Marginalised groups protest against social welfare and public health: conceptualising the challenge for social workers

Abstract

As neoliberalisation and other global disruptions change the understanding of human rights and social justice for social workers, how are protests organised by marginalised groups against social welfare and public health regimes understood and participated, or even resisted, by social workers? Although there is a vast literature on protest and community organising in the social work tradition, there is less exploration of marginalised groups organising against the systems in which social workers are employed, thereby leading to dilemmas for social workers. Hence, more knowledge is necessary about social workers' capability to respond to such protests. Using collective action and social movement theories, this paper introduces a conceptual framework in order to identify key factors and variables when marginalised groups organise against social welfare and public health regimes and social workers are involved. The conceptual framework concerns social workers' value negotiation of human rights and social justice principles, collective action framing, ethical decision-making, and ultimately, the thought process behind a social worker's response to collective actions against social welfare and public health regimes. SAMMENDRAG Nyliberalisme og andre globale utfordringer endrer forståelsen av menneskerettigheter og sosial rettferdighet for sosialarbeidere. Hvordan blir protest fra marginaliserte grupper mot velferds-eller folkehelseregimer forstått og deltatt i-eller også motarbeidet-av sosialarbeidere? Tross omfattende litteratur om protest og samfunnsarbeid i sosialt arbeid, er marginaliserte grupper som organiserer seg mot systemene sosialarbeidere er ansatt iog dilemmaene dette fører til for sosialarbeiderelite utforsket. Derfor er det behov for mer kunnskap om sosialarbeideres muligheter til å svare på slike protester. Artikkelen bygger på teorier om sosiale bevegelser og kollektiv handling, og introduserer et begrepsmessig rammeverk for å identifisere sentrale faktorer

Can service users speak? Dissenting voices and subaltern speech in social work

“…Even in an example when the dissensus happened to disrupt social workers’ own arrangement, it has been regarded as barbarian noise and violently suppressed. Only after criticism were the protesters given a space for speech within the consensus of social work from the benevolent social workers (Aaslund and Chear, 2020). As social work researchers, we risk misrepresenting acts of Darstellung as acts of Vertretung when reporting on apparently progressive projects with short-term positive outcomes.…”

Social Workers’ Attitudes on Social Justice in Taiwan

“…Standing by and fighting together with the disadvantaged who face social injustice, social workers can be perceived as activists who pursue social justice (Shokane & Masoga, 2019). As Aaslund and Chear (2020) highlight that when social workers commit themselves in collective actions or social movements, their professional identity and ethical perspectives are aligned for the betterment of the marginalized groups. Children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, indigenous, and sexual minorities make up the majority of social work's target audience.…”

Young adults’ protest participation and mental health

“…As Gray et al (2002) found, a variety of roles can be played by social workers in social movements, including communicator, advocate, voter, lobbyist, persuader, collaborator, campaigner, individualist, witness, and activist. Still, the roles social workers play in addressing the psychological problems caused by social movements remain to be elucidated (Aaslund & Chear, 2020). In addition, although there is vast literature explaining the causes of social movements from a psychosocial perspective (van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2013), it seems worthwhile to pay more attention to the psychosocial consequences caused by social movements.…”