Deprofessionalizing Social Work: Anti-Oppressive Practice, Competencies and Postmodernism

Correspondence to Lena Dominelli, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 ZTU Summary Social Work is in a state of flux. One of the key factors impactingon the direction it is currently taking is market forces. Thisarticle argues that the globalization of the economy and theinternationalization of the state are affecting social workeducation and practice in Britain through the competency-basedapproach being promoted by CCETSW and the government. This isleading to the demise of the autonomous, reflective practitioner,creating instead, a fragmented, deprofessionalized senice thatis poorly placed to meet the requirements of anti-oppressivepractice.     

Social Work with Immigrants and Refugees: Developing a Participation-based Framework for Anti-Oppressive Practice

Summary This Research Note represents the first in a two part series,dealing with the experience of social work with immigrants andrefugees in Finland. In this part, the author identifies keyideas and outlines research findings in the major area of employment,including a discussion of the skills and abilities which socialworkers need and can contribute in this area. The next issueof the Journal will present research evidence in relation toa range of community and cultural questions which arise fromthis work, concluding with further discussion of successfulsocial work in this field.     

Anti-Oppressive Research in Social Work: A Preliminary Definition

In comparison with other helping professions, social work claimsto embrace a very distinctive mission: to oppose the roots andeffects of social oppression. This article examines social workresearch from an anti-oppressive social work perspective. Itargues that in order to match the liberating mission of theprofession, social work research should defy the dominant traditionsof social science research. The paper first outlines a definitionof anti-oppressive research in social work and then suggestsa relevant set of criteria for assessing it. A case study isdescribed and analysed according to these criteria, followedby a discussion of some ethical and methodological issues involvedin the development of a more inclusive inquiry in social work.     

Developing Anti-Oppressive Empowering Social Work Practice with Older Lesbian Women and Gay Men

Summary Available studies suggest that around 10 per cent of the populationmight self-identify as a lesbian woman or gay man (Davies andNeal, 1996). It follows that social workers will engage witholder people who are homosexual. It does not follow that theywill know who they are, as this is a group often characterizedby its invisibility. This paper reports the results of a small-scale,exploratory study which examined how older lesbian women andgay men perceived their needs should they become ill or disabledas they age (Langley, 1997). Their concerns were viewed in thecontext of their past as well as present lives, and oppressionwas a unifying theme. Some of the findings are examined in orderto highlight key challenges for social work practice. Theseinclude: (i) working with invisibility and fear of oppression;(ii) developing awareness and recognition of lesbian and gayrelationships and supportive networks; (iii) the need for anti-oppressiveempowering services which match the needs and circumstancesof older lesbian women and gay men; (iv) importantly, the needfor greater awareness of the heterosexist assumptions whichinfluence institutional responses and individual practice.     

A Critical Examination of Immigrant Acculturation: Toward an Anti-Oppressive Social Work Model with Immigrant Adults in a Pluralistic Society

Today, in North America, the idea of complete assimilation ofimmigrants no longer seems relevant. Under the commonly espousedideologies of multiculturalism and pluralism, the goal of socialwork with immigrants is now integration into the host society,whether that be economically, socially and/or psychologically(Li, 2003). However, critics argue that the traditional ideaof immigrant assimilation continues to lurk behind social policiesand social services for immigrants, in that the successful integrationof immigrants is prompted by their conformation to the dominantculture (Balgopal, 2000). While a growing body of literatureon social work with immigrants has resulted in an increasedunderstanding of this diverse population and its needs, theliterature still lacks coherent theoretical and ideologicalframeworks necessary to inform effective models of service delivery.Social work literature on immigrants also requires criticalinterrogation of the impact of social science theories, particularlyin terms of long-held assumptions of culture and acculturation.In this paper, a critical review of literature on acculturationand social work with immigrants will be followed by findingsof a qualitative study with skilled immigrants in Canada. Basedon the research findings, an anti-oppressive approach to socialwork with immigrants is proposed.     

Social Work and General Medical Practice: Personal Accounts of Three-year Attachment

Summary In the area of social worker-general practitioner collaborationmuch has been written about conflict of roles, differing functions,avenues of accountability, and problems of distributing scarceresources. This paper suggests that if the two professions areto work more comfortably with one another, then it is imperativethat both also share the despair, hopelessness, anxiety andanger that are the occupational hazards of each. Ways are suggestedin which doctor and social worker can look at the pain theirpatients are suffering to the benefit of the patient and theiro working relationship.     

Outline of a Critical Best Practice Perspective on Social Work and Social Care

Correspondence to Harry Ferguson, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of the West of England, Blackberry Hill, Stapleton, Bristol BS16 1DD. E-mail: harry.ferguson{at}uwe.ac.uk Summary This article seeks to lay the foundations for a new, more positiveperspective on critical practice, research and learning in socialwork and social care. A ‘critical best practice perspective’seeks to move the literature beyond a ‘deficit approach’where the focus is on what does not get done (well), to createa perspective where learning occurs in terms of best practicewhich is set out as a model for developing systems and practicecompetencies. This requires a focus on the actual critical practicesthat are ‘best’ demonstrating the very practicethrough which positive outcomes were achieved. A detailed case-studyis offered drawn from a large scale research study which typifieshow a critical best practice perspective can provide for learningin key areas such as how to engage service users, advocate ontheir behalf, promote protection, establish empowering relationshipsand conduct longer-term therapeutic work in an antioppressivemanner. The research method uses critical theory as an interpretativeframework for reaching an operational definition of 'excellence’and what is ‘best’, which is drawn from the perspectivesof the range of stakeholders who construct practice. This requiresa broadening of the concept of evidence-based practice to includequalitative research methods and the experience of professionals,service users and the production of ‘practice-based evidence’.     

Beyond Social Constructionism: Critical Realism and Social Work

Summary Theories within the social and psychological sciences continueto shape social work practice. However, recent debates withinthese sciences on the shortcomings of ‘social constructionism’,and the attempt to overcome them through a critical realistposition, have so far failed to capture social work's attention.This paper provides a critical overview of these theoreticaldebates, highlighting the shortcomings of social constructionismfor social work. The critical realist challenge to social constructionism,as articulated by the British philosopher Roy Bhaskar, is consideredand its relevance to social work formulated in terms of a returnto ‘depth’ in practice.     

Social Work Tomorrow: Towards a Critical Understanding of Technology in Social Work

Correspondence to Bob Sapey, Department of Social Work, University of Central Lancashire, Preston PR1 2HE Summary This paper makes use of theoretical ideas that have been developedto understand the impact of new technology on organizationsand applies them to its use within social work agencies. Thesedeveloping theories employ ideas that are familiar to socialworkers—organization theory, decision making theory, andcommunication theory. The paper therefore argues that socialworkers are in a good position to understand and influence theuse of computers within welfare agencies and do not need tobe inhibited by a lack of technological knowledge. It is furtherargued that, unless social workers do become involved in theways in which new technologies are used within organizations,they will fail to influence its impact upon their clients andmay further fail to control the way in which computers affectthe nature of social work itself in the future.     

Personal versus Professional Values in Social Work:

Empirical studies of the values of the social work profession typically have focused on the personal values of social workers. This study is a pretest of a research design that distinguishes between the personal values of social workers and their perceptions of the values of the social work profession. The findings indicate that both the personal values of social workers and their perceptions of the values of the profession are distinguishable from the values of a sample of U.S. adults, but in different ways. The authors conclude that the values of the profession are accessible to empirical research and propose a research methodology.     

Advocacy and Social Action: Key Elements in the Structural Approach to Direct Practice in Social Work

The structural approach to direct practice in social work assumes that opportunities and resources are unequally distributed and that members of deprived and vulnerable populations are social victims. Thus, the basic thrust of the social worker is to change oppressive situations instead of the people trapped in them. Disenfranchised, powerless, and oppressed people need a fairer share of basic economic and social goods. This makes advocacy a key practice role involving both work with groups of clients and with others who can make things happen for clients. The paper describes and illustrates instances of advocacy as the structurally oriented social worker applies six basic principles to help meet the needs of clients.     

Towards the Use and Development of Games for Social Work Practice

Summary This paper reviews games that may be of use to social workersin their work with individuals, couples, families and groups.A typology of games is presented, which categorizes games accordingto their structure and their function. Games are seen as eitherunstructured or structured, and as stressing either cognitiveor behavioural goals. Selected games are presented in more detailas examples and others are presented in brief in an annotatedbibliography. Issues relating to designing games are discussedas well as issues in applying games to social work practice.     

Cautionary Tales From Beginning Practitioners: The Fate of Personal Models of Social Work in Beginning Practice

Summary The relationship between professional education and beginningpractice is examined by considering whether the personal modelsof social work developed and reviewed by the individual duringsocial work education survived the transition from student toautonomous practitioner. Fifteen University of Queensland socialwork graduates were engaged in a task of making explicit theirpersonal models of social work, by way of repertory grid technique,in their first eight months of employment. The repertory gridwas used as a conversational tool to monitor the developmentof and changes in their personal models of social work. Thesocial workers were thus engaged in a process consciously reflectingon the meaning of, and the reasons for, these developments andchanges. Whilst the study found that personal models do survivethe transition to social work practice, it also highlightedareas of concern. On the whole graduates did not feel preparedfor work, and the initial period of practice was one of considerabledifficulty. Many experienced considerable difficulty in subsumingthe organizational context within their personal model of socialwork.     

Dual Relationships: Personal and Professional Boundaries in Rural Social Work

Social workers in rural areas often live and work in the communitiesthat they serve. Consequently, they may have, or later develop,dual relationships with service users. These ‘out of hours’connections raise some complex issues about how social workersconduct their practice and comport themselves socially withinthe wider community. This paper reviews the notion of dual relationshipsand assesses the schema proposed for assessing their ethicalprobity. Its conclusion is that the practical realities of ruralpractice challenge absolutist conceptions of confidentialityand undermine assumptions of objectivity and neutrality in professionalstance.