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The Poverty Attributions of Professional Social Workers

Bennett, Robert M.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1275349227

Abstract Details

2010, Master of Social Work, Ohio State University, Social Work.
The poverty attributions of 249 licensed, professional social workers from a Midwestern metropolitan center were assessed using the Poverty Attribution Survey. The three attributions used in this research were structural, individual, and cultural. The primary hypothesis of this research was that, as a whole, the social workers in this sample would agree with the structural attribution and disagree with the individual and cultural attributions for poverty. This hypothesis was supported, with the social workers in this sample “somewhat agree[ing]” that poverty is attributable to structure, “disagree[ing]” that poverty is attributable to the individual, and “somewhat disagree[ing]” that poverty is attributable to culture. The second hypothesis of the research was that social workers who provide direct service would agree more with the individual and/or cultural attribution for poverty when compared to indirect service social workers. This hypothesis also was supported for both the individual and cultural attribution. There were other groups of social workers who agreed significantly more with one or the other attribution. In terms of the structural attribution, those social workers who identified as non-religious, liberal, and/or recent field instructors agreed with the attribution significantly more. Social workers who identified as politically conservative were associated with endorsement of the individual attribution. Social workers who agreed significantly more with the cultural attribution for poverty identified as politically conservative, white/Caucasian/European descent, and/or having a non-social work Bachelor’s degree. The implications of this research relate to the possible consequences for clients living in poverty who are assigned to social workers who endorse the individual attribution for poverty. Based on the ethical responsibilities placed on social workers by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) to address and ameliorate the negative consequences of poverty, two initial actions are proposed.
Dr. Lisa Raiz, PhD (Committee Chair)
Dr. Tamara Davis, MSSW, PhD (Committee Member)
Social Work
social work; poverty; attributions; education; community practice

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bennett, R. M. (2010). The Poverty Attributions of Professional Social Workers [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1275349227

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bennett, Robert. The Poverty Attributions of Professional Social Workers. 2010. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1275349227.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bennett, Robert. "The Poverty Attributions of Professional Social Workers." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1275349227

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1275349227
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© 2010, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.