Introduction to Social Work
Chapter 14 Anti-oppressive and Multicultural Sensitivity Approaches to Practice
Practitioners use anti-oppressive and multicultural sensitivity approaches to better understand cultural/ethnic barriers and differences and conflicts in societies. As a result, practitioners may respect people’s individual and social identities and help develop responses to oppression by dominant social groups. An individual’s personal development and social experience are highly influenced by these cultural and ethnic differences due to their significant consequences for people’s personal development and social experience and in turn these ideas help practitioners to incorporate these factors in their practice.
Terminology
Discrimination and oppression These are importance aspects of people’s experiences regarding social relations and should therefore be a major focus of social work practice.
Ethnicity and cultural experience constructs identity A focus on an individual’s personal identity and the way in which ethnicity and cultural experience constructs identity is relevant to social work practice.
Ideas of sensitivity and competence The idea of sensitivity to or competence in dealings with social and cultural difference is an important part of practice.
Black and oppressed people’s perspective Taking a black and oppressed people’s perspective can be a guiding factor in practice.
Assimilation Minority groups and those new to society merge into the majority culture and lifestyle.
Liberal pluralism Legal and administrative means are used to assure that all groups should co-exist with equal opportunities while not necessarily enjoying equal outcome.
Cultural pluralism The idea that all groups should co-exist while maintaining their cultural traditions thus leading to a focus on diversity.
Structuralist/critical perspective Ethnic and cultural divisions are strengthened by economic and cultural domination by elite groups.
Black perspective Black and minority ethnic groups develop particular perspectives on societies because of their history and experience.
Key Points
Anti-oppressive approaches to social work developed by the late 1980s and 1990s.
These approaches grew from policy concerns in Western democratic states due to serious social conflict including riots, crime, conflict regarding refugees, and other factors that were addressed by promoting social inclusion accompanied by the concerns of critical theory about groups suffering from inequality and injustice. Feminist thinking also made contributions, such as oppression regarding black women, as well as lesbian and gay rights work, ideas on disability, mental illness, learning disabilities, and the political economy of aging.
Antioppressive and multicultural sensitivity approaches emerged from ethnic conflict.
The starting point was concern about racism and ethnic conflict but broadened to incorporate wider forms of social exclusion and discrimination against other social groups. Both approaches include elements of pluralist, structural and black perspectives as well as incorporating wider forms of social exclusion and discrimination against other social groups. Anti-oppressive theories take a primarily social change view, while multiculturalism approaches emphasize empowerment objectives.
Anti-oppressive practice focuses on the oppressive effects of discrimination.
Powerful groups in society maintain society by creating negative stereotypes; anti-oppressive practices focuses on combating those actions in particular by promoting social equality regarding rights of citizenship and social justice.
Multi-cultural sensitivity approaches respond to cultural and ethnic diversity.
Multi-cultural sensitivity responses to the cultural and ethnic diversity that is found in society also include ideas such as cultural competence and cultural diversity.
The two areas of practice overlap but have different primary aims.
Anti-discriminatory practice derives from the sociological and psychological study of the processes by which some social groups and individual devalue particular characteristics and discriminate against other son those grounds in social relations. Anti-oppressive practice from how such difference and discrimination leads to social divisions. However, multicultural sensitivity practice is built n the study of cultures and their interaction with behavior and relationships in societies. The two practice overlap but have different primary aims—anti-oppressive practice tries to transform social structures to achieve greater equality and social justice while multicultural sensitivity tries to manage and respond effectively to the conflicts in individual, group, and community social relations.
They also have difference sources of ideas and focus.
For both, an important source of ideas is research and commentary on social issues concerned with race and ethnicity along with feminist theory and others. Anti-oppressive practice brings them into an overarching theory and practice covering any people inappropriately discriminated against or oppressed. Multicultural sensitivity focuses more on ethnicity, race, and spirituality although it is increasingly applied o other social divisions where sensitivity is required.
Responses to racism and discrimination reflect changing social conditions.
Anti-discriminatory practice derives from the sociological and psychological study of the processes by which some social groups and individuals devalue particular characteristics and discriminate against others on these grounds in social relations. Anti-racism expanded into anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice as efforts moved from ‘race’ to include gender, disability, sexuality, age, and other issues. Beginning roughly in 1980 social changes due to increased travel, communication, economic flows; migration, and refugees’ movements accentuated discrimination issues. Increased fears of terrorism and other types of illegitimate social actions have still further increased social conflict including an identification of religious and spiritual conflicts in particular the impact of Islam.
This field includes a variety of terms that change over time.
The first to emerge was ‘anti-racism’. This refers to attempts to combat racial prejudice. Later, later anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice emerged to broaden the scope of concern about discrimination, taking in other common grounds for discrimination such as gender, disability, sexuality, and age. To the proponents of action on these broader issues, referring only to anti-racism may seem to prioritize racial discrimination above other kinds of discrimination. When referring to measures aimed at particular issues, however, it is reasonable to talk about racism, gender discrimination, disableism, crimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people, and ageism. In addition, individuals affected by particular circumstances sometimes dispute the idea of rolling up their concerns. Some people also question the implications of ‘anti-oppressive practice’ that the issue and the focus of practice should not be discriminatory attitudes but the social oppression of result.
Understanding of racism has changed over time and changes with geography.
Racism has been a worldwide phenomenon throughout history but the understanding of racism changes of time and affects different societies differently. At present, there is a focus on discriminatory behavior that is a consequence of feelings or attitudes of cultural superiority. In colonial times, racial types were associated with skin color; this became connected with evolutionary ideas in biology in the nineteenth century; in turn, these beliefs became associated with social status and more successful and dominant societies claimed superiority over others. As races came into contact with each other, superiority and inferiority became associated with class. There was then a movement away from assumptions based on supposed biological differences to the grounds of cultural and social differences. Social changes since the 1980s have accentuated those differences as migration became more widespread and conflicts increased.
Responses include respect for ethnic diversity and multiculturalism.
Multiculturalism values all cultural contributions and emphasizes diversity and pluralism, as opposed to separatism. These efforts have included a growing interest in understanding different religious and spiritual experiences such as the rising concern with the impact of Islam.
Institutional racism is a major area of concern.
This proposes that indirect discrimination arises because established patterns of social relations privilege majority ethnic groups. The first focus was inequalities in housing and employment and then in all large organizations such as police, social agencies, etc. Organization may become oppressive because they are ‘institutionally racist’ even though individual members may not be aware of this fact. As a result, minority groups may be excluded from economic and social systems and be concentrated in deprived communities. Due to the knowledge base in social science, social work was among the first professions to develop an awareness of these issues and incorporate anti-oppressive and sensitivity practice.
Anti-racist perspectives include a number of perspectives.
Assimilation Migrants or minorities will assimilate into the majority culture and lifestyle.
Liberal pluralism Legal and administrative means assure that all groups will co-exist with equal opportunities but not necessarily equal outcomes.
Cultural pluralism Focus on diversity and all groups should co-exist maintaining cultural traditions.
Structuralist/critical perspective Ethnic and cultural divisions are strengthened by economic a cultural domination by elite groups.
Black perspectives Black and minority ethnic groups develop particular perspectives on societies because of their history and experience.
Anti-oppressive approaches developed because of policy concerns.
Anti-oppressive approaches in social work developed in the late 1980s and 1990s because of policy concerns in Western democratic states that arise partially from serious social conflicts. Responses were largely socially liberal by reducing inequalities and marginalization.
Critical theory and feminist perspectives also contributed to anti-oppressive approaches.
Anti-oppressive practice also came from concerns of critical theory about groups in society. Critical theory sees the problem as one of the social order. For feminists, the oppression of black women led to an approach different than broader feminist perspectives. Other influences have been lesbian and gay rights work, ideas on disability, mental illness, learning disabilities, and the political economy of aging. Many of these factors, of course, interrelate. Theoretical approaches to other oppressed groups are less well developed but able to be placed with the perspectives that have developed thus far.
During the 1990s, an approach that includes all forms of discrimination developed.
This is an approach that includes all forms of discrimination in a generic anti-discriminatory or anti-oppressive approach. Both make an analysis of discrimination that takes a concentric view of relevant social forces. There are problems with the concentric view because it may assume that wider social ideas and structures are always mediated in their effect on the individual’s ideas and feelings by a more immediate culture. On the other hand, immediate may be in conflict with wider and individuals may be in conflict and more in touch with wider ideas.
Shared value principles and a concern for right are found in both approaches.
Both anti-oppressive and multicultural sensitivity theory implement the shared value principle of critical practical and a concern for rights. Recent accounts make strong connection with social justice and human rights as well as interpersonal values such as feminist relationship ethics.
Anti-discriminatory practice combats discrimination by looking at social structure.
Anti-discriminatory practice differs from anti-oppressive practice because it concentrates on preventing and combating discrimination rather than working on the oppression that may result from it. Anti-discriminatory practice thus combat discrimination relating to issues such as race, gender, disability, sexuality, and age by examining social structures rather than individual or group processes.
Practice that includes multiple grounds of discrimination may lead to problems.
Including multiple grounds of discrimination/oppression in one practice may not reflect the views of those who experience a particular form of discrimination and the combination in a single practice this may not help to set practice priorities between different forms of discrimination.
Factors relevant to discrimination include a wide variety of factors.
Analyzing discrimination draws widely on areas such as personal, cultural, and social factors. Note that there are sometimes accusations of ‘political correctness’ for approaches that focus on language and culture.
Anti-oppressive and multicultural sensitivity approaches look to different reasons.
The theory of anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice focuses on structural explanations of discrimination while multicultural sensitivity approaches focus on the role of cultural and ethnic differences in stimulating discrimination.
A creation of the 1990s was generic anti-discriminatory or anti-oppressive approaches.
These approaches take on concentric or embedded views of relevant social forces. One way of explaining this approach is to visualize three concentric formulations of anti-oppressive practice. The first ring operates at the level of feelings, reflecting the client’s and social worker’s biographies. The second is at the level of ideas working to achieve a changed consciousness of both feelings and societies. The third ring is at the level of political action in a wider society.
Issues
The main source of debate is differences about the origins of discrimination & oppression.
Anti-oppressive writers insist that much of the problem arises because of a conflict or tension between the interests of social groups who members have social identities inked to devalued characteristics. Because they have little choice about this, the response should be to deal with the conflicts of interest through social change. On the other hand, multi-cultural sensitivity views (and related ideas such as cultural competence and cultural awareness) argue that the main problem is our ability to understand and value the social identified that are linked to devalued characteristics. Accordingly we should educate people to value diversity, improve relationships, and remove sources of misunderstanding and conflict.
Both views are concerned with language but take different approaches.
Anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory approaches often take a social construction view about language. Multicultural sensitivity views argue that people should use courteous language that respects peoples’ differences. Language does change to avoid terms that have become stigmatizing or disrespectful. Practitioners often feel that they have to keep up with the latest changes in language in order to remain respectful. In turn, different terms proliferate and come to be associated with particular points of view in the debate.
Concern with language sometimes raises allegations of ‘political correctness’.
Anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practices often take a social construction view about our use of language. If we avoid using devalued language, we can create a new narrative about the differences that are of concern to us. Multicultural sensitivity views argue that we should use courteous language that resects people’s differences. Language has changed to avoid inappropriate terms and practitioners now feel that they need to keep up with the latest changes. Over concern with language use is sometimes called ‘political correctness’ and there has been significant conflict about this in social work. Complaining about political correctness often reveals hidden prejudice because it is a soft target for what would otherwise be unacceptable attacks on anti-discriminatory practice. Another language issue is the distinction between ‘discrimination’ and ‘oppression’. Oppression arises due to the misuse of social power while discrimination might result from misunderstanding or conflict in social relationships.
Final Thoughts…
Anti-oppressive and multicultural sensitivity approaches help analyze and response to social issues stemming from the increasingly global economy and refugee movements as well as changes in attitudes among groups such as women, disabled people and those with diverse sexualities who have become less accepting of patterns of power. Anti-oppressive theories also make an important contribution to other social work approaches. They contribute to critical theory an analysis of the different bases for the oppression of groups and production of inequality and thus provide a more effective account of issues. They also draw attention to the weaknesses of many psychological and individualist theories of social work dealing with discrimination and issues facing women and minorities. Multicultural sensitivity approaches and those of black and oppressed people reject the alignment of all members of groups together as victims of oppression and seek a more diversified, complex analysis of their needs. This will require sensitive plural responses and a variety of services. Both approaches seek to influence all forms of social work rather than create specific models of practice. While both represent values and demand understanding that should inform all social work, it is clear that neither can form the only basis of practice. [pic]
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