ocial Workers use social justice, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive lenses to assess how social welfare policies affect the delivery of and access to social services; and apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
How can social workers challenge oppression at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels?
The NASW code of ethics indicates that social workers trust clients as the experts of their own experiences and believe that they should get to self-determine unless there is clear and imminent danger to themselves or others. Language is one of the earliest and most profound ways that we demonstrate this client-centered trust. Below are some resources to help us practice cultural competimility and/or counterintuitive solidarity with a range of clients in terms of language.
This topic resonates with me because I strongly believe language matters and that clients are experts on their own experiences. The NASW Code of Ethics emphasizes self-determination, and I believe people should have the right to make decisions about their lives unless there is a clear and imminent danger to themselves or others. Working in a drug and alcohol treatment facility has given me a unique perspective because I was once a client there myself. As a veteran, I noticed that I was given certain privileges that other clients did not receive, such as being allowed visitation with my family during treatment. While I was grateful for that opportunity, it made me realize that not everyone was treated equally. Many clients desperately wanted to see their families and felt frustrated when they were denied visitation. In some cases, they became so upset that they threatened to leave treatment against medical advice simply because they wanted that connection and support from their loved ones.
Now that I work at the facility as a Behavioral Health Technician and Social Work Intern, I often advocate for clients because I understand what it feels like to be in their position. It is difficult for me to reconcile policies that teach clients to rebuild family relationships and reintegrate into their support systems while also limiting opportunities for family contact. I have discussed these concerns with my supervisor because I believe trust, compassion, and client-centered practice should guide our decisions whenever possible. If a client seeing their family does not create a safety risk, I believe allowing that connection can actually encourage them to remain in treatment and continue working toward recovery. Rather than becoming frustrated with the system and leaving prematurely, clients may feel more supported and motivated to complete the program. This experience has reinforced my belief that social workers must advocate for policies that respect client self-determination, promote dignity, and recognize clients as experts in their own lives.
Social workers use rights-based, antiracist, and anti-oppressive lenses to understand and critique the profession’s history, mission, roles, and responsibilities and recognize historical and current contexts of oppression in shaping institutions and social work
How can social workers challenge oppression at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels?
Social workers critically evaluate the distribution of power and privilege in society in order to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice by reducing inequities and ensuring dignity and respect for all.
How do systems of power affect the daily lives of clients and communities?
Ethnicity: a sense of identity and membership in a group that shares common language, cultural traits (values, beliefs, religion, food habits, customs, etc.), and a sense of a common history
How might a person's ethnicity influence their sense of belonging and community?
Mental Disorder: A mental disorder is a major disturbance in an individual’s thinking, feelings, or behavior that reflects a problem in mental function. Mental disorders cause distress or disability in social, work, or family activities (APA, 2022).
How might stigma prevent someone from seeking treatment?
Disability
What barriers might a person with a disability encounter in employment, education, healthcare, housing, or transportation?
person-first language,
Growing up, I had several cousins who had epilepsy. At the time, we did not have the knowledge or language about disability that I have today. When one of my cousins experienced a seizure, we would commonly say that they were “having an episode of epilepsy.” Sometimes stressful situations seemed to trigger these episodes, and other times a sudden loud noise seemed to trigger a reaction. As a family, we tried to help in the ways we understood at the time. We might try to calm the person, cover their eyes, or stay close to them until the episode passed. I also remember people believing that something should be placed in the person’s mouth to keep them from swallowing their tongue. (Recognizing and Refuting the Myth of Tongue Swallowing During a Seizure, 2020) Looking back, I understand that some of those practices reflected what our family believed was helpful at the time, even though our understanding of appropriate seizure first aid was limited.
As I learn about person-first language, I can also look back differently at the language my family used. We generally talked about our relatives as people who “had epilepsy” rather than allowing epilepsy to completely define who they were. Today, I understand this more formally as person-first language, rather than saying a person with epilepsy or an epileptic. What stands out to me is that our relatives were always family first. The condition was something they experienced, but it was not everything they were. My social work education has helped me understand why language matters and why respecting the terminology an individual prefers is part of recognizing that person’s dignity, identity, and self-determination. It has also taught me that caring intentions should be paired with accurate knowledge, because what people believe is helpful can change as we learn better, safer practices. (First Aid for Seizures, 2024)