Essay brief:
Choose a service user or carer group and critically discuss the following:
What challenges does this group face in society and how can we promote ethical and value-based social work practice when working with them?
You will need to make explicit reference to social work values, drawn from the BASW Code of Ethics and discuss them critically on the basis of relevant and diverse literature.
Content/critical analysis
⦁ The essay asks you to focus on one particular service user or carer group and on the one hand identify challenges faced in society (i.e. discrimination, stigma, structural barriers leading to poverty, exclusion, compromised life opportunities, etc.). On the other hand, you will need to discuss how social work can address some of these challenges and how our practice can be value-led.
⦁ Choosing a group/area for the essay: existing knowledge (e.g. domestic violence, looked after children) could give you an advantage.
Equally, focusing on a group that you know little about can be very motivating, as you will seek literature that enhances your knowledge (e.g. older prisoners). Careful though- some groups remain ‘hidden’ and as such are under-researched (e.g. BAME groups and domestic violence) so it could prove difficult to find enough literature to confidently write 4,000 words on them.
⦁ Identify challenges: I have gone with this in title to stress the social injustice and unequal power relations existing in society (so linked to learning outcomes 4 and 5). It is important that you show your understanding of these, locating them not just at the individual level but also the Cultural and Structural (Thompson).
However, it is important to stress that service user or carer groups also have many achievements, strengths, contributions- so the essay brief is somewhat problematic in focusing only on ‘challenges’, so a ‘what is negative in their lives’ approach. Show that you understand this and write about it!
To showcase the challenges you can- for example- discuss how language and public attitudes create stereotypes and stigma, how this can dehumanise individuals; use statistics to show inequalities (i.e. in health outcomes, education, access to resources etc.).Use user-led research and literature to capture perspectives and lived experience.
⦁ How can we promote ethical and value-based social work practice when working with them: This is where you can discuss values and ethical principles. It could work well to focus on one principle (i.e. promoting the right to participation) to show how complex this can be.
This might help focus your writing- but it is OK to write more broadly on our ethical code. What counts is that you show awareness of the professional value base and its complexities (learning outcomes 1, 2, 3). You also need to be more focused and explore ethical social work practice with this particular service user group (for example, if you focus on children, you can write about how best to involve children and what challenges there are in ensuring that their voices are heard when it comes to their care).
⦁ It is important to provide a critical discussion, informed by your extensive reading and points/arguments backed up by evidence (see below). This module explores the ideological and philosophical underpinnings of social work as a profession and as such the essay needs to reflect this: it is not an essay that should be predominantly a personal reflection (even though you might want to add some of your personal thoughts/dilemmas), or a practice essay (i.e. a list of what services are out there).
⦁ To achieve the critical discussion, your essay needs to be based on a clear argument that you follow throughout the essay. This argument could be something like ‘domestic violence severely affects victims’ lives on many levels and social work should be central to addressing this’.
⦁ Descriptive writing is not enough for this essay. Descriptive writing is information-giving. You will do some of this, but it should be minimal. You need to write an essay that provides a critical perspective on the topics provided. For pointers on the difference between descriptive and critical writing see the Table 4.3 on page 31, in the book by Brown and Rutter (2006) Critical Thinking for Social Work, Exeter: Learning Matters (online access). Please also read chapter 4 from Aveyard, Sharp and Wooliams (2011) A Beginner’s guide to Critical Thinking and Writing in Health and Social Care, Maidenhead: McGraw Hill/Open University Press (online access).
⦁ Make sure that the points you are raising in the main body of your essay follow from each other- your assignment needs to ‘flow’, i.e. follow a logical order and tell ‘a story’ in some ways. If you jump from one issue to another in each paragraph, your essay will read like a list of unrelated points. Make sure that you use connecting words, such as ‘however’, ‘furthermore’, ‘consequently’ etc.
⦁ You need to back up your argument and ideas with evidence. Evidence can take the form of other people’s writings/views/research that you include as direct quotes or paraphrased (and referenced). Also, statistics, policy/legislation information.
⦁ Present both sides of the argument, i.e. the strengths and weaknesses of an argument/position, also what critiques/challenges have there been to a certain position?
⦁ Needless to say, for a good essay you need to read widely and extensively. And then read some more!
Guidance on format, structure, academic conventions:
⦁ This is a written piece of work, an essay of 4000 words. Ten per cent below or above the 4000 words is permitted, but please note that you will lose marks if you go significantly under or above the word length.
⦁ You need to include a short introduction and a conclusion. Both should be approximately 5-10% of the total word count. The introduction should ‘set the scene’ for the reader, what the essay is about, what are the main areas/ideas discussed in the essay as well as the main argument presented. The conclusion should outline key messages from the essay discussion and argument and the implications/recommendations. Please do not treat the conclusion as a mini summary of what the essay has already discussed- this ends up being repetitive.
You need to use a wide variety of literature sources- a few introductory textbooks are not enough.
⦁ Do not use random internet sites that came up when you Googled your key terms- keep your reference list relevant and of high quality. And NO to Wikipedia.
⦁ Academic essays tend to be written in the third person, i.e. rather than ‘I think that…’ the language used is more neutral ‘It can be argued that…’ or something similar. However, in social work some personal reflection is also part of academic writing; in that respect, some first-person writing is appropriate. Where first person is not a good strategy is when you are presenting your argument: avoid expressions such as ‘I feel’, ‘I am convinced’ etc.; you need to depersonalise your argument. What you feel or believe is not the main point, you need to use evidence, points from the literature to ‘make the case’ for the argument that you put forward. Such expressions are too subjective and make it seem as if you are just writing your personal (unsubstantiated) opinion. Stating your opinion and building an academic argument are not the same.
⦁ Pproofread your work to avoid common spelling mistakes. Make sure that the presentation of the essay is of a good standard, i.e. paragraph length, font size, page numbers, etc.
Writier can use this regarding social injustice towards, disabilities in society:
Practice which seeks to reduce,
⦁ undermine or eliminate discrimination and oppression, specifically in terms of challenging sexism, racism, ageism and disablism (Thompson, 2008 cited in Thompson, 2016)
⦁ Some critiques: focused too much on the individual level and de-politicised the issue.
⦁ Became too much of a tick-box exercise (Okitikpi and Aymer, 2010).
⦁ Simplified people’s identities- one can have ‘intersectional identities’ (Crenshaw, 1993 cited in Akhtar, 2013; see also Parrott, 2014, p. 35).
Anti-oppressive practice
⦁ A broader approach, developed in an effort to inject a more critical edge to practice (Okitikpi and Aymer, 2010).
⦁ Anti-oppressive practice is about minimising the power differences in society.
⦁ It can complement anti-discriminatory practice, but sees ADP as limited (Dalrymple and Burke, 2003).
⦁ In radical social work, this mainly linked to class and wealth distribution (Turbett, 2014)
Anti-oppressive practice
⦁ Aims to create new, non-oppressive relations in society, in particular by challenging negative identities put upon people.
⦁ It seeks to “validate diversity and enhance solidarity based on celebrating difference amongst peoples” (Dominelli, 2002, p. 39).
References. Some of the books to use
⦁ Adams, R., Dominelly, L. and Payne, M. (2009) Critical Practice in social work. London: Palgrave Macmillan
⦁ Akhtar, F. (2013) Mastering social work values and ethics. London: Jessica Kingsley.
⦁ Banks, S. (2012) Ethics and Values in Social Work. 4th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
⦁ Beckett, C., Maynard, A. and Jordan, P. (2017) Values and Ethics in Social Work: An Introduction. 3rd edn. London: Sage.
⦁ Cunningham, J. And Cunningham, S. (2014) Sociology and Social Work. 2nd edn. London: Sage/Learning Matters.
⦁ Dalrymple, J. and Burke, B. (2003) Anti-oppressive practice. Social Care and the law. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
⦁ Thompson, N. (2007) Power and Empowerment. Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing.
⦁ Thompson. N. (2015) Understanding Social Work: preparing for practice. 4th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
⦁ Thompson, N. (2016) Anti-Discriminatory Practice. 6th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
⦁ Turbett. C. (2014) Doing Radical Social Work. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
⦁ Wodak, R. and Meyer, M. (2009) Critical Discourse Analysis: history, agenda, theory and methodology, in Wodak, R. and Meyer, M. (eds) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis, 2nd edn., London, Sage.
⦁ Yuill, C. and Gibson, A. (2011) Sociology for Social Work: an introduction. London: Sage.
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