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Defining "deviance" down

Franciscan University in Steubenville has a social work degree. Unfortunately for Franciscan, it also has (if "has" is quite the right word) the curse of an organized rabble of proudly homosexual alumni. "How did that happen to such an allegedly conservative school?" you may wonder. Answer: I don't know, but it can probably happen to the best of schools. Maybe Steubenville needs to bring in a few more witch-hunters, because obviously they aren't doing a very thorough job.

The combination of this course of study and this curse has brought about a different kind of witch hunt--the hunt for anything in Steubenville's course catalog that might bring it into the dock for crimes against the homosexual agenda.

Turns out that the only social work program accrediting body in the U.S., the Council on Social Work Education, is full of utterly committed missionaries for the full homosexualist and gender-bending agenda, and somehow Steubenville (which we'll assume is not on-board with that agenda) has previously flown under its radar. The CSWE has a "diversity" requirement that should make any Catholic or Christian college blanch:

The council’s 2008 accreditation standards say an accredited program must have a “commitment to diversity” including sexual orientation and “gender identity and expression” that is “reflected in its learning environment.” This includes “the demographic make-up of its faculty, staff and student body.”

[snip]

The council’s Commission for Diversity and Social and Economic Justice includes a council on sexual orientation and gender identity. This commission council says on its website that it works for “the full participation of individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or two-spirit in social work education.” It identifies and advocates changes in “any policies, procedures, or activities” that impede these persons’ “full and affirming participation.”

Steubenville's sin, which the alumni group has now brought to the attention of the CSWE, is apparently copying from a secular textbook the term "deviant" to describe a hodge-podge of behaviors for purposes of a course description. And, you guessed it, that list includes homosexual behavior.

I admit to being a little surprised that a secular textbook chooses to list homosexual acts under a descriptive category of "deviant behaviors," but given that the terminology came from the secular textbook, I fully believe Steubenville's claim that the origin of the term is purely descriptive and not normative. Unless the textbook was printed in 1955 or something and has not been altered since, which is surely not the case.

But let's face it: Given the overt homosexualist agenda of the CSWE, it should be a big problem for any Christian school, and all the more a Christian school with the reputation for orthodoxy that Steubenville has, to be accountable to such an entity.

Does Steubenville foster a "learning environment" that reflects the values the CSWE demands concerning homosexuality and "gender identity"? Will it change any policies that impede the "full and affirming participation" of open homosexuals and transgenders? (I do not want to know what "two-spirit" means in this context.) We'll certainly hope not. Nor should any Christian school do so.

So what's to be done? If the hawk-eyed deviant alumni group doesn't get them in trouble with the CSWE over this particular course, no doubt they can find something else. In fact, given what the CSWE stands for, one would almost think something is wrong if the homosexual group can't find something else to complain about in the "learning environment" at Steubenville.

As it has been explained to me, if your Social Work course of study isn't accredited by the CSWE, students who graduate from it cannot be licensed and hence cannot charge for their services (as counselors, presumably, or other social workers) in any state in the country. In other words, the credential becomes useless for the purpose for which it was designed.

This problem intersects closely with the case of Julea Ward, which I wrote about at length here. Julea was trying to get a degree in counseling from Eastern Michigan University when she encountered so-called "professional standards" that required her to offer affirming counseling to homosexuals in maintaining their relationships. One suggestion that liberals made at that time was that Julea could have gotten her degree instead from a Christian school. But how much of a difference would that have made, if the accrediting standards for such a school required (as does the CSWE) a complete commitment to sexual "diversity"? It was precisely the accrediting standards to which EMU appealed to defend its scandalous treatment of Julea.

It appears that there are some credentials one can get in the area of Christian counseling (see here and here, for example), but it looks to my untutored eye as though these may not at all replace the need, in order to be reimbursed for your services as a licensed counselor, to have a secular credential as well.

Besides, we shouldn't entirely conflate counseling credentials and Social Work credentials. The jobs for which they prepare one are only partially overlapping. And to date, we know for a fact that to get an employment-worthy credential specifically in the field of Social Work, one must get one's degree from a CSWE accredited school.

This should be a challenge to Christians. Someone should get on the stick and find out what it would take to get a parallel accrediting agency going, one that would be recognized by state licensure boards, that would recognize and incorporate Christian values in the programs it accredited, rather than being hostile to them. Sound impossible? Maybe it is, but it definitely should be investigated.

Since Steubenville is taking its stand on the contents of the secular textbook that is the source for its course description, I don't want to be too hard on them as far as the meaning of the word "deviance." But I can't resist inserting a digression here about the idea of a purely descriptive rather than normative concept of deviance. It's obvious that all the behaviors listed in the "deviance" course are things that are generally viewed as negative, except for homosexuality, which used to be viewed as negative. The others are murder, rape, robbery, prostitution, mental illness, and drug use. This, of course, is what has the homosexual lobby all up in arms, but Steubenville may be correct that this is something they are calmly borrowing from a secular textbook. But let's face it: If this is purely descriptive, then pretty much anything could end up in that category, if it were "different from the norm" where "norm" doesn't mean "normative." (Are you confused yet?) If more people in the world presently engage in homosexual acts than, say, use Natural Family Planning, wouldn't that mean that, in a purely descriptive sense, NFP is more deviant than homosexual acts?

A Social Work degree is going to have to be heavily freighted with judgments about the common good, the individual good, the family, about human health and flourishing. I do not see how it is even possible to offer such a degree while relying on purely descriptive concepts of things like normalcy and deviancy in human behavior. Secular programs in Social Work will certainly not be, of all things, value neutral! Of all places, a Christian college should offer the opportunity for young people to get a degree in such an ideologically and even theologically freighted field from a Christian worldview.

It is therefore imperative that Christians and conservatives start rethinking our heavy entanglements with credentialing and accrediting agencies that are overtly hostile to Christian norms concerning the nature and good of the human person.

If at all possible, new avenues of credentialing must be opened. Is anyone with any influence, money, and/or lawyers listening? If so, please get on it, for the sake of faithful Christians of all denominations.

Comments (11)

This is the link to Bryan College's Psychology Department information page: .

There is mention of Richmont University in Atlanta, a Christian university offering a counseling degree (graduate program with the goal to be a professional counselor), and the Psychological Studies Institute, also in Atlanta, which approaches counseling from a Christian worldview. I don't have time to go look these up to see whether they are accredited and if so how they manage it, but it might be worth someone's while to see how they handle this difficulty.

This should be a challenge to Christians. Someone should get on the stick and find out what it would take to get a parallel accrediting agency going, one that would be recognized by state licensure boards, that would recognize and incorporate Christian values in the programs it accredited, rather than being hostile to them.

Definitely. Oh, well, I would prefer a world in which a degree in Social Work was viewed as being roughly equivalent to a degree in making up limericks while performing synchronous diving - utterly useless and foolish to boot. But as long as we have social workers, instead of nuns doing charity work, by all means let's get the credentialed by a Christian accreditation agency.

"I would prefer a world in which a degree in Social Work was viewed as being roughly equivalent to a degree in making up limericks while performing synchronous diving - utterly useless and foolish to boot"
I have the same attitude. Personally, I have a suspicion that the emphasis on social work may be distorting the sociology profession. After all, it can be hard to criticize things like the foster care system or CPS when you are responsible for training their workers.

instead of nuns doing charity work, by all means let's get the credentialed by a Christian accreditation agency.

The depressing truth is that if you had nuns doing charity work, they'd be required, or at least some of 'em would be required, by some agency or other to have an MSW, so I'm afraid we can't just wash our hands of the field no matter how much we'd like to.

It is sad that the world has come to that.

The depressing truth is that if you had nuns doing charity work, they'd be required, or at least some of 'em would be required, by some agency or other to have an MSW.

Well, they didn't have to have that in 1860, nor in 1950. Giving a helping hand to someone who needs food, clothing, shelter, and a job doesn't require a degree in anything. If their needs are beyond those, a degree in social work generally isn't the answer. Here's a description of a part of social work:

Many social workers work for social change as well. The victim of an assault benefits not only from therapy but also from efforts to curb neighborhood crime. The client under stress because illness has devastated the family finances benefits from efforts to reform the nation’s health care system.

Sorry, I JUST DON'T WANT people trained in schools with graduate degrees to "reform the heath care system", or to "curb neighborhood crime". Changing society isn't a specialty degree program, it's politics, and we should not be training people to think they understand how to "fix" society through coursework in social work. If a victim needs therapy, let's get him therapy - a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist. A social worker should not be doing therapy.

"Social work degree" is to real interpersonal love and charity what Obama's former career in "community organizing" is to real community building: the relation of the fake to the real. One of the reasons the Catholic "Campaign for Human Development" ends up being a waste of time and money far too much of the time is that they put their money into "social programs" which consist of teaching people how to apply for government aid, or teaching people how to pressure their congressman into creating a new category of government aid - instead of teaching people how to make their own lives better. Well, do we really want to promote the notion that being charitable to your neighbor requires a degree? Or that we should be paying darn good salaries hiring "social workers" to do for money what charitable organizations should be doing with volunteer effort? It's the demise of the nuns and their orders that created the need for the "social worker" career, as far as I can tell.

I would tend to agree with Tony here. I would like to see ordinary life a bit less tied into the world of the degreed middle class.

Lydia,

I don't really have much to add to this excellent post, but this did catch my eye:

This commission council says on its website that it works for “the full participation of individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or two-spirit in social work education.

I mean, doesn't this quote say volumes about "what's wrong with the world"? The fact that there are adult professionals who actually wrote this ridiculous statement in all seriousness (i.e. this didn't come from a satirical paper like The Onion) is mind-boggling. As you said, one can only guess what the heck an individual who is considered "two-spirit" is all about -- the whole thing is insane and while I agree we need a Christian alternative to this madness, I'm inclined to agree with Tony that we should probably be re-thinking the entire profession and as conservatives developing an intellectual alternative for the future so that those who work with children and the poor don't need such silly degrees.

My understanding is that an MSW is one route to becoming a licensed counselor. Readers can correct me if I'm wrong. I guess I can see a place in the world for counselors who help people with life crises or help them to get their act together or to break an addiction or whatever and who don't have to be actual psychiatists. That should be pastoral work, which doesn't necessarily mean only men can do it. You could have women counselors for women, for example. But if that's what we're talking about, and they aren't claiming to be psychiatrists, why do they need to have a license from the state? The answer appears to be--so that the insurance companies will pay for your counseling. So credentialing and money end up being rather tightly tied together.

Another area would have to do with placing children for adoption. The theory, I'm guessing, is that you need to be a Certified Expert in order to do a home evaluation and place children from an adoption agency. That, I'm pretty skeptical about.

I guess I can see a place in the world for counselors who help people with life crises or help them to get their act together or to break an addiction or whatever and who don't have to be actual psychiatists.

Agreed. No question.

That should be pastoral work, which doesn't necessarily mean only men can do it. You could have women counselors for women, for example.

And generally that kind of pastoral work, and giving someone counsel, should not require a paid career, either.

But if that's what we're talking about, and they aren't claiming to be psychiatrists, why do they need to have a license from the state? The answer appears to be--so that the insurance companies will pay for your counseling. So credentialing and money end up being rather tightly tied together.

Yep, first we'll make it a career instead of an act of neighborly charity, then we'll need regular pay for it, so then we'll call it a medical profession, so then we'll charge it to insurance.

The theory, I'm guessing, is that you need to be a Certified Expert in order to do a home evaluation and place children from an adoption agency. That, I'm pretty skeptical about.

Me too. Verrrryyy skeptical. In order to place a child, it should be possible to spend 3 hours talking to the prospective parents' family, neighbors, and co-workers, to get a feel for the kind of person they are. All that really needs to be established is that they are stable (particularly, emotionally and morally), and that they are not likely to be trying to get children for human trafficking. (At least, for the purposes of satisfying the interests of the state. For a religious adoption agency operating for a church, more might be needed.)

And generally that kind of pastoral work, and giving someone counsel, should not require a paid career, either.

Mmm, yes and no. I have no problem with paying counselors and even with some kind of credentialing, though I think the best credentialing would involve various credentialing groups with the person seeking counseling having the opportunity to choose what sort of counselor he was looking for. The Apostle Paul quoted, "Muzzle not the ox that treads out the corn" and said it was fine for ministers of the gospel to be paid for their work, and I don't see that it should be wrong for those who are helping out seriously messed-up people also to be paid. For one thing, if Bob and Jane are having major marital problems, they might or might not have a good friend who knows how to give them good advice for free, and if one says to them, "Don't divorce; seek Christian counsel," it needs to be possible for them to _look_ for Christian counsel. Their first stop should be their pastor, but their pastor might either not be very good at it (unfortunately) or might want to refer Jane to a woman who has done a lot of this kind of thing, or might not have very much experience, or all kinds of things. In that case, I can definitely see having Christian counseling ministries to which one can turn. Perhaps the best thing would be for those ministries to pay their own counselors, to operate as a non-profit organization, or...various options. But it's not wrong for it to operate on a fee-for-service basis, and it makes it possible to _find_ counselors in a pinch. The biggest problem I've seen is that sometimes the counselors, even if they are Christian, give bad advice. Sad to say. Hence even among Christian counselors there is probably a need for a variety of sources. (Advertisement: "Having marital problems? We're real biblical counselors. Unlike some others, we won't tell you to do a trial separation just because you're feeling tense and unhappy.")

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