This practice can be patronizing in that it functions to ‘teach’ individuals about their own experiences of oppression (Baines, 2011). AOP can be strengthened by incorporating perspectives that address and unsettle the relationships between colonialism and practice, and that prioritize Indigenist knowledges and goals.Īdditionally, the practice of ‘consciousness-raising’ positions the social worker as knowledgeable on all forms of oppression and creates a power hierarchy in the social worker-service user relationship. Consider, for example, that “ Decolonization as metaphor allows people to equivocate these contradictory decolonial desires because it turns decolonization into an empty signifier to be filled by any track towards liberation” (Tuck & Yang, 2012, p. While social workers call for actions to ‘decolonize’ the profession (Tamburro, 2013), social work in Canada relies on settler colonialism to function (Fortier & Wong, 2018) and therefore does not truly engage in decolonial actions. For example, while AOP endeavours to practice ‘consciousness-raising’ with service users as a form of empowerment, it fails to acknowledge its own role in social work as part of settler colonialism, and does not provide practical steps for the repatriation of land. 29).įurther limitations of anti-oppressive practice include its promotion of a robust structural analysis of factors that contribute to our lived experience, but a lack of tangible steps to engage in praxis. We must “take political and ethical stances, but do so in a way that recognizes that we and our stances have been shaped by the very legacies that we’re struggling against” (Chapman & Withers, 2019, p. As critical social workers, it is crucial that we do more than simply situate ourselves and our efforts as on the “right” side of social transformation. This allows social workers to ignore their own roles in recreating structures of oppression in their relationship with service users (Badwall, 2016). For example, a racialized female social worker working with a white male service user might navigate power differentials based on her race and gender positions that do not reflect normative service user-service provider power imbalances. It is also important to note that while social workers occupy a position of power in a therapeutic relationship, one’s identity and social locations are dynamic and heavily dependent on the context one is in. Therefore, it is crucial for social workers to be critically reflexive to avoid recreating oppressive social relations in practice (Healy, 2014).Īsking ourselves questions like, “how does my social location create positions of privilege?” and “how may social divisions impact my ability to best meet this service user’s needs?” can create the foundation for reflection on how our own biographies shape and create power differentials in our practice. Social work is an inherently political role it allows social workers to occupy a position of power and privilege via their access to resources and hierarchical structure of the social service sector.
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