Awareness, Attitudes, and Actions About Environmental Southern Appalachia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18060/27382Keywords:
Environmental justice, environmental conservation, social work curriculumAbstract
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) requires social work programs to integrate environmental justice into their programming. The purpose of this study is to determine if undergraduate and graduate social work students at a southern Appalachia university had an increase in awareness, a shift in attitudes, and a rise in action related to environmental justice since starting their program. This study also sought to identify where students felt environmental justice content would best fit in the social work curriculum. Participants completed a semi-structured focus group or an open-ended survey answering identical questions. Findings indicate the need for social work educators to provide students with clarification of environmental conservation and environmental justice; an understanding of the breadth of environmental justice across the micro, mezzo, and macro-levels; and the opportunity to have direct practice experiences and reduce feelings of being overwhelmed by the enormity of environmental justice. Participants endorsed the importance of environmental justice content in the curriculum.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Deborah Thibeault, Clem Jamie, Donna Cherry
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