Social workers challenge social injustice; social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person.
These ethical principles, from the preamble to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), guide the faculty of the School of Social Work in their rejection of the opinions of Professor Scott Yenor, as published in Sex, Gender, and the Origin of the Culture Wars: An Intellectual History.
The faculty of the School of Social Work fully support the right to free speech, including those of Professor Yenor, with whom we strongly disagree. It is the consequences of his speech that are of great concern. In the words of Voltaire, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” We believe Professor Yenor’s words are an attack on the beliefs and identity of many students, faculty and staff at Boise State University and people in our community.
In this instance, Professor Yenor’s free speech rights clash with the values of our social work profession as well Boise State University’s expressed shared values of caring and respect.
Where Professor Yenor idealizes a world with, “male supremacy and traditional socialization toward gender scripts…the proprietary family and the dependence of women and children on the family,” we see intimate partner violence, sexual assault, oppression, rejection, and hatred.
The faculty of the School of Social Work promotes human rights and acceptance. We affirm our support of people who hold feminist beliefs; the right of people to be cisgender, transgender, or gender fluid; and the rights of people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identify.