Theorising New Developments in Critical Social Work

Abstract

Social work scholars and practitioners continue to grapple with the development of approaches to practice that recognise the power imbalances in society, endeavouring to bring about social change while simultaneously providing a humane and respectful response to people in their everyday struggles with social problems. The new approach was political in nature and moved from dichotomising person and situation, directing 'attention to the transactions between people and specific social, political and economic situations'. Critical social work within a postmodern tradition challenges assumptions about power, which in modernist terms is seen as something that is possessed, repressive and operating in top-down ways' as a force imposed by one set of subjects on others'. Questions are raised about how a social work practice informed by postmodern perspectives can challenge oppression and inequality because of its individualism and moral relativism—even though some challenge this by arguing that they make even more explicit the moral choices and responsibilities central to social work practice.