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Social Work

Most comprehensive guide to resources for social work research at the University of Michigan.

Finding Materials

Below is a list of the most relevant database for finding materials on anti-racism and decolonization of social work. Here are some tips on searching databases for this content.

Most databases don't yet have reliable formal tagging specifically for anit-racism nor is there consistency among writers whether or not to use a hypen or not. The concept of "decolonization" is the same. Use keywords and variants (e.g. decolonize or decolonise) to maximize search results. You can also use an asterisk as a wildcard placeholder at the end of word stems (e.g. decoloni*) to capture word variants.

Examples of keywork searches:

(anti-racis* OR antiracis*) AND "social policy"

decoloni* AND indigenous


These database are very useful to finding relevant research. They can be searched using keywords and using the standardized terms that the database creators developed to describe the items in their databases. This table includes a list of relevant standardized terms from each database. These terms are typical across databases that use a standardized vocabulary to describe the contents of articles, books, and other items in the database.

Database Relevant terms assigned by the database creators
Social Services Abstracts

Racism

Multiculturalism & pluralism

Antiracism 

Decolonization

APA PsycInfo

Colonialism

Indigenous Populations

Globalization

Racism

Cultural Diversity

 

Public Affairs Information Service

Racism

Native Peoples

Multiculturalism & pluralism

Postcolonialism

 

Anti-Racism & Decolonization in Social Work

Online Resources

Social Work Coalition for Anti-Racist Educators: Includes a curated list of resources useful to social work educators and students. 

 

Books of Interest

Decolonizing Social Work

Decolonizing social work. Edited by Mel Gray, John Coates, Michael Yellow Bird, & Tiani Hetherington.

The medicine of peace: Indigenous youth decolonizing healing and resisting violence. By Jeffrey Paul Ansloos. (print only)

Social issues in contemporary native America: reflections from Turtle Island. By Hilary N. Weaver.

Applying Critical Social Theories to Family Therapy Practice. By Teresa McDowell.

Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work. By Kris Clarke & Michael Yellow Bird.

 

Antiracist Social Work

Strategies for deconstructing racism in the health and human services. Edited by Alma J. Carten, Alan Siskind, & Mary Pender Greene.

The price of progressive politics the welfare rights movement in an era of colorblind racism. By Rose Ernst.

Anti-racist social work. By Lena Dominelli. 

Anti-racist social work : international perspectives. Edited by Gurnam Singh, Shepard Masocha.

Disrupting whiteness in social work. Edited by Sonia M. Tascón and Jim Ife.

 

 

Last Updated: Feb 5, 2025 10:37 AM
Subjects: Social Sciences
Tags: social work