One Welfare social work sits within the ecological model and human-animal bond inclusive practice.
Bringing a social work lens to our work with vets and human-animal families can support all aspects of this important bond to improve human and animal wellbeing.
Companion animals are often considered family members and part of family systems.
Animal cruelty can be an indicator of family violence, and animals can have therapeutic roles to help with human functioning and wellness.
I am currently networking with other professionals working and researching in this area and would love to connect with you!
Bringing a social work lens to our work with vets and human-animal families can support all aspects of this important bond to improve human and animal wellbeing.
Companion animals are often considered family members and part of family systems.
Animal cruelty can be an indicator of family violence, and animals can have therapeutic roles to help with human functioning and wellness.
I am currently networking with other professionals working and researching in this area and would love to connect with you!
Veterinary Social work in Practice
Victoria, Australia
Victoria, Australia
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Cherished Pets Community Veterinary Care www.cherishedpetcare.com.au/
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Alicia Kennedy - Veterinarian
Recipient of the AMP Tomorrow Fund 2021 |
Social work with people and animals
Social work is uniquely positioned to support those working with animals and people, promoting the wellbeing of all.
Vets & animal workers
Veterinary practice is situated within a unique healthcare environment; the patient is an animal and the client is a human with vets having a role to promote the health and wellbeing of both.
Research has suggested vets have high rates of mental health distress with four times the suicide rate of the general community. A considerable body of research has acknowledged unique workplace stressors including financial, psychological and ethical which can result in compassion fatigue and burnout. Ethical dilemmas are suggested as one of the leading causes of moral stress, as veterinarians encounter conflicts between client and patient interests which may also affect animal welfare. Veterinary social work can provide psycho-education to assist vets with vicarious grief and compassion fatigue. We can also work with animal guardian grief and loss, treatment decisions, anticipatory grief in the context of euthanasia, and provide referral pathways for clients requiring further support. Veterinary industry grapples with high suicide rate amid staff shortages, inadequate pay (2021) Shortages of Vet's nationally in demanding and exhausting job (2021) |
Animal guardians
61% of households in Australia have a companion animal with 71% describing animals as family members.
Including animals as part of family systems in welfare assessments and genograms acknowledges these significant relationships. As animals have shorter life spans than their human family, the grief experienced from the loss of an animal may be anthropocentrically disenfranchised by others. Other areas involving social work:
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Resources & research
Websites
https://veterinarysocialwork.org/ Books Animals in Social Work, Why and How They Matter - Ryan, T. (Ed.) (2014) Companion Animals and Domestic Violence Rescuing Me, Rescuing You - Taylor, N & Fraser, H. Articles Veterinary Social Work: Practice Within Veterinary Settings (USA) - Holcombe et al (2016) Animals and social work: An emerging field of practice for Aotearoa New Zealand - Walker et al (2016) Social Work Practitioners and the Human-Animal Bond - Risley-Curtiss (2010) Making the link between family violence and animal abuse University of Melbourne Social Capital and Pet Ownership - Wood et al (2017) They burn brightly, but only for a short time: The role of social workers in companion animal grief and loss - Laing (2018) Why We Need To Take Pet Loss Seriously - Winch (2018) Loving You, Loving Me: Companion Animals and Domestic Violence - A (Visual) Research Project Power and control wheel - animal abuse and domestic violence |
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Veterinary Social Work
The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, USA, has developed a program to help people through human-animal relationships.
This model focuses on the human side of the human - non-human animal bond in four primary areas:
For more information on the Certificate of Veterinary Social Work through the University of Tennessee: http://vetsocialwork.utk.edu/ |
Eco social Work
Ecological social work shifts the thinking of social work practice by placing the interrelationship between humans, other animals and the natural world at its centre.
Eco social work recognises and considers human’s connection to and reliance on Earth, and values the deep interconnections between the ecological, political, social and spiritual aspects of the natural world. Utilising theories of environmental and social justice, spirituality and human rights, eco social work promotes sustainable practice within the biosphere. Listen to this podcast for a good introduction Eco social work (2022) Environmental and sustainable social work in everyday practice |
Critiquing anthropocentrism in social work practice
Historically, social work has practiced within a humanistic framework which has not included animals in literature, education, or Code of Ethics. Introducing the human - nonhuman animal bond within practice encourages an anti-oppressive biocentric approach which expands systems and ecological theories to be inclusive of all species.
Further reading
Animals and Social Work: A Moral Introduction - Ryan (2011)
Animals in Society - Animal Studies Scholar Advocacy: The Animals in Society group originated as a place for the founders to share their research in animal studies widely and to provide a platform for scholar-advocacy on behalf of other animals. Professor Nik Taylor and Associate Professor Heather Fraser are the founders of the site. Together we have been researching human-animal relationships for over thirty years. We are critical scholars who work to identify, challenge and change the multiple ways animals are oppressed in modern society. https://www.facebook.com/groups/AnimalsInSociety/
Animals in Society - Animal Studies Scholar Advocacy: The Animals in Society group originated as a place for the founders to share their research in animal studies widely and to provide a platform for scholar-advocacy on behalf of other animals. Professor Nik Taylor and Associate Professor Heather Fraser are the founders of the site. Together we have been researching human-animal relationships for over thirty years. We are critical scholars who work to identify, challenge and change the multiple ways animals are oppressed in modern society. https://www.facebook.com/groups/AnimalsInSociety/