Date of Conferral
4-17-2024
Date of Award
April 2024
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Social Work
Advisor
Sean Hogan
Abstract
Racial microaggressions are prevalent in the field of social work. Social workers have reported experiencing racial microaggressions from coworkers, patients, and patients’ families. However, little is known about coping strategies that African American medical social workers use to mitigate the effects of racial microaggressions in the workplace. Therefore, the purpose of this generic qualitative study was to increase understanding of how African American medical social workers perceive and cope with racial microaggressions in the workplace. A generic qualitative approach was used to explore this topic, as well as how these social workers subsequently cope with perceived racial microaggressions. Twelve African American medical social workers were purposefully selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. Study results were analyzed using thematic analysis based on a priori and emergent coding derived from participants’ responses via Lazarus’ stress and coping theory. Four themes were identified indicating physical, psychological, and social ramifications of racial microaggressions in the workplace. Findings from this study have important implications for positive social change by helping to increase understanding of workplace dynamics for medical social workers, thereby improving client care in healthcare settings.
Recommended Citation
Tambe Ebot, Robert Ebot, "Strategies for Coping with Racial Microaggressions Among African American Medical Social Workers" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15660.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15660
