Distributed Leadership for

Social Justice ActionS. Colby Peters, LGSW

Mathew Uretsky, MSW, MPHLeah Bartley, MSW

Anusha Chatterjee, MA

Background

Where is the social justice in social work?

• Advocacy ranked low on social workers’ list of priorities• Lack of participation in public policy formation• Engagement in social justice at individual level, but not

organizational or societal level

Why aren’t social workers engaging in social justice

actions?• Psychological and individual approach to social work• Managerialism and professionalism• Organizational culture• Social work education does not translate the pursuit of social

justice into specific advocacy techniques

The qualities and skills needed to promote social justice are encompassed in social work

leadershipClient Outcomes

Social Worker Outcomes

Organizational Outcomes

Professional Outcomes

Global OutcomesGlobal Outcomes• Social justice

Social Worker Outcomes• Committed to organization

and social justice• Politically savvy• Visionary• Manages diversity

Social Work Leadership Behaviors

Advocates for clients and organization

Thinks critically

Distributed Leadership

Client Outcomes• Increased opportunities to

engage in organizational activities that directly affect him or her

Organizational Outcomes• Culture of leadership, not

managerialism• Adherence to mission and

visionSocial Work Profession Outcomes

• Increased promotion of social work values

A Theory of Social Justice Promotion

Increases in distributive leadership in the workplace predict increases in subjective norms associated with the promotion of social justice.

Attitude

Subjective Norms

Perceived Behavioral Control

Intention Behavior

Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (1991)

Distributed Leadership

Distributed leadership may contribute to an increase in advocacy for social justice

• Distributed leadership: Emergent leadership based on knowledge, time, and context, consisting of a concerted action by a group of individuals for the purpose of achieving a common goal.

Research Question

Do increased levels of distributed leadership in the workplace predict increases in

social justice actions?

Method and Results

Organizational Inputs and Social Workers’ Management of Secondary Trauma in the Workplace

May – August 2013

Sampling Frame• 483 licensed social

workers in PA and MD from state licensure lists

Response• 174 surveys

returned• 166 valid surveys• 34.3% response rate

Sample Size• 130 final sample

size

n %

Female 127 91%

Partnered/Married 96 69%

White/Non-Hispanic 118 84%

Exclusions• Missing data on SJS

and DL scales• Not currently working

as social workers

Scales• Subjective Norms Subscale, Social Justice Scale (Torres-Harding, Siers, & Olson,

2012)• 4 items• Alpha = .88• Sample question: On a scale of 1 to 7, please indicate to what extent people around you are

engaged in activities that address social injustices in your workplace.

• Distributed Leadership Subscale, Leadership Scale, Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment (Fritzler & Leake, 2012)• 3 items• Alpha = .97• Sample question: On a scale of 1 to 6, the leadership of our organization views leadership as

shared by staff and administrators.

Hierarchical Regression Analysis*

Step 1 - Demographics• Ethnicity: Caucasian non-Hispanic, Other• Gender: Male, Female• Marital Status: Partnered/Married, Other

Step 2 – Distributed Leadership• Distributed leadership subscale

Independent Variables Dependent VariableSubjective norms related to

social justice promotion• Subjective norms subscale

*All assumptions for OLS regression were met.

ResultsIncreases in distributive leadership in the workplace predict increases in

subjective norms associated with the promotion of social justice.

Distributed Leadership

Subjective Norms

Colleagues display positive attitude toward social justice and engage in social justice

actions

R2 = .123

+ 1 point

+ 1.4 points

Implications, Limitations, and Future Research

Implications

• Distributed leadership social worker leadership behaviors leadership culture social justice promotion

• Distributed leadership may counterbalance managerialism

• Basing organizational structure and function on principles of social justice may enable social workers to engage in more advocacy

• Social workers who feel comfortable addressing structural and functional issues in their organization may translate into addressing structural inequalities in societal institutions

Limitations

• Subscales have not been used alone in previous studies

• Sample not diverse

• Potential private practice respondents

• Didn’t define “social justice”

Future Research

• More extensive assessment of distributed leadership practices over time and across organizations

• More detailed assessment of social justice promotion in an organization

• Specific actions taken by social workers in the promotion of social justice inside and outside of the organization

How do we promote social justice?

Social workers must:• Apply principles of social justice to their organizations• Retain a critical stance to existing organizational and societal

structures that promote inequality• Advocate for change on multiple levels

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ImagesSlide 1 – Jane Addams with immigrant children, retrieved 6.2.2014 from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/24/1057949/-The-Second-Death-of-Jane-Addams#Slide 3 – Whitney M. Young, Jr., retrieved on 6.2.2014 from http://mije.org/richardprince/telenovelas-trump-state-unionSlide 4 – Harry Hopkins, WPA Administrator, visits Arkansas families displaced by flooding, retrieved on 6.2.2014 from http://www.cssny.org/index.php/preview/news/harry-hopkins-from-css-to-fdrs-new-dealSlide 6 – Jeannette Rankin, retrieved on 6.2.2014 from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20776.htmlSlide 17 – Dorothy Height, members of Sigma Theta Delta sorority, and Mamie Eisenhower, retrieved on 6.2.2014 from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126136771

S. Colby Peters, LGSWspeters@ssw.umaryland.edu