Abstract
Loic Wacquant is currently Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He has written extensively on issues related to urban poverty, race and the expansion of imprisonment. Wacquant is heavily influenced by the work of the late Pierre Bourdieu. Specifically, Wacquant employs Bourdieu's theoretical tools of analysis to provide a critique of contemporary neo-liberal social and penal policy. This article considers the potential applications of Wacquant’s scholarship to contemporary social work practice. For the purposes of this analysis, Wacquant’s work is divided into three broad areas: the analysis of neo-liberalism and precarious forms of employment, the development of the penal state and his critical approach to doxa. Bourdieu uses the term doxa to refer to those views or opinions that are taken for granted within any society. They thus create the limits of, or provide a strong framework for, political and policy debates. It is argued that Wacquant’s theorisation provides an explanation of the forces that have led to the concentration of areas of poverty in the midst of relative affluence. In addition to facing long-standing problems of high unemployment, poor housing and a lack of social amenities, these areas - the banlieues in France, housing projects in the USA and estates in England - are stigmatized in public and media discourse. Wacquant’s work can be used to challenge the development of a form of social work that places emphasis on bureaucratic managerialism. In addition, it should encourage social work as a profession to re-engage with criminal justice issues. Finally, the critical approach to doxa provides a model for social work to challenge the limitations of current debates.
Highlights
Social work, as a profession is fundamentally concerned with notions of equality, citizenship and social justice
Recent trends in social policy in England and Wales have had significant implications for the role of social work. It has become increasingly driven by prescribed procedures and focused on risk management. This trend can be seen across the UK, Australia and New Zealand and is evident in a number of areas of social work practice
The reform of the Mental Health Act in 2007 in England and Wales led to the introductions of Community Treatment Orders
Summary
As a profession is fundamentally concerned with notions of equality, citizenship and social justice. Beddoe (2015) notes, in her discussion of similar policy developments in New Zealand, that these shifts have taken place at a time of cuts and retrenchment in the welfare budget They become part of an ideological discourse that justifies austerity. This article argues that this analysis resonates with some of the key traditional concerns of the social work profession It can act as a basis for social work practice that is much more community focused and orientated towards social justice approaches. This shift entails a rejection of procedural, bureaucratic and risk based models and rediscovery of the notion of dignity as a driver for the development of new forms of practice
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