Alienation Theory and Its Implication to the Social Worker
Critically analyse the statement in relation to one area of policy practice
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Added on 2020-10-04
Alienation Theory and Its Implication to the Social Worker
Critically analyse the statement in relation to one area of policy practice
Added on 2020-10-04
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Alienation theory andits implication to thesocial worker
TABLE OF CONTENTSAlienation implication to social worker......................................................................................1Economic impact of alienation theory.........................................................................................3Emotional impact of alienation theory........................................................................................3Psychological impact of alienation theory...................................................................................4The implication to social worker in working with people with mental disorder.........................4Need to demonstrate What does social worker do in practice to change the approach – connectwith empowerment theory approach/practice..............................................................................6REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
Social theories provide frameworks for interpreting social phenomena. It comprises ofcomplex theoretical aspects that assist in describing, explaining and analysing the social world.Social theory helps the social workers to reflect on and take account of the impact of inequality,disadvantage and discrimination on individuals or communities within our society (Marx, 2015).Social theories enable social workers to change their assumptions and encourage them to clearlyunderstand and link the issues in their own lives as well as the lives of the service users to thesocial thoughts (Dahms, 2011). The present essay critically analyses the ways in which socialtheory helps social workers by talking into account Marx and Alienation theory. Economic,psychological and emotional impact of alienation theory has been discussed. Further, the essayexplained the implications for social workers in working with people suffering from mentaldisorder. Alienation implication to social workerKarl Marx proposed the theory of alienation that describes estrangement of people due toliving in a society comprising of stratified social classes. Alienation refers to condition that ischaracterized by men being dominated by the forces of their own creation. These forces arereferred to as alien powers. As per the views of Sue, Rasheed and Rasheed, (2015), byunderstanding the alien powers the social workers are able to understand the reasons behindconditions such as poverty and mental disorders. Further, these also help in developingunderstanding regarding the discrimination and inequality prevailing in the society. There arefour types of alienation according to this theory. The first is alienation of the worker from theirproduct. As per this alienation, the workers have no control over the design of the product andthe way it is produced (Musto, 2010). This indicates that people in the society are kept awayfrom the very products that are produced by them. The workers are controlled by the capitalistsystem that derives benefits from them. The capitalists thus reap huge profits at the expense ofothers. However, this is a supportive aspect for social workers who are able to understand thereasons behind poverty of service users. Further, this alienation describes inequality as theworkers who produce the goods are themselves not allowed to have a control over the design ofproducts. The distribution of rights is unequal. Hepworth and et.al. (2016) argue that Alienationtheory assist the social workers to conduct their duty of challenging social conditions whichcontribute to social exclusion of people. Through alienation theory, the social workers are able to1
find the reasons as to how poverty can lead to social exclusion and thus can work towards aninclusive society. The second is alienation of the worker from the act of production. The wage compulsionand imposed production content alienates the worker from the means of production (Gould andTaylor, 2017). Unwanted labour which forms a means of survival binds the worker. The workeris not free but is under the control of capitalists and is being told what is to be done. He has nosay in production. The third is alienation of worker from their species- essence. According to this, thehuman nature of workers is not separate from their activity as a worker. The term, speciesessence describes the plurality of interests and psychological dynamism that lie in the intrinsichuman mental essence. This indicates the tendency of every individual that makes him engage inactivities that promote psychological well-being and mutual human survival (Lee and Hudson,2017). However, it can be critically analysed that structural conflict theory proposed that therelationships with one another are not the primary concern for the capitalists. It was alsocharacterized by unequal distribution of advantage in the society. The disadvantage were thusoppressed and dominated. Hence, this indicates that social theory does not help social workers tounderstand the impact of disadvantage and discrimination on individuals. But, Healy (2014) argued that alienation theory enables the social worker to understandthe various aspects associated with working with a family living in poverty. On the basis of thefour types of alienations provided by the Alienation theory, the social worker is able tounderstand that the situation of poverty is not by the fault of the family. Rather, this denotes therelation between them and the wider social structure which is responsible for their condition. Onthe basis of alienation theory, it can be analysed that there is inequality and unfair distribution ofresources. The workers are not free to decide but follow the capitalists who try to extractmaximum labour value from them. This will help the social worker to understand that thefamilies living in poverty are alienated and their poor condition is a result of the way societyworks (Whitehead and Arthur, 2011). There was a conflict of interest between those who haveand those who do not. This made the people locked into a position of inequality. By gainingknowledge about this inequality and its causes, social workers can take steps to work towards2
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