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Distributed Leadership for Social Justice Action

Distributed Leadership for Social Justice Action. S. Colby Peters, LGSW Mathew Uretsky , MSW, MPH Leah Bartley, MSW Anusha Chatterjee, MA. Background. Where is the social justice in social work?. Advocacy ranked low on social workers’ list of priorities

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Distributed Leadership for Social Justice Action

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  1. Distributed Leadership for Social Justice Action S. Colby Peters, LGSW Mathew Uretsky, MSW, MPH Leah Bartley, MSW Anusha Chatterjee, MA

  2. Background

  3. Where is the social justice in social work? • Advocacy ranked low on social workers’ list of priorities • Lack of participation in public policy formation • Engagement in social justice at individual level, but not organizational or societal level

  4. Why aren’t social workers engaging in social justice actions? • Psychological and individual approach to social work • Managerialism and professionalism • Organizational culture • Social work education does not translate the pursuit of social justice into specific advocacy techniques

  5. The qualities and skills needed to promote social justice are encompassed in social work leadership • Client Outcomes • Increased opportunities to engage in organizational activities that directly affect him or her Client Outcomes • Social Worker Outcomes • Committed to organization and social justice • Politically savvy • Visionary • Manages diversity Social Worker Outcomes • Social Work Leadership Behaviors • Advocates for clients and organization • Thinks critically • Organizational Outcomes • Culture of leadership, not managerialism • Adherence to mission and vision Distributed Leadership Organizational Outcomes • Social Work Profession Outcomes • Increased promotion of social work values Professional Outcomes • Global Outcomes • Social justice Global Outcomes

  6. A Theory of Social Justice Promotion Increases in distributive leadership in the workplace predict increases in subjective norms associated with the promotion of social justice. Distributed Leadership Attitude Intention Behavior Subjective Norms Perceived Behavioral Control Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (1991)

  7. Distributed leadership may contribute to an increase in advocacy for social justice • Distributed leadership: Emergent leadership based on knowledge, time, and context, consisting of a concerted action by a group of individuals for the purpose of achieving a common goal.

  8. Research QuestionDo increased levels of distributed leadership in the workplace predict increases in social justice actions?

  9. Method and Results

  10. Organizational Inputs and Social Workers’ Management of Secondary Trauma in the WorkplaceMay – August 2013 • Response • 174 surveys returned • 166 valid surveys • 34.3% response rate • Exclusions • Missing data on SJS and DL scales • Not currently working as social workers • Sampling Frame • 483 licensed social workers in PA and MD from state licensure lists • Sample Size • 130 final sample size

  11. Scales • Subjective Norms Subscale, Social Justice Scale (Torres-Harding, Siers, & Olson, 2012) • 4 items • Alpha = .88 • Sample question: On a scale of 1 to 7, please indicate to what extent people around you are engaged in activities that address social injustices in your workplace. • Distributed Leadership Subscale, Leadership Scale, Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment (Fritzler & Leake, 2012) • 3 items • Alpha = .97 • Sample question: On a scale of 1 to 6, the leadership of our organization views leadership as shared by staff and administrators.

  12. Hierarchical Regression Analysis* Independent Variables Dependent Variable • Subjective norms related to social justice promotion • Subjective norms subscale • Step 1 - Demographics • Ethnicity: Caucasian non-Hispanic, Other • Gender: Male, Female • Marital Status: Partnered/Married, Other • Step 2 – Distributed Leadership • Distributed leadership subscale *All assumptions for OLS regression were met.

  13. Results Increases in distributive leadership in the workplace predict increases in subjective norms associated with the promotion of social justice. Subjective Norms Colleagues display positive attitude toward social justice and engage in social justice actions R2 = .123 Distributed Leadership + 1 point + 1.4 points

  14. Implications, Limitations, and Future Research

  15. Implications • Distributed leadership  social worker leadership behaviors  leadership culture  social justice promotion • Distributed leadership may counterbalance managerialism • Basing organizational structure and function on principles of social justice may enable social workers to engage in more advocacy • Social workers who feel comfortable addressing structural and functional issues in their organization may translate into addressing structural inequalities in societal institutions

  16. Limitations • Subscales have not been used alone in previous studies • Sample not diverse • Potential private practice respondents • Didn’t define “social justice”

  17. Future Research • More extensive assessment of distributed leadership practices over time and across organizations • More detailed assessment of social justice promotion in an organization • Specific actions taken by social workers in the promotion of social justice inside and outside of the organization

  18. How do we promote social justice? • Social workers must: • Apply principles of social justice to their organizations • Retain a critical stance to existing organizational and societal structures that promote inequality • Advocate for change on multiple levels

  19. References • Austin, M. J., Regan, K., Samples, M. W., Schwartz, S. L., & Carnochan, S. (2011). Building managerial and organizational capacity in nonprofit human service organizations through a leadership development program. Administration in Social Work, 35, 258-281. • Bennett, N., Wise, C., Woods, P. A., & Harvey, J. A. (2003). Distributed leadership: A review of literature. • Breton. (2012). Small steps toward social justice. Social Work with Groups, 35(3), 205-217. doi:10.1080/01609513.2011.624369 • Collinson, D. (2014). Dichotomies, dialectics and dilemmas: New directions for critical leadership studies? Leadership, 10, 36-55. • Coloma, J., Gibson, C., & Packard, T. (2012). Participant outcomes of a leadership development initiative in eight human service organizations. Administration in Social Work, 36, 4-22. • Craig, G. (2002). Poverty, social work and social justice. British Journal of Social Work, 32(6), 669-682. • Dinh, J. E., Lord, R. G., Gardner, W. L., Meuser, J. D., Liden, R. C., & Hu, J. (2013). Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 25, 36-62. • Dodd. (2004). Expanding the boundaries of ethics education: Preparing social workers for ethical advocacy in an organizational setting. Journal of Social Work Education, 40(3), 455-465. • Dudziak, S., & Profitt, N. J. (2012). Group work and social justice: Designing pedagogy for social change. Social Work with Groups, 35, 235-252. doi:10.1080/01609513.2011.624370

  20. References (cont’d) • Fritzler, P., & Leake, R. (2012). Comprehensive organizational health assessment. Unpublished manuscript. • Hannah, S. T., Sumanth, J. J., Lester, P., & Cavarretta, F. (2014). Debunking the false dichotomy of leadership idealism and pragmatism: Critical evaluation and support of newer genre leadership theories. Journal of Organizational Behavior, • Healy, K. (2005). Dominant discourses in health and welfare: Biomedicine, economics and law. service discourses: ‘Psy’ and sociological ideas in social work. . Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. (pp. 17-67). New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan. • Holosko, M. J. (2009). Social work leadership: Identifying core attributes. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 19, 448-459. • Jabour. (2012). Relationship and leadership: Sophonisbabreckinridge and women in social work.Affilia, 27, 22-37. doi:10.1177/0886109912437496 • Knee, R. T., & Folsom, J. (2012). Bridging the crevasse between direct practice social work and management by increasing the transferability of core skills. Administration in Social Work, 36, 390-408. doi:10.1080/03643107.2011.604402 • Lawler, J. (2007). Leadership in social work: A case of caveat emptor? British Journal of Social Work, 37(1), 123-141. • McLaughlin, A. M. (2009). Clinical social workers: Advocates for social justice. Advances in Social Work, 10(1), 51-68. • Mizrahi, T., & Berger, C. S. (2005). A longitudinal look at social work leadership in hospitals: The impact of a changing health care system. Health & Social Work, 30, 155-165.

  21. References (cont’d) • O'Brien, M. (2011). Equality and fairness: Linking social justice and social work practice. Journal of Social Work, 11(2), 143-158. • O'Brien, M. (2011). Social justice: Alive and well (partly) in social work practice? International Social Work, 54(2), 174-190. • Olson. (2013). Voices from the field: Social workers define and apply social justice. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 24(1), 23-42. doi:10.1080/10428232.2013.740407 • Rank, M. G., & Hutchison, W. S. (2000). An analysis of leadership within the social work profession. Journal of Social Work Education, 36, 487-502. . • Thorpe, R., Gold, J., & Lawler, J. (2011). Locating distributed leadership. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13, 239-250. • Torres-Harding, S. R., Siers, B., & Olson, B. D. (2012). Development and psychometric evaluation of the social justice scale (SJS). American Journal of Community Psychology, 50, 77-88. • Webster. (2010). Complexity approach to frontline social work management: Constructing an emergent team leadership design for a managerialist world. Social Work & Social Sciences Review, 14(1), 27-46. doi:10.1921/095352210X518162 • Webster, M. (2013). A vision for social work leadership: Critical conceptual elements. Social Workers Registration Board: Protecting the Public, Enhancing the Profession, • Yliruka. (2013). How can we enhance productivity in social work? dynamically reflective structures, dialogic leadership and the development of transformative expertise. Journal of Social Work Practice, 27, 191-206. doi:10.1080/02650533.2013.798157

  22. Images Slide 1 – Jane Addams with immigrant children, retrieved 6.2.2014 from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/24/1057949/-The-Second-Death-of-Jane-Addams# Slide 3 – Whitney M. Young, Jr., retrieved on 6.2.2014 from http://mije.org/richardprince/telenovelas-trump-state-union Slide 4 – Harry Hopkins, WPA Administrator, visits Arkansas families displaced by flooding, retrieved on 6.2.2014 from http://www.cssny.org/index.php/preview/news/harry-hopkins-from-css-to-fdrs-new-deal Slide 6 – Jeannette Rankin, retrieved on 6.2.2014 from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20776.html Slide 17 – Dorothy Height, members of Sigma Theta Delta sorority, and Mamie Eisenhower, retrieved on 6.2.2014 from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126136771

  23. S. Colby Peters, LGSW speters@ssw.umaryland.edu

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