Exploring Human Rights in Social Work Practice and Education: Preliminary Research Findings
The concept of human rights poses a challenge to social work practice and education. While the social work profession in Australia and internationally has a stated commitment to human rights and arguably interest in a human rights approach for practice has increased in recent times, it is also important to note that the concept of human rights is highly contested. This paper will report on preliminary findings of PhD research that seeks to explore, through the specific field of practice of social work with refugees and asylum seekers, the concept of human rights in social work practice and education. The author draws on her experience as both a social work practitioner and educator and asks the following two broad questions. How do social workers understand the notion of human rights and how is this understanding translated into practice? And how does social work education in Australia provide opportunities to explore and analyse the notion of human rights? An opportunity will be offered to social workers to participate in further research on this topic.