ABSTRACT

There is growing impetus for social work to move beyond a human-centric social justice orientation to include the consideration of animals. Social work programs in Australia are currently not required to include content related to animals within the curricula and little is known about the extent to which this content is currently being taught in Australia. The aim of this study was to explore how consideration of human–animal relations has been incorporated into Australian social work programs. Fifteen social work educators were surveyed with three of these participants also undertaking semistructured interviews. The findings revealed that where animal-related content was included it predominantly took an “instrumental” or “anthropocentric” focus related solely to human wellbeing. Exceptions to this focus were found to exist within some ethics and theory units under topics such as “green social work”. Participants report barriers to including such content citing factors related to challenges within the university context and the perceived relative importance of other topics within a crowded social work curriculum. Despite an upsurge in interest in animal-related content reflected in the literature and a broader shift in societal attitudes towards animals, the findings of this small study indicate that Australian social work curriculum currently does not reflect this increasing interest.

• IMPLICATIONS

• As a social justice–oriented profession social work has an ethical responsibility to expand its focus to include consideration of human–animal relations within the Australian social work curriculum.

• There is evidence that inclusion of content related to animals is limited and is often a reflection of the educator’s commitment and passion for the topic rather than curriculum priorities or requirements.

• Further research is needed to gain a better understanding of the extent to which human–animal relations content is included within Australian social work curriculum and what barriers may exist to its inclusion.

摘要

社会工作超越以人为中心的社会正义取向，纳入对动物的考虑的动力越来越大。澳大利亚的社会工作项目目前不要求在课程中包含与动物有关的内容，而且人们对澳大利亚目前教授这些内容的程度知之甚少。本研究的目的是探讨如何将人与动物关系的考虑纳入澳大利亚社会工作计划。十五名社会工作教育工作者接受了调查，其中三名参与者还接受了半结构化访谈。调查结果显示，在包含与动物相关的内容时，它主要关注仅与人类福祉相关的“工具性”或“以人类为中心”。在“绿色社会工作”等主题下的一些伦理学和理论单元中发现了这一重点的例外情况。参与者报告了纳入此类内容的障碍，理由是与大学背景下的挑战相关的因素以及拥挤的社会工作课程中其他主题的相对重要性。尽管文献中反映了人们对动物相关内容的兴趣高涨，并且社会对动物的态度发生了更广泛的转变，但这项小型研究的结果表明，澳大利亚社会工作课程目前并未反映出这种日益增长的兴趣。参与者报告了纳入此类内容的障碍，理由是与大学背景下的挑战相关的因素以及拥挤的社会工作课程中其他主题的相对重要性。尽管文献中反映了人们对动物相关内容的兴趣高涨，并且社会对动物的态度发生了更广泛的转变，但这项小型研究的结果表明，澳大利亚社会工作课程目前并未反映出这种日益增长的兴趣。参与者报告了纳入此类内容的障碍，理由是与大学背景下的挑战相关的因素以及拥挤的社会工作课程中其他主题的相对重要性。尽管文献中反映了人们对动物相关内容的兴趣高涨，并且社会对动物的态度发生了更广泛的转变，但这项小型研究的结果表明，澳大利亚社会工作课程目前并未反映出这种日益增长的兴趣。

• 影响

• 作为一个以社会正义为导向的职业，社会工作有道德责任将其重点扩大到在澳大利亚社会工作课程中纳入对人与动物关系的考虑。

• 有证据表明，与动物相关的内容是有限的，并且通常反映了教育者对该主题的承诺和热情，而不是课程优先事项或要求。

• 需要进一步研究，以更好地了解人与动物关系内容在澳大利亚社会工作课程中的纳入程度以及纳入其中可能存在哪些障碍。