Oppressive Practice example essay topic

I shall discuss gender as an inequality. I am mindful that there are no hierarchies of anti-oppressive practice and that the issues of 'race', class, sexuality, disability and age bear equal importance, but as I have discussed in previous essays, whilst each oppressed group is distinct, the issues can be transposed from one area to another. Gender, in this case, simply provides a tool for analysis. I drew upon anti-oppressive practice, with particular relevance to gender and 'race', in order to inform a discussion that is relevant for youth and community workers in practice today. In examining these crucial issues Introduction: This essay attempts to define the concept of anti oppressive practice. I have tried to illustrate through both personal dealings, as a supervisor of a multi care agency, and, factual information how the asylum seekers within the St Helens community have suffered oppression at the hands of both the other existing communities they are expected to co exist with, as well as, the service providers.

I then go on to demonstrate what I was able to do and actually achieved when providing a service and assistance to this particular minority group. During my time working within the St Helens borough I was stationed at Warrington Road. An area that was predominantly a council housing estate, high-rise flats and maisonettes also featured in this district. Its population was approximately 40,000 people, from varying social and religious backgrounds. Unemployment was high. I had worked in the area for over six years and in more recent years I noticed an increase in the number of asylum seekers being placed in the community.

Particularly being concentrated around the Clock Face area of St Helens. The initial problem this sector of the community faced was access to the state welfare provisions. Complex and strict qualifying regulations had identified that asylum seekers live below the poverty threshold, are excluded from mainstream benefits and struggle to afford basic needs such as food and clothing. A recent report by Oxfam and the Refugee Council showed that 85% of organisations working with refugees indicated that there clients sometimes, or, frequently experienced hunger, while, 95% said that their clients could not afford clothes or shoes. (Poverty and Asylum in the Uk, Oxfam and the Refugee council 2002) I therefore began working in conjunction with the Community liaison officer at the local Community Centre. I felt strongly that I could help make a difference by empowering and encouraging certain users of the centre, more so, members of the minority groups.

By educating and supporting the right people I felt these individuals would be able to help members of their community to access the facilities available to them, thus helping improve their quality of life, by having the full qualifying information and understanding of the correct education, health service and welfare system available to them. Refugees and asylum seekers where and still are being hankered from gaining legitimate employment, through a combination of muddled government migration policy, employer ignorance and media backed public prejudice. (A poor reception, refugees and asylum seekers welfare or work published by Industrial Society) Let me detail now further some of these problems. The wording on immigration papers has long been ambiguous and unclear in its wording, this is further impeded when employers try to establish someone's's tat us. Fearful of incurring stiff penalties employers face the prospect of fines up to lb 2000.00. The myth of "work shy scroungers" fails to highlight the fact that immigrants actually contribute more in taxes and national insurance contributions than they actually consume in benefits.

Another problem encountered is that formal qualifications gained overseas appear to lack recognition in the UK, the impact this has is that asylum seekers and refugees suffer downward professional mobility, further perpetuating the myth that asylum seekers can not be employed in "professional" employment. These factors mean that oppression is still a huge obstacle that both the UK and asylum seekers face. "Whoever we are we have rights. There are those of us who may feel that our rights are denied-perhaps some more than others". (Dalrymple and Burke, 1995: 29) It follows that professionals have a direct role to play in ensuring an adequate level of resourcing and support. The factors which affect the degree to which a given activity is considered to be integral include the nature of its focus and the level of professional support.

Integral self-help is thus initiated and implemented as part of a social work provision, facility or programme. It is inescapable that a good deal of self-help in fact is fully funded and supported by social work organisations. (Adams, Robert (self-help social work and empowerment Page 37) However, whether we examine oppression based upon class, race, gender, disability or sexual orientation, the underlying assumptions are the same. It is interesting to note that community workers when speaking of their work they tend to emphasise the 'teaching' of oppressed groups and individuals.

Other than understanding their oppression, oppressed groups might learn how to access certain financial and other resources. Such groups might even learn who their elected (national and regional) representatives are, but will the oppressed be told to lobby en masse their elected officials? Will the oppressed learn civil disobedience, or attrition techniques to wear down MPs and councillors until they agree to radical reform of society? How can community workers call what do, anti-oppressive unless they are urging people to overthrow the current system?

1. Prepare students for generalist practice with systems of all sizes 2. Prepare students to develop professional relationships that are characterized by mutuality, collaboration and respect for the client. 3. Prepare students to assess client strengths and problems in the interactions among people and between people and their environment 4. Students will develop an understanding of the role of the Generalist practitioner within the context of various human service delivery systems 5.

Understand basic generalist social work values and practice principles in application to ethical dilemmas 6. Prepare students to develop skills in the areas of defining issues, collecting and assessing data, planning and contracting, identifying alternative intervention, selecting and implementing appropriate courses of action, using appropriate research to monitor and evaluate outcomes, apply appropriate research based knowledge and technological advances and termination. 7. Increase awareness of the significance of the use of self in the helping role by enhancing ones self awareness 8. Increase an understanding of practice in rural settings and special considerations needed to practice in a rural environment 9. Develop professional writing skills, record keeping, and other accountability and documentation techniques Empowerment definition groups and / or circumstancises and a chive their own goals, ther by being able to work towards maximizing the quality of their lives.

The process of empowerment at the levels of the individual, group, family, organisation and community, and also in the different sectors of peoples lives. Some people may feel empowered because of something realised or understood, another may experience empowerment once a new job, course or opportunity is achieved (. (Adams, Robert (self-help social work and empowerment Page 37) For me, anti-oppresive is more than just combining a bunch of categories of oppressions into one whole. An anti-oppresive stance goes beyond categorizations.

Classifiyig oneself and others, and being classified can be viewed as central to opresiive relations of ruling. It is a way of linking our lived experiences with the categories and discourse of the relations of rating. A social worker how you would define social work practice and use anti-oppresive social work to do a good social How would you define the concept od anti-oppresive practice? discuss its relevance to practice with asylum seekers. It must be well structured and rigorously organised's haply focused and closely argued accurate grammer spelling and punctuation comprehensive and detailed responce to the question sophisticated understanding of knowledge from therory research.

High level of critical reflection and analytical ability sustained creative and independant thinking. excellent of the implications of therory practice. ability to theorise practice and to theorise from practice. sophisticated understanding of oppressions across a number of dimensions clear ans creative identification of opportunities for anti-oppressive practice. arguments well supported by sound and extensive evidence from literature and practice draws on an extensive range of relevant sources critical evaluation of the quality and reliability of sources. And how a social worker would define anti oppresive practice.