Social workers aim to protect vulnerable people from abuse, neglect or self-harm and help to enhance their well-being and quality of life (University of York, 2014). It can be achieved via anti-oppressive practice (AOP) and anti-discriminatory practice (ADP). These two approaches are linked but differ in focus. Social Care Institute for Excellence defines ADP as an approach which seeks to reduce, undermine or eliminate discrimination, eradicate it from the social workers practice and challenge it in the practice of others (SCIE. 2014). Payne in 2005 defined discrimination as a means of identifying individuals and groups with certain characteristics and treating them less well than people or groups with conventionally valued characteristics
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To avoid the risk of ignorance towards the factors of discrimination and oppression, social workers need to be critically reflective in identifying beliefs in relation to diversity issues and open to challenge following the HCPC code of conduct and TCSW code of ethics. To succeed with ADP and AOP, social workers need to apply good practice principles such as: knowledge of legal framework underpinning equalities (The Equality Act 2010, European Convention of Human Rights 2000, Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005, Care Standards Act 2000, etc.); awareness of personal values and impact on practice; self-reflection; examination and questioning sources of his/her own power and ability to learn from mistakes while promoting social justice and values. In summary, AOP and ADP are direct responses to individual and group experiences of …show more content…
When Lucy Dobbs a community care and student social worker at Leicester Council, was assigned to a 22 year old mixed race man with complex physical and learning disabilities, she distinguished his unhappiness and problems within the family’s mixed cultural heritage when his parents actively pursued both religious beliefs on children. Lucy Dobbs used a personalised approach creating flexible care planning and respecting these issues. "It’s unlikely this level of flexibility would have been possible under traditional support arrangements", says Dobbs (V. Pitt, 2011). A new situation occur while attending a football match with the risk for the service user and his personal assistant being exposed to racial abuse. Dobbs overcame it by organising special transport straight to their seats. “It was good for me to experience working with different strands of discrimination alongside each other and make sure I am looking at the situation holistically,” says Dobbs (V. Pitt,
To avoid the risk of ignorance towards the factors of discrimination and oppression, social workers need to be critically reflective in identifying beliefs in relation to diversity issues and open to challenge following the HCPC code of conduct and TCSW code of ethics. To succeed with ADP and AOP, social workers need to apply good practice principles such as: knowledge of legal framework underpinning equalities (The Equality Act 2010, European Convention of Human Rights 2000, Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005, Care Standards Act 2000, etc.); awareness of personal values and impact on practice; self-reflection; examination and questioning sources of his/her own power and ability to learn from mistakes while promoting social justice and values. In summary, AOP and ADP are direct responses to individual and group experiences of …show more content…
When Lucy Dobbs a community care and student social worker at Leicester Council, was assigned to a 22 year old mixed race man with complex physical and learning disabilities, she distinguished his unhappiness and problems within the family’s mixed cultural heritage when his parents actively pursued both religious beliefs on children. Lucy Dobbs used a personalised approach creating flexible care planning and respecting these issues. "It’s unlikely this level of flexibility would have been possible under traditional support arrangements", says Dobbs (V. Pitt, 2011). A new situation occur while attending a football match with the risk for the service user and his personal assistant being exposed to racial abuse. Dobbs overcame it by organising special transport straight to their seats. “It was good for me to experience working with different strands of discrimination alongside each other and make sure I am looking at the situation holistically,” says Dobbs (V. Pitt,