Risk Based Neoliberal Structures In Social Work Essay

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With the development of neoliberal structures social workers in contemporary Australia are finding themselves faced with increasingly complex ethical dilemmas. These ethical dilemmas are due to systemic inequalities entrenched within the foundations of neoliberalism. Within the modern public welfare system, Sonya Stanford exclaims, ‘risk has replaced need as the focus of social and economic policies’ (2011, p. 1515). Therefore with the development of prudent, risk based policies comes an ever-increasing gap between those who have and those who have not. Consequently, risk based neoliberal structures emphasise the demand for theoretical frameworks in the social work field. So along these lines Marian Mattison refers to Emmet’s opinion that social workers aim ‘to build “intellectual moral resources” by ensuring that moral judgements are tied to reason and are …show more content…

Social class, education, ethnicity, gender, age, sexuality, geographical positioning and cultural background along with others influence the multiplicity of mores and norms that mutually constitute an individual’s agency and their perspective. These normalised structures of difference serve to disguise ones place and agency within society. In other words, dominant discourses mediate our social patterns and further organise power structures that constitute individual and shared identities. In this way, the Inclusive Model’s incorporation of critical reflection is invaluable to social work and ethical decision making as a way of recognising how perceptions and prejudices are normalised and reproduced. Therefore, the method of critical reflection along with consultation with colleagues allows the social worker an opportunity to recognise their position of power in relation to the client and, if necessary, shift their predispositions in order to work with the client in an unbiased

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