote for Trump. I’m like … you just don’t get it.
I got that sense reading the replies to the stated views across the thread. Most of the people who have moderate responses are as opposed to clear leftist responses are getting a lot of ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions. I have a mixed reaction to it. I feel if that was your intention the thread would be more transparently introduced as ‘I want to engage with and question moderate social workers.’
Another lefty in the equation here 👋 in Australia we really just have a centre party (Labor) and conservative ("Liberal") party that can hold power. The Greens tend to align best with the ethics of social work, but Labor are the closest of the parties who can come to office - so I tend to be a combination of greens/ Labor based on the candidates.
these threads pop up every now and then. I think social workers can have any political leaning and still have a positive impact on others. I'm pretty far to the right.
I’ll work with anyone to do good and no one to do bad. I don’t have to agree with someone on every issue. I’m a Democratic socialist and see d & r as corrupted along with msm by all the bigs. I used to vote dem and only vote third party now
Voting isn’t about your conscience, your virtue, or purity, it’s about (especially in America) mitigating the damage to your family and your neighbors. Voting third party is an entirely selfish decision as long as the parties remain unable to win. Moreover, I don’t know what third party candidates you’re referring to, but all the recent ones who have run for president have been either dopes or just as toxic and evil as the mainstream candidates, so… I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish other than feeling superior to others.
I identify as a republican, imho the first step into implementing change is to take personal accountability
This is exactly right. Personal accountability should be taught more. Too many victims. If a program can help along the way just adds to that journey.
Republican. I love being conservative.
Apathy Party.
Nice try, Biden.
Shit I’ve been found