Research summaries have been provided to offer you brief overviews of research, relevant to specific chapters. These are useful pieces of information that further help you to build on your existing knowledge while creating your own list of useful references.
Illustrations
Unusually, I have included a few illustrations in this book to help you understand some ideas which can be difficult to explain using only written text. Again, from experience, visual information can be easier to recall and, for the topics in this book, I believe that visual representation will be held in the memory longer than written text. My appreciation to Harry Venning for the artwork.
Further reading
At the end of each chapter, I have recommended two resources which will assist you to extend your knowledge on areas covered in the chapter.
Content
The book has been strategically divided into three main sections aimed at providing students with opportunities to develop the skills needed to work anti-oppressively. Relevant theoretical concepts are broken down, and the use of case studies and activities should assist the student to reflect on and apply the knowledge they have gained.
Part One: Theories and concepts
Part One comprises five chapters that introduce theories and key concepts around oppression and anti-oppression, valuing diversity, power and powerlessness, and social justice. Some models for practice are proposed and examined.
Part Two: Anti-oppressive practice with individuals, groups and communities
Part Two of the book comprises seven chapters that address anti-oppressive practice with individuals, groups and communities. Gender, age, race, ethnicity, disability, faith and religion are discussed with intersectionality integrated throughout the chapters. The final chapter in Part Two focuses on marginalised groups, and the examples used are refugee and asylum-seeking populations.
Part Three: Developing anti-oppressive practice through learning
This final part of the book, which is also the shortest with three chapters, outlines how anti-oppressive practice can be achieved in practice learning (placements) and post-qualification through learning. Multi-agency working is addressed and strategies for disrupting oppressive practice in multi-agency teams outlined. In Chapter 13, I draw on the key findings from my doctoral research undertaken in 2015. It examines how practice learning settings can perpetuate oppression towards students and service users, and proposes ways in which placement settings can ensure anti-oppressive practice. Importantly, I have offered some suggestions about how students might appropriately challenge oppression during their placements.
Conclusion
I finish the book with some concluding thoughts, summarising the main ideas and dilemmas proposing areas for future research and consideration.
1 Understanding oppression
Achieving a Social Work Degree
This chapter will help you develop the following capabilities from the Professional Capabilities Framework (2018):
1 Professionalism
2 Values and ethics
3 Diversity and equality
4 Critical reflection and analysis
See Appendix 1 for the Professional Capabilities Framework Fan and a description of the 9 domains.
It will also introduce you to the following standards as set out in the Social Work Subject Benchmark Statement (2019):
5.3 Values and ethics
5.16 Skills in working with others
See Appendix 2 for a detailed description of these standards.
Introduction
Serving as the opening for this book, this chapter does more than introduce the concept of oppression. It provides an opportunity to discuss what is meant by oppression, and considers oppression within the context of social work education and practice. The social work profession has a longstanding interest in equality, fairness and social justice, and it is important that these continue to be at the forefront of our thinking and everyday practice. In this chapter, we will discuss a few definitions of oppression and utilise case studies and activities to stimulate thinking and ideas about anti-oppressive practice. The ‘Ally model’ of social justice (Gibson, 2014) will be presented as a useful way of supporting anti-oppressive practice, as well as the SHARP framework (Shaia, 2019) to understand oppression in the context of poverty and socioeconomic disadvantage. Experiencing disadvantage has the potential to stigmatise people, and social workers must work at changing social relationships which create stigma, social exclusion and ultimately oppression. These social relationships also include the social worker’s own relationship with service users. Anti-oppression must start from an understanding of history and historical processes, which have resulted in ideology and practice that has oppressed groups, individuals and whole societies. Neoliberalism is an ideology that retains and maintains domination, exploitation and power arising from colonial relations and extending to present day. It is therefore not uncommon to see that the exchange of capital takes precedence over social justice (Giroux, 2003, p196), something that social work and you, as social workers, must challenge because it essentially means rationing resources at the expense of meeting the needs of service users.
Defining oppression
Locating a universally agreed definition of oppression is no mean feat. However, as Dalrymple and Burke (2006) suggest, one main ingredient in oppression is power and power relations, and for this reason Chapter 3 in this book has been dedicated to the discussion of power and powerlessness. They suggest that oppression is an emotive and complex term, and that any attempt to define oppression in simple terms is to undermine this complexity.
Thompson (2001, p34) defines oppression as
inhuman or degrading treatment of individuals or groups; hardship and injustice brought about by the dominance of one group over another; the negative and demeaning exercise of power. Oppression often involves disregarding the rights of an individual or group and is thus a denial of citizenship.
No one is immune to oppression. However, it is important to note that individual characteristics and social identities can provide privilege or result in disadvantage, which puts them in the category of the oppressor or oppressed. Inhumane or degrading treatment is treatment that dehumanises people. Dominelli (2008) suggests that focusing on one aspect of oppression may be helpful to an individual at a particular point in time, but will not eradicate oppression completely or from groups of people.
In this chapter, I invite you to consider your own understanding of oppression arising from your experiences, observations and engagement with relevant theoretical information and knowledge of oppression. Oppression is nothing to be proud of, yet it is a real experience for many. It is the systematic and sustained abuse and misuse of power over others. Oppression can silence, but it can also be the vehicle for rebellion and emancipation.
Barker (2003, pp306–7) defines oppression as:
The social act of placing severe restrictions