Good-Bye 2020, Hello 2021! The New Social Worker's Top Articles for 2020, Editor's Picks, Year in Review

by Linda May Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW

     Are you ready for a new year? As 2021 approaches, it is time to present our annual "wrap-up." What a year we have had in 2020!

     As of December 29, 2020, The New Social Worker's website received 2,326,382 page views this year, 73,514 more than the previous year. What have all of these social workers been reading over the past 12 months? You can probably guess what has been on social workers' minds this year without even looking at The New Social Worker's most popular articles from 2020.

     This list confirms it...COVID-19 and its effect on social workers and social work practice was first and foremost for our readers this year. Around the middle of Social Work Month (in March), it became clear that the coronavirus was spreading in the U.S. and around the world, and that our lives were changing in significant ways. First, there were calls to stay home if possible, wash hands, and stay physically distant from others. Then came calls to wear masks and take other precautions, such as closing offices and working remotely on a larger scale.

     The New Social Worker quickly began to receive article submissions on the issues that were arising for social workers in the field and their clients as a result of the pandemic. The listed articles represent what you, our social work readers, have been reading during this year of uncertainty, change, and loss.

Top 10 Articles Published in 2020 by The New Social Worker Magazine

     First, let's look at the most popular articles (based on number of online page views) of those we published in 2020. You will definitely see a theme in this list. Read them for yourself, if you missed them! They are:

#1

Ethical Exceptions for Social Workers in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Physical Distancing, by Allan Barsky, from our Spring/Summer 2020 issue. This article outlines several exceptions regarding technology and confidentiality.

#2

Social Work in a Time of Pandemic, by social work student Laura A. Quiñones. This online article was our very first article relating to COVID-19 and captures some very early thoughts about being a social worker or social work student during this time.

#3

COVID-19 and Your Social Work Placement: 19 Ideas for Overworked, Anxious, Yet Determined Field Students and Supervisors, by Ebony N. Perez, Christina Cazanave, Khalilah Louis-Caines, Michael Campbell, and Courtney Wiest, from our Spring/Summer 2020 issue. This article provides practical tips for students who now must modify their field placements to take into account safety measures for COVID-19.

#4

Exhausted: A COVID-19 Checklist, by Linda May Grobman. In this online article, I addressed a commonly-heard sentiment expressed by social workers - that the effects of the pandemic were/are exhausting. This one is worth reviewing every month or so.

#5

A Front-Line Social Worker's Perspective on COVID-19, by Cassidy Shemelia. This online article provides a hospital social worker's perspective on working during the pandemic.

#6

Safety and COVID-19 in Our Professional Social Work Roles: Rights, Responsibilities, and Resources, by Erlene Grise-Owens and Linda May Grobman. This online article, written early in the pandemic, provides practical information and resources for social workers.

#7

An Open Letter to Social Work Students in the Time of COVID-19, by Laura Burney Nissen, from our Spring/Summer 2020 issue. Essential reading for social work students, this article covers eight key areas to keep in mind now and in the future.

#8

Nothing Was the Same: 3 Reasons Post-COVID Social Work Practice Is Never Going Back, by J. Jay Miller. Miller looks at the possibilities for positive change post-pandemic.

#9

Managing Social Work "Need Complex" During the COVID-19 Pandemic, by Elizabeth J. Clark. This online article was Betsy Clark's last article for The New Social Worker prior to her death in May 2020. It is a follow-up to her previous article on need complex, updated for COVID-19.

#10

Social Workers Are Essential Workers, by Lana Lipe. Lipe looks at how social workers are often overlooked in this online piece.

Editor's Picks/Hidden Gems

     I have chosen one additional article from each issue in 2020 to share with you. And they are...

  • Winter 2020: In the Field—To Self-Disclose or Not To Self-Disclose:That Question Is Too Simple, by Pamela Szczygiel. The social work literature typically frames self-disclosure as a complex and controversial use-of-self practice. Inquiring minds still want to know: “Should I do it or not?” 
  • Spring/Summer 2020: What I Wish I Had Known, Part 2: The Impact of Societal Burnout on Our Social Work Profession and Beyond, by SaraKay Smullens - This article, a follow-up to SaraKay's award-winning 2012 article on burnout and self-care in social work, addresses burnout on a societal level, defined as "a state of being in which we are overwhelmed, overburdened, and overloaded by grave, threatening societal problems."
  • Fall 2020: The Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of a CV for Social Workers, by Jennifer Luna. Do you need a CV or a résumé? What is included on a CV, and is there a standard order for CV items? Your Social Work Career Coach Jennifer Luna has answers.
  • BONUS: The Student Role Model profiles, which are published only in the PDF/print version of the magazine, are true hidden gems. In each issue, we feature an outstanding social work student or recent graduate to illustrate and honor the great achievements of social work students while they are still in school. This year we featured Niyyah Bilal Hayes, MSW student at the University of Central Florida; Taylor Strong, MSW student at the University of Southern California; and Pramila Nepal, recent BSW graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. Download our 2020 issues to read about these outstanding students. Thank you to Barbara Trainin Blank, who has been writing these student profiles for many years!

Racial Equity and Justice: An Important Theme

     The deaths this year of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others at the hands of law enforcement, as well as the coronavirus pandemic and its amplification of racial inequities, were met with increasing activism for racial justice and an end to long-standing systemic racism. Protests across the U.S. have called for justice for Black lives lost and for policy reforms to address systemic oppression and inequities.

     Of course, this is not a new theme. The Grand Challenges in Social Work website states, "The United States is built on a legacy of racism and white supremacy.... Today, racist policies, bias, and discriminatory practices continue to promote racial inequality in myriad ways. Social work has provided considerable leadership in the civil rights and race equity movements, but has much more work to do." One of the 12 Grand Challenges is to "eliminate racism."

     As NASW President Mit Joyner wrote in our Social Work Month 2020 series, "As social workers, we must demand that this nation treat all people with fairness and equity. Silence is not an option." I hope you will read the following two articles calling for social workers to be active allies in this movement toward racial justice.

Also in 2020...

     In 2020, we continued our Social Work Month Series.

     We published the twice-monthly Self-Care A-Z blog by Erlene Grise-Owens (and guests), co-editor of The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals.

     SaraKay Smullens continued to write film/TV reviews and commentary on some of this year's most popular shows, from a social work perspective. Her latest review of The Queen's Gambit is this year's top review.  

     We added a new column, A Bird's Eye View: Exploring Macro Trends, by Brad Forenza. Each monthly entry includes an audio interview with a policy practitioner.

     Thank you to our magazine columnists:

     Click on their names to check out their latest offerings, and watch for them in 2021!

Onward to 2021

     I look forward to seeing what 2021 has in store for social work and for The New Social Worker. As we know, 2020 was anything but predictable. It was a HARD year, and many of us have experienced multiple losses personally and professionally. And it has reminded us that social workers have the ability to learn, grow, and adapt. It is also okay for us to need (and ask for) help from others, AND to take care of ourselves in every way necessary. We still have a lot of work to do.

     I don't expect that 2021 will go back to the "old normal" (see #8 above!). My hope is that it will bring in "new and better" times. I look forward to spending it with you.

     See you in 2021.

Warmly and with appreciation,

Linda