Facing and Confronting Racism in Social Work Research, Teaching and Practice
In conjunction with the national dialogue on the need to address racism in the United States, and in acknowledgement of the role that we as social workers, social work researchers and educators play in addressing racism in America, we will hold a series of workshops focusing on facing and confronting racism in social work in general, starting with some specific strategies that can be applied to our research.
We plan to hold workshops monthly starting in November. The first two are scheduled, and the remaining workshops are under development. We welcome your ideas for future workshops and presenters. This is an evolving process that will adapt to the needs of participants. These workshops are offered by the Associate Dean for Research and Training, in conjunction with the Research and Training Subcommittee. Questions? Please contact Nancy Rolock.
Confronting Systematic Racism in Administrative Data
Lead: Meghan Salas Atwell
Friday, November 20, 2020
11:00 am
Register for Confronting Systemic Racism in Administrative Data
Staff and faculty at the Poverty Center have been engaged in examining how and where systematic racism exists in administrative data. They have used a Toolkit developed by the Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP) at the University of Pennsylvania as a guide to help them understand and examine where and how systematic racism exists, and to discuss ways to address these issues in their research.
Examining Racism Using Data Algorithms
Lead: Francisca García-Cobián Richter
Friday, December 11, 2020
11:00 am
Register for Examining Racism Using Data Algorithms
As an example of a possible outcome of addressing systematic racism in research, Francisca García-Cobián Richter, working with big data, is examining the use of algorithms. She is currently developing a data science course that will address these issues. Dr. Richter will share her expertise in this area with our community in a workshop.
Resources
Teaching and Academics
Research Resources
- Ayre, L., & Craner, J. (2018). Algorithms: avoiding the implementation of institutional biases. Public Library Quarterly, 37(3), 341-347.
- Bonilla-Silva E. & Embrick D. G. (2007) “Every Place Has a Ghetto…”: The Significance of Whites’ Social and Residential Segregation. Symbolic Interaction, 30 (3), 323–345. DOI: 10.1525/si.2007.30.3.323
- Bonilla-Silva, E., Goar C. & Embrick D. G. (2006). When Whites Flock Together: The Social Psychology of White Habitus, Critical Sociology, 32 (2-3), 229-.253. DOI: 10.1163/156916306777835268
- Boyd, R.W., Lindo, E.G., Weeks, L.D., Mclemore, M.R. (2020). On Racism: A New Standard For Publishing On Racial Health Inequities
- Brown, S., Kijakazi, K., Runes, C., Turner, M.A. (2019). Confronting structural racism in research and policy analysis, Urban Institute.
- Data & Society Podcast: Predictive Policing: Bias In, Bias Out
- Hawn Nelson, A., Jenkins, D., Zanti, S., Katz, M., Berkowitz, E., et al. (2020). A Toolkit for Centering Racial Equity Throughout Data Integration. Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania.
- Kolivoski, K. M., Weaver, A., & Constance-Huggins, M. (2014). Critical race theory: Opportunities for application in social work practice and policy. Families in society, 95(4), 269-276.
- Kusner, M. J., Loftus, J., Russell, C., & Silva, R. (2017). Counterfactual fairness. In Advances in neural information processing systems (pp. 4066-4076).
- Miller, Conrad. 2017. "The Persistent Effect of Temporary Affirmative Action." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9 (3): 152-90. DOI: 10.1257/app.20160121
Abstract: I estimate the dynamic effects of federal affirmative action regulation, exploiting variation in the timing of regulation and deregulation across work establishments. Affirmative action increases the black share of employees over time: in 5 years after an establishment is first regulated, the black share of employees increases by an average of 0.8 percentage points. Strikingly, the black share continues to grow at a similar pace even after an establishment is deregulated. I argue that this persistence is driven in part by affirmative action inducing employers to improve their methods for screening potential hires. - On Racism: A New Standard For Publishing On Racial Health Inequities
- Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F., Smith, A. D., To, A., & Toyama, K. (2020, April). Critical Race Theory for HCI. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-16).
- Poodry, C. A. & Asai, D. J. (2018). Questioning Assumptions, CBE—Life Sciences Education, 17(7), 1-4.
Historical Resources
- ‘1619,’ a Podcast -- The New York Times
- Brian Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative
- A podcast on use of POC and BIPOC
Training
- New CITI module developed by the authors of the AISP toolkit
- The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence
J-PAL North America's Evaluations and Racial Equity: Considerations for State and Local Policymakers and Researchers webinar!
In 2020, the ongoing social justice uprising against anti-Black racism in policing and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color have refocused attention on the impact of structural racism on all facets of US policymaking. This webinar focused on how state and local governments are confronting the legacy and present-day reality of inequitable policies, and how research and evidence can play a role in dismantling structural racism as a barrier to economic mobility.
Community Engagement
- Data Walks
- Addressing Power Inequity in Research
- Investing in Data Capacity
- Why am I always being researched? (Chicago Beyond)
- Mobilizing Youth: Engaging Young People in Making Community Change