Abstract
Human rights are a foundational principle of social work education, yet empirical evidence on student engagement with human rights frameworks remains limited. This study replicates Witt's (2020) examination of human rights endorsement among U.S. social work students in a post-COVID-19 context, using the 25-item Human Rights Engagement in Social Work (HRESW) scale. Survey data were collected from 195 MSW and upper-division BSW students enrolled in practicum placements at a private university in the Northeast. Consistent with Witt's findings, students demonstrated high overall endorsement of core human rights principles. Contrary to Witt's results, which found higher endorsement among upper-division BSW and graduate students compared with lower-division BSWs, this study revealed higher endorsement among upper-division BSWs than MSWs. Consistent with Witt's findings, no major significant differences emerged in overall HRESW scores or by program modality. These results suggest that human rights engagement may be most strongly shaped during early professional socialization and practicum exposure rather than increasing linearly across educational levels. The study implies that social work education should more intentionally integrate human rights content across curricula and practicum settings, rather than assuming engagement will increase with educational advancement or modality alone.