By Sue Coyle, MSW
As the understanding of human impact on the environment has grown, so too has the understanding of the environment’s impact on humans. Everything about the climate—from the day-to-day conditions of the air, water and soil to the frequency of extreme weather events—has short and long-term effects on individuals’ and communities’ physical and mental health.
It is no surprise then that many professionals—not just conservationists and ecologists—have begun to focus more on the intersection of humanity and the environment, and how it correlates to their work. Social work is no exception.
Ecosocial work is an aspect of social work that both clinical and macro social workers are a part of. “I think it is theory and practice,” says Amy Krings, PhD, MSW, associate professor at the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University and network co-lead for the Grand Challenges for Social Work’s “Create Social Responses to a Changing Environment.”
“To me, the easiest way to explain it is that social workers are working, and their work engages with environmental issues and topics. So probably for most social workers, they don’t think of themselves as an ecosocial worker, but if you pause and think about if and how environmental topics touch the communities and clients we work with, you start realizing, OK, my work does involve ecosocial work. So for instance, you might work with clients or communities that have been hit by a natural disaster of extreme flooding or extreme heat—all these issues that have impact on people’s health and well-being,” she says.
“The other way to think about it is more of a specialization where people are more intentionally seeing themselves as working on environmental topics,” she says. “In that case, that could range from anything from doing more policy work to community organizing or working to promote healthy food access and independence.”
Whether a social worker is focusing directly on the environment or recognizing the ways in which it is impacting their clients, the work is challenging and ongoing, as environmental injustices and concerns become increasingly evident. The rising global temperatures, for example, have led to more heat waves, floods, droughts and wildfires. These events in turn require more resources, research and support—directly within the communities and from the governments and systems surrounding them.
Unfortunately, it appears that support, at least from the federal government, may be hard won if not nonexistent in the coming years, as the Trump administration has either taken or proposed numerous actions that weaken environmental safeguards.
For social workers to continue working with an eco-lens, they must take the time to understand the progress as well as the challenges that existed before the second Trump administration, and the ways in which the administration may further exacerbate the already present and persistent issues.
Read the full article in the NASW Social Work Advocates magazine
