April 2019 Educator | Resource of the Month
The Center for Diversity and Social & Economic Justice Educator|Resource is a monthly feature that highlights curricular resources and social work educators that address diversity and justice.
Social Work With Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants
Social work with refugees and immigrants requires specialized knowledge of these populations and specialized adaptations and applications of mainstream services and interventions. Because they are often confronted with cultural, linguistic, political, and socioeconomic barriers, these groups are especially vulnerable to mental health concerns and issues arising from inadequate health care. Institutionalized discrimination and anti-immigrant policies and attitudes only exacerbate these challenges.
This resource presents course materials to prepare students to work effectively with and advocate for foreign-born populations. Using a flipped-classroom format, class time is spent on active and applied learning. The resource includes the course syllabus, learning activities, discussion questions, and assignments. These materials incorporate the latest research on contemporary social work practice with refugees, immigrants, and migrants to provide a practical, up-to-date resource for the multitude of issues and interventions for these populations.
Teaching Resources
| Syllabus | Population & Practice Paper |
| Best Practices Chapter Questions | Cultural Competence Exercise |
| Culturagram Template | Set of Class Activities |
About the Educator
Miriam Potocky, MSW, PhD, is a professor in the School of Social Work, Florida International University. She is an internationally recognized expert on refugee resettlement and the principal investigator for Project MIRACLE (Motivational Interviewing for Refugee Adaptation, Coping, and Life Empowerment).
Educator Q&A
How can I use this resource?
This resource constitutes a course that can be adopted in its entirety or in segments across multiple other sources. This content would be particularly suitable for courses in diversity, practice, policy, international social work, and human rights. Read the full Q&A.
The view expressed in the Educator|Resource Q&A are those of the educator [or educators] and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Council on Social Work Education.
Interested in contributing to the Educator | Resource of the Month? Please e-mail a short proposal to Dr. Yolanda Padilla, CSWE Diversity Center Director, at [email protected].