Human Agency and Social Work Research: A Systematic Search and Synthesis of Social Work Literature

Abstract

Human agency is core to social work. Practice theories and frameworks position human agency as socially mediated, but assume that people possess human agency to play determining roles in their life circumstances. Some of the discipline’s seminal thinkers, however, argue that social work has adopted a disproportionate focus on the individual, whereby the human agency of social work clients and people experiencing marginalisation more broadly is highlighted. This article draws on a systematic search, screening and synthesis of contemporary (2008–12) social work journals to identify and assess the profession’s engagement with human agency. Of the 6,935 articles screened, we identified 549 articles, or 7.9 per cent, that engaged with human agency of clients or non-social worker groups. The minority of social work literature engaging with human agency presents expressions of human agency, or an identification of the barriers to expressing human agency, in empirically and theoretically meaningful ways. The social work literature that considers human agency highlights the diversity and complexity of people’s lives. Moreover, it demonstrates human agency as socially mediated and contingent. The research literature outlines an empirical basis to underpin social work’s empowerment, change and emancipation objectives.