power imbalance in social work practice

To assist this, social work education needs to embrace the concept of connection as an integral dimension of social work values. Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing. Power operates as a dynamic force that leaves no area of life untouched, influencing individuals, families, communities, and institutions. Whilst successful protocols would ensure transparency in social workers' dealings with clients, their creation does not incorporate client negotiation. It incorporates current theories and practices of social work that maintain that the social work relationship is both professional and unique, shaped by collaborative interaction and created by a mutually agreed-upon and context-specific set of boundaries. Cultural competence in social work practice refers to the fact that social workers: Should develop behaviors, knowledge, skills, and attitudes to work effectively across cultures False Institutional services focus on addressing the current problems that people face in their lives. In social work, therefore, one is always dealing with power relations. Essay, Pages 18 (4426 words) Views. Alexander and Charles (2009) argue that the difficulty of balancing the need to relate to clients and the ideals of professional behaviour can make the position of social worker untenable when placed within the traditional notion of professional boundaries. Discuss experiences of power conflicts and practice dilemmas. For example, in Lebanon, young people in Palestinian refugee camps raised a concern about poor lighting with a social worker. And this is true. Social work is a profession that involves relationships with individuals, between individuals, with individuals in groups, with individuals and organisations, and between organisations (Arnd-Caddigan and Pozzuto, 2008; Kadushin, 1972; Perlman, 1979; Petr, 1983; Richmond, 1899; Wilson et al., 2011). This is particularly important in non-Western societies such as the Middle East and Africa, where professional socialisation may create barriers to social work practice (Al-Krenawi and Graham, 2001). Additional complexity is generated by the inherent tensions, both ethical and political, that social work embodies, such as self-determination versus social control and differences in the epistemological outlooks of the social workers themselves. Naming power differences can invite service users, colleagues or even friends to share the social graces which they feel can hold them back, or even cloud their judgement of others. Social work seeks to address social injustice by challenging the processes of discrimination and oppression which create barriers to inclusion and lead to social exclusion; it seeks to address power imbalances and to empower people to develop and connect to networks and services to improve health and well-being. This article is also available for rental through DeepDyve. Don't already have a personal account? In general terms, social workers need to ensure that they act in the best interests of service users. Ethical issues arising in social work have rightly received considerable attention but responses to them have invariably been premised on the belief that professional boundaries are clear for all to see and are professionally determined on the basis of separation and passivity as opposed to connection and dynamism. Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in. These exchanges are marked by the complex interaction of personal and broader environmental factors. People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read. Whilst the ability to forge good interpersonal relationships is desirable, but often not essential for highly developed professions such as medicine and law, it is an absolute precondition of effective social work practice (Chu and Tsui, 2008; Chu et al., 2009; Proctor, 1982; Ward et al., 2010). The model emphasises connection rather than separation, advocating a process that encourages mutuality. About. I cant breathe, he said. About this essay. Copyright 2023 National Association of Social Workers. This essay "Power Dynamics and Social Work" discusses the power of social workers, which are developed through their professional function, social role and interaction with clients. Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. This paper sets out a framework to structure reflexivity in social work practice. The Yo-Yo Effect: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Social Workers Experiences with Job Flexibility during the Pandemic, Social Workers Perspectives on Extreme Risk Protection Orders, Am I the Only One Who Feels Like This?: Needs Expressed Online by Abortion Seekers, About the National Association of Social Workers, Subscription prices and ordering for this journal, Purchasing options for books and journals across Oxford Academic, Receive exclusive offers and updates from Oxford Academic. In developing a model that focuses on connection, social workers need to develop their expertise in understanding what facilitates connections and what inhibits them. The social graces align with the BASW 80:20 campaign, which champions relational practice, with the desire to reverse the ratio of social workers spending 80% of the time at their desks, and just 20% with service users. Defining the social work relationship: political, therapeutic, participatory or mutual? Moreover, the model itself requires research to evaluate its effectiveness in order to refine the methods for negotiating relationships in specific contexts. Gray (2010), in her examination of emerging ethical theories, such as feminist ethics of care, in the context of increasingly complex problems in harsh practice environments, suggests this can produce important considerations about the way social work relationships are constructed and distinguished from other types of professional relationships. Social workers often experience psychological distress when they hear about a client's trauma. In 1990 in the UK the case of 'The Pindown Experience', which occurred in the county of Staffordshire, came to the public and media attention. Whilst practitioners must learn to manage this vicarious traumatization during the course of their professional development (Sexton, 1999), being witness and connected to distress and conditions of social exclusion plays a pivotal role in the development of a better understanding of the lived experience of clients. A recurrent criticism of reflective, psycho-dynamically informed approaches, however, has been the potential for it to pathologise individuals and to locate the responsibility for personal circumstances entirely at the level of the individual. In our proposed model, we place the social worker and the client at the centre of a set of boundaries that promote connection and the use of self, rather than separation and professional distance. Many clients do not voluntarily enter into their relationship with a social worker, but have been legally obliged to participate. With the main mission of social workers being the enhancement of well-being and helping to satisfy fundamental human needs of persons who are poor, vulnerable, and oppressed, they can improve their practice effectiveness significantly by understanding and becoming sensitive to cultural diversity and uniqueness. Professional associations might use the model to better elucidate the distinctiveness of the professional boundaries in social work relationships. Current research on the social work relationship will help to inform the construction of the boundaries of the social work relationship that are transparent, considered and acceptable. We use cookies to improve your website experience. In a group setting, or in pairs, attempt to roleplay the social graces from different perspectives. In order to be clear about how professional boundaries might most appropriately be configured, it is necessary to understand the nature of the professional social work relationship. The Social Graces is one of the tools which can help us to achieve this. Professional boundaries: Crossing a line or entering the shadows? But in other situations, a younger person may have more power. It is often helpful to agree that problematic issues, such as cultural misunderstandings, will be discussed as transparently as possible. The most glaring example of the latter in Danish memory is the Strandvnget case of 2007 (Kirkebk 2017)3. In Hong Kong, senior citizens in elderly homes often give red envelopes of money to young front line social workers in Chinese New Year because they regard social workers as friends of the younger generation. All students should be aware that social work practice is made up of a network of power relationships and as a student you too are in an unequal power relationship with your practice educator - you are being assessed. 14, No. Enter your library card number to sign in. This power imbalance can impede therapy when societal power dynamics, such as race, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, and HIV status are taken into consideration. This inquiry is guided by social constructivism and symbolic interactionism perspectives. Registered in England & Wales No. Based on the thinking of the sociologist, Derek Layder, it comprises five domains that impact on the . Re-conceptualisation of the Professional Social Work Boundary. The social graces, however, recognise that we are not isolated beings. Social workers rely on power of expertise, which is derived from their access to and command of specialized knowledge. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). Managing this delicate process has been conceptualised as maintaining professional distance, premised on the belief that a psycho-social separation will encourage rational scientific objectivity. The articulation of unconscious behaviours, if sensitively done, can be liberating and emancipating for individuals who gain insight into how they configure relationships with others and, particularly in the case of statutory work, with those in positions of authority. In addition, many social work profes- This resonated with me on a number of levels; I only began to understand the self-centric nature of Western culture when I lived in Chile, where the first question asked to a stranger was not the typical What do you do for a living?, but Tell me about your family. Because the stakes are so very high. As a result, the social work relationship has adopted restrictive artificial barriers that are not in keeping with the profession's values and some of the realities of practice. Historically within the Western context, social work's theoretical basis has been understood as being on a continuum. Arnd-Caddigan and Pozzuto (2008) view the use of self as a relational and interactional process. The existence of this power imbalance should be a central consideration when social workers form and manage their relationships with service users, their friends and family, and also with ex-service users. Inevitably, however, ethical questions arise in the social work relationship when moral and political imperatives are in conflict with the individual client's well-being. Further developments in humanistic psychology and structuralism have led to the introduction of client-centred approaches (Rogers, 1980) and the systems approach to social work represents an attempt to combine these different perspectives (Petr, 1983). I explore the use of power and professional authority, value dilemmas resulting from my role as both a social work student and a youth justice worker, and deontological and teleological issues arising from tensions between professionals with differing objectives. On the one hand, it has been suggested that the traditional representation of professional boundaries reinforces power imbalances and tends to undervalue the personal exchange required to engage with clients meaningfully (Bird, 2000; O'Leary, 2004). Choose one of the graces you are drawn toward. Some uses of power in social work not only demonstrate bad practice, but also are regarded as immoral and illegal. One of the key aims of the graces is to name power differentials. Deciding how to establish, on the spot, for example, an appropriate professional boundary when unexpectedly encountering a male partner in the course of a home visit to conduct a child protection assessment is such an instance. 1. When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Personal information that is not relevant to the issues discussed may be considered off limits. I have no reason to fear the police; my dad does, and has been assaulted by them. Her research and teaching interests lie in the fields of relationship-based and reflective practice. POWER, OPPRESSION, AND. inherent power asymmetry in social work can lead to worker uncertainty at best, and a toxic and abusive culture at worst. The emergence of post-structural approaches to social work has led to a more critical appraisal of the complex nature of relationships with people who are oppressed or marginalised and has contributed to a concerted effort to challenge reductionist understandings of professional relationships to better cope with the diversity and uniqueness of people's individual circumstances (Ruch, 2005). Journal of Progressive Human Services, 19, 39-54. Traditionally, the bounds of the relationship were set by professional bodies as a way of separating social workers from their clients. But there is something inherently problematic about labelling and stigmatising. The origins of this didactic and hierarchical construction of the social work relationship can be linked to the influence of the medical model: the doctorpatient relationship placing the doctor at the centre of the power structure, as a representative of rational authority (Kane, 1982). Social work is at the forefront of professions that address the ontological need for relationships and respond to the breakdowns of personal and societal relationships. The centrality and importance of the social work relationship have been consistently emphasised in the profession's literature for over a century. . As part of the modelling process, educators can demonstrate their capacity to reflect in the moment and can help students develop the reflective skills and mindset that are pivotal to the application of the model in practice. Empowerment has become a well-used term across a wide variety of social work settings that involve dealing with people and their problems. For the purpose of this paper, we will use the term client. This term should be taken to include collective clients such as families and communities. However, empirical research has shown little variation in the effectiveness of the array of approaches.