From Alternative Pathways to Abolition
Abolish the ASWB Exam
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18060/28603Keywords:
critical race theory, abolitionist social work, ASWB examAbstract
In 2022, the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) provided for the first time the demographics on all five of its examinations between the years 2011 and 2021. The pass rates demonstrate a foundationally discriminatory system that routinely fails Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) while passing white social workers. Implementing critical race theory and abolitionist social work practice to analyze the foundations of the ASWB exam, this article investigates five routes to social work licensure including performance assessments/simulations, oral examinations, portfolios, jurisprudence exams, and provisional licensure. However, the analysis demonstrates that each of these alternatives produces inequitable overall outcomes leading to further marginalization of BIPOC social workers. Instead, the authors advocate for the abolition of the social work exam. Abolition would establish the most equitable overall outcome for social workers within the social work licensure examination process, for all social workers, while simultaneously challenging white supremacy within the social work field.
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