Anti-oppressive Practice Research Articles

A Qualitative Systematic Review of Stigma, Violence, Victimization, and Associated Coping Among Transgender People Engaged in Sex Work.

Globally, transgender people engaged in sex work experience disproportionately high risks of victimization. While qualitative studies on the perspectives of transgender people engaged in sex work can shed light on their intersecting experiences, a qualitative synthesis could offer a systematic understanding and inform anti-oppressive practices and policies. This review explores the experience of stigma, violence, victimization, and associated coping strategies among transgender people engaged in sex work. We conducted a literature search in November 2023 on MEDLINE, Social Work Abstracts, and CINAHL PLUS from EBSCOhost, APA PsycInfo, ASSIA, and Sociological Abstracts from ProQuest and SCOPUS (PROSPERO ID: CRD42023478844). From 1,085 studies retrieved, 64 were included in this review. Thematic synthesis identified seven themes: (a) individual struggle, (b) interpersonal violence, (c) community transphobia and exclusion, (d) systemic oppression, (e) individual coping strategies, (f) community resources, and (g) organizational support as coping resources. This review contributes to the discussion around the health vulnerabilities of transgender people engaged in sex work that inherently result from intersecting victimization in a larger global context, including trafficking, urban planning, migration, and COVID-19. Identification of the coping strategies of transgender people engaged in sex work also highlights their resilience and sites of empowerment. Policymakers and professionals should be mindful of the intersectional identities of transgender people engaged in sex work and initiate peer- and community-led interventions to support them in building intersectional solidarity and resisting victimization.

Learning from Citizens Returning from Prison: Incorporating anti-Oppressive Practice Approaches to Enhance Relational Psychodynamic Practice Impact

Relational psychodynamic practice, to be useful to folks representing “othered” oppressed populations, must integrate an anti-oppressive stance in relation to the people they serve, learn from them about their unique wants and needs, and strive to align with the sequential order in which they believe the wants and needs should be attained. This paper explores how this can occur, focusing on citizens returning from prison and utilizing an example of an individual who successfully navigates this transition. Anti-oppressive practice approaches aimed at empowerment and liberation are discussed as meeting essential needs beyond education, housing, and work, that make successful navigation of post-incarceration “freedom” possible. Elements of psychodynamic theory and practice that are particularly relevant to working with returning citizens and individuals representing other oppressed populations are elaborated. Special attention is given to the approach of a therapeutic-participant and client-participant relationship that blends our psychodynamic relational approach and personal reflexivity with a greater understanding of persons coming from an environment where self-agency was not supported and even thwarted.

Embedding Cultural Knowledge in Social Work Education: Reflections from Master of Social Work Students at a Regional Australian University

Abstract Social work students (SWS) are increasingly demanding diverse curriculums and training in skills that will help them decentre whiteness as their default position of professional practice. This article reports on findings from a qualitative study exploring how Masters of SWS at a regional Australian university engaged with content delivered in a core unit with a strong focus on anti-racist, anti-oppressive practices. The unit’s structure and delivery facilitated a dialogue that compelled students, especially those from dominant cultural groups, to ‘think of and reflect on themselves as ‘raced’ rather than the invisible ‘norm’ to which all other cultural groups are compared’ (Walter et al., 2011, p. 8).The unit raised complex questions about how social services and policies unwittingly reproduce discourses of rescue and saviourism towards racially and culturally marginalised communities and how students could challenge such practices. The article’s emphasis on supporting SWS towards a triangulated trajectory reports on how experiences of cultural knowledge in the classroom are facilitated by (i) the experience (or lived expertise) of the educator, (ii) the willingness of the student to interrogate their intersectional social positioning in society and (iii) a practice framework that focuses on curiosity and humility rather than competence.

Social Justice as a Force to Challenge the Status Quo Across Youth Sport Scholarship: A Letter to Academia

ABSTRACT The emerging commitment to social justice promotion around the world has resulted in the need to develop a pedagogy rooted in anti-oppressive practice (AOP) within youth sport research. The AOP pedagogy acknowledges the importance of three key concepts: cultural competence, cultural humility, and critical consciousness. Moving forward, as youth sport research continues to evolve, promising possibilities may be possible in a more socially-just world. Youth sport scholars have begun taking important steps toward acknowledging—and, in some instances, addressing—social inequities and injustices throughout youth sport. Conversely, complex challenges have also emerged and corrupted the way in which social justice and research pertaining to social injustices are positioned. The purpose of this manuscript is to examine, reflect upon, and critique the ways social justice has been positioned throughout youth sport research and, in turn, provide implications for contemporary academia. In the end, youth sport scholars should continue to consider their unique positionality within traditional systems of power-privilege-oppression, seek opportunities to increase their critical consciousness, cultural competence, and cultural humility, and embody a critical praxis for social justice promotion.

Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Perspectives Across the Explicit Curriculum: Insights and Efforts from a School of Social Work

ABSTRACT Principles of diversity and difference are and have historically been, essential to social work education. However, preparing students with the knowledge, awareness, and skills of anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices has been less central in social work education until recently. In June 2022, the Council on Social Work Education issued new Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) guidelines. Most notable was the addition of EPAS 2.0, requiring social work programs to integrate anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) approaches throughout social work programs’ context and learning environment. Responding to EPAS 2022 and our program’s commitment to social and racial justice, this article presents our school’s process for critically assessing and revising how our explicit curriculum integrates critical ADEI perspectives. We highlight the findings from a rapid scoping review of ADEI content in the social work literature. Additionally, we discuss the revisions and recommendations used in our school to ensure the intentional integration of ADEI critical perspectives in our curriculum and the future efforts our school is making to support ADEI perspectives.

Sexual Orientation Hiccups Surrounding Traditional Male Circumcision (Ulwaluko) in the South African Context: Implications for Social Work

Incontrovertibly, ulwaluko (traditional male circumcision) remains one of the essential rituals in developing an individual’s growth and construction of social identity, yet one of the ancient and patriarchal cultures. While some studies have been done on the experiences of homophobia by the LGBTQIA undergoing ulwaluko, there is a dearth of research on how social work professionals can intervene in curbing the homophobic and patriarchal undertones surrounding the traditions. Underpinned by Anti-Oppressive Practice as a theory, this paper argues that ulwaluko becomes problematic because it promotes heterosexualist practices which negate realities and experiences of self-identifying amaXhosa gay men. Through reviewing available literature, this paper argues that although human rights are universal, constructionists believe that social norms and values have an impact on how those rights are implemented, the paper further defined sexuality within the context of amaXhosa and also argues that social workers are not well trained with cultural competency.

Social work with Irish Travellers: Findings from a national evaluation

Summary This article reports on the findings from a national evaluation of a specialist, Irish, social work service for Traveller families and communities. It begins with an historical overview of the service which was established in the 1960s but which has evolved and developed over the past few decades at a time of changing patterns of Traveller lives and social and economic conditions. It was also a period when the role of social work was changing, most notably with the introduction of state regulation of the profession. The article then critically analyses national and international literature on the role of social workers with Travellers. It then describes the mixed research method used to evaluate the service. Findings The findings highlight various, sometimes competing perspectives on the social work role, drawn from administrative data, a survey of social workers interviews with social workers and Traveller representatives. These include views about how the social work role was viewed by social workers and Traveller representatives, informed by theories on anti-oppressive practice, systems approaches and forms of advocacy. Applications The article concludes with a discussion of ways in which the lessons learned from the evaluation can be used to further develop the social work service in ways that can enhance the lives of Travellers, through forms of continuous professional development and the created of a national policy and practice framework.

Pursuing Language Through Critical Metalinguistic Engagement

In this article Renata Love Jones and Patrick Proctor introduce the notion of pursuing language to engage in critical dialogue about the nature and focus of language and literacy education in multilingual and multicultural contexts. A persistent threat in language and literacy education is standardization that constrains how language and literacy are operationalized, which further limits how children can bring their unique communicative practices into schools and classrooms. In response, the authors describe pursuing language as a state of being responsive in our language and literacy instruction, with the goal of developing literacy skills through culturally affirming and anti-oppressive practices. They operationalize this pursuit of language in classroom contexts by delineating a framework of critical metalinguistic engagement. The article begins with a theory of languaging and goes on to unpack critical metalinguistic engagement by each of its component parts—critical, metalinguistic, and engagement—and concludes with an argument for being intentional about pursing language through relationships and dispositions that affirm language diversity in educational practice and research.

Benefits of a ‘Psy-Curriculum’ for Theorising Interprofessional Practice Provision of School Support Services

Abstract School-based support services (SSS) professionals include social workers, counsellors and pastoral care teachers who assess and intervene upon issues affecting students’ well-being and academic success. However, SSS are seldom foregrounded in the psycho-socialisation processes of schooling, particularly as a site of interprofessional practice. Drawing on observational fieldwork in three Hong Kong schools, this study illustrates how SSS professionals assess and intervene upon an assemblage of risk concerns: students’ behaviours, afflictions and academic performance. By advancing the concept of psy-curriculum, this study examines the historical and structural conditions that shape contemporary SSS provision. Crucially, the psy-curriculum bridges the clinical practices of SSS with issues that concern inequity and anti-oppressive practice. This has implications for theorising the provision of interprofessional practice in schools, and the intersectoral policies (education, social welfare and health/mental health) that shape how SSS enact particular psychosocial interventions to support students.

Service-learning as anti-oppressive practice: Promoting partnerships to advance the Christian mission to serve the least of these

Service-learning, especially from a critical perspective, is a method of education that aims to bring students into relationships with community members to foster mutual understanding and give opportunity for shared learning and service. Universities that are compelled by their faith to seek justice may be the most effective at implementing service-learning programs when they are grounded in the justice and love of God. Herein, I report on a service-learning program that aims to advance the Christian mission by serving the least of these. I discuss lessons learned along the way and give examples from our partners.

Anti-racist, anti-oppressive curriculum development: a different entry point into work on racism and bias in higher education

ABSTRACTI argue that curriculum as an entry point into anti-racist, anti-oppressive practice in higher education has the potential to foster transformation more quickly and with less resistance than ‘business as usual’ approaches that focus on individual and system-level bias. This paper describes a novel approach to anti-racist curriculum development: a syllabus analysis rubric and its underlying principles. Over the past two-and-a-half years, faculty and instructors have participated in seminars and workshops using the rubric I developed to support reflection on, evaluation of, and revision of syllabi with the goal of decolonizing curriculum to be more anti-racist. Syllabus analysis and revision involves changing practices in ways that have real potential to change beliefs and pedagogy, something that has been the focus of huge amounts of time, resources, and energy, with mixed results.

The toll of supervising from an anti-racist framework: reflections from a qualitative study

ABSTRACT Persistent race-based disparities in all domains of the US indicate the insidious nature of anti-Black racism. The helping professions have an opportunity to assist individuals and communities in working toward racial reconciliation and healing. Anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice standards represent one means to do so. Supervisors play a critical role in guiding anti-racist clinical practice and modeling these tenets. Little empirical scholarship exists around the strategies for supervising from this framework. Understanding these experiences help inform how to support anti-racist supervisors interpersonally and organizationally. Findings from a grounded theory qualitative study with social work supervisors shed light on these experiences.

An integrated model of human trafficking response in the prosecution process: restorative justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, survivor centered practice and anti-oppressive practice

An integrated model of human trafficking response in the prosecution process: restorative justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, survivor centered practice and anti-oppressive practice

Seizing a Disruptive Opportunity: Remote Work-Study as Anti-Oppressive Practice During COVID-19 and Beyond

Seizing a Disruptive Opportunity: Remote Work-Study as Anti-Oppressive Practice During COVID-19 and Beyond

Promoting anti-racism in the legal system: an application of the STYLE framework.

Racism is a critical social problem, and we present a framework to guide professionals in engaging in anti-racist practices. Professionals on the frontlines in psychology and related fields such as social work and public health have a responsibility to engage in anti-racist practices. Part of the professional role must be to advocate for justice through increased proximity to the issues and engagement in anti-oppressive practices. The current discourse introduces a framework through which people working in psychology and other related professions can promote anti-racism work, highlighting the legal system for illustrative purposes. While some professionals in psychology may not have direct experience with the legal system, many of the individuals served by psychologists do (e.g., clients/patients, students, community members). Our framework is represented by the acronym STYLE (Self-examination, Talk about racism, Yield time to anti-racism work, Learn about structural racism, Evaluate policies and practices). The goal of STYLE is to expand anti-racism science and practice within psychology and related fields. We describe new roles for professionals in dismantling health inequities and offer specific pathways to develop critical partnerships toward this aim. STYLE explicitly encourages active, intentional involvement of affected community members in the development and evaluation of approaches to health services. To achieve equity and to promote individual and organizational growth in anti-racism and ultimately anti-oppression work, professionals must focus on changing their STYLE.

Strategic Leadership Policy Strategies to Optimize Justice and Equity for Children of Child-Headed Households

Systemic inequalities pervade our education systems worldwide. No time, like the present, is more apt for school principals to thwart inequalities and ensure that quality is infused in all classrooms and permeates the entire schooling system. This article contributes to the paper on how school principals may utilize their strategic leadership role to enhance the socially just experiences of learners in child-headed households (CHHs). The aim is to investigate and counter justice and equity violations of learners in CHHs, from the perspective of social action leadership theory (SALT) with the help of deconstruction of texts in the Children’s Act, Policy on the South African Standard for Principals, and Revised White Paper on Families. The findings call attention to the human agency role of the principal to resist oppression in schools and promote equity and achieve justice and equity for learners in CHHs. Implications for a just strategic leadership plan to advance anti-oppressive practices for CHHs are shared. This article recommends that principals consider the recommended strategies to advance equity, enact human agency, and perform social justice to counter justice violations and prevent inequalities in school systems in their quest to realize equitable societies.

“Our services are not the same”: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on care interactions in women’s shelters

BackgroundGuidelines and regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly impacted the health care sector. We explore these impacts in the gender-based violence (GBV) services sector and, more specifically, in the context of women’s shelters.MethodsUsing an interpretive description and integrated knowledge mobilization approach, we interviewed 8 women’s shelter clients, 26 staff, and conducted focus groups with 24 Executive Directors.ResultsWe found that pandemic responses challenged longstanding values that guide work in women’s shelters, specifically feminist and anti-oppressive practices. Physical distancing, masking, and closure of communal spaces intended to slow or stop the spread of the novel coronavirus created barriers to the provision of care, made it difficult to maintain or create positive connections with and among women and children, and re-traumatized some women and children. Despite these challenges, staff and leaders were creative in their attempts to provide quality care, though these efforts, including workarounds, were not without their own challenges.ConclusionsThis research highlights the need to tailor crisis response to sector-specific realities that support service values and standards of care.

Contemplative and Anti-Oppressive Practice: Centering the Expertise of Black Working Mothers

Contemplative and Anti-Oppressive Practice: Centering the Expertise of Black Working Mothers

In the Meantime: RE/UN/DIScover Heuristic for Small-Scale Antioppressive Action within Systems and Organizations.

The dehumanizing effects of neoliberal, white dominant regulations, laws, policies, and cultural assumptions seep into the everyday practice of social workers in frontline and mid-level positions. Many social workers are learning various antioppressive practices and becoming aware of how microaggressions and other oppressive dynamics can manifest in workplaces but lack models to guide efforts for small-scale action. This article describes how the RE/UN/DIScover heuristic can be used to interrupt and shift oppressive processes during everyday moments of practice within organizations and systems by social workers and their interested colleagues who have some awareness of oppressive and antioppressive dynamics. The RE/UN/DIScover heuristic is an iterative set of three practices: (1) tend to self with compassionate REcover practices; (2) engage in curious, critical reflection to UNcover full understandings of the power dynamics, impacts, and meanings of specific challenges; and (3) DIScover and try out just, humanizing responses with creative courage, individually and with other colleagues. The heuristic uses a dual focus on self and situation with an ad hoc group of other colleagues to raise awareness; cultivate humanizing spaces; and implement antioppressive, relational responses. The article describes the heuristic practices and how to apply the heuristic with two composite practice applications.

Black girl magic: Empowerment stories of black dual status girls

Youth formally involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, referred to as dual status youth-face unique challenges in their systems involvement. There is a steady increase of Black dual status girls. Black dual status girls experience compounding racially gendered discrimination and inequities in these systems, including occurrences of sexual abuse in out-of-home placements and harsher juvenile punishments for minor delinquent acts. These gruesome realities can be overwhelming for Black girls leaving them tasked to navigate toward positive outcomes independently or with limited positive support. Still, Black girls demonstrate a strong ability to overcome discriminatory adversities, through a relentless dismissal of narratives of racialized and gendered stereotypes; and using their empowered voices to recount personal stories of their lived experiences of dual system involvement. Theoretical frameworks for understanding the empowerment of Black dual status girls have focused on deficits, and disregarding the powerful intersectional, gendered systemic racism they endure. Thus, this study proposes a conceptual framework to view the protective factors and positive racialized and gendered identity of Black dual-status females. The approach in this study is to integrate Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Black feminism. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, six Black women, 18–36 years old (M = 25) with previous dual system involvement were interviewed with their responses explored in a retrospective analysis. The participants described obstacles related to their dual system involvement and their outcomes of living powerful and successful lives in adulthood. Key themes from findings are: 1) unveiling structural and gendered experiences of Black dual status girls; 2) trauma and triumph: navigating adversity through resistance, critical interrogation of oppressive systems, and engaging in collective responsibility; and 3) Black girl magic: celebrating the strengths and empowerment demonstrated by Black women and girls through centering their voices, raising the collective consciousness, and emphasizing collective responsibility. Illuminating the voices of Black empowered girls in this study is critical in interrupting racial and gender discrimination in these systems and will contribute to how anti-oppressive practices for Black girls are reimagined.