Social Work in a Very Rural Place: A Study of Practitioners in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Contemporary Rural Social
Work Journal
Volume 4
Number XXXXXXXXXXArticle 6
Fall XXXXXXXXXX
Social Work in a Very Rural Place: A Study of
Practitioners in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Paul Force-Emery Mackie MSW, PhD
Minnesota State University, Mankato
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Mackie, Paul Force-Emery MSW, PhD (2012) "Social Work in a Very Rural Place: A Study of Practitioners in the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan," Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal: Vol. 4 : No. 1 , Article 6.
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Social Work in a Very Rural Place:
A Study of Practitioners in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Paul Force-Emery Mackie, MSW, PhD
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Abstract. This study focuses on characteristics, challenges, and benefits of practicing social
work in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. Using a mixed-methods design, data were
analyzed to determine demographic descriptors, seek differences between groups, and learn
why social workers pursue and remain in social service employment in the UP. In addition,
challenges and benefits of rural practice and perceptions of living and working in this region are
addressed. Quantitatively, differences were found between younger and older social workers
egarding where they cu
ently live and where they grew up, and whether or not they were
aised in a rural location. Qualitative findings suggest that professional challenges to practice
include responding to the effects of persistent poverty and unemployment, lack of specialty care
for children and families, and inadequate transportation. Benefits of practice include quality
community experiences, proximity to familial systems, and professional connectedness.
Keywords: labor force, pragmatic analysis, rural social work
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) is a geographically remote and isolated region of the
United States comprised of 15 counties. Bordered on the north by Lake Superior and south by
Lakes Michigan and Huron, it is a landmass approximately equal to the states of Rhode Island,
Delaware, Connecticut, and New Jersey combined. However, the UP contains a population of
only about 299,000 people spread across 16,420 square miles (US Census, 2011a). The
population density of the UP ranges from a low of 4.3 people per square mile in Keweenaw
County, to a high of 35.8 in Dickinson County, and three of the 15 counties are designated
“frontier,” meaning, they contain fewer than seven people per square mile (see Ciarlo &
Zelarney, XXXXXXXXXXThe UP represents one-third of Michigan’s land mass, but contains only 3% of
the state’s population (Ulrich, XXXXXXXXXXThis is a big, sparsely populated place and it is difficult to
identify a more rural place in the Eastern United States. If the UP were a state, it would be the
only one in the union 100% rural.
Along with geographic uniqueness, the UP is historically distinctive as well. In the late
1800s through the early 1900s, large numbers of European immigrants came to work in the
lumbering and mining industries (DeMark, 1997; Loukinen, 1997), and these influences remain
embedded within the sub-culture today. Natural resource extraction continues to shape the
economy and the people, and has evolved to become part of the fa
ic of the region which may
e defined by boom and bust economies, a sense of communion with the land, and a set of
shared experiences. Today, this composite of people (commonly called “Yoopers”) continue
to live in a region geographically and politically isolated, harsh in climate, and often
impoverished.
Mackie, Contemporary Rural Social Work, Vol. 4, XXXXXXXXXX
1
Mackie: Social Work in a Very Rural Place
Published by Mu
ay State's Digital Commons, 2018
Many Yoopers depend on social services to meet basic needs (Hilton & DeJong, 2010;
Hoyum, 2009; Prusi, 2011a, 2011b). But who are the social workers of the Upper Peninsula
providing these services? What are the challenges and benefits of practicing here? What might
we learn from them to better understand social service labor force issues in other extremely
ural areas? The purpose of this paper is to investigate challenges and benefits of social work
practice in a highly isolated region with the expectation that these findings can advance the
knowledge of rural practice across a
oader landscape. Using a mixed-methods research
design, questions were asked regarding why social workers work in this area, how they came to
e there, why they work in the UP, the challenges they face, and benefits they experience.
Literature Review
Social Issues in the UP
A review of the literature indicates that the existence of social problems in the UP is
comparable to social problems found in other locations (Connell & Kole, 1999; Hilton &
DeJong, 2010; Ulrich, XXXXXXXXXXFor example, the overall 2009 UP poverty rates are comparable to
the State of Michigan’s levels (15.8% and 16.1%, respectfully), and higher than the national
average of 14.3% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011a). Furthermore, family poverty rates in the UP
with children under the age of 18 in the household are problematic, with 17% of these families
living below the poverty line between 2005 and 2009, which is higher than Michigan (16.4%)
as well as national (15.3%) averages. Perhaps more troubling are the poverty rates among
single-headed (predominately female) households with children under 18. Here, the rate of
poverty rises to 46%, compared to state (40.6%) and national (37.1%) rates (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2011b). Clearly, poverty is a problem across this region, especially among
single-headed households with children.
Transportation is challenging in the UP. Based on where one resides, the distance to a
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) can be as close as approximately 60 miles (Menominee,
Michigan to Green Bay, Wisconsin) to as far as 110 miles (Ironwood, Michigan to Duluth,
Minnesota). But this does not tell the
oader story—these are distances to MSA’s in other
states and from the borders of the UP, not major population centers in Michigan or from the
interior of the UP. A resident of the region can be as close as 235 miles or as far as 540 miles
from the state capital and up to 600 miles to Michigan’s largest city, Detroit. For social workers
needing to travel for employment purposes (e.g., trainings, continuing education, etc.) to more
u
an locations, these distances can be challenging.
Homelessness in the UP is problematic. A study of homelessness was conducted by
Hilton and DeJong XXXXXXXXXXwho identified several different types of homelessness ranging from
ief and episodic to long term and chronic. These authors learned that many of the participants
were families with children struggling to find a way out of this precarious state. They conclude
that homelessness in the UP is widespread but at the same time, many homeless families are
eluctant to leave.
But who are these Yoopers generally, and why do people live and stay here? Ulrich
(2010) conducted a review of Upper Peninsula residents and identified many findings. For
example, Ulrich found that whereas 88% of the 1,008 Yoopers surveyed stated that they plan to
stay in the UP for the next five years, the overall population of the region continues to decline
Social Work in a Very Rural Place: A Study of Practitioners in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan 64
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Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal, Vol. 4 [2018], No. 1, Art. 6
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annually. Among those stating they might leave in the future, the most common reasons were
lack of employment and high energy costs—each an indicator of economics (as opposed to life-
style, political processes, attitudes, or belief systems). Ulrich XXXXXXXXXXalso found that about 80%
of adults stated they would advise teenagers to leave the UP to seek better job and educational
opportunities. This creates a conundrum—if the majority of adults believe that to have a better
life youth must leave the UP, and if those youth do so, the region risks experiencing a “
ain
drain” with each graduating high school class. This represents a loss of human capital that is at
least difficult, and perhaps impossible, to recapture over time.
Rural Social Worker Supply and Availability
Mackie and Simpson XXXXXXXXXXconducted a study comparing undergraduate social work
students originally from rural and u
an areas in Minnesota and Michigan, seeking differences
etween groups regarding where students grew up and their interest in working in a rural area
upon graduation. Findings suggest that students who grew up in rural areas were significantly
more likely to seek employment in a rural area compared to those from u
an areas. This study
included a qualitative component to learn why respondents may feel the way that they do.
Rural-raised participants stated that they prefer the quality of life rural areas provide, regional
familiarity, and an attachment to a lifestyle they understand. Additionally, many rural students
felt that they would have greater employment opportunities in rural areas as they perceive
employment in u
an areas as more competitive (see also Phillips, Quinn, & Heitkamp, 2010).
In related research, Mackie XXXXXXXXXXcompared rural and u
an social workers from a
national sample, and found that those practicing in