Social Work Theory

Running head: SOCIAL WORK THEORY
Social Work Theory
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SOCIAL WORK THEORY1
Social work refers to the academic discipline that deals with the individuals, groups
along with the communities that helps in enhancing the well-being of the individuals in the
society. The social workers can be said to be unique as they look at the various aspects of the
problem- from individual to societal and from psychological to political. It helps in
promoting the social change and plays an important role in empowering people within the
society. Social work is based on the principle of the social justice, human rights along with
the collective responsibility (Howe, 2017). It helps in engaging the people and the structures
that helps in addressing the life challenges. Social work theories refers to the general
explanations which is supported by the evidence which is obtained with the help of the
scientific method. This essay discusses about the critical social work theory along with the
feminist theory and their application in relation to the social work practice. The essay also
talks about the strengths and the limitations of the theories and their implications in the field
of social work practice.
Critical social work helps in addressing the social injustices that is opposed to the
individualized issues in the society. It helps in describing and explaining why the people in
the society are within the social and the political situations. This theory holds that the
oppression, discrimination and racism in the society is causal. It does not believe in the fact
that the outcome of the events is the fault of individuals in the society. It questions the
various kinds of dimensions in the society like privilege, inequality along with oppression.
According to Gould and Taylor (2017), oppression takes place in the society when an
individual acts in an unjust manner against the individuals or the specific groups. The
oppression takes place when the people are deprived of the basic freedoms that they are
entitled to in the society. Oppression occurs when the beliefs along with the values are
imposed on the other people by taking recourse to peaceful or the violent means. The
oppression occurs when a particular class of people are marginalized within the framework of

SOCIAL WORK THEORY2
society. There are various kinds of relations in the society which divide the people into the
dominant and the inferior groups. It paves the path for the devaluing of the attributes of the
individuals of the people who are considered to be inferior in the society. It has been argued
by Greene (2017) that there exist various kinds of factors like the socio-economic
disadvantage, structural inequality, oppression, racism along with discrimination which
causes cases of oppressions in society. The critical theory critiques the element of the
structural inequality and it conceives the fact that the local experiences takes place owing to
the overarching social structure. The structural inequality prevailing in the society talks about
power and dialectical struggle in between the social groups within the society.
The critical social work theory is borrowed from various schools of thought like
Marxism, feminism along with the anti-racism. According to Granter (2016), the social
workers have the ethical commitment of working that can help in overcoming the elements of
the inequality along with the oppression. It works towards transforming the capitalist society
that can help in building the social arrangements. The social work acts as the catalyst in
relation to the social change. The social workers work with the people who are marginalized
that helps in harnessing the class resistance to the capitalism (Fook, 2016). The social work
is the indispensable tool that caters to the needs of the capitalist social order. It helps in the
maintenance of the capitalist state machinery that helps in ensuring the subordination of the
working class.
The strength of critical social work theory lies due to the fact that it lays emphasis on
the various kinds of social evils like poverty, unemployment along with the social exclusion
that are of crucial importance in the present age. The positive aspects of the critical social
work theory lie in the fact that it talks about how to overcome the inadequacies in relation to
the housing along with the health care that are imperative in the present age. It can play an
integral role in reduction of the crime along with the social unrest prevailing in the society.