Greece is seven years into a socio-economic crisis, where oppression has increased as a result of austerity measures driven by the political parties in governance and Troika. In a context of attacks on social care and social work, dominant social values of intolerance and violation of human rights, the pursuit of anti-oppressive practice is more crucial than ever. However, discussions and debates on social work and anti-oppressive practice have mostly taken place outside of the context of Greece. Reflecting on this gap, this doctoral research project asks: What is the role of social work education in influencing students' ability to manage value tensions in relation to anti-oppressive practice within the current context of social work education in Greece? It is the first such study of its kind in Greece. Using a qualitative case study methodology, the research was based in one of the four national Departments of Social Work (subsequently abolished). Semi-structured interviews were undertaken involving social work students in their first and final years of professional education (n=32) and academic staff/placement supervisors (n=10). Data analysis was informed by a ground theory approach. The study revealed social work education's failure in stimulating the development of an ethical and anti-oppressive self in students. The key determinants identified were: students' narrow understandings and individualistic approaches towards oppression; the unjust educational policies within which students are educated and educators work; an outdated curriculum with a clinical and technical approach; and lack of social action/connection with the community by the Department. Results are interpreted using the conceptual lens of Foucault (1977; 1980; 1982) and Freire (1970; 1993; 1994). A conceptual model is also presented, in order to understand and promote (anti-) oppressive practice at multiple levels: subjectivity, discipline and governmentality, as well as discourse, oppressive reality and dividing practices. The key implications of the study are for social work education to reflect and respond to current social needs by developing a radical and anti-oppressive curriculum; being involved in social action through social movements and professional associations; establishing a dialogical and reflexive learning process with the active participation of students and service users in designing and evaluating educational content and processes; and a constant deconstruction/reconstruction of the self for students, educators and practitioners.

Anti-oppressive practice is a commonly accepted concept in social work education that concentrates on alleviating oppression and advancing social justice. The goal of this research is to highlight the social work students’ perspectives on anti-oppressive practice and to uncover their experiences of anti-oppressive practice in the field and classroom. A comparative case study based on photovoice was conducted with social work students from Canada and Finland. Qualitative interviews were carried out with research participants in conjunction with the photovoice discussion. Research findings indicate that most social work students who participated in this study have a positive view of anti-oppressive practice. The majority of participants position themselves as anti-oppressive social work practitioners, however, some perceive the anti-oppressive practice as purely theoretical, as opposed to be a part of practical social work. Differences that were found between student responses in samples from Finland and Canada are discussed. / February 2016

This thesis critiques and describes the prevalent discourses regarding notions of 'difference' in counselling psychologist's talk. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants and were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed. Participants were asked to speak about notions of 'difference' in their counselling psychology practice. Transcripts were then coded and analysed using a critical discursive psychological approach which looked for prevalent interpretive repertoires, ideological dilemmas and subject positions. This critical discursive psychology approach seeks to employ a twin focus of discourse analysis, attending to both the micro and macro levels of interactions and constructions. The prevalent discourses were described and critiqued by the researcher. Analysis of transcripts provided a rich range of possible constructions of 'difference' and were then grouped into headings and subheadings and presented to the reader. These notions of 'difference' are explored in relation to counselling psychology practice and the impact that they may have on therapeutic relationships. Interpretive repertoires included constructions of where 'differences' originate, how dimensions of 'difference' were constructed, positive and negative constructions of 'difference', 'difference' in relation to notions of power and prejudice and finally professional discourses on 'difference'. This thesis addresses how important it is for counselling psychologist's to analyse the discourses and constructions available to them so that their clients' are facilitated in the therapeutic encounter and so that practitioners' constructions of 'difference' do not hinder therapy. This study contributes to highlighting the need for counselling psychology's continued commitment to anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practices.

<p>Indigenous populations have experienced vast travesties due to the impacts of colonialism. Colonialism continues to be perpetuated through the services, programs and policies that Indigenous people encounter. This research thesis tackles the question of how non-Indigenous social workers, professionals and interested parties can work with Indigenous people in appropriate and respectful ways. It also reviews how non-Indigenous people can work and think across difference. This research represents my journey towards decolonizing myself to find new ways of being White that are compatible with Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of knowing. Autoethnography, relevant literature and interviews were used to explore ways of working with Indigenous populations. Three participants who had been identified by an Indigenous academic as people who had worked with Indigenous populations in appropriate and respectful ways were interviewed in Canada. An analysis of the three semi in-depth interviews produced several recommendations for non-Indigenous people in working with Indigenous populations. Results acknowledge the complexity of working and thinking across difference. Suggestions for working with Indigenous populations are highlighted and include such themes as acknowledging tensions and privilege, understanding that there is a large diversity within Indigenous populations, recognizing that there are aspects of dominant ways of knowing that are compatible with Indigenous ways of knowing, the importance of not being afraid to take risks and of trying not to make assumptions. Decolonization is an uneasy pursuit that is fraught with tension and this research hopes to encourage other social workers, professionals and interested parties to engage in similar processes.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>As child welfare practice in Ontario attempts to move toward increased partnerships with families, and recognition of the ways in which social work is implicated in perpetuating marginalities through the application of an anti-oppressive lens, direct social work practice with children lacks a similar critical discourse. Social work practice with children in care in Ontario occurs in the context of a guided practice model, Looking After Children, and within numerous audited standards and compliances. It is a bureaucratic and managerial environment which can constrain the social work agenda with children whose voices are easily silenced. This qualitative research study looks at the plans of care or social work recording for 10 Crown Wards in Ontario, in a search for a ‘real child.’ A critical analysis revealed that children are known in the recordings created about them in limited and prescribed ways. A “looked after” child is revealed: a child known according to the specific developmental dimensions of the Looking After Children model, and within “compliant” social work practice. What is lost is a child who exists in their child welfare record, in all of their complexities, contexts and relationships, while the social work relationship is rendered invisible.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>Anti-Oppressive Practice (AOP) has become one of the most influential approaches to contemporary social work practice. Despite its widespread significance it seems that there is confusion, and a lack of consensus, regarding what AOP actually is. This research, therefore, examines how social work educators understand AOP in order to determine what AOP looks like and whether it has since acquired a fixed and defined identity. Data gathered from eleven qualitative interviews with social work educators at three Canadian universities revealed that AOP is understood as having nine core tenets; and yet, AOP is also understood as being a highly fluid and ambiguous epistemology. The research also showed that AOP's fluidity and ambiguity are not weaknesses to be resolved, but rather are intentional and purposeful as they enable it to resist and dismantle dominance, and pursue social justice.</p> <p>AOP's fluidity and ambiguity was theorized as mirroring the fluidity and ambiguity of human identities and identity categories-both resist being fixed and reified, as they are more than the sum total of these parts. In this regard, it is proposed that AOP can be understood as occupying multiple subject positions. Analysis of AOP's subject positions revealed that when AOP tends toward becoming fixed and fully known it becomes co-opted and compromised by structures of dominance and is used as a tool of oppression. In other words, when AOP is definitively located it ceases to be anti-oppressive. It seems, therefore, that we must constantly dislocate AOP through critical dialogue in order to ensure that it is a means of dismantling dominant structures of power and pursuing social justice.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Yes / Summary: This article reviews the existing literature on power within a social work context and extends the analysis to broader sociological understandings through which to rethink the ways in which social work professionals understand and work with power within everyday practice. Findings: The review argues that prevailing dichotomies, which feature so centrally in theoretical conceptualisations of power, offering binary positions of power as ‘good or bad’, ‘positive or negative’ and ‘productive or limiting’ are limiting in themselves. It is argued that power must also be recognised as a construct which operates in a synchronous way; whereby it can impact in limiting and productive ways at the same time. Applications: To support this position, the Power-informed Practice (PiP) framework, which recognises power at the individual, professional and structural levels is offered. The utility of the framework in providing a clearer understanding of power is then presented in relation to working with children who have experienced abuse. As a tool, the framework enables social workers to structure their analysis of power within all areas of contemporary social work practice, in order to promote and support processes of empowerment.

Yes / The development of a clear personal and professional identity – ‘knowing oneself’ – is frequently cited as a key factor in supporting anti-oppressive practice. In the field of health and social care, work placements are a major vehicle for equipping students to become anti-oppressive practitioners committed to making effective diversity interventions in a range of organizational settings. This article highlights some of the tensions inherent in the formation of such an identity and pays particular attention to issues such as discomfort, power inequalities, the discursive production of the self and ways in which educational and workplace organizational settings can simultaneously promote and inhibit such identity development. The article concludes that the discomfort experienced by students as part of this learning process is not only inevitable but necessary to becoming an anti-oppressive practitioner, and that the narrative process offers ways of empowering both students and service users to challenge oppression.

The goal of this study was to assess how child welfare services are conceptualized and viewed by Canadian young adults with heritage from the Indian Subcontinent. Five second-generation young adults with heritage from the Indian Sub-continent were interviewed about their thoughts, attitudes, and opinions toward the Children’s Aid Societies when they were youths, and also currently. Findings showed that lack of awareness around the function of CAS, observations of negative CAS-community interactions, and overt/subvert whiteness in the system all contributed to participants not trusting CASs during their childhood and teenage years. Participants felt that the CAS systems are designed for the white population and not for children and youth of South Asian descent. Reflecting back on when they were youths, instead of viewing CASs as a source of support or help in times of family trouble, participants indicated that they and their parents would seek support from trusted friends, family, or community members. Now young adults themselves, and envisioning having their own families in the future, participants said that if needed they would access the same friend, family and community supports rather than approaching a CAS. That being said, participants expressed that they would be open to accessing CAS services but that this would be a last resort given their perception that the CAS is not designed for them or their community. Participants expressed a desire to be able to access CAS services, but not until CAS deal with their own whiteness. In addition to being less Eurocentric, participants also recommended a number of changes CAS make so that they better serve communities with Indian Sub Continent heritage, these include increased community engagement, information campaigns, increased presence of workers/foster families from South Asian communities). / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Since the start of the Syrian war, Jordan has received many Syrian refugees with around 650,000 Syrians now residing in the country. As the state has received a lot of help from the international community, funding refugee camps and providing basic necessities, a lot of international humanitarian practitioners have come to Jordan to work alongside Jordanian and Middle Eastern practitioners. The situation therefore has brought practitioners from different academic, professional and geographical backgrounds together to work with people of a different cultural background than their own. Syrians represent a vast diversity in terms of ethnic, religious, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds. Research have addressed that practitioners’ sensitivity to how cultural complexities may influence social problems can facilitate a better understanding of the client’s path to recovery. The purpose of our study was to increase the knowledge of mental health and psychosocial support practitioners’ understanding and experience of a culturally sensitive social work in Amman, Jordan and discuss how this affects their practice with Syrian refugees. Through qualitative interviews we found that the practitioners’ perception of Arab culture as one and the same makes culture a non-issue in terms of cultural diversity, and that this perception influence the practice with Syrian refugees in a number of ways.