Oppression Psych, Resilience, and Social Work Practice

Oppression Psychology of Frantz Fanon

• recognize the significant differences in degrees and types of oppression experienced by clients 

• we must be cautious in how we think about the impact of oppression, because we might inadvertently ignore the significant strengths and resiliency demonstrated by oppressed clients and communities 

Internalized Negative Self-Images

• Repeated exposure to oppression, subtle or direct, may lead vulnerable members of the oppressed group to internalize the negative self-images projected by the external oppressor, or the oppressor without. 

• oppressed people may develop a victim complex, viewing all actions and communications as further assaults or simply other indications of their victim status. This is an example of “adaptive paranoia” seen among the oppressed.

Oppression Models and Inter- and Intracultural Practice

• For the White worker with a client of color, the male worker with a female client, the straight worker with a gay or lesbian client, and so forth—what I refer to as intercultural practice 

• we work with people who are like us—what I call intracultural practice 

• It has been my observation that social work education focuses on intercultural practice and often ignores the even more difficult and often painful issues associated with intracultural practice. 

Indicators of Oppression

Situations of oppression violate space, time, energy, mobility, bonding, and identity.

Resilience Theory and Research

Identifies protective factors like personal characteristics, family conditions, environmental supports, and self-concept factors that buffer against life events.

developmental reserve capacity

•  Refers to an individual’s resources that can be activated or increased. 

Life-span theory

suggests that development throughout life is characterized by the joint occurrence of increases (gains), decreases (losses), and maintenance (stability) in adaptive capacity  

Baseline reserve capacity

is the individual’s current maximum performance potential with existing internal and external resources. 

Can plasticity be positive and negative? How does life-span theory see it?

Plasticity can be both positive and negative 

The life-span theory argues that, as reserve capacity increases, so does the potential for positive plasticity.