Private Practice Social Workers’ Commitment to Social Justice

The privatization of mental healthcare among social workers has situated them under scrutiny by others in the profession who question private practice clinicians’ commitment to social justice. Some social workers accuse colleagues in private practice of a dereliction of duty, while others in the profession contend that the entrepreneurship of mental healthcare is the only way to freely realize real-world social justice change. Hence, this qualitative research study explores how clinical social workers define social justice as well as if and how they integrate it in a private practice setting. This small qualitative research study was designed to begin to illuminate strengths and gaps regarding how clinical social workers define as well as if and how they integrate social justice in a private practice setting.