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Undoing privilege in Western social work: implications for critically-reflective practice in China
Citation
Pease, B, Undoing privilege in Western social work: implications for critically-reflective practice in China, China Journal of Social Work, 8, (2) pp. 93-106. ISSN 1752-5098 (2015) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2015 Taylor & Francis
DOI: doi:10.1080/17525098.2015.1039170
Abstract
Critical reflection is promoted by many Western social work writers as a process for
facilitating practitioners’ capacity to reflect upon their complicity in dominant power
relations. However, the Western social work literature tends to focus on those who are
disadvantaged, oppressed and excluded. Those who are privileged in relation to gender,
class, race and sexuality, etc. are often ignored. Given that the flipside of oppression
and social exclusion is privilege, the lack of critical reflection on the privileged side of
social divisions allows members of dominant groups to reinforce their dominance. This
article interrogates the concept of privilege, as it is manifested in the West and
examines how it is internalized in the psyches of members of dominant groups. Chinese
readers are invited to consider how this concept may be relevant to social workers in
China. The article concludes by encouraging social work educators in both the West
and the non-West, to engage in critical reflections about privilege when teaching social
work students about social injustice and oppression.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Sociology |
Research Field: | Social change |
Objective Division: | Indigenous |
Objective Group: | Pacific Peoples community services |
Objective Field: | Pacific Peoples community services not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Pease, B (Professor Bob Pease) |
ID Code: | 102525 |
Year Published: | 2015 |
Deposited By: | School of Social Sciences |
Deposited On: | 2015-08-26 |
Last Modified: | 2016-08-08 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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