Creating a Human Rights Culture in a Master’s in Social Work Program

Social workers have been grappling with social, economic, and political issues relating to human rights since the profession’s inception. It is only recently that there has been explicit recognition of human rights as core principles on which work toward social justice rests. Throughout the world, human rights are considered to be a common benchmark of basic achievement for all peoples and nations. Human rights establish a set of well-defined and accessible principles and standards for social work. They can form the basis of a comprehensive approach to social work practice and increase universality of the profession by creating a clear standard of principles to guide practice and theory. An increasing number of scholars and practitioners in the USA have articulated a convincing case regarding the fit between social work values and human rights principles and the ways in which such principles have relevance to every level of social work theory and practice.