Mapping love in social work: A scoping review of professional discourse and practice applications

Abstract

Love is frequently invoked in social work discourse yet is theorized indirectly and unevenly. Recent syntheses have advanced love as an anti-oppressive ethic for the profession; this scoping review complements that work by mapping how love itself is defined, located, and problematized across the breadth of social work scholarship. We searched PsycINFO, Social Services Abstracts, SocINDEX, Social Work Abstracts, and Google Scholar using “social work” AND love-related terms. Forty-nine sources met inclusion criteria. Data were analyzed using descriptive frequency mapping and inductive content analysis. Love appeared consistently as ethical virtue, compassion and care ethics, and emotional experience (100 percent of sources each). Relational attunement, educational practice, community belonging, justice themes, and spiritual expressions were frequently represented (78%–98%). Barriers and risks appeared in most sources. Five clusters emerged: dispositional foundations, relational carework, participatory practice, justice and liberation, and guardrails and sustainability. Love functions as a multidimensional construct across micro, mezzo, and macro practice levels. Contemporary attention reflects recognition of relational depth within professional boundaries rather than rejection of ethical rigor.