Do Race, Racial Disproportionality, and Disparities Remain Foci of Child Welfare?: Words Matter

The extent of the representation of concepts of race, racial disproportionality, racial disparities, and diversity in child welfare journal publications and authorship are the foci of this content analysis study. Two top-tier and one second-tier child welfare-focused ournal outlets were examined. The frequency of mention of the concepts of racial disproportionality, racial disparities, and diversity is lower than the number of articles published. Also, first authors who were male and those from non-Caucasian racial/ethnic background were least likely to be represented. This study highlights recommendations for increasing the research and scholarly publications by authors from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds as a means for increasing the emphasis on race, racial disproportionality, racial disparities, and diversity in research, scholarship, policy, practice, and the future education of social workers specializing in the field of child welfare.