Chapter 11: From Radical to Critical Perspectives

In Malcolm Payne’s (2005) third edition of Modern Social Work Theory he has done an extensive review on social work theory and the relationship to practice. The structures for explaining social work theory are extensive and helpfully explained, as is the detail of the range of theories. Chapters 11, on ‘Radical to Critical’ perspectives are thought-provoking and practical, in equal measure. The chapter covers a number of important concepts beginning with radical social work and moving to a critical approach, covered in Fook’s exemplary work on critical reflection which gets considerable attention in this chapter. Payne adopts a balanced view of political and philosophical arguments about knowledge and its power to persuade. The main points of the chapter include:

· Radical and critical theories are transformational, proposing that social work should seek to change the way societies create social problems. In particular it rejects capitalist, economic liberal or economic rational approaches to managing economies either because of ideological objections or because they are inconsistent with a reasonable level of welfare provision.

· They are also emancipatory being concerned with freeing people from restrictions imposed by the existing social order.

· Radical social work of the 1970s has developed toward critical practice in the late 199s, incorporating feminist and anti-discrimination perspectives and elements of empowerment theory along side contemporary critical theory.

· Radical and critical social work reject elements of traditional elements of traditional social work practice that accepts social policy based on economic liberalist or rationalism

· The main elements of radical and critical theory include a focus on structural rather than personal explanations of social problems and a concern for inequality and oppression.

· Radical and critical practice seeks to promote consciousness-raising about social inequalities, political action and social change because this helps to combat cultural hegemony, through which powerful people maintain a social order that benefits them by integrating social believe into people’s culture life through influence in the media and education.

According to Payne, radical social work has confronted the use of psychodynamic approach and other theories relying on psychological explanations of social problems. The concern is that traditional social work reduce complex social problems to individual psychological ones. They “blame the victim”, making clients responsible for problems which have social origins. (p. 233). What more, it strengthens and follows the oppressive social order of capitalism. The goal of the state will be to minimize the stress on the system by controlling the way human beings behave. Combined with a powerful legal system, the field of social work has been granted power over the disenfranchised, including women, the disabled, gay and lesbians, people of color, children and the poor for the end purpose of controlling body, mind, and soul. There are those who argue that mental illness is a myth (Szasz, 1994) that diagnoses are social constructs that vary from time to time and from culture to culture and today they are designed to aid the state in controlling behavior. Social Work, as a discipline, is following the example of psychology in that we have adopted the western medical model that objectifies clients, and utilizes pharmacological treatment as a further tool of control.

Payne then discusses Mullalys structural approach to social work. “Structural social work is so called because social problems are inherent in our present social order and therefore the focus of change should be mainly on social structures and not individuals. Structural social work is inclusive because it is concerned with all forms of oppression; one is not more important than another” (p. 237). There is a focus on economic and political institutions that influence social life. Together, along with other social institutions, are the site of social relations which are supported by a dominant ideology. Structural social work focuses on oppression though consciousness raising and challenging the distribution of resources and power.

The remainder of the chapter focuses on Fook’s critical theory of social work practice. She argues that “a radical tradition in social work connects with a concern with the social rather than the personal, extended by the radical critique. The main points of critical social theory that are incorporated into critical social work as follows:

· Domination is created structurally but experienced personally.

· False consciousness, mean that people are not aware that social order are created historically, and might therefore be changed. They assume that inequalities are natural in society.

· Positivism as an ideology about how knowledge is created leads to passivity and fatalism, because people believe that social facts cannot be changed. Critical social theory emphasizes people’s agency – the capacity to achieve social change.

· Progress is possible

Critical theory explains why discussion, reflection, analysis and insight are important in leading to a capacity to take action about problems in our lives. This explains why critical social work rejects evidence-based and other positivist views of social work knowledge. As well, critical theory questions the categorization of human experience. We can change, be contradictory and multiple: many tings at once. We should see ourselves as whole people, who can develop more complexity and diversity.

Critical social work continues to develop as a viable theory and practice. There are a number of important criticism of the approach that still need to be reconciled. There is a neglect of the immediate personal needs of clients given the focus on collective action. This has created a perception that the approach is unethical, uncaring or impractical because it is counter to how the welfare system operates. Embedded in this perception is the criticism that critical theory is weak in dealing with emotional problems. There is also a continuing debate about both radical theory and critical social work lacking any practical guidelines. However, critical social work has incorporated social construction that allows clients voices to be heard and responded to, especially those of marginalized and excluded communities. There is also an adversarial relationship set up with power, assuming that it equates with control. This forces social workers to side with the oppressed neglecting the complexity of social power relationships and prevents us greater access to advocate with allies in the system. There also appears to be an over emphasis on risk as it relates to oppression, there is little acknowledgment about the resilience of marginalized voices.

Payne, M. (2005). Modern Social Work Theory: A Critical Introduction (3rd ed.). Chicago: Palgrave Macmillan.

Szasz, T. (1994). Mental Illness is Still a Myth. Society, 24(3), 34-39.