This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Tew, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Understanding Power and Powerlessness

Towards a Framework for Emancipatory Practice in Social Work

University of Central England, England, jerry.tew{at}uce.ac.uk

• Summary: This paper reviews the existing literature that seeks to conceptualize the operation of power, from modernist ideas of power as a ‘thing’ that may be possessed, to a range of critical alternatives, including structuralist, Foucauldian and feminist psychological perspectives. This review provides the foundations on which to construct a framework by which social workers may be able to map out and work with issues of power and powerlessness more effectively in their everyday practice.

• Findings: Current frameworks, such as anti-oppressive practice, may be insufficient in being able to identify the range and complexity of power relations that may be enacted within a social situation. In order to provide a more comprehensive understanding, the article presents a discussion of the application of a framework for analysing the operation of different forms of power - one that acknowledges the potential of power to be both damaging and productive.

• Applications: Through a discussion of how the concepts within this framework may be applied to a practice scenario, and to issues around the use of power and authority by social workers, there is an exploration of how the framework may provide a useful tool for underpinning emancipatory social work practice.

Key Words: co-operative power • emancipatory practice • empowerment oppression • power

Journal of Social Work, Vol. 6, No. 1, 33-51 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1468017306062222


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Danso Emancipating and Empowering De-Valued Skilled Immigrants: What Hope Does Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice Offer? Br. J. Soc. Work, April 1, 2009; 39(3): 539 - 555. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Huxley, S. Evans, P. Beresford, B. Davidson, and S. King The Principles and Provisions of Relationships: Findings from an Evaluation of Support, Time and Recovery Workers in Mental Health Services in England Journal of Social Work, January 1, 2009; 9(1): 99 - 117. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Parker When Things Go Wrong! Placement Disruption and Termination: Power and Student Perspectives Br. J. Soc. Work, November 28, 2008; (2008) bcn149v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Tew Researching in Partnership: Reflecting on a Collaborative Study with Mental Health Service Users into the Impact of Compulsion Qualitative Social Work, September 1, 2008; 7(3): 271 - 287. [Abstract] [PDF]