Publication details
Challenges of critical social work practice with members of the Roma minority
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Social work has changed its mission (IFSW/IASSW, 2014), and principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility, and respect for diversities have strengthened people's positions. Critical social work practice (Fook, 2012) has acquired more importance in line with such development. Furthermore, in those settings, social workers should be aware of the oppressive systems they are part of (Payne, 2016). In the context of the Czech Republic, oppression and misuse of power are often experienced in the coexistence of the Roma minority with the Czech majority. Using case study methodology (Gilgun, 1994), I selected a case of such problematic coexistence. I asked, "What social work practice is constructed by involved experts, stakeholders, and members of the Roma minority?" A qualitative, mixed-method approach was used for data gathering (n=64). In-depth interviewing was combined with focus groups with members of the Roma minority, stakeholders, and experts. Moreover, observation of events held by the city council was conducted. By using discursive analysis (Gill, 2000) and methodology of subjective positioning (Davies & Harré, 1990), I have described two discourses (victims and free-riders) and six subjective positions (Roma minority: bosses, sufferers, and sleepers; experts from Czech majority: leaders, capitulants, and dreamers) whose mutual interactions create a practice that is charged with latent violence and oppression. Although the social work practice is officially treated as highly professional, my study uncovers problems with blaming and victimizing Roma, on the one hand, and the burnout and denigration of experts, on the other. In such a discursive context, social work practice's main challenge is finding ways to limit the power of bosses, empower sufferers, revive sleepers, motivate leaders, support capitulants, and cherish dreamers. |