Social work and child protection: Is anti-oppressive social work practice relevant and applied in child protection work?

Tobin, Sean W. (2005) Social work and child protection: Is anti-oppressive social work practice relevant and applied in child protection work? Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The social work profession has a responsibility to promote social justice and can be understood as anti-oppressive in approach. The Code of Ethics reflects certain values and principles that are integral to anti-oppressive practice. These values and principles include social justice and advocacy, which are generally not embraced within government bureaucracies (Barter, 2000; Herbert & Mould, 1992). How can social workers abide by their Code of Ethics if they are under the direction of a provincial organization that does not embrace these values and principles? -- Two focus groups were conducted with front-line child protection social workers to explore this question. Findings from the study indicate that while social work participants do recognize that the child welfare system is oppressive, they still attempt to work from an anti-oppressive framework. Participants were quick to defend their compliance with their professional Code of Ethics. The role of social work within child protection as well as changes needed to ensure the system is less oppressive to workers and clients is discussed.

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