Social workers on The Wire
I've blogged before on the much-dissed social work profession in the media. As the hubster and I are rushing to catch up on Season 4 of HBO's The Wire before the 5th (and final) season starts up on January 6th, I was momentarily delighted to see not only social workers but social work researchers portrayed on the show. Note I said momentarily delighted. I thought, "Ha! Finally something different and, dare I hope, positive about social workers on TV!" The premise is that a professor (white guy on the right), purportedly from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, wants to conduct research and pilot a program with severe and persistent juvenile delinquents. Cool, right? Well, that was before the character broke every IRB (Institutional Review Board) protocol known to man and proved to be absolutely inept at interviewing his targeted population - and this from a tenured professor, supposedly an expert in his field! Oh sure, let's just walk into a police station and start interviewing - on tape no less - minor kids without obtaining informed, much less parental, consent! And then let's flinch in fear when the kid utters (okay, shouts) his first "Fuck you!" Yeah, you know what you're doing Mr. Big Expert Professor of Social Work Guy.
Oh well.
The Wire is still far and away one of the best shows every made. Even cops and drug dealers say so. Former commander of our precinct in inner city Minneapolis, inspector Lee Edwards called it one of the most accurate representations of urban policing he's ever seen. I believe him. It's not hard to find parallels in current events in Minneapolis, such as the lawsuit recently filed by five high-ranking black police officers and a botched raid last week of a family home in our neck of the 'hood (Oops! Our typically reliable confidential informant (CI) gave us bad info...). The Wire has it all from the state capitol to the street. Now, if they could just get it right with professors and social workers....