ABSTRACT
This article explores the impact of recent incidents of anti-Asian hate and violence against Asian American social workers, clients, and communities. Asian Americans represent a small but growing proportion of the U.S. population. Yet, Asians are underrepresented in the social work profession-approximately 3.6 percent of the social work workforce and 2.1 percent of licensed social workers are Asian, and data on underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in the workforce continue to omit details on Asian people. Recent social and political framing of the COVID-19 pandemic as attributable to Asian people has fueled racist rhetoric and incidents of hate and bias crimes against Asian people. Through exploratory research to understand the experiences of Asian American social workers in the proliferation of anti-Asian hate, authors identified that more should be done to support and meet the needs of Asian American social workers, clients, and communities by improving social work education and training, by addressing the social work workforce and agency practices, and by expanding upon advocacy and community building.
Subject(s)
Asian , Social Workers , Humans , Hate , Pandemics , Social WorkABSTRACT
Heightened anti-Asian racism and hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted older adults and the social workers who supported them. Yet, the experiences of Asian and Asian American (AAA) social workers are unknown. This study aimed to explore the perspectives and experiences of social workers focusing on the aging population during the anti-Asian racism climate and the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by a qualitative approach, seventeen AAA social workers participated in semi-structured interviews. Based on thematic analysis, the following themes were identified: concerns about safety and discrimination, perceived service and support needs for older adults, and perceived generational gaps in advocacy. Social work practice, policy, and research implications are discussed.
