Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic Review
Social work’s response to global climate change has dramatically increased over the last several years. Similarly, growing attention has been paid to rural social work; less clear, however, is how social work, responsive to global climate change, is developed, deployed, and understood in rural conte...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/8/336 |
| _version_ | 1797407968900153344 |
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| author | Haorui Wu Meredith Greig Catherine Bryan |
| author_facet | Haorui Wu Meredith Greig Catherine Bryan |
| author_sort | Haorui Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social work’s response to global climate change has dramatically increased over the last several years. Similarly, growing attention has been paid to rural social work; less clear, however, is how social work, responsive to global climate change, is developed, deployed, and understood in rural contexts; this systematic review elaborates on current social work contributions (research, practice, and policymaking), promoting environmental justice and sustainability in rural communities. Utilizing the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach, this article thematically analyzed and synthesized 174 journal articles on social work-specific interventions and environmental justice. The results illustrate insights into the experiences, practices, or objectives of rural social workers vis-à-vis climate change. Significant themes from the literature demonstrated that gender, age, and race limited access to social work services and climate-related disaster response support in rural settings; this article argues that rural community-driven social work practices focused on environmental justice and sustainability should be encouraged and that policy advocacy attentive to climate change and its impact on vulnerable and marginalized groups should be pursued. Current and prospective social work scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders should collaborate with local rural communities to address their unique needs related to climate change. In turn, grassroots strategies should be co-developed to promote climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, ultimately achieving the goal of building resilient, healthy, and sustainable rural communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:50:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6c69a394f8b446288e108408ecd51c66 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:50:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-6c69a394f8b446288e108408ecd51c662023-12-03T14:28:29ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602022-07-0111833610.3390/socsci11080336Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic ReviewHaorui Wu0Meredith Greig1Catherine Bryan2School of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, CanadaSchool of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, CanadaSchool of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, CanadaSocial work’s response to global climate change has dramatically increased over the last several years. Similarly, growing attention has been paid to rural social work; less clear, however, is how social work, responsive to global climate change, is developed, deployed, and understood in rural contexts; this systematic review elaborates on current social work contributions (research, practice, and policymaking), promoting environmental justice and sustainability in rural communities. Utilizing the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach, this article thematically analyzed and synthesized 174 journal articles on social work-specific interventions and environmental justice. The results illustrate insights into the experiences, practices, or objectives of rural social workers vis-à-vis climate change. Significant themes from the literature demonstrated that gender, age, and race limited access to social work services and climate-related disaster response support in rural settings; this article argues that rural community-driven social work practices focused on environmental justice and sustainability should be encouraged and that policy advocacy attentive to climate change and its impact on vulnerable and marginalized groups should be pursued. Current and prospective social work scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders should collaborate with local rural communities to address their unique needs related to climate change. In turn, grassroots strategies should be co-developed to promote climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, ultimately achieving the goal of building resilient, healthy, and sustainable rural communities.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/8/336rural communityclimate change adaptationdisaster risk reductionagricultural-based livelihoodsocial worksustainable development |
| spellingShingle | Haorui Wu Meredith Greig Catherine Bryan Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic Review Social Sciences rural community climate change adaptation disaster risk reduction agricultural-based livelihood social work sustainable development |
| title | Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic Review |
| title_full | Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic Review |
| title_fullStr | Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic Review |
| title_short | Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic Review |
| title_sort | promoting environmental justice and sustainability in social work practice in rural community a systematic review |
| topic | rural community climate change adaptation disaster risk reduction agricultural-based livelihood social work sustainable development |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/8/336 |
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