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BJSW Advance Access first published online on June 4, 2008
This version published online on August 27, 2008
British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcn081
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved

Teaching Social Workers to Harness Technology and Inter-Disciplinary Collaboration for Community Service

Caroline Rosenthal Gelman and Carol Tosone

Caroline Rosenthal Gelman, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor at Silver School of Social Work, New York University, and a Hartford Foundation Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholar.

Carol Tosone, Ph.D. is Associated Professor at Silver School of Social Work, New York University, and a recipient of the New York University Distinguished Teaching Award. She also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Clinical Social Work Journal.

Correspondence to Caroline Rosenthal Gelman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, New York University, Silver School of Social Work, 1 Washington Square North, New York, NY 10003, USA. Email: csr6{at}nyu.edu


  Abstract

Relatively little has been written encouraging social workers to use communication technologies for community service purposes, such as education and advocacy with general populations, and empowerment of individuals, groups and communities, especially marginalized and voiceless populations traditionally served by social workers, to tell their own stories using these media. This paper reviews relevant literature on the use of media in social work, presents examples of ways visual technologies have been used to serve populations-at-risk, and briefly describes a course jointly offered by a school of social work and a school of the arts intended to teach students the use of various technologies for community service purposes. The application of social work practice, theory, research and policy to media production reflects a little-explored potential modality for micro and macro intervention, and thus is an innovation in the field, combining service learning, inter-disciplinary collaboration and application of social work knowledge through technology. We also argue that social workers should become competent in using media to harness their power for intervention with and on behalf of clients, and to positively and actively shape the way clients and our profession are portrayed and viewed in the larger world.

Keywords: Communication technology, inter-disciplinary collaboration, service learning, community service, advocacy

The author has added the following text link to this paper: "To view a free streaming video of the documentary created by students in the Community Service Media Course described in this paper, please go to www.nyu.edu/socialwork/tiffany."


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