Critical social work in action : equipping social work graduates for socially just practice

Background: Redressing inequality, discrimination and oppression are core for social work practice. Yet increasingly social work students find themselves grappling with identifying and challenging issues of social justice in contexts influenced by neoliberal hegemony. Such contexts emphasise failings of individual behaviour where people may be experiencing social problems such as poverty, inequality, incarceration and racism. Aims: By exploring the ways in which social work students can most effectively identify and challenge issues of social justice this research aims to inform social work teaching practices which can best equip graduating social workers for emancipatory social work practice. Method: Here we report on a pilot study, part of a wider research project exploring student experiences and understandings of an undergraduate social work subject which explicitly aims to equip students with skills for social justice practice. Field education students carried out a review of social work social justice literature; then undertook peer interviews to share collective experiences and co-design creative solutions for addressing the research question: what are the most effective approaches for teaching social justice understandings and practices to social work students? Findings: The students provide insight into ways they frame social justice concerns and the methods and strategies they believe could most effectively promote student recognition, understanding and critical skills for socially just social work practice in contexts increasingly shaped by neoliberalism.