Professor Jonathan Parker
June 2020
Foreword
We can all think of a day, time or year where events or encounters have stayed with us. This year, 2020, will go down as one of those years in my book (as well as, I am sure, for many others) and in history books as being memorable but for the wrong reasons – notably, due to the global Covid-19 pandemic as well as the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd in the USA.
On 23 February 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, who was out jogging in a neighbourhood, was gunned down in cold blood by a White father and son who thought he matched the description of a burglar who had recently operated in the area.
On 25 May 2020, George Floyd went into a grocery store in Minneapolis to purchase some items. Suspecting that he had paid with a counterfeit $20 note, the store owner called the police who arrived on the scene. Four officers attended the call-out and the lead officer proceeded to restrain the alleged suspect by pressing his knee into George’s neck for nearly nine minutes, resulting in his death.
Although there are many others in the USA who have died at the hands of police brutality, in both cases described above, the presence of video evidence has meant that many people around the world watched the murder of these two Black men. The videos have been heartbreakingly painful to watch, yet research by DeGue et al. (2016) suggests that in the USA, Black people constitute 32 per cent of victims who died as a result of the use of lethal force by law enforcement, despite being significantly less likely to be armed. This disproportionality in outcomes for victims of police brutality reminds us about the racial and ethnic inequalities that exist in many parts of our world, and how systems produce and reproduce oppression of people from minority groups.
This was never how I imagined I would introduce this book on anti-oppressive practice in social work, yet I am aware that by not openly challenging these gruesome acts, I am not only undermining the spirit of the contents in this book, but also complicit in oppression. I am therefore delighted that the launch of this book will be in October 2020, which is Black History Month in the UK.
For the Arbery and Floyd families, their unimaginable pain may be bearable due to the outpouring of support from people around the world and the protests to denounce the systemic racism and oppression that resulted in the murder of these two Black men. Social workers have been actively involved in different parts of the world protesting and campaigning to denounce racism and racial oppression.
The officer who pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck is said to be the field training officer for one of the officers who attended the call with him. As a qualified practice educator and an academic with research interests in practice/field education, what is clear is that he was supposed to be modelling best practice, equipping his ‘trainee’ police officer with the knowledge and skills to work effectively with members of the public and ultimately make a judgement about the trainee’s suitability for the role. Yet, when George Floyd gaspingly uttered the words, ‘I can’t breathe’, not a single one of the four officers intervened. This complicity arising from refusing to intervene is an important lesson for us as social workers.
For social work students for whom this book is written, I would like you to reflect on the following statements as you engage with its contents. Imagine that
you are a social worker in the school where George Floyd’s children attend;
you are the social worker responsible for the community where Ahmaud Arbery lives;
you are a mental health social worker supporting the bereaved families of Covid-19.
How would you bring hope to the families and communities affected? Has your qualifying social work programme prepared you for the task? These are not easy questions to answer. However, I hope the strategies, tools and ideas presented in this book provide some direction.
Introduction
It gives me great pleasure to present Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice. Writing this book has not been an easy task, not least for the fact that I emigrated to the United Arab Emirates during the writing of the book and had to cope with changes to lifestyle and routine while getting to grips with a different way of delivering the social work curriculum.
Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice could not have been written at a more appropriate time when the world over, the oppression of people with minority status continues unabated. The outbreak and spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) resulted in the cancellation of events, closure of universities, colleges and schools in many parts of the world. The implementation and in some places the enforcing of social distancing has created what is being referred to as the ‘new normal’ in terms of how we undertake our work and how we engage with service users and each other. Social work is about social connections and during this pandemic, we have seen the creative ways in which social workers have tried to remain connected to their colleagues, service users and communities, while practising within safe guidelines recommended by the government.
If I am anxious about any of these changes to the ‘new normal’, it is that acts of oppression and discrimination may also become the ‘new normal’ because perpetrators can hide behind technology, online and distance processes to keep unsuspecting people out. Access to technology and the internet, and the space to work from home will reveal certain groups in our society as disproportionately disadvantaged. Microaggressions and covert oppression are more likely to go unnoticed during this period because non-verbal cues will be harder to interpret from behind the computer screen or while on the telephone. So, what is my message? My message is one of vigilance for all social workers. Speak out in a constructive way, reach out to understand and support colleagues, friends and service users who are being oppressed by systems, institutions or other people. These are not new requirements; they are core values that underpin our practice and we should not wait for people to lose their lives before we act. The service users we work with rely on us to help them challenge oppressive systems that can result in real change.
This book is about anti-oppressive practice in social work, a concept that can be difficult to understand and confusing to practise. My intention in writing this book is that it will provide social work students with knowledge, skills and values needed to become anti-oppressive in their approach to their peers, colleagues and service users. Although the book is written for social work students, it has wider application to students studying for the allied health professions.
As no single book can address the range of issues involved in becoming an anti-oppressive practitioner, this book serves as a contribution to this broad area of knowledge and practice.
Book structure
Series features
Achieving a social work degree
All chapters are mapped against the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) and the subject benchmark statements for social work. For each chapter, four PCF domains and relevant subject benchmark statements are identified.
Case studies and activities
In this book, I present case studies which, from experience, students find useful because they allow you to explore what you have learned and how it applies to real-world situations. There are many activities that also support your learning through more specific questions about concepts in relation to information discussed under specific chapters. The aim of the activities is to get you engaged in discussion with peers or in silent reflection.
Research