Restoring Power to Social Work Practice

Correspondence to Arnon Bar-On, Department of Social Work, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana. E-mail: bar-on{at}mopipi.ub.bw Summary Largely because they are unacquainted with power theory, socialworkers judge power as an aberration of their intentions toempower their clients and to make organizations more humane.Contrarily, this article, which explicates power and power-in-use,argues that social workers must increase their power and theirunderstanding of its dynamics and adopt a wider range of meansof influence than they currently do if they are to effectivelyhelp those society excludes and makes vulnerable.