Conscience Under Fire: Social Work, Moral Injury, and a Rapidly Changing World

Social workers are facing multiple, compounding crises: a hostile policy landscape attacking the populations we serve, the accumulating weight of moral injury across the profession, and the disorienting rise of AI in practice and ethics. As political violence targets immigrant communities, people of color, and other vulnerable populations, and as technology rapidly reshapes how we work, the question of how we sustain ourselves and our integrity has never been more urgent. 

In our next Critical Conversation, Dr. Frederic Reamer, professor emeritus at Rhode Island College School of Social Work, will explore the moral harm social workers are experiencing as we hold ourselves, our clients, and our communities through this moment of political disruption and technological change. Betty J. Ruth, clinical professor emerita at Boston University School of Social Work and strategic consultant for the Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health (CISWH), will moderate the discussion. 

Participants will be invited to share what they’re witnessing on the ground and to reflect collectively on what it means to practice with conscience and with care in our rapidly changing world. 

1 CE is available for this event courtesy of the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care.