Social Work Kool-Aid

Social Work Kool-Aid: (noun) A system of beliefs associated with the social work profession that closely resembles the NASW code of ethics. It includes the concept of unconditional positive regard for clients, respect for diversity, and the belief that all of society is interconnected.

The phrase "drinking the social work kool-aid" is most commonly used metaphorically when describing the phenomenon that occurs during the process of social work education, when students begin to adopt the professional values of social work as their personal values. This may lead to the student becoming more politically and morally liberal. Its use is akin to the common saying, "Gee, there must be something in the water" to imply that there is something inherent to a location that produces certain characteristics in the people that live there. The term implies some degree of blind acceptance and/or indoctrination.

"I used to be a Republican, but then I went to college and started drinking the social work kool-aid, and I totally became a democrat."

"Over my career I've soaked up so much of the social work kool-aid that I've started using Person-In-Environment thinking to assess how my dog is doing."

"That TV show is just so homophobic, and I've had way too much of the social work kool-aid to really enjoy it anymore."

"There's just something about social workers...it's like they're all drinking the same kool-aid."

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