Critical Social Work Praxis

Brenda A. LeFrançois, Teresa Macías, and Sobia Shaheen Shaikh

What is the central relationship between theory and practice in social work?

Theory and practice are intertwined. Theory influences how social workers understand situations and act, while practice can challenge and reshape their theoretical understanding.

What is praxis? ⭐

Praxis is the ongoing relationship between action and reflection: we act, reflect on what happened, revise our understanding, and use that understanding to inform further action.

What is the difference between practice and praxis?

Practice is doing. Praxis is doing + critically thinking about the doing + allowing that reflection to influence further action.

Why do the authors say that all practice contains theoretical assumptions?

Because whenever we act, we have assumptions about what is happening, what the problem is, what matters, what is true, and what should be done—even if we aren't consciously aware of them.

What does "theory is practical" mean?

Theory isn't just abstract academic knowledge. It helps us make sense of situations and decide how to act.

What is ontology?

Our assumptions about what reality/being is—what exists and what the world is like.

What is epistemology? ⭐

Our assumptions about what counts as knowledge and how we can know something.

What is axiology?

Our assumptions about values—what we consider important, desirable, ethical or worth pursuing.

What does a positivist approach generally assume?

That there is an objective reality/truth that can be observed, studied and understood through systematic methods such as science.

What does critical theory focus on? ⭐

Power, oppression, inequality and the status quo, with social transformation and emancipation as important goals.

What does poststructuralism question? ⭐

It questions the idea of one universal or objective truth, examining how language, discourse and power influence what becomes accepted as "truth" or "normal."

What is the relationship between power and knowledge in poststructural thinking?

What is accepted as legitimate knowledge or truth is connected to power. Institutions and dominant groups can influence which interpretations become accepted.

Why are Indigenous and decolonial perspectives important in this chapter? ⭐

They challenge the assumption that Western ways of knowing are universal and recognize different understandings of knowledge, relationships, land, ancestry, humans and the natural world.

Why is praxis particularly important in critical social work? ⭐

Because critical social work aims not only to understand situations but to critically examine power and oppression and use informed action to contribute to social transformation.

Why is praxis important for international social work? ⭐

It encourages practitioners to question their own assumptions, consider whose knowledge and values are being privileged, and adapt practice to different cultural, social and political contexts rather than assuming Western approaches are universally appropriate.

Example: A social worker assumes a family is "not engaging" with services. How could praxis change their approach?

They would reflect on the assumption behind "non-engagement," consider the family's perspective and the service's expectations, then potentially change their intervention based on what they learn.

What question should a critical social worker ask when a professional definition of a problem seems obvious? ⭐

"Who defined this as the problem, whose knowledge is being privileged, and what power relations influence that definition?"

What is the purpose of theorizing?

To make sense of everyday experiences and provide explanatory power that can inform action. Theory is developed from and connected to practice.

What is standpoint/perspectivism?

The idea that how we understand truth and the social world is influenced by the position from which we experience and know the world. Different groups may therefore have different perspectives on reality.

How does postmodernism differ from positivism?

Positivism tends toward one objective, observable truth; postmodernism rejects certainty and recognizes that multiple truths/understandings can exist simultaneously.

What does it mean to say that truth is "discursively produced"?

What is treated as truth is partly produced through language, social practices and power relations rather than simply being a neutral fact waiting to be discovered.

What is one purpose of a poststructuralist lens in social work?

To deconstruct and resist normative practices that reproduce oppressive social relationships. In simple terms: question practices that are treated as normal or natural when they may reinforce inequality.

Why do critical social workers need to combine different theories?

Different theories reveal different aspects of social reality. Combining perspectives can help practitioners understand oppression and identify socially just possibilities for action, provided the combination is critically considered.

What does the author mean by theorists as "bricoleurs"?

Theorists often borrow, adapt and combine ideas from different theoretical traditions, rather than working within completely isolated schools of thought.

Why is social work theory/practice described as "messy"?

Theories overlap, contradict each other, change over time and contain different interpretations. Practice is therefore not a tidy, uniform process, and critical learning can come from examining these inconsistencies.

What are the six interconnected components of a social-work perspective?

Assumptions → Values → Theories → Concepts → Principles → Practices. They are interconnected: what a social worker assumes about reality and knowledge influences their values, theories, understanding of problems, principles, and ultimately their practice.

What does "critical" mean in critical social work?

It means questioning and challenging taken-for-granted assumptions, social arrangements, professional practices, and power relations, with the aim of creating more just and transformative alternatives. It does **not** simply mean criticizing or finding fault.

What does "political" mean in critical social work?

The political concerns struggles over **power, resources, recognition, identity, and whose interests are served**. Social work is therefore political even when it has nothing to do with political parties or elections.

What does "the personal is political" mean in critical social work?

Individual experiences are connected to wider social, cultural, institutional, historical, and structural conditions. Problems experienced personally may therefore reflect broader relations of power and inequality rather than being purely individual problems.

Does critical social work reject individual-level intervention?

No. Critical social work does not reject individual practice; it **contextualizes** it. A person's difficulties should be understood in relation to their relationships, environment, institutions, history, culture, and wider structures rather than being reduced to individual pathology or personal failure.

What does it mean to "individualize" a social problem?

To treat a problem as originating primarily within an individual while overlooking the **social, structural, historical, political, or cultural conditions** contributing to it. Critical social work challenges this tendency.

What is social location, and why does it matter?

Social location refers to where people are positioned within social structures and relations of power, including factors such as class, race, gender, ability, sexuality, and other identities. It matters because people's experiences, opportunities, knowledge, privilege, and oppression are shaped by these positions.

Why does critical social work emphasize context?

Because practice does not occur in a vacuum. People's experiences and social-work decisions are shaped by **institutional, cultural, political, historical, and material contexts**. Sometimes changing the environment or institution is therefore part of the social-work intervention itself.

Why does critical social work center marginalized voices and knowledge?

Because dominant institutions and professional knowledge can exclude or devalue the experiences of marginalized groups. Centering marginalized perspectives helps expose **power, oppression, and assumptions that dominant perspectives may make invisible**, while recognizing that different marginalized perspectives are not all the same.

What is critical reflexivity?

The ongoing process of examining how **your own assumptions, values, social location, professional position, power, and ways of knowing** influence how you understand a situation and act within it. It involves being willing to question and change your own practice.

What is the difference between mainstream and critical social work?

Mainstream practice can tend to **individualize problems and work within existing systems and definitions**, whereas critical social work asks how those problems and definitions were produced, examines power and structural conditions, centers marginalized knowledge, and seeks possibilities for transformation. Critical social work can still use individual interventions.

Is critical social work one unified theory or perspective?

No. Critical social work contains **different theoretical traditions, perspectives, debates, and contradictions**. Feminist, anti-racist, Indigenous, postcolonial, queer, Marxist, and other perspectives may contribute to critical social work, but they should not simply be treated as identical. Critical social work itself must remain open to critique and transformation.