The Intersection: Where Sports and Social Work Meet

Did you know that the student-athletes of today are way different from those of us who were college athletes 5, 10, or 20 years ago?  It's true.  Today's student-athletes are plagued with anxiety disorders, suicidal ideation, depression, eating disorders, histories of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).  These issues have a lot to do with the way the world is today.  The Instagrams and TikToks and SnapChats and constant availability of news or contact with peers somehow makes everyone feel lonelier and less connected.   Then, if you add in adverse childhood experiences like family violence, community violence, divorce, extreme poverty, or world events, and you've got some real issues.  Also, the student-athletes I've talked to, which are mostly white, upper-middle class females, talk a lot about struggling with perfection in all aspects of their lives.  Perfectionism is something that I'll talk more about next week, but here's a tease...

Social Work.  That age-old profession of nosy white women taking kids away from families.  Right?  RIGHT?  No, in fact; that's not what social work is all about.   Social Work as a formal profession has been around for decades and informally has been around for millennia.  It started formally late in the 19th Century to help vulnerable people, like immigrants, escape poverty.  Since then, it has become a full-fledged professional career and helping profession with more than just poverty on the mind.  The core values of social work include social justice, promoting the dignity and worth of people, the importance of human relationships, competence, service, and integrity (in no particular order).  Informal social work still exists in our world today-- think of people in communities who work to help those in need or churches that host soup kitchens.  But as a profession, social work has a definite mission, which is "to enhance human we...