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Poehling C, Downey MM, Singh MI, Beasley CC. From Gaslighting to Enlightening: Reproductive Justice as an Interdisciplinary Solution to Close the Health Gap. JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION 2023; 59:S36-S47. [PMID: 38606421 PMCID: PMC11008595 DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2023.2203205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
This conceptual article aims to inform social work educators on facilitating critical discourse among social work students by applying reproductive justice, leveraging interdisciplinary practice, and addressing the Social Work Grand Challenges. Reproductive justice tenets provide an interdisciplinary framework that assists in the development of the learning environment, participant's critical thinking, self-awareness, and self-regulation; preparing them for professional dialog and ethical decision making. This article will outline the tenets of reproductive justice, providing resources and tools for creating an environment that will assist in the facilitation of critical and professional conversations; while providing strategies that incorporate interdisciplinary partners into the classroom thus providing a reproductive justice sensitive analysis and solutions for approaching social issues that affect the people social workers serve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Poehling
- Catherine Poehling, School of Social Work, University of Southern Mississippi, 3085-3099 Pearl Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401
| | - Margaret Mary Downey
- Catherine Poehling, School of Social Work, University of Southern Mississippi, 3085-3099 Pearl Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401
| | - Melissa Indera Singh
- Catherine Poehling, School of Social Work, University of Southern Mississippi, 3085-3099 Pearl Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401
| | - Candice C Beasley
- Catherine Poehling, School of Social Work, University of Southern Mississippi, 3085-3099 Pearl Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401
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Lands M, Carpenter E, Valley T, Jacques L, Higgins J. "Am I the Only One Who Feels Like This?": Needs Expressed Online by Abortion Seekers. SOCIAL WORK 2023; 68:103-111. [PMID: 36795036 PMCID: PMC10074479 DOI: 10.1093/sw/swad011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
In the United States, abortion is safe and common, but highly stigmatized and frequently targeted by legislation that aims to restrict access. Numerous obstacles impede access to abortion care, including logistical barriers like cost and transportation, limited clinic availability, and state-mandated waiting periods. Accurate abortion information can also be hard to access. To overcome these barriers, many people seeking abortion turn to anonymous online forums, including Reddit, for information and support. Examining this community provides a unique perspective on the questions, thoughts, and needs of people considering or undergoing an abortion. The authors web scraped 250 posts from subreddits that contain abortion-related posts, then coded deidentified posts using a combined deductive/inductive approach. The authors identified a subset of these codes in which users were giving/seeking information and advice on Reddit, then engaged in a targeted analysis of the needs expressed in these posts. Three interconnected needs emerged: (1) need for information, (2) need for emotional support, and (3) need for community around the abortion experience. In this study map the authors reflected these needs onto key social work practice areas and competencies; taken alongside support from social work's governing bodies, this research suggests that social workers would be beneficial additions to the abortion care workforce.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madison Lands
- MSW, MPH, is research program manager, Collaborative for Reproductive Equity, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1010 Mound Street, Madison, WI 75371, USA
| | - Emma Carpenter
- PhD, MSW, is postdoctoral fellow, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Taryn Valley
- MA, is an MD-PhD student, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Laura Jacques
- MD, is assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jenny Higgins
- PhD, MPH, is professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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Gomez AM, Downey MM, Carpenter E, Leedham U, Begun S, Craddock J, Ely G. Advancing Reproductive Justice to Close the Health Gap: A Call to Action for Social Work. SOCIAL WORK 2020; 65:358-367. [PMID: 33020834 DOI: 10.1093/sw/swaa034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Revised: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Reproductive justice is an intersectional social movement, theory, and praxis well aligned with social work's mission and values. Yet, advancing reproductive justice-the right to have children, to not have children, to parent with safety and dignity, and to sexual and bodily autonomy-has not been a signature area of scholarship and practice for the field. This article argues that it is critical for social work to advance reproductive justice to truly achieve the grand challenge of closing the health gap. The article starts by discussing the history and tenets of reproductive justice and how it overlaps with social work ethics. The authors then highlight some of the ways by which social workers have been disruptors of and complicit in the oppression of individuals, families, and communities with regard to their reproductive rights and outcomes. The article concludes with a call to action and recommendations for social work to foreground reproductive justice in research, practice, and education efforts by centering marginalized voices while reimagining the field's pursuit of health equity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anu Manchikanti Gomez
- Sexual Health and Reproductive Equity Program, and associate professor, School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, 110 Haviland Hall MC 7400, Berkeley, CA 94720-7400
| | | | | | - Usra Leedham
- Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
| | - Stephanie Begun
- Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
| | - Jaih Craddock
- School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore
| | - Gretchen Ely
- School of Social Work, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
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Michalik A, Zdun-Ryżewska A, Pięta B, Basiński K, Kiełbasińska J, Mazurkiewicz B, Olszewska J, Łukaszuk K. Multicenter study on midwifery students' attitudes towards abortion and it's place in their future practice - Comparison of respondents at early and late stages of the university education. Nurse Educ Pract 2019; 35:42-47. [PMID: 30665059 DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2019.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2018] [Revised: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Evidence based midwifery education and practice are fundamental to assure high quality care of childbearing women, also with complications. In Poland, midwifery education includes aspects of participation in the abortion. A cross-sectional study was designed to describe the attitudes towards abortion at the beginning and at the end of students' university education. The study was aimed to verify change of attitudes throughout the course of the university education. Most of the students approved abortion if the pregnancy constitutes a threat to woman's health or life, results from a rape, or whenever the fetus presents with a lethal defect. More than a half did not approve participation in the abortion if the fetus presents with a non-lethal defect. Generally, the acceptance rates were significantly higher among the final year students, but more than a half of them stated, that the abortion-related topics were inadequately addressed in their study curriculum. That bring to the conclusion that higher rates of abortion acceptance among the final year students, were not necessarily a manifestation of informed approval for this procedure, but rather a form of a "systemic" adjustment. Midwifery program need to be revised to support students in developing informed and evidence-based attitudes toward abortion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Michalik
- Department of Obstetrical and Gynecological Nursing, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211, Gdansk, Debinki 7, Poland.
| | - Agata Zdun-Ryżewska
- Department of Quality of Life Research, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210, Gdansk, Tuwima 15, Poland.
| | - Beata Pięta
- Department of Mother's and Child's Health, University of Medical Sciences, 60-512, Poznan, Jackowskiego 42, Poland.
| | - Krzysztof Basiński
- Department of Quality of Life Research, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210, Gdansk, Tuwima 15, Poland.
| | - Joanna Kiełbasińska
- Department of Gynecologic and Obstetrical Didactics, Warsaw Medical University, 00-424, Warsaw, Żwirki I Wigury 81, Poland.
| | - Barbara Mazurkiewicz
- Department of Gynecologic and Obstetrical Didactics, Warsaw Medical University, 00-424, Warsaw, Żwirki I Wigury 81, Poland.
| | - Jolanta Olszewska
- Department of Obstetrical and Gynecological Nursing, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211, Gdansk, Debinki 7, Poland.
| | - Krzysztof Łukaszuk
- Department of Obstetrical and Gynecological Nursing, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211, Gdansk, Debinki 7, Poland.
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Loll D, Hall KS. Differences in abortion attitudes by policy context and between men and women in the World Values Survey. Women Health 2018; 59:465-480. [PMID: 30257149 DOI: 10.1080/03630242.2018.1508539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
We explored whether abortion attitudes differed by respondents' sex and country-level abortion policy context. Data were collected between 2010 and 2014 from 69,901 respondents from 51 countries. Abortion attitudes were scored on a ten-point Likert scale (1 = "never justifiable"; 10 = "always justifiable"). Country-level abortion policy context was dichotomized as "less restrictive" or "more restrictive." We conducted linear regression modeling with cluster effects by country to assess whether respondents' sex and abortion policy context were associated with abortion attitudes, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. On average, women had more supportive abortion attitude scores than men (Mean = 3.38 SD = 2.76 vs. Mean = 3.24 SD = 2.82, p < .001). Respondents in countries with more restrictive policy contexts had less supportive attitudes than those in less restrictive contexts (Mean = 2.55 SD = 2.39 vs. Mean = 4.09 SD = 2.96, p < .001). In regression models, abortion attitudes were more supportive among women than men (b = 0.276, p < .001) and in less restrictive versus more restrictive countries (b = 0.611, p < .001). Younger, educated, divorced, non-religious, and employed respondents had more supportive scores (all p < .05). Systematic differences were observed in abortion attitudes by respondents' sex and policy context, which have potential implications for women's autonomy and abortion access, which should be explored in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana Loll
- a L4000 Women's Hospital , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan , USA
| | - Kelli Stidham Hall
- b Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education , Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University , Atlanta , Georgia , USA
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