Social Work Oppression

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Pages: 4

In the social work profession, some things that are important for all social workers to be aware of social policies, oppression, and social justice. These are some of the basic foundations in social work practice. Social workers must be aware of social policies to better help their clients. Social workers also must be aware of oppression and how that could affect the population they are working with. Because many of the populations that social workers will encounter are oppressed, it is important for social workers to advocate for them and make sure that through their professional work they are striving for social justice.
Social justice is a big part of social work practice. According to the NASW code of ethics (1999) one of the values indicated
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In the code of ethics, it is also stated that, “social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people” (NASW, 1999). Oppression is something that is still prevalent in society. In addition to pursuing social justice through advocacy, social workers can also promote social justice by rejecting oppression. Through social workers working with oppressed populations, they are pursuing social change and rejecting oppression. For example, if a social worker is in a community that oppresses Muslims, social workers can strive for social change in their community by working with the Muslim population …show more content…
Many of the basic resources that a client who does not have much needs are found in social welfare policies. Social workers need to be aware of what these social policies are and how to use them to help clients on an individual level. For example, if a client is a single mother who is struggling to support her multiple kids, social workers need to be aware of what welfare she may qualify for to get back onto her feet. Although not all social policies reflect social justice, some social policies put in place may be able to help clients, even if it is only a small amount of