The significance of African-centered social work for social work practice

Bent‐Goodley, Tricia B.; Fairfax, Colita Nichols; Carlton-LaNey, Iris

doi:10.1080/10911359.2016.1273682

Cited by 42 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Supplementary forms of social support provided by other families, African communities, organisations and other social networks were acknowledged as a significant source of cultural safety, fulfilment and belonging, which is consistent with African cultural norms in regard to collectivism and Ubuntu philosophies. [ 22 , 24 ]. The thematic display of social support and social networks in participants’ narratives underscored the value of community that was that was not necessarily based on close familial ties, but which exemplified the value of Afrocentric philosophical frameworks of Ubuntu.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Afrocentric epistemologies, applied appropriately, can offer a powerful alternative to and critique of Eurocentric perspectives and discourses on resilience [ 21 ]. Utilising paradigms that privilege African ways of knowing, being and doing to solve human and social problems is a valid form of interpreting social and psychological issues affecting Africans in order ‘to create relevant approaches of personal, family, and community healing and societal change’ [ 22 ]. Afrocentric-informed research offers an innovative approach to exploring challenges for Afrodiasporic communities in Australia in that it identifies and utilises the community’s knowledge, resilience, and expertise to inform knowledge and design its own solutions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Telling Our Stories: Resilience during Resettlement for African Skilled Migrants in Australia

Mwanri

Anderson

Gatwiri

2021

IJERPH

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Background: Emigration to Australia by people from Africa has grown steadily in the past two decades, with skilled migration an increasingly significant component of migration streams. Challenges to resettlement in Australia by African migrants have been identified, including difficulties securing employment, experiences of racism, discrimination and social isolation. These challenges can negatively impact resettlement outcomes, including health and wellbeing. There has been limited research that has examined protective and resilience factors that help highly skilled African migrants mitigate the aforementioned challenges in Australia. This paper discusses how individual and community resilience factors supported successful resettlement Africans in Australia. The paper is contextualised within a larger study which sought to investigate how belonging and identity inform Afrodiasporic experiences of Africans in Australia. Methods: A qualitative inquiry was conducted with twenty-seven (n = 27) skilled African migrants based in South Australia, using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Participants were not directly questioned about ‘resilience,’ but were encouraged to reflect critically on how they navigated the transition to living in Australia, and to identify factors that facilitated a successful resettlement. Results: The study findings revealed a mixture of settlement experiences for participants. Resettlement challenges were observed as barriers to fully meeting expectations of emigration. However, there were significant protective factors reported that supported resilience, including participants’ capacities for excellence and willingness to work hard; the social capital vested in community and family support networks; and African religious and cultural values and traditions. Many participants emphasised their pride in their contributions to Australian society as well as their desire to contribute to changing narratives of what it means to be African in Australia. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that despite challenges, skilled African migrants’ resilience, ambition and determination were significant enablers to a healthy resettlement in Australia, contributing effectively to social, economic and cultural expectations, and subsequently meeting most of their own migration intentions. These findings suggest that resilience factors identified in the study are key elements of integration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telling Our Stories: Resilience during Resettlement for African Skilled Migrants in Australia

Mwanri

Anderson

Gatwiri

2021

IJERPH

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“…Further, the perspective offers an alternative way of knowing, understanding, and explaining human and social conditions and experiences. The Afrocentric paradigm for human service professionals (referred to as the Afrocentric perspective from this point forward) is a frame that is accessible for human service professionals broadly, even though it was initially conceptualized within the context of social work (Bent‐Goodley, Fairfax, Carlton‐LeNey, 2017).…”

Section: Potential For An Afrocentric Perspective As An Antidotementioning

confidence: 99%

Reframing the narrative: Black maternal mental health and culturally meaningful support for wellness

Parker

2021

Infant Mental Health Journal

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Black mothers with young children have encountered pernicious, multidetermined, racial disparities in the United States for centuries. However, disorders, risks, and stressors among Black mothers with young children are presented in the extant literature with little attention to their strengths, supports, or culturally appropriate ways to intervene and this furthers racism and White supremacy. Further, incomplete and negative narratives about Black mothers are perpetuated. Therefore, this article uses the Afrocentric perspective to better understand the state of Black maternal mental health and supports for mental health. Culturally centered recommendations are presented to move the field of infant mental health toward racial justice‐oriented practice, policy, and research.

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“…Oppression, addiction, poverty, shame, disease, brutality, unworthiness; these terms are deconstructed and neutralized as threats to well-being and self-determination (Marr, 2015;McGee & Stovall, 2015;Phillips & McCaskill, 1995). Through storytelling (Baker-Bell, 2017), research, investigating primary documents, and including community cultural scholarship, we are "wringing out" the "robotic" memories of how it feels to have Black life defined as "the problem" (Bent-Goodley et al, 2017;Dillard, 2016;Jaggers, 2003;McGee & Stovall, 2015;Brice & McLane-Davison, 2020;Wells-Wilbon et al, 2016;Young, 1968). Through our indigenous rituals of call and response (Bostic & Manning, 2013), we resist and replace a pathology diagnosis.…”

Section: Creating Sanctuary and Inviting Discoursementioning

confidence: 99%

Wringing Out the “Whitewash”

Ortega‐Williams

McLane-Davison²

2021

ASW

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In the 21st Century context of violent racial divides, dismantling racism in social work education requires deep trust that social transformation and healing is possible. “Wringing out the whitewash” metaphorically captures the heavy labor of interrupting the rigid Eurocentric epistemological hegemony undergirding the pedagogy, research, and praxis canons of social work. It requires rigorous attempts to unsettle and decenter entrenched white supremacist ideology, assumptions, and values. In this labor, we create space for the multiple identities and worldviews that students and professors occupy to reshape educational encounters. In this paper, we present our critical pedagogical approaches as Black social work educators committed to liberation and healing. We articulate how our positionalities as Black cisgender women at urban universities, one a Northeastern Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and another at a Northeastern public university, facilitate our intentions to honor truth-telling and intergenerational interdependence. We present differences and similarities in how we use assignments to disrupt the institutional reproduction of racism, provide solace for repair and healing, and re-center collective identity as strength. We present transdisciplinary frameworks shaping our pedagogical choices, namely historical trauma and urban womanist social work pedagogy. Implications for the future of social work education will be discussed.

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The significance of African-centered social work for social work practice

Abstract: In order to respond to concomitant factors that impact members of the extensive African Diasporic community, African-centered theory/Afrocentricity warrants elevation in the social work literature and scientific inquiry.

Cited by 42 publications

References 38 publications

Telling Our Stories: Resilience during Resettlement for African Skilled Migrants in Australia

Telling Our Stories: Resilience during Resettlement for African Skilled Migrants in Australia

Reframing the narrative: Black maternal mental health and culturally meaningful support for wellness

Wringing Out the “Whitewash”

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