A CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS

Social work is showing an increased interest in human rights, finding in them an internationally unified framework for practice. Discussion has started on curriculum considerations, but the discourse is mainly theoretical. This cross-cultural study with junior and senior social work students in the Colorado State University and Tirana University, Albania, was undertaken to understand where the students are in this discourse: (a) what their knowledge and perception of human rights is, (b) what their perspective about human rights in education for social work is, and (c) whether there are cross-cultural differences to bear in mind for future curriculum development efforts. Forty-seven (47) American students and 54 Albanian students completed a four-part questionnaire in their native language. The findings showed that the students in both groups seem to have an idea of what human rights are about but they lack adequate knowledge of the current discourse in human rights. The Albanian students demonstrated better knowledge than the American students. Both groups believed that they need knowledge about human rights and that the social work programs should deliver that knowledge. The perception of human rights by students differed cross culturally in the aspects that dealt with the internalization of rights on a personal level.