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Author ORCID Identifier
Date Available
5-18-2024
Year of Publication
2022
Document Type
Capstone
Degree Name
Doctor of Social Work (DSW)
Faculty
Dr. Laura Escobar-Ratliff
Abstract
African American youth’s rates of major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide have increased in the last three years due to COVID-19 and national social injustices. African American students who seek help at school are less likely to receive adequate treatment from school social workers. Mental health care for African American students should be available, and those services must be effective. African American youth continue to suffer in silence when school social workers lack African-centered conceptual teaching and therapeutic skills. Current social work education curriculums contribute to 'Whiteness,' which influences future social workers to carry biases and privilege into the workplace. Curriculums must be challenged and updated to promote effective social work practices that better serve minority populations. Proper education of social workers while they are still in school is critical to the world's future. I will propose a road map for improving social work education to effectively address African American youth’s mental health through three capstone products. This capstone presentation will raise your knowledge of the lack of social work practices in educational systems and curriculum solutions for African American students.
KEYWORDS: school-based health centers, SBHC, African-American, Black mental health, Anti Racism curriculum, social work education, critical race theory, Black youth
Recommended Citation
Dawson, Alicia, "Black youth are suffering in silence: Advancing Social Work Education to Better Address the Mental Health of African American Youth." (2022). DSW Capstone Projects. 49.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/csw_grad_reports/49
