Research on Environmental Sensitivity in Social Workers: Scale Development and Application Perspective

Global economic policies are causing significant harm to the environment by exceeding nature's renewal capacity. This degradation is further exacerbated by the unjust distribution and exploitation of resources. Particularly disadvantaged groups are among those most affected by environmental challenges. This situation indicates that climate change and other environmental issues need to be more considered in the field of social services. As conditions are expected to worsen in the coming years, it is becoming increasingly important for social workers to focus on environmental justice and sustainability. However, more effort and interest are needed for environmental issues to find more place in the social work profession.

Environmental Sensitivity Scale for Social Workers: Assessing Attitudes and Knowledge

The aim of the research is to develop an assessment tool that can measure environmental sensitivity for social workers. By highlighting the importance of integrating environmental issues more into the field of social work, this scale aims to determine social workers' attitudes, knowledge levels, and behaviors towards the environment. Focusing on concrete and abstract features related to the environment, the scale offers standardized assessments. This tool, tested for reliability and validity through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, stands out as an important resource to guide efforts to create environmental awareness.

Environmental Sensitivity Scale: A Tool to Enhance Environmental Awareness in Social Work

The Environmental Sensitivity Scale developed for social workers emerged as a result of revisions made with the contributions of experts and comprehensive data analyses. Consisting of 11 items and based on two main factors, this scale aims to measure environmental sensitivity by demonstrating high levels of validity and reliability. This tool, an important step to explore the environmental attitudes of social workers in Turkey, aims to ensure that environment-focused interventions become more widespread among professionals. The Environmental Sensitivity Scale can help social workers enhance their environmental awareness and improve client interactions. Additionally, by encouraging education and research studies related to the environment, it can strengthen environmental awareness in social work practices. The use of this scale in educational programs can lay the foundation for a new approach that enhances social and environmental well-being. As a result, this tool aims to support social workers in sustainable practices and the struggle for environmental justice.

Study link: https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/svae006