Ethics of Oppression: Anti-Oppression Values in Community Service

This essay delves into the concept of oppression, defining it as unjust treatment or misuse of power against specific groups, encompassing social, economic, and institutional forms. It provides real-world examples of oppression, such as gender inequality, denial of equal rights, and classism, highlighting its detrimental effects on psychological well-being and potential. The essay then explores anti-oppressive values, emphasizing the role of community service professionals in minimizing exclusion and advocating for social justice. It underscores the importance of these values in creating responsive services, breaking down structural inequalities, and promoting understanding, respect, and user-led services. The assignment references key literature to support its arguments, emphasizing the need for ethical practice in addressing oppression and promoting a more equitable society.

Assignment on Oppression and the Anti oppression value
Assignment on oppression and the anti oppression value
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Assignment on Oppression and the Anti oppression value
Oppression is a very common term that defines unjust treatment or wrong exercise of
power to misguide the government against a common group of people. It is also widely used in
the society to prove authority in cultural arena. Oppression is discrimination it means that
injustice is not targeted to everyone but instead is targeting specific groups. There are evidence
of different types of oppression, like social oppression, economic oppression and institutional
oppression. In short oppression is an institutional abuse of power by one privileged group to use
force so that they a dynamics can be maintained. An oppressive system all around the world may
it be past or present has been built around the ideology of superiority of a groups to inferiority of
others. This concept makes the inferior feel confined and hinders the realization of their
psychological well-being and also the potential.
Some of the recent example of continuous oppression on a particular group of people are
that in one society women cant have freedom to choose their husband or freedom to wear what
they like. They are treated like an object and is sought to not work outside home. Here only
women are been particularly targeted. In other example people are not given equal rights and
opportunity by the law. They are even denied schooling as they don’t belong to a particular class
or race of people. They are only to do jobs that are allowed for their caste of people. Same is for
some developed countries that allow migrants but the law does not permit them to exercise any
right.
Some very common kinds of oppression prevailing the society is classism. It is a social
kind of oppression in which wealthy and influential group of people congregate with each other
and oppresses less wealthy group or less influential group to the term that they are not allowed to
put forward their opinion. This oppression is minimized with certain rule like inter marriage or
work permit.
The other example is racism where the person of some of social group is intolerant
towards the people of other races, religions, caste or color. Racism is a kind of oppression where
a group of people is treated wrongly based on creed and color. Here the people of one race think
that they are superior to other races genetically. In other words oppression is wrong and it has
always demined the other section of the human to feel inferior (Clifford, 2014).

Assignment on Oppression and the Anti oppression value
Anti-oppressive value is generated from the practices that one performs to lessen the exclusion of
oppressed social groups who may be facing either of this one social equality, rights and social
justice. Social worker or community service provider is known to care the less privileged group.
There are sometime care versus control issue in this profession so the whole set of rule is set with
keeping many thing in mind. Where there is care there can be control and power misuse leading
to exclusions (Hillock. 2012). Community service professional exercise their duty with due
diligence in a manner generally accepted by society as a neutral humanity. That is same for
everyone.
Anti-oppressive theory and values in social work recognizes present oppression in communities
and societies after which they try to eliminate the pressure by eliminating the cause of such
oppression. Anti-oppressive values stand for a variety of theories and practices that define social
justice. The social worker practices in a way to minimize the social barriers and structural
inequalities by performing their duty in activities with service. Anti-oppressive offers a more
suitable, highly responsive and perceptive services to the needs of individuals irrespective of
their social status.
The value solely focuses on a more defined form of social practice that locates the
individual or a group of people that need a new structural patterns in the society that can break
the perpetuate inequalities throughout the years. In most of the case the anti-oppression faces
negative experience based on their race, gender identity, sexual identity or mental ability. For
example, when a man is treated differently because he is a black this is racism. Anti-oppressive
practice and value works with the benefit user to include them in facilitating services that they is
user-led and user-controlled. A bond is developed between the service user and the service
provider that is truly professional. The social work eliminates hegemonic and tries to normalize
the cross-cultural and personal differences. Community service provider has the value to
advocate for the oppressed group by promoting increased respect and understanding of the social
parameters in the society.

Assignment on Oppression and the Anti oppression value
Reference
Clifford, D. 2014. “Limitations of Virtue Theory in the social professions.” Ethics and Social
Welfare 8 (1):2–19.
Hillock, S. 2012. “Conceptualizations and Experiences of Oppression: Gender Differences.”
Affilia Journal of Women and Social Work 27 (1): 38–50.