IIDEA Committee

IIDEA Committee

Based on the School of Social Work’s strategic plan, the IIDEA Committee was established in Fall 2020. Dean Cathryn C. Potter charged the committee with the following:

1. In partnership with the Office of Academic Affairs, advance a conceptual/theoretical framework that undergirds the initiatives that further inclusion, intersectionality, diversity, equity, and advancement (IIDEA) for social justice for the School, and for agencies that partner with the School, in order to carry out the core mission of Rutgers School of Social Work.

2. In partnership with multiple School of Social Work entities, including the curriculum faculty and the staff council, lead development and implementation oversight of a comprehensive, evolving, multi year plan that advances IIDEA within the School and agencies that partner with the School; and

3. Identify areas where inclusion, intersectionality, diversity, equity, and advancement need to be addressed and make recommendations to the Dean, administration, and faculty to address the identified areas.

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IIDEA Committee Members and

Chair

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Thomas E. Benjamin Research Project Assistant Center for Research on Ending Violence Staff Representative

The IIDEA Committee is comprised of tenured, tenure track, and non tenure track faculty, students representing the BASW, MSW, DSW, and PhD programs, and staff

V. DuWayne Battle, PhD Professor of Teaching, Director of Baccalaureate Program Faculty Representative

Edward Alessi, PhD Associate Professor and Chancellor’s Scholar of LGBTQ Mental Health, Trauma, and Resilience Faculty Representative

Elsa Candelario, MSW Professor of Professional Practice and Director of Latina/o/x Initiatives for Service, Training, and Assessment Faculty Representative

Iris Cardenas, MSW PhD Student Representative

Tangela Dockery-Sawyerr, LMSW DSW Student Representative

Jacquelynn Duron, PhD Associate Professor Faculty Representative

Antoinette Y. Farmer, PhD Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair

Christine Morales, MSW Assistant Professor of Teaching Faculty Representative

Monica Grace Sanagustin MSW Student Representative (Traditional Program)

Cathy Thompson Fix, M.Div Program Coordinator, Institute for Families Staff Representative

Emmy Tiderington, PhD Associate Professor Faculty Representative

Angela Jones

MSW Student Representative (Online MSW Program)

Vimmi Surti MSW Student Representative (Hybrid Program)

Statement on Inclusion, Intersectionality, Diversity, Equity and Advancement

Rutgers School of Social Work embraces inclusion, intersectionality, diversity, equity, and advancement (IIDEA) as core principles for our curriculum, our community engagement, our research portfolios and our faculty, student, and staff community. In partnership with the Office of Academic Affairs and the Curriculum and Executive Committees, we present a contextual/conceptual/theoretical framework that undergirds the School’s initiatives that further IIDEA. We will apply IIDEA using a Liberatory Consciousness framework (Love, 2010) that allows collaborative development of content and processes across various initiatives. Using a Liberatory Consciousness Framework (LCF; Love 2010), the principles and values of IIDEA will be used to further IIDEA for social justice at the School, and for agencies that partner with the School, in order to carry out the core mission of the School of Social Work

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework is Dr. Barbara Love’s Liberatory Consciousness Framework. Liberatory Consciousness is an awareness of oppression and an intentionality about changing systems of oppression (Love, 2010). The process for developing a liberatory consciousness includes four components: awareness, analysis, action, and accountability/allyship. Each member of our community is invited to: develop a capacity to notice; think critically about what is noticed, why it is happening, and what needs to be done; identify our individual roles in redressing oppression and steps that should be taken; and take steps toward justice and support each other in this pursuit.

Developing a liberatory consciousness framework is an ongoing process. It is not linear. The point is that action is best done after awareness and analysis. New awareness leads to new analysis and the possibility of new action and accountability/allyship. We enter liberatory consciousness at different stages, and we continue to evolve in an ongoing commitment to liberatory consciousness and actions that results in liberation, equity, and social justice for individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

The underlying assumptions of the liberatory consciousness framework are as follows: (1) it is not a linear process, (2) it does not have a finite end point, (3) we all start at different places in the process, (4) we can go back to a particular point in the process, (5) one should not feel compelled to complete the process, and (6) one must be willing to engage in the process.

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Defining the Terms in IIDEA1

The IIDEA Definitions and Statement Subcommittee was charged with defining the terms used in the acronym IIDEA and other terms that are frequently used in social work.

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Inclusion refers to a characteristic of environments in which individuals and groups feel welcomed, respected, valued, and supported through the elimination of practices and behaviors that result in marginalization. An inclusive climate embraces difference and offers respect in words and actions, so that all people can fully participate in the University’s opportunities.

Source: Adapted from Rutgers’ University-wide Diversity Strategic Plan. 

Intersectionality refers to the acknowledgement of the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, language, disability status, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status as they apply to a given individual or group, and how systems of oppression overlap to create distinct experiences of stigma, discrimination, and marginalization for people with multiple identities.

Source: Adapted from Kimberlé Crenshaw’s On Intersectionality: Essential Writings. 

Diversity refers to the presence and respect for the variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance. Such differences include, but are not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, language, disability status, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and geographic region.2

Source: Adapted from Rutgers’ University-wide Diversity Strategic Plan.

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Equity refers to the identification and elimination of barriers that prevent full participation of students, faculty, and staff in every stage of education and career development. Attention to equity involves ensuring access, opportunity, and advancement for all students, faculty, and staff in every stage of education and career development and redressing the exclusion of historically underrepresented and underserved groups in higher education.

Source: Adapted from Rutgers’ University-wide Diversity Strategic Plan. 

Advancement refers to the act of ensuring a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, language, disability status, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.

Source: Adapted from the NAACP mission.

1We realize that the meanings of these terms are fluid and the way we understand them changes over time.

2Identities or social locations are not ranked or listed in any particular order of importance.

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Definitions of Antiracist/Anti-racism

An anti racist is “one who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea” (Kendi, 2019, p.14).

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Antiracism is “a powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial equity and are substantiated by antiracist ideas” (Kendi, 2019, p.21)

Citation: Kendi, I. X. (2019). How to Be an Antiracist. One world.

Anti-racist Social Work

Lena Dominelli (2017), a British author, explains that “anti racist social work is a form of practice that takes as its starting point racialised social relations that depict ‘black’ people as inferior. It aims to eradicate racist social relations and dynamics from the profession and society. In realising this, white people are encouraged to tackle racist practices at the personal and collective levels in organisations and institutions; learn about black perspectives; and build alliances with black people by agreeing on common objectives to eradicate racism and create egalitarian partnerships. Black people have their own expectations and demands for these alliances and engage with white people to achieve mutually acceptable ways forward (Bishop, 2002). These also address other forms of oppression that intersect with racist social relations, e.g., sexism, classism. Focusing on racism alone is but a starting point for the anti oppressive anti-racist journey” (p. 10).

Citation: Dominelli, L. (2017). Anti Racist Social Work. Macmillan International Higher Education.

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