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'Anti-Oppressiveness': Critical Comments on a Discourse and its Context.
- Source :
- British Journal of Social Work; Feb2008, Vol. 38 Issue 2, p362-375, 14p
- Publication Year :
- 2008
-
Abstract
- This paper identifies and aims to explain an apparent dissonance between the dominance in Britain of `anti-oppressive' social work discourse and the socio-political con- text surrounding its use; a context often claimed to feature excessive regulation and control. Pursuing this, some politically radical aims associated with `anti-oppressiveness' are spelt out, and the difficulty of achieving these in an unconducive climate is discussed. Then, a distinction made by Robert Merton between `latent' and `manifest' functions is used to suggest that the manifest radicalism of `anti-oppressive' discourse can helpfully be distinguished from some latent largely unrecognised consequences of its use not consequences with politically radical impact, but with a social meaning congruent with a climate of control. It is concluded that the `success' of anti-oppressive discourse might well be viewed as requiring more of the kind of critical analysis that the discourse itself was supposed to espouse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00453102
- Volume :
- 38
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- British Journal of Social Work
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 31877764
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcl336