Department of Social Work
Reflections: On The Importance of Social Work Associations and Joining NASW
As a department, we continue to organize our students for participation in the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). We have a student representative from the MSW Student Association who will liaise to our local NASW chapter. Many thanks to MSW student Jacqueline Serrine-Jauregui for your representation!
NASW is the voice of social workers for professional issues as we address critical social problems and injustices. As we practice in a nation with deeply troubling policies that challenge our view of “civil” society, I am very thankful to NASW for their voice. As a professional association, we have taken a stand on issues including the forced family-child separations on the southwestern border as well as persistent leadership in an environment where there are clear and persistent attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and a resistance to true social planning and problem solving for communities like Flint, Michigan.
I give thanks to the pioneers before us who have actively engaged in the vision and foresight necessary to form our professional association so many years ago. As a result, we have a long standing code of ethics that guides the many dimensions of practice and professionalism. As Janlee Wong, Executive Director of the NASW-CA chapter, spoke to our student body about the code of ethics. He reminded us all that we must always take a deeper look at the the problems in our society while factoring in guidance from our professional code of ethics. Moving forward from an ethical stance is critical for such complex social problems and Janlee reminded us of the importance of social justice in action! Making the right time and energy investments in social justice causes is critical! For this and so much more, I am a proud member of NASW and I encourage all social workers to join!