This definition by Barker is significant for many reasons and speaks to my own understanding and experiences of being oppressed. First, the ‘social act’ emphasises the fact that oppression comes to life through human social interactions. Everyone is at risk of being oppressed, devalued or exploited – individuals, groups and institutions – and this is done through covert hidden restrictions or via bold formal controls of those wielding more power.
A second definition of oppression is that by Charlton (1998, p8) which states that
oppression occurs when individuals are systematically subjected to political, economic, cultural, or social degradation because they belong to a social group . . . results from structures of domination and subordination and, correspondingly, ideologies of superiority and inferiority.
Ideologies of superiority and inferiority rely on the use of power to operationalise. There are many practice behaviours which result in people feeling inferior. For example, a situation where a family who are experiencing poverty and socioeconomic disadvantage are told they have too many children and should have considered their financial situation before having ‘all these children’, is one in which the social worker or professional is abusing their power.
I will continually refer to various portions of the definition by Barker (2003) as a way of drawing your attention to its application to practice.
Activity 1.1
Reflect on your own views and experiences of oppression.
What does oppression mean to you?
How have you reached your understanding of oppression?
Write these down and share with a colleague.
It is my view that oppressive practice places barriers between social workers and service users, and that these barriers prevent full and meaningful engagement between a social worker and a service user. In its extreme form, the barrier of oppression not only keeps people out of mainstream life and situations, but also does not allow perpetrators of oppression to see the other side. The illustration below is my take on what oppression could feel like. It is a barrier to freedom and achieving potential; oppression also silences those on the ‘wrong side’ of the wall. This is a call for you, as social workers, to support the emancipation of those whose voices are muffled and whose visions for a better future are not visible because of where they are.
Figure 1.1 Oppression
Activity 1.2
Now that you have looked at the illustration, what are some of the words and phrases that come to mind when you hear the word ‘oppression’?
List these and consider what they mean to you.
It would be helpful to undertake this activity with a friend or colleague and compare responses afterwards.
Which phrases and words do you have in common and where were the differences?
To what extent did your personal experiences factor into your discussion?
Lister (2008) argues that we need to understand our own experiences of oppression in order to fully appreciate the impact of oppression on others. This mirrors the view by Carniol (2005) who states that it is important to analyse our own social location prior to analysing the social location of others. He emphasises the importance of using our critical consciousness to deepen our awareness of our privilege. It is important that, as social workers, we understand and acknowledge our privilege as a first step towards becoming anti-oppressive practitioners.
Types of oppression
For oppression to exist there must be two categories of people – the oppressor and the oppressed. These terminologies have been brilliantly examined by Paulo Freire (1970) in his famous Pedagogy of the Oppressed in which he proposes that in order to work harmoniously, knowledge creation should be a shared endeavour in the context of education and the teacher–student relationship. In a similar vein, social workers should not claim to be the experts and must utilise a shared approach when working with service users to meet their needs. This working together has the potential to minimise oppression in the working relationship.
There are different forms of oppression and these are referred to as the four I’s of oppression (Chinook Fund, 2010). They include ideological, institutional, interpersonal and internalised.
1 Ideological Any system of oppression begins with a view or idea that one group is better or more important than another group, or other groups of people. The group that feels superior often associates with positive labels such as strong, intelligent, competent, and it ascribes the ‘other’ group using negative labels such as weak, unintelligent, incompetent.
2 Institutional oppression usually comes from larger organisational acts or omissions which result in people with characteristics being over-represented or in receipt of negative or oppressive outcomes. For example, in the UK there are disproportionate numbers of Black minority ethnic people receiving mental health services when compared to other groups. The reasons offered for this are varied; however, institutional oppression is rarely accepted as the main reason.
3 Interpersonal oppression is the interaction between people where oppressive language, actions and insinuations are used.
4 Internalised oppression works when oppressed people come to believe in their own inferiority. Things reach this point when oppressed groups have nowhere to express their feelings, so keep these inside them (internalised) or direct their frustration towards others of the same group.
What can be done about oppression?
Having examined what oppression is, we turn our attention to what can be done about oppression and, specifically, what social workers can do to minimise or disrupt oppression in their work with service users. While many social workers understand the impact of oppression in theory, fewer are confident about how their own approach to service users and their families might be oppressive (Shaia, 2019).
Let us begin with a reminder of the global definition of social work:
Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledges, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance well-being.
(IFSW, 2014)
It is right that the international definition is given prominence in this first chapter, as it contains words and phrases that will be unpicked and examined further in this book. For this chapter, the liberation of people refers to freeing people from oppression, and this aligns with the aims of this chapter and the book. The answer to the question about what can be done about oppression is ‘quite a lot’. However, this will depend on your understanding of oppression, and your ability and willingness to challenge individuals and structures that allow oppression to persist. Challenging individuals and structures will require you, as social workers, to use frameworks, a few of which will be discussed in this book.
According to Yee et al. (2015), a framework for anti-oppressive practice can only