Anthropology & Social Work

Social work is a dynamic field that focuses on helping individual clients meet their needs.  Social workers must assess the problem(s) faced by clients and specific client needs, identify solutions available through community programs and organizations, as well as intervene as necessary on the client’s behalf without disabling their ability to help themselves.  While social work degree and continuing education programs provide future and current social workers with a variety of the tools required to effectively do their jobs anthropology is an excellent complement that can not only assist but enhance the skills and options available to social workers.  This blog post will address some of the ways that anthropology can and does aid in fostering more effective social work practice.

 

Anthropology is the study of all aspects of what it means to be human, which can be further broken down into the four respective subfields: cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.  A full review of the subfields can be found here, but a quick review is as follows:

•  Cultural anthropology: the study of human societies and cultures, specifically in understanding the similarities and differences in cultural institutions (e.g. gender, race, ethnicity, economics, politics, religion, etc.)
• Archaeology: the study of past human cultures through their material remains 
• Biological anthropology: the study of human biological diversity both in the past and present, including but not limited to the study of primates, hominids, and modern populations 
• Linguistic anthropology: the study of language from an anthropological perspective, specifically understanding the history of languages and the effects of culture on language in all respects

 

Social workers work with different clients who often vary by age, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic background and status, as well as cultural backgrounds, so it is easy to recognize the connections between cultural anthropology and social work.  Cultural anthropological knowledge enables a social worker to better understand the cultural foundations of human behavior, providing insights into the choices made by clients and why those choices over others were and are made.  This relates back to how culture is learned and provides individuals foundations for normal as well as appropriate versus inappropriate behavior.  For example, cultural groups have different ideas of what is appropriate to wear for certain situations, meaning a social worker has to be aware of how their client may interpret appropriate work wear versus casual wear.  This is important when aiding a client in selecting clothing to wear for a job interview, a court appearance, etc.  Another example is when individuals come from specific social environments, be it abusive homes or war torn environments, they may not easily trust others or know how to approach individuals for help, which is something a social worker must be keenly aware of in order to best assist their clients.

 

Additionally, cultural anthropology provides foundational background to understand culturally diverse clients, allowing for great flexibility and accessibility in community outreach, working with immigrant or first generation clients, community issues, and more.  By recognizing the macro or societal level issues that clients face, particularly based on their identity (i.e. race, ethnicity, gender, age, etc.), social workers can better assess a client’s needs and solutions for them.  As Melissa Fellin, an anthropologist turned social worker, noted her anthropological background fills in various educational deficiencies that her social work education left, specifically in recognizing how culturally diverse clients (e.g. refugees, immigrants, and first generation individuals) may feel about their situation or not know how to adequately utilize community resources to help themselves. 

 

Linguistic anthropology can also aid a social worker, specifically in recognizing how language choice can be used as a barrier to aiding clients or dialect can be viewed in either superior or inferior ways.  Many social work programs already address interpersonal communication within one’s native language.  Linguistic anthropology provides a greater scope on this information by taking into consideration how other languages are spoken and the cultural meanings behind certain words.  It also further addresses identity and language (e.g. gender and/or age differences among specific language speakers). 

 

Archaeology contributes to social work practice in a couple of unique ways.  Since archaeology focuses on the human cultural past one can gain a better understanding of not only the cultural history of a specific group but also how little or greatly social problems have changed over time.  Archaeology is contributing more and more to the conversations about how to resolve various modern problems by looking at how cultural groups in the past resolved them (e.g. resolution of pandemics or urban archaeology in addressing urban issues today), and social workers could benefit from understanding archaeology for this reason.  Additionally, for client groups that social workers may not easily be able to assess archaeological survey methods are encouraged (see archaeology and homelessness). 

 

Last but not least is the intersections between biological anthropology and social work.  There are a lot of ideas out there about the naturalness of certain behaviors, and unfortunately there is a suite of poorly completed research that supports some of these ideas.  Biological anthropological studies of primates are foundational in refuting these ideas.  Additionally, the field of medical anthropology takes into account issues concerning health and culture, which can be a central issue that various social workers face.  For example, Dr. Tam Perry focuses her research in anthropology and social work, specifically in examining the changing social environments of the elderly.  Her work analyzed the work, residence, and kin transitions elderly individuals face as they age, including but not limited to situations where they are no longer able to work, have declining health, and less access to family, all of which cause them to change their lifestyles accordingly.  There are various cultural and social pressures and expectations placed on the elderly as these life changes occur, such as transitioning into a retirement home or community, retiring from the workforce, seeking greater medical care (and the financial burdens associated with that), etc.  As a social worker she is able to look at the cultural and social systems in place that affect the elderly, specifically in accessing the resources they need.

 

As discussed in this post there are several ways that anthropology can and does complement social work education and practice.  Several interdisciplinary doctoral programs have been created as a result of the complementary nature of anthropology to social work.  Anthropologists and social workers are benefiting from them.  Ultimately, any discipline that provides a greater understanding of human issues is going to work well with social work, but as anthropology takes such a holistic approach to what it means to be human it is an excellent complement for social work and any occupation.

 

Bibliography

Fellin, Melissa. ACE Advice. 2021. Electronic. 9 June 2021.

Hay, Lorna. "The contribution of social anthropology to socialwork practice." Australian Journal of Social Work, (1952): 41-53. Document.

Red Ventures Company. Social Work Degree Guide. 2021. Electronic. 9 June 2021.

Social Work and Anthropology (SWAN) Program at Wayne State University. Ph.D. in Social Work and Anthropology (SWAN). n.d. Electronic. 9 June 2021.