Learn how careers in social work are making a difference in society! You're invited to join the Mandel School for our 2023 Impact Talk series—four excellent opportunities to be inspired by our faculty and their specializations.
The events will be held in Noble Commons and via livestream, and be recorded for viewing on the Mandel School's YouTube channel.
Current Mandel School students can receive one PD hour for each Impact Talk they attend. One CEU will be offered for everyone else, pending application approval.
Lunch will be provided for in-person attendees, and prizes will be raffled off to those attending online and in-person (two 10-inch Samsung Galaxy tablets and four bluetooth wireless earbuds).
Addiction as a False Survival Instinct
Richard Romaniuk, Lecturer
Wednesday, March 1 | 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
The biophysics of brain imaging lets us see what people desire and how addiction affects the way humans think. We recognize that hunger, thirst and fear influence the brain structures involved in the overpowering need to satisfy those feelings. There are elements of the survival instinct that take precedence over reason. Drugs of abuse are able to hijack our neuronal system to create a false “survival instinct”. Those people affected by these drugs cannot differentiate their own basic instincts clearly. However, the human brain has many priorities. Learning about how it works can help the chemically-dependent break away from addiction and help us to better support our clients.
Advancing Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ADEI) in Data Sciences for Social Impact
Francisca García-Cobián Richter, Research Associate Professor
Wednesday, March 8 | 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Professionals in social work, public health and social sciences in general aim to advance the wellbeing of all people, particularly those who are vulnerable, oppressed, marginalized or living in poverty. This work often involves supporting individuals as they navigate the established societal institutions, but ultimately it should lead to enhancing these institutions through effective social policy.
Over the last decades, unprecedented advances in technology, artificial intelligence and big data have come to permeate all aspects of life, including those directly concerned with social welfare. Data held by social service agencies contain key information about the characteristics of those they serve, their needs and the programs and interventions in which they are involved.
Predictive models and algorithms are increasingly used to guide the provision of services in the areas of child welfare, homelessness and in the criminal judicial system. Moreover, there is a growing recognition of disparate treatment and impact in our society based on race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration and other statuses. These injustices leave a footprint in data of many types. As more data becomes available, there is a need to update the skills of data users—from social workers to social analysts—to ethically and thoughtfully make use of this data for social good.
In response to this need, the Mandel School and the Case School of Engineering, two of CWRU's top schools, have developed a Certificate in Data Sciences for Social Impact. Launched in 2022, we continue to work to make it broadly available with the goal of diversifying the field of Data Science for Social Impact within a framework that advances antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion (ADEI). This presentation will focus on how ADEI materializes in the curriculum, providing examples relevant to social work practice at the micro and macro levels.
Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: The Need for Affirming Care across the Behavioral and Mental Health Care Systems
Dana Prince, Associate Professor
Wednesday, March 22 | 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) are disproportionately overrepresented in child welfare and juvenile court, with estimates ranging from 16 to 32% compared to 2 to 8% in the general population. Rates of depression, suicide ideation, suicide attempts and hospitalizations among SGM system-involved youth far exceed those of their heterosexual and cisgender peers. SGMY experience systemic barriers and traumatic experiences that often include discrimination and injustices. Systems-level change, grounded in community capacity building and empowerment for SGMY, is needed to address systemic injustices and advance care equity for SGMY.
In this talk, Prince will share insights and findings from her federally-funded research with diverse stakeholders, including child welfare and juvenile court, SGMY with lived experience in these systems, and SGMY-serving community-based agencies to transform systems and support SGMY thriving.
America the Beautiful and Violent: The Response of Social Work to Anti-Black Racism
Dexter Voisin, Dean
Wednesday, March 29 | 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
America the Beautiful and Violent: The Response of Social Work to Anti-Black Racism will illuminate how major social policy and practice in the U.S. has created Black racialized poverty and trauma, resulting in a higher disease burden and social disadvantage born by Black Americans. It will highlight important steps the social work profession can adopt to promote an anti-Black racist approach aimed at furthering racial and social equality.
Learn more and register on our Events page
This story appeared in The Daily on Feb. 2, 2023.