School of Social Work

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Open Access
The Advocate Self of(f) Beaten Paths: Travelling Colonial Roads in Neoliberal Times
(2020-04) Koziorz, Dorothy
Social work often conceptualizes advocacy as synonymous with social justice and critical praxis (Smith, 2011), which seemingly affirms the heart of the social work profession. Though many claim an advocacy role or agree that advocacy is essential to social works cause, little is known about how the advocate self is constructed, understood, and practiced. 6 self-defined, Ontario-based child and youth advocates were interviewed in this study to explore how they engage in their own self-making processes; specifically advocates for children and youth who are involved in the child welfare system. This research is informed by post-structural, anti-colonial, anti-racist, and other critical theories and worldviews. It deploys a narrative approach and an analytic framework of Foucauldian discourse analysis to explore how child and youth advocates are shaped by, and in turn, shape dominant relations of power that work against, or in solidarity with children and young people towards social justice. Findings reveal that the roads travelled by child and youth advocates in their self-making processes are complex and ever-changing. The narratives of child and youth advocates reveal that they are both co-producers and disrupters of dominant discourses and power-knowledge systems. Additionally, it is argued that the advocate self is not a bounded self, but that it is “discursively mediated and politically situated” (Macias, 2012 p. 10). Finally, the research concludes with an argument for the necessity to historicize social justice imperatives in order to gain insight to the current tensions experienced by social justice advocates and further, opportunities for resistance.
Open Access
An Examination of How Dominant Notions of Normalcy Inform the Experiences of Non- White Subjects Living with Chronic Illness
(2018) Iyer, Minakshi
The subject of normalcy within critical disability studies explores the dichotomy of normal and abnormal and how this informs the way disability is discussed within society. Using a post-structural and critical approach, this research has examined the intersections between race and disability within the narratives of non-white subjects living with chronic illness. What this research reflects is a global conversation regarding the ways in which capitalism, whiteness and ability impart limitations upon participants in this study, and how community activism and friendship serve as a form of empowerment and solace while navigating these structures of dominance.
Open Access
Applying Critical Race Theory to Explore Services Needs and Pathways to Inclusion for African, Caribbean, and Black Youth in the Greater Toronto Area
(2024) Nembhard, Justin
Despite comprising a significant 8.7% of the Greater Toronto Area’s population and enriching the city’s cultural landscape (Statistics Canada, 2022), African, Caribbean, Black youths face a harsh reality of unemployment rates doubling the national and provincial average (City of Toronto, 2017). This underscores the urgent need to understand and address these systemic inequities. This research applies Critical Race Theory to investigate how systemic anti-Black racism shapes the well-being, service needs, and pathways to inclusion of African Caribbean Black youths in the Greater Toronto Area. Leveraging a virtual digital ethnography approach, this study analyzes secondary data to augment the voices of African, Caribbean, Black youths. The key themes that emerged from the analysis are centring African and Caribbean Black youth voices, dismantling institutional anti-Black racism, transformative change, Anti-oppressive approaches, and systemic anti-Black racism and its impact. This research aims to inform the development of anti-racist interventions and promote pathways to inclusion that aids in the dismantlement of systemic barriers which has the ability to empower ACB youth to thrive within the GTA.
Open Access
Bodies are not ‘Tools’: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on Embodiment in Social Work
(2024) Walker, Megn
Social work has historically focused on managing bodies without adequately addressing the implications of the mind/body split. As the social work profession is beginning to embrace embodiment practices, I was interested in learning how social work scholars understand the impacts of mind/body split, what practices are being suggested to re-negotiate this binary, and how certain discourses frame bodies as ‘tools’ for social work. Drawing from Foucauldian discourse analysis and genealogical methodology, I explore the roots of the mind/body split in white supremacy culture, settler colonialism, and neoliberal capitalism. By pointing to the history of social work's complicity in perpetuating the mind/body split and the need for a shift in theoretical perspectives around embodiment, I propose a critical embodiment theory to challenge existing paradigms and open new avenues for both micro and macro social work. While my research is focused on theory, it holds significant material implications. We stand at a pivotal moment where the integration of embodiment into social work practice could foster decolonial and resistance-oriented approaches, or continue to reinforce the mind/body split through perpetuating white supremacy culture and neoliberal practices.
Open Access
Breaking Barriers: The Impact of Peer Support on Mental Health among South Asian Youth
(2024) Malungu, Marthroot
Numerous studies have reported a steady rise in mental health concerns within South Asian Canadians that are often left untreated and unmet. South Asian Canadian youth (15+ years old) in particular have been reported as one of the least likely groups to access mental health supports that are readily available to them. This qualitative study sought to investigate the service access barriers experienced by South Asian youth populations in Canada and explore the potential peer support interventions may have on mitigating the barriers to mental health access. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with South Asian youth (16-25 years old) living in Peel Region (Brampton, Mississauga, Caledon), that is home to a significant proportion of Ontario’s South Asian population. Participants (n=19) shared their personal experience regarding accessing mental health support and peer support. The data was analyzed utilizing a thematic analysis approach. The study revealed how, despite obvious limitations such as adequate training, turning to peer support and mental health supports offered in school settings helped the youth to navigate their issues. They offered recommendations for how peer support programs could be structured and explained to South Asian communities in order to improve youth mental health. These findings suggest a potential role peer support interventions may provide through alignment with South Asian youth’s cultural identity to address the barriers that have arisen in mental health access.
Open Access
Case Worker’s Perspectives of Ontario’s Social Assistance Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic
(2021-04) Parnell, Morgan
This study explores seven Ontario Works case workers’ perspectives of the social assistance program in Ontario, Canada, during the novel coronavirus pandemic 2019 (COVID-19). Rooted in a critical paradigm, this research was guided by the following research questions: How has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced case worker’s perspectives on the effectiveness of Ontario’s income support program? What gaps do case workers identify in this system and how do they think they would be best addressed? Data for this study was generated through the use of semi-structured interviews and the major findings that emerged include 1) Challenges clients faced while transitioning to virtual service delivery highlight lack of communication and support; 2) COVID-19 emphasizes Ontario Works’ universal service delivery approach and the inability to support people with complex needs; 3) The implementation of CERB highlights Ontario Works’ inflexible program requirements, insufficient assistance rates and who is defined as deserving versus underserving during the pandemic; and 4) Quality of case management service delivery could be improved if case workers experienced less stress, more flexibility and more support from the organization. Participants also identified two major recommendations to address these gaps, including the implementation of a wraparound, wholistic, mixed-methods model that offers financial amounts that meet MBM and inflation, and consult welfare recipients and Ontario Works case worker’s and involve them in the decision-making process.
Open Access
Co-Creating Ethical Understandings Through Outsider Witnessing
(2020-04) Mulloff, Mark
This research project seeks to examine ethical dilemmas faced by practitioners who work with men who have used intimate partner violence (IPV). The study is informed by a Foucauldian conception of power. The research explores how the workers’ reflections on power and ethics give them insight into the journeys towards accountability that their clients undertake. Methodologically, the study adopts narrative inquiry combined with outsider witnessing methods, which allow an audience of participants to listen to one participant be interviewed about an ethical dilemma, and explore what things resonated with them in the story; what accounted for this resonance within the life or practice of the witness; what these things indicate about the values, ethics, or politics of the storyteller; and where the witness has been transported as a result of hearing the story. Findings indicated that this process contributes to a relational understanding of ethics through soliciting shared experiences, feelings, and values; by causing participants to reflect on past experiences differently; and by descriptions of values, ethics, and power as active and relational processes. Insight into the clients’ pursuits of accountability arose through reflections on the experiences of clients, the process of change, and an understanding of shared navigations of power relations with clients. The study recommends that those working with men in IPV intervention consider building a regular practice connecting with others doing similar work in order to co-create shared ethics and mutual support around the pursuit of those ethics.
Open Access
A Cookbook Approach to Building Community: Applying a Narrative Lens to Food Work
(2019-03) Guthrie, Jade
There has been a push from community food activists to create community food work practices which are more democratic, collective, and connected to social justice goals. As a response to these calls, this research project explore the research questions of “how can a collective narrative approach be applied to community food work programming in order to render this type of programming more inclusive and empowering for participants?” Using a narrative approach to probe this question, this community-based participatory project develops a “food narratives” framework to doing community food work. In-depth interviews, as well as a creative focus group session with community food practitioners served to gain insight into to the work being done on the ground. This research grounds this framework in theories of affect, intersectionality, and critical pedagogy, contending that “food narratives” can be mobilized within community food spaces as a means of exploring identity, creating community, and building resilience.
Open Access
Diverse Political Women in Canada and Online Attacks: Experiences, Perspectives, and Insights
(2019-06) Skogberg, Jenna
Multiple academic disciplines agree upon the importance of women having diverse representation in politics because their unique perspectives are strongly thought to have positive implications on policies that affect the health and well-being of all people (Clayton & Zetterberg, 2018). Yet, abuse or harassment levied at these women both online and offline likely diminishes their voices or desires to remain politically engaged. Using hermeneutic phenomenology and intersectional feminism, I explored the experiences of a diverse group of political women in Canada with online attacks to gain their insights on potential implications and strategies for change. The findings analyze the participants’ complex relationships with social media, the unique challenges of each platform, the interlock of online and offline harassment, the women’s resiliencies and strategies to cope with online attacks, and their ideas for potential resolutions. The implications for critical social work practice are identified as: insight on the continued need to challenge Eurocentric heteropatriarchal colonial institutions, online and offline; the importance for Canadian social workers to (re)imagine their roles in online spaces; and, the need to develop methods with interdisciplinary teams to combat ideological radicalization on online echo chambers. Regarding future research, there exists much potential. One focus I recommend is that an interdisciplinary team of people, representing various socio-political positionalities, study how to perform community building projects on online echo chambers.
Open Access
‘Drink a Nap. Take Water.’ and Other Self-Care Advice A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on Self-Care Posts on Instagram
(2020-04) Blumenfeld, Stephanie
In recent years, self-care has become a qualification for many social work organizations. At the same time, mental distress has been receiving significant attention. Through this period, government policies have decreased funding to social services while increasing surveillance. As well, social media has increasingly become a source of governmentality as a useful tool for perpetuating dominant narratives, surveilling each other and the self. The purpose of this study is to explore these connections through a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on self-care posts from Instagram. My analysis uses post-structural literature on mad studies, neoliberalism, whiteness, and feminism. A major theme of my analysis regards evidence of reification of the neoliberal state as self-care becomes the qualification for worker-citizen-subjects. The implications of self-care discourses for people struggling with mental distress are that those experiencing it are blamed for their individual choices. The paper concludes by exploring subjugated discourses, relevance for social work and suggestions for future research.
Open Access
Economic Recovery for Whom? Jobs, Business, and Homo Oeconomicus in BC’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan
(2021-04) Zainal, Shila
This qualitative study examines how neoliberal rationality is reproduced and reinforced, in addition to how certain lives are centered while others marginalized and excluded, in British Columbia’s COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery plan titled “Stronger BC for Everyone”. Utilizing Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, this study found that neoliberalism is sustained in this recovery plan through the discursive centering of jobs, business, and homo oeconomicus–the productive, self-interested, and entrepreneurial “economic man”. This paper also proposes that the realities of marginalized subjects and demands for radical alternatives are repackaged to uphold neoliberal rationality, leaving palpable silences on the realities of those who are the most marginalized throughout this pandemic. These reconfigurations and silences further entrench the hegemony of neoliberalism as the only common-sense solution to the existing inequities. Furthermore, this study illustrates the importance of re-politicizing social work and the need for more research radical alternatives to neoliberalism.
Open Access
Exploring Polysexual Experiences within Mental Healthcare and the Negotiation of In/Visibility: A Qualitative Arts-Based Inquiry
(2020-04) DeAngelis, Alyssa
Contemporary research has found that polysexual people (who are sexually and/or romantically attracted to multiple genders) report poorer mental health when compared to monosexual people (Arnett, Frantell, Miles, & Fry, 2019; Bostwick, Boyd, Hughes, & McCabe, 2010; Brennan, Ross, Dobinson, Veldhuizen, & Steele, 2010; Flanders, Gos, Dobinson, & Logie, 2015; Steele, Ross, Dobinson, Veldhuizen, & Tinmouth, 2009). Furthermore, data from the 2003 and 2005 Canadian Community Health Surveys found that, “Bisexuals were more likely to report unmet [physical and mental] health care needs, compared with heterosexual Canadians” (Tjepkema, 2008, p. 62). Thus, this study explored the research question: “How do polysexual identified individuals wish to be seen, understood, and/or engaged within the specific context of mental healthcare?” The framework for this study was based on Daley’s (2013) theory of “negotiating in/visibility” in psychiatric service spaces. In the current study, six people participated in a semi-structured interview and four participants additionally completed a reflexive photography exercise (which included photographs and text). All mediums of data were brought together to discuss the following four themes: intersectionality; relevance; physical, online and community presence; and resistance. Findings revealed (respectively) that polysexual people wish to be seen as intersectional bodies, for their sexuality to be understood through their own perspectives as it relates (or not) to mental healthcare, to be engaged with through queer politics, and for therapeutic services to not be yet another space where they must resist oppression. While these results are not revolutionary by any means, they convey – often unmet – needs of polysexual people, from which service providers can reflect upon their own practice.
Open Access
Exploring the Impact of Client Suicide on Social Workers: A Phenomenological Study
(2018) Duffy, Amber
This research aims to further the understanding of how the phenomenon of client suicide is experienced. Using phenomenology, registered social workers were interviewed to garner an understanding of how client suicide is experienced within the social work perspective. Client suicide research has largely focused on the experience of other professions such as psychology and psychiatry, despite social workers often working with people who have suicidal ideation. Understanding how social workers make meaning of, and are possibly affected by their clients dying by suicide, is valuable in avoiding trauma, grief, and burn out. This research used a constructivist lens to interpret how various social workers experienced the same phenomenon differently, examining the question, “how do social workers describe their experience of client suicide and its impact on their personal and professional lives?”
Open Access
Exposing and Closing the Knowledge Gap in Canada for Indigenous People: What is working to support Indigenous students in schools today from an Indigenous perspective
(2017) McKay, Tsitra
The major focus of this project explores what factors enable Indigenous people to continue in education despite all the barriers they face. Furthermore the research looks at how the education system can continue to improve to support Indigenous people through post-secondary. Moreover, the research looks at what the implications to government and educators are now that the TRC (2015) recommendations have been released and how they are being implemented. Most importantly my research was done in collaboration with Indigenous peoples through a sharing circle and interviews using Indigenous research methodology which is holistic, sacred and honors Indigenous knowledge.
Open Access
Family-Centred Early Intervention and Other Social Supports for Families with Children who are Deal or Hard of Hearing: A Critical Review
(2024) Ireullo, Stephanie
The deaf and hard-of-hearing communities have been commonly misrepresented, and their voices omitted within research. Thus, this critical scoping review begins with a literature review to capture the life experiences of deaf/hard-of-hearing children and their hearing caregivers/parents. I will dismantle the concept of audism, and particularly the trauma experienced within the community. The overall aim is to fill the knowledge gap regarding comprehensive, child-centred social services and interventions that offer holistic assistance, specifically considering families’ intersecting identities (e.g., socioeconomic status and race). This review will examine thirteen scholarly articles that highlight twelve different social services through an intersectional lens. Doing so will uncover whether current programs provide adequate support to deaf/hard-of-hearing children, regardless of their culture or family status. Important conclusions note that although there is an increased focus on programing that build on family’s strengths- such as family centred early intervention- there is a clear implementation gap in the widespread availability of holistic programs for deaf/hard-of-hearing children. This review also notes that families from higher socioeconomic statues are more likely to have access to more support than those from marginalized communities. It is considered how the programs' effects on families might be amplified through widespread implementation. Along with highlighting some study limitations, this review offers some ideas for additional research.
Open Access
Fatphobia as Marginalization: The Impacts on Women in the Public Sphere
(2021-04) Schmalz, Hayley
This paper seeks to explore the impact that fatphobia has on Western society, specifically the female body. Using existing literature, this research aims to deepen the knowledge and experience around fatphobia and its pervasiveness in the public sphere. Key questions explored are centered around how fatphobia impacts women in Western society, how fatphobia is created and maintained, and the exploration of where fatphobia is most pervasive in a person’s life. The study will analyze its research findings through a feminist and intersectional theoretical perspective. Some of the key findings in this study were that fatphobia is largely connected to patriarchy, Western culture, and colonization. As well as classism and neoliberalist ideologies and how these ideologies create and maintain fatphobic beliefs. The intersection between fatphobia and race was explored, however, there was a significant lack of perspective in the literature from fat women of colour. Additionally, analysis on the biomedical discourse around obesity and weight discrimination was explored, eliciting extreme discrimination against fat bodies. Based on this information, it is apparent that awareness of fatphobia needs to be explored further in professional research and in day-to-day life. Specifically, recognizing fatphobia as a form of marginalization is recommended to be included in social work education and implemented into social work practice to ensure more inclusive knowledge and practice.
Open Access
Feature Profile - CUPE Faculty and Former Alum William Woolrich
(2018-09) Woolrich, William; Saadi, Salma
William Woolrich has several years of experience working in direct practice as a social worker on a forensic mental health team and then managing a supportive housing program. He also has over a decade of experience teaching social work, much of it online, and has several conference presentations exploring innovative teaching methods in post-secondary education. He has a MSW from York University’s School of Social Work and is now a Doctoral Candidate in the Faculty of Education at York University where he is focusing on teaching and learning in higher education and, in particular, examining critical approaches to pedagogy for students considering a career in social service administration. Most recently, he has accepted a full-time faculty position at George Brown College where he teaches in the Community Worker Program. In this interview, William discusses his passion for teaching, his social work field experience and the CUPE 3903 strike.
Open Access
Feature Profile - Field Instructor Leyla Didari
(2018-07) Didari, Leyla; Saadi, Salma
Leyla Didari is a Registered Social Worker (RSW) with two Master of Social Work (MSW) degrees from Iran and Canada. She currently works as a social worker at Compass ACT Team at Michael Garron Hospital with adults with chronic mental health issues. She is using an eclectic approach tailored to the unique needs of each client. Leyla has over 16 years of experience in a variety of settings and with diverse clients, including both patients with physical and/or mental health issues. Leyla is always challenging herself. She went through so many changes in her life, such as changing her career from nursing to social work, immigrating to Canada and starting over, learning a new language and going through various academic programs in her new country, such as IESW (International Educated Social Worker) Program at Ryerson University, as well as MSW Program at the University of Windsor, while working full time. She is continuously seeking to gain more skills and broaden her education. For instance, Leyla has spent many hours of training to become a WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) facilitator and a certified Auricular Acupuncture Specialist. Leyla tries to provide an environment of compassion and support to help her clients and families overcome obstacles to move forward and thrive. This is what Leyla had to say about her experience working as a social worker in Canada and supervising York University social work students.
Open Access
Feature Profile - Part-Time Faculty and Alumnus Brenton Diaz
(2018-11) Diaz, Brenton; Saadi, Salma
Brenton Diaz received both his BSW and MSW at York University, as well as receiving a BA in Social Development Studies at the University of Waterloo. While studying for his MSW, his Practice-Based Research Paper analyzed the services provided to Mexican Migrant Farm Workers in Canada and was awarded the Gerry Erickson Prize for Best Paper. He currently teaches several courses in the School of Social Work at York University, and has also taught at Lakehead University and Georgian College, as well as in several post-secondary institutions in Lithuania, Kenya and the Ukraine. He works as the Clinical Coordinator of the Adult Program at Cedar Centre, an agency based in York Region that works with people who have experienced interpersonal trauma as children (his position at Cedar Centre began as a BSW placement, arranged by York when his original placement fell through). Brenton has also consulted with local agencies and community leaders on violence and trauma in Malawi, Dominican Republic and Rwanda.
Open Access
Feature Profile - Social Work Alumna Sonya Bourgeois
(2018-10) Bourgeois, Sonya; Saadi, Salma
Sonya Bourgeois completed her Master's of Social Work at York University, and is currently a policy professional with the Ontario Public Service. She has led projects in the areas of violence against women, health policy, community and social service delivery, and gender-based policy and program development. She has published in the areas of women and HIV, and access to abortion in Canada. Early in her career, she worked as a fundraising professional in the areas of human rights, mental health, and community development. She is a former staff of the Redwood Shelter and currently a member of their Board of Directors.

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