Abstract:

Introduction:
While social media has become a central feature of our personal lives, professional practice in social work (like other allied health professions) is also increasingly influenced by digital technologies and social media platforms (Ó Súilleabháin et al. 2021). Digital literacy, technology-enabled client engagement, e-communication and telehealth now proliferate in social services, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the benefits of increased technological penetration within social work, it has exposed both the discipline and professional practitioners to online abuse and harassment. In recent years, many jurisdictions internationally have sought to update their laws and policies addressing online abuse and harassment, which are now increasingly commonplace, especially on social media platforms. This is timely given that up to 21% of adults experience cyber-bullying as a part of their working life (Baruch, 2005; Brack and Caltabiano, 2014; Privitera and Campbell, 2009; Farley et al., 2015; Forssell, 2016). This paper presents findings from a large-scale research project which has examined the social media use of social workers, probation officers and student social workers, as well as exploring their experiences of being bullied and harassed online.

Methodology:
The purpose of the study was to explore social media/online abuse and harassment experienced by social workers, probation officers and social work students in all sectors in the Republic of Ireland. While the issue of cyber-bullying has started to garner research interest, our literature review indicated that our study is the first study globally to examine social workers’ experiences of online abuse. We designed an online survey which respondents could anonymously complete from September to December 2022. Public sector employer organisations and professional bodies agreed to advertise and promote the survey. Ethical approval for the research was received from our university and two social service organisations.

Results:
The survey received 379 eligible responses. Over one in five of the total sample have experienced online/social media abuse and harassment in their work life. The survey findings also indicate that 20% of students will have experienced online abuse in their private lives before studying social work. Participants reported a range of harassing behaviors – inappropriate comments, threats of physical and sexual violence and death threats. Respondents reported the negative impacts of these experiences included loss of sleep, reduced mental well-being, loss of professional confidence and even consideration of moving jobs.

Conclusions:
Driven by an ethics of care, we wanted to make visible the experiences of those who have been victim to online harassment within the social work discipline. Our overarching goal is action-oriented because we are eager to support social workers and employers in their efforts to address social media abuse in the workplace and learning environments. Our research also has potential to inform curricular developments in service-learning and digital literacy. Our findings have served to further develop pedagogical resources for social work education, where we seek to prepare social work students for contemporary practice in the twenty-first century, and to embed principles of safer online practices into a postgraduate, professionally-accredited curriculum.to a postgraduate, professionally-accredited curriculum.

Keywords:

Social Work Education, Service-Learning, Teaching for Understanding, Online Abuse, Cyber-bullying.