Social Work Theories SWSP1013: Critical and Feminist Perspectives

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of critical social work theory and feminist theory, examining their application within social work practice. It begins by defining social work and its core principles, then delves into the critical theory's focus on addressing social injustices, oppression, and structural inequality, drawing upon concepts from Marxism and feminism. The essay highlights the strengths of critical social work, such as its emphasis on social evils and its potential for social change, while also acknowledging limitations like the lack of political sophistication among social workers. The essay then transitions to feminist theory, outlining its aim to break male dominance and address gender inequalities, with a focus on the experiences of women and their position within society. The strengths of feminist social work, including its woman-centered approach, are discussed, as well as the limitations, such as the problematization of male identity. The essay concludes by emphasizing the implications of both theories for social work practice, including the importance of client autonomy, education, and the recognition of identity politics. The assignment demonstrates an understanding of both theories and their relevance in addressing societal challenges, emphasizing the importance of social justice and empowerment.

Running head: SOCIAL WORK THEORY
Social Work Theory
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1SOCIAL WORK THEORY
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

2SOCIAL WORK THEORY
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.

3SOCIAL WORK THEORY
According to Delgado and Stefancic (2017), the social workers have limited commitment to
the element of the radical transformation that acts as a limitation pertaining to this theory.
The social workers lack the element of the political sophistication that acts as a drawback in
relation to this theory. The social workers get limited positive support in relation to the
progressive practice in various contexts that makes the implementation of the theory difficult
in real life. The status of that of the critical social work perspectives are questioned in the
recent age that acts as a weakness of this theory.
The critical social work theory can help in offering the alternatives within the present
social order. It talks about the significance of critical thinking that can pave the path for the
undertaking of the critical action. It talks regarding the fact that society helps in the
generation of the social problems and the people should come together that can help in
correctly addressing the issues of the modern world. Its implication in relation to the social
work practice is that it seeks autonomy for the clients that can help in providing valuable
insight for the clients. I think that this theory is important as it lays emphasis on education
that can help in the removal of the social evils like poverty within the wider social structure.
In my opinion, it can bring about changes in the political and the social arena that can help in
providing useful guidance to the agencies. It focuses on the fact that the long-term objective
can prove to be more significant as compared to the short-term help and it can help in
creating the way for a progressive social order (Pease & Fook, 2016). It is influenced by idea
of the praxis that talks about the element of implementation in the area of social work. It talks
about the fact that the dominant groups within the society maintain the control by gaining the
social acceptance for the social ideas. The ideas are transmitted in the society with the help of
the media platforms that helps in maintaining the control of that of the dominant groups in the
society. This approach talks about the importance of speaking and the interpretation of speech
of the other people that can act as a crucial factor for understanding the society. The critical

4SOCIAL WORK THEORY
social work theory talks about the fact that in the event of the historical changes, the people
should respond by adjusting the interpretation of the reality.
Feminism refers to the belief that the women have the equal rights in the society like
the men. Feminist movement fights for the equal rights along with the opportunities of the
women. Feminism helps in exploring the position of the women pertaining to the issues of the
power along with the issues of the violence. Feminism deals with the ideological issues in
relation to socialization within the broader society. According to Turner and Maschi (2015),
feminism social work theory wants to break the male dominance prevailing in the society.
The social work theory states that the men oppress the women so that they can get the
advantage pertaining to the social, political along with the cultural reward. The women serve
the interest of the men in terms of personal care and the sexual services at the expense of
autonomy and the self-worth of the individual. It has been argued by Wendt and Moulding
(2016) that the women are engaged for servicing the circuitous motions at the expense of
their own needs and they put in a lot of effort that helps in taking care of the fact that the lives
of the loved ones have been made easy. It has been found that within the traditional social
work practice within the impoverished communities the women practitioners do not devote
much attention to structural causes of the predicament of women. It has been found that the
women social workers expect the women of managing in the obdurate social conditions and
they are berated in the event of failing.
Feminist social work wants to address the issues occurring in the society by placing
the women at the center. It wants to eliminate the structural gender inequalities that are
present in the society. The feminist social work arose on account of the feminist social action
that are carried out by the women who work with the other women within the communities.
They aim to improve the well-being of the women by linking the personal predicament of the
women with their social position within the society (Hicks, 2015). The society creates various

5SOCIAL WORK THEORY
kinds of personal ills and the women activists have set up the interactive relationship with the
help of which the feminist social work contributes to that of feminist scholarship. The
feminist social work takes the experience of the women as the beginning of the analysis. It
focuses on the link existing between position of the women in the society and the individual
predicament of the women. It aims to meet the needs of the women in the holistic manner and
it deals with the complexities that are in the lives of the women.
The strength of feminist social work theory resides in the fact that it has been
successful in challenging the gender-blind theories that have treated the women as being the
offshoots of the men. It lays emphasis on the woman-centered approaches which advocates
the sensitive gendered response to needs of the women workers. The positive aspects of
feminist social work theory lies owing to the fact that it incorporates the men more fully
within the practice (Howe, 2017). The weakness pertaining to feminist social work theory lies
in the fact that it has problematized the identity of the men. It has been found that the men are
also exploited and also suffer under the patriarchal system that complicates the feminist
social work theory. There are some group of the men in the society who have more power as
compared to the others that provides them with differentiated access to the resources present
in the society.
The implication of feminist social work theory is that it can help the women in telling
the stories that can help in better understanding of the world. It has played an important role
in challenging the experiences of the men that can act as a yardstick that can help in
measuring the experiences that the women encounter in their daily life. I have understood that
the feminist social work theory has helped in recognising the element of the identity politics
that can act as the central dynamic that can help in understanding the organizing of the social
relations. It has been successful in recognising capacity of the women for taking the action on
that of their own behalf.

6SOCIAL WORK THEORY
Social work is indicative of academic discipline that talks about the individuals and
the groups that can help in bringing about the welfare of the society. Critical social work
theory plays a crucial role for addressing various kinds of social injustices within the
framework of the society. This theory talks about the oppression along with the
discrimination pertaining to the feminine gender in the society. The social workers involve
themselves in work that can prove to be instrumental in overcoming various elements like
inequality and that of oppression. They want to transform capitalist society which can be
instrumental for building social arrangements. Feminism social work theory has helped in
breaking male dominance within the framework of society. The men in the society involve
themselves in oppressing the women for gaining advantage. Women helps in serving interest
of men sacrificing their own self-worth along with autonomy. Feminism social work theory
talks about the unique experiences that the women have to face in the society. It talks about
predicament of women that can help in uplifting their position in the society. It wants to meet
needs of women that can help in dealing with complexities that are present in the lives of the
women.

7SOCIAL WORK THEORY
References
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical race theory: An introduction (Vol. 20). NYU
Press.
Fook, J. (2016). Social work: A critical approach to practice. Sage.
Gould, N., & Taylor, I. (2017). Reflective learning for social work: research, theory and
practice. Routledge.
Granter, E. (2016). Critical social theory and the end of work. Routledge.
Greene, R. (2017). Human behavior theory and social work practice. Routledge.
Hicks, S. (2015). Social work and gender: An argument for practical accounts. Qualitative
Social Work, 14(4), 471-487.
Howe, D. (2017). An introduction to social work theory. Routledge.
Pease, B., & Fook, J. (2016). Postmodern critical theory. Transforming Social Work
Practice: Postmodern Critical Perspectives, 1.
Turner, S. G., & Maschi, T. M. (2015). Feminist and empowerment theory and social work
practice. Journal of Social Work Practice, 29(2), 151-162.
Wendt, S., & Moulding, N. (Eds.). (2016). Contemporary feminisms in social work practice.
Routledge.