The Grand Challenges for Social Work: 10 Year Update with Dr. Carrie Pettus

[Episode 150]  In today’s episode I’m talking with Carrie Pettus, chair of the executive board for the Grand Challenges for Social Work. Today’s episode explores the 10-year journey of the Grand Challenges for Social Work, reflecting on its evolution, its measurable impacts, and the critical lessons learned along the way. Carrie talks about successes, including creating a vast social and professional network dedicated to solving some of the most persistent social problems, and some of the challenges, including the difficulty defining and measuring impact, which she acknowledges is ironic given that the initiatives are lead by some of the leading scholars in the world. She also acknowledges some of the misses, such as uneven involvement of frontline social workers and not including an initiative explicitly focusing on eliminating racism until a few years ago. We end the conversation with Carrie discussing the importance of sustainability and resources if the Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative is to continue for another 10 years.  

Thank you to Elizabeth Gillette for coordinating and being part of the interview. 

 

 Download MP3 [23:39]

The Role of AI in Child Welfare and Community Organizing: Interview with ChatGPT-4o

[Episode 137] In today's Social Work Podcast, I speak with ChatGPT-4o about the role of AI in child welfare and community organizing and how we can use Bronfenbrenner's ecosystems framework and an antiracist perspective. That's right. I'm interviewing OpenAI's LLM, ChatGPT-4o. 

On May 13th, 2024, OpenAI released the Omni version of ChatGPT4. This was a big step forward in processing speed. You could input video audio sort of visuals data all sorts of things and it could analyze it almost in real time. I've been playing around with ChatGpt-4, the earlier version, and you know talking to it on the app and there was always a significant delay as it was thinking through things and kind of coming up with a response. But the Omni version, the response is basically in real time, and I thought what better moment than now to interview ChatGPT, because you'll hear a little bit of the thinking, right? It’ll be a slight delay but no more than you would for any live human guests on the social work podcast.

Unlike a human guest, I didn't have to coordinate schedules. All I did was I took my phone, I clicked on the app, I hit the little headset icon which activated the voice input, and I held up my phone to my microphone so that I was recording my voice like I am now, and then ChatGPT just coming right out of my phone into the speaker. So, it's good audio. it's not rich deep audio like I like to have, but you know when you record over Zoom or Skype or any of the other things that I've done in the past again it's not pristine audio either, but it's pretty good

This is the first time I've interviewed a chatbot. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the interview. Please text me or leave a voicemail for me at (215) 948-2456. If you leave a voicemail, please let me know if you're ok with me including your message as part of a follow-up podcast episode.

Download MP3 [31:02]

Self-care and Cultural Humility in the 2021 NASW Code of Ethics: Interview with Allan Barsky, MSW Ph.D.

[Episode 130] Today’s episode is about the 2021 revision of the NASW Code of Ethics to include self-care and cultural humility. To unpack these two new additions, I spoke with Allan Barsky, Professor of Social Work at Florida Atlantic University and former Chair of the National Ethics Committee of the National Association of Social Workers. 

Bio [CV]

Allan Barsky received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Social Work, his MSW from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. His teaching and research interests include social work practice theory and skill development, pedagogy, conflict resolution, professional ethics, and substance abuse. His book credits include Ethics and Values in Social Work (Oxford University Press), Clinicians in Court (Guilford Press), Conflict Resolution for the Helping Professions (Oxford University Press), Interprofessional Practice with Diverse Populations (Greenwood), Successful Social Work Education: A Student’s Guide (Cengage), and Alcohol, Other Drugs and Addictions (Cengage). Dr. Barsky was awarded the “Distinguished Teacher of the Year” by CDSI students in 2005 and 2020, the “Researcher of the Year – Scholarly and Creative Works” by FAU in 2007, and FAU Scholar of the Year in 2020. Dr. Barsky chaired the National Association of Social Workers “Code of Ethics Review Committee” (2016-2017) and was awarded NASW’s “Excellence in Ethics Award” (2015).

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The Power of Podcasting in Social Work Education

[Episode 129] Today’s episode is about the Power of Podcasting in Social Work Education. Shimon Cohen, founder and host of Doin' The Work: Frontlines of Social Change, and I read the article we wrote for New Social Worker Magazine about podcasting for social work education, taking a few detours along the way to explain what is on the written page. 

We talk about how to integrate podcasting into assignments and class discussion, and highlight the use of podcasts as a way of addressing systemic inequities. For the transcript of our episode, please check out our article at: https://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/technology-articles/power-podcasting-social-work-education/

To download the Winter 2021 issue, go to: http://www.socialworker.com/magazine/digital-edition/the_new_social_worker_digital_issues and click on "Winter 2021." To download the full-color print issue, go to http://newsocialworker.magcloud.com

Download MP3 [39:43]

Both/And or Either/Or: Social Work and Policing

[Episode 127]. Today’s episode is the audio recording of a Facebook Live discussion that happened on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 called Both/And or Either/Or: Social Work and Policing. Following the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 and countless other Black people by police over the past 200 plus years, two perspectives have emerged about social work's role with law enforcement. To be sure, these perspectives have been articulated for years. But in the midst of the largest and most sustained period of protests against systemic racism and support for Black Lives, these two perspectives gained particular traction after social work leaders published opinion pieces on Medium.com. The either/or perspective, articulated by UCLA social work chair Laura Abrams and University of Houston social work Dean Alan Dettlaff in a June 18, 2020 open letter to NASW and Allied Organizations, argued that "social work can either continue to invest in and collaborate with police OR affirm that #BlackLivesMatter." This letter was signed by over 1,400 social workers (full transparency, I was one of the signatories) and delivered to NASW. The Both/And perspective was articulated in a Medium.com post on June 30, 2020 by Darlyne Bailey, Charles E. Lewis, Steve Burghardt, and Terry Mizrahi. They argued that "we need to break from binary slogans of 'defunding' and replace them with a transformative platform tied to  reinvesting in social services, training guardians not warriors, and ending all forms of racial injustice in law enforcement, sentencing, incarceration, parole and probation." 

Download MP3 [1:00:49]