Modern social work is based on the values of multiculturalism and social justice, which is directly tied with the ideas of acknowledging one’s own privilege or lack thereof, when facing social barriers customers may experience (Adams et al., 2018). Social workers engage clients from a position of power inherent not only to their workplace, but also their racial and cultural identities (Plummer et al., 2014). Perceiving clients from the lens of a dominant culture may have a pathologizing effect on the relationship as well as on the measures taken to improve their lives (Plummer et al., 2014). The purpose of this paper is to discuss anti-oppressive strategies in social work practice.
The Potential Impact of White Privilege on Clients from Dominant and Minority Groups
The presence or absence of privilege colors the nature of the relationship between a social worker and a client. If a therapist is white, they inherently possess white privilege, no matter their economic or social background (Adams et al., 2018). It may create positive or negative interactive connotations with the client, depending on what race they are. If the client is also white, it may create feelings of buy-in and rapport, due to the fact that they perceive each other as equals (Adams et al., 2018). In a white-dominated cultural paradigm, Conversely, if the social worker is from a minority group, it may create a perception of incompetence and an erosion of trust. In turn, social workers themselves may perceive their clients differently based on the presence (or a lack of) white privilege (Plummer et al., 2014). A white therapist, applying his or her own cultural paradigm to a minority client, may ignore the existing issues of racism, which are not evident to them, or appear culturally insensitive. A black specialist, on the other hand, may perceive the client through the prism of their position of racial victimhood, resulting in an erosion of empathy towards the client, especially if they (willfully or otherwise), commit racially-sensitive microaggressions. White people perceive blacks, Latinos, Asian, native-Americans, and other cultures differently, resulting in a multitude of positive and negative stereotypes, which may affect the application of social work practice.
The Impact of Intersecting Identities on Individual Experience
An individual is not defined solely on their race alone, as there are multiple other variables that come into play, including gender, class, ability, and sexual orientation (Mattsson, 2014). Based on these intersecting identities, a client or a specialist may have more or less inherent privilege that shapes their experience, and in turn shapes the experiences of other parties. From a perspective of societal power balance, men have more power than women, straight individuals are in a dominant position to gay and other minorities, and the rich have more opportunities open to them than the poor (Mattsson, 2014). Nevertheless, privilege is not a uniform quantity that could be measured with units. Likewise, it is wrong to assume that, for example, a white woman of poor economic standing would have the same amount of privilege as a middle-class black man. They would have a different set of privileges, each corresponding to their belonging to a specific group. A social worker must be aware of these differences in regards to themselves as well as their clients, and not assume that their affiliation with a particularly socially-disadvantaged or oppressed subclass gives them insights on all of these intersecting identities (Mattsson, 2014). In other words, a therapist must know their limits of knowledge, and not assume that their experience necessarily equates that of their clients.
Utilizing Cultural Strengths When Working with Clients
Being part of the same cultural framework, whether growing up in the same country, having the same skin of color, gender, or having come from a similar socio-economic status would allow social workers to gain rapport and buy-in with their clients (Plummer et al., 2014). For example, a black client may feel more trusting towards a black social worker, while suspecting a white person to be a part of the oppressive societal mechanism that does not have their best interest in mind (Mattsson, 2014). Likewise, a woman would, in most cases, be more willing to open up about her problems to a female therapist than a male, due to the assumption that she may have experienced the same issues in her life (Mattsson, 2014). Likewise, some experiences may have a limited use in gaining rapport. While being discriminated against for being black does not equate being discriminated against due to gender, the common theme here is discrimination, meaning that both the client and the social worker would be able to empathize with one another to some degree.
Social Work Skills and Anti-Oppressive Work
The two most important skills needed to engage in anti-oppressive work are self-awareness and empathy. Self-awareness is necessary to recognize one’s own set of privileges given to us either through skin color, gender, sexuality, hierarchy, or economic position in the society (Adams et al., 2018). This skill is necessary to recognize which socio-cultural experiences a therapist has would be applicable to the client, and which ones would not. Empathy, on the other hand, is necessary to understand and recognize how one’s own cultural identity affects the patient. It is natural for a person of color to be wary of a white social worker, and it is not a fault of their own. A therapist must be empathetic and work to overcome such obstacles, while recognizing the client’s experiences, rather than adopting a color-blind approach or perceiving the aversion towards oneself as a personal, rather than a racial issue (Adams et al., 2018).
References
Adams, M., Blumenfeld, W. J., Castaneda, C., Catalano, D. C. J., DeJong, K., Hackman, H. W,… Zuniga, X. (Eds.). (2018). Readings for diversity and social justice (4th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge Press.
Mattsson, T. (2014). Intersectionality as a useful tool: Anti-oppressive social work and critical reflection. Affilia, 29(1), 8-17.
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social work case studies: Foundation year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing.