Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp

c) from a history of the present perspective, it can be argued that in
the present-day context of human rights and equality legislation,
all forms of discrimination should be treated as equally important
for social work practice and theory.
Using a range of frameworks, students are encouraged to reflect on how
gender issues can be taken into account alongside issues of disability, race,
religion etc. Anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice has been a core
feature of social work in the United Kingdom for the past three decades in
particular. 16 Given that human rights and equality legislation emphasises the
range of grounds on which discrimination can occur, the question of whether
gender should be elevated above other forms of discrimination as opposed to
considered alongside a range of other equally important factors, forms the basis
of the next layer of theoretical debate. From an integrative point of view, an
anti-discriminatory approach does not deny or prevent gender discrimination
being addressed, but it does imply that it should not gain any more precedence
than other forms. Indeed, it is further argued that it is not so much the form
of oppression or discrimination but rather its impact that is of import. Case
studies are used to explore whether, for example, an Indian woman living in a
socially deprived area of a sectarian town in Belfast is more at risk of discrimination
on the basis of her gender, her race or her religion. The challenge for
students is to manage the duality that on the one hand, one must be ever aware
of the risk of discrimination on the basis of identity – be it gender, race or ability
– while on the other hand realising the risks of assuming that oppression
can be attributed to just one part of a person’s identity. Bringing in theories on
identity, individualisation and critical social policy to supplement teaching on
anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice, students are encouraged to
find a comfort in the less certain but arguably more realistic context that the
nature, form and experience of discrimination are influenced at so many different
levels; and impact on individuals and groups in such diverse ways, that any
generalised thinking – including an over-emphasis on gender to the detriment
of other aspects of identity and experience – can potentially be discriminatory.
Such a framework encourages, in particular, a consideration of gender from
16
Nigel Thompson, Anti-Discriminatory Practice (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006); Siobhan E. Laird,
Anti-Oppressive Social Work: A Guide for Developing Cultural Competence (London: Sage, 2008).
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