Chapter 2 Review Questions

A key challenge is whether or not one theoretical perspective is relevant, useful, and appropriate for all clients and contexts. While one particular theory may fit well with a worker’s worldview, it may not resonate with a client, may be at odds with a client’s goals and desire for change, and may be inappropriate to a particular culture or context.

Does the theory contribute to preserving and restoring human dignity? Does the theory recognize the benefits of, and does it celebrate, human diversity? Does the theory assist us in transforming ourselves and our society? Does the theory help us to reach our fullest potential? Does the theory reflect the participation and experiences of diverse groups and multiple populations and voices?

An eco-map is a pictorial representation of a person’s connections to other people or systems in their social environment. It can be used to highlight how social environments may be supporting or draining clients and what connections warrant improvement.

Embedded in trauma-informed social work are the principles of safety, trust, collaboration, choice, and empowerment. These principles are critical to fostering a therapeutic alliance within the social worker-client relationship.

Fook (2002) summarizes the process as follows: uncover with the client the narratives involved, taking care to identify those that are dominant; identify the functions of different narratives, including those that are empowering and disempowering; validate the narratives that are performing an empowering role and those that are being marginalized by dominant narratives; externalize the narratives that are disempowering; build alternative narratives and “re-story” them with narratives of strength, transformation, and empowerment; and create further validation by creating an audience for the new narratives. The goals of narrative therapy are to stimulate new ways of thinking by validating the client’s expertise in a collaborative and supportive context.

Anti-oppressive social workers try to provide services to those seeking them, but they also try to help clients, communities, and themselves understand that their problems are linked to social inequalities—to understand why they are oppressed and how to fight for change. Anti-oppressive practice is a set of politicized practices that continually evolves to analyze and address changing social conditions and challenges.

Critical race theory (CRT) initially emerged in the context of the civil rights movement as part of a legalistic effort to problematize laws and other principles that serve to normalize and perpetuate racism. However, CRT remains relevant in contemporary Canadian society, with our globalized understanding of race and the complex flow of marginalized persons in which various systems of inequality intersect.

The overall contributions of mountain-moving theories led to changing some of the often apolitical and oppressive practices of social work and underscored the value of collective action to tackle structural problems. These theories emphasize social reform, acknowledging that social work is not a neutral profession, but an active political process. They advocate for the search for social justice and have provided social work with a much-needed critical edge.