Using an Exploratory Approach to Describe Issues that Affect African American males in the Field of Social Work

This banded dissertation examined some of the issues of black men in the field of social work. Some of the issues to explored included social acceptance, oppression, and emotional and moral support, to name a few. The researcher goal was to gain more insight into the African American male social work experiences. The researcher used Afrocentric theory in this banded dissertation. Afrocentric theory considers the worldviews of African Americans with the understanding that historically African Americans are an oppressed population. The first product of this banded dissertation is a conceptual paper that focuses on whether social work implicit curricular support African American men in addressing diversity. The researcher reviewed the current body of knowledge on social work implicit curriculum and how they fit with Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) educational policy and accreditation standards (EPAS) 2015. The researcher used Afrocentric theory as the conceptual framework. The second product for this banded dissertation is a qualitative study. The study examined the factors that may hinder African American males in the field of graduate social work. Using a snowball sampling method, the researcher identified the study participants, hoping to capture the experiences as African American male social workers. The participants were interviewed by the researcher. The researcher interviewed 15 African American professional social workers in the state of North Carolina. The researcher collected the data, transcribed the notes, coded the text, determined categories, developed themes, and then wrote the findings. The method of analysis was framed by grounded theory. The third product provides an overview of the presentations entitled “Use of the Afrocentric Theory in Exploring Social Work Curriculum, Racism, and Sense of Isolation from THE AFROCENTRIC THEORY iii an African-American Perspective” and “Factors that Hinder African-American Males from Completing Their Graduate Social Work (MSW) Degree.” Both presentations were presented at the North Carolina School Social Workers Association 2017 Fall conference “The Power of School Social Worker” October 18-20, 2017 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Greensboro, North Carolina