LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 05, 2025) — Faculty members in the University of Kentucky College of Social Work (CoSW) are contributing to the next generation of social work education through a newly published edited volume, “Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice: Building Social Work Practice Skills.”
The book is co-edited by Kalea Benner, Ph.D., dean of Indiana University, and two UK College of Social Work faculty members: Natalie Pope, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the Ph.D. program, and Diane Loeffler, Ph.D., senior lecturer.
The text offers a foundational approach to justice-informed social work practice by bringing together experts from across the profession who emphasize the importance of understanding systemic barriers, the complex challenges individuals and communities face within those systems and how those experiences shape social work practice.
Designed as an entry point for students and practitioners, the text centers justice as a multidimensional framework that encompasses social, racial, economic and environmental dimensions. It also examines how structural inequities shape client experiences across systems.
“Our work is part of an ongoing commitment to preparing students to engage critically with the systems they will enter as practitioners,” Pope said. “Justice-informed practice requires both foundational knowledge and the ability to recognize how policies and structures can create or perpetuate harm.”
The textbook moves from key theoretical and conceptual underpinnings into applied discussions across major systems in which social workers operate, including education, criminal justice, child welfare, housing, health and environmental contexts.
“Each chapter integrates historical and policy perspectives with practical recommendations,” Loeffler said. “It was important to us that readers are equipped with tools to identify and respond to complex challenges in real-world settings, not just in theoretical contexts.”
Pope’s scholarship has been widely recognized for its impact in the field. She received the 2021 Rose Dobrof Award from the Journal of Gerontological Social Work for her co-authored article, “‘Just Like Jail’: Trauma Experiences of Older Homeless Men,” which examined the cumulative trauma experienced by men over age 50 with histories of homelessness. The award honors methodologically rigorous and innovative research that advances the field of gerontological social work.
Loeffler, a recipient of the University of Kentucky’s Outstanding Teaching Award, brings a strong emphasis on experiential learning and community-engaged research to both her teaching and scholarship. Her work connects classroom instruction to broader systems and policy conversations, helping students understand how their roles as social workers, advocates and policymakers can drive meaningful change.
In 2025, Loeffler participated in the Rural Investment Summit in Memphis, Tennessee, collaborating with leaders across banking, philanthropy and nonprofit sectors to address long-term economic and infrastructure challenges facing rural communities. Insights from this work inform her teaching, providing students with a deeper understanding of how large-scale policy and investment decisions translate into community-level outcomes.
Following the 2022 Eastern Kentucky floods, Pope and Loeffler led a qualitative research project examining how nonprofit and volunteer sector leaders responded to the disaster. The project was embedded within a doctoral research course, allowing students to serve as co-investigators, conduct interviews, contribute to data analysis and engage directly with community-based research in real time. Findings from the project have been presented at regional and national conferences and published in the “Troublesome Rising” anthology, with additional publications forthcoming.
Together, Pope and Loeffler’s new text builds on this shared commitment to bridging theory, research and practice. By emphasizing structural inequities and offering actionable strategies, the book prepares students to approach social work with a critical, justice-centered lens.