Narrative Perspectives on Social Justice Practice and Education in Social Work

Overview: This presentation will offer a narrative approach to social justice-oriented practice and education in Social Work. Narrative strategies aimed at identifying unjust narratives and their consequences, as well as contributing to the development of socially just narratives that further the fundamental principles of Social Work will be identified.Proposal text: On local, national, and global levels the divide we experience in human relationships is rooted in our ability to cast those who differ from us in the role of Other (Gross & Weiss, 2019; Ploesser & Mecheril, 2012). The constructed social and cultural narratives of difference underlying these dynamics have been used to fuel the forces of dehumanization and conflict (Berger & Luckmann, 1966; Gergen, 2015). Representatives of competing political, religious, and cultural agendas have used these narratives to shape public opinion and the stories we tell ourselves individually and collectively about our selves, our history, our future, and our place in the world (Sowards & Pineda, 2013; Stewart, 2012). Socially unjust policies and practices are the fruit of these narratives that so often remain as unquestioned as they are powerful (Polletta, 2006).

However, even as the human narrative instinct has been used to further hostile agendas of isolation and division, so can it be used to develop human understanding and cooperation. Through their postmodern and social constructionist roots, narrative approaches to social work offer the possibility of bridging these divides through social and cultural forms of meaning making that bring us together rather than cast us apart (Bruner, 1990; Hochman & Spector-Mersel, 2020; McNamee, 2018).

This has import for our understanding of issues ranging from racial, ethnic, and religious conflict to immigration, criminal justice reform, and other dimensions of human rights and social justice (Alexander, 2012; Kutateladze et al., 2014; Lee & Johnstone, 2021). As social workers committed to a just world, the narrative perspective has much to offer (McKenzie-Mohr & Lafrance, 2017; O’Neill & del Mar Farina, 2018). However, narrative thinking has not systematically been brought to bear on social work’s approach to social justice.

This presentation will offer a narrative perspective on social justice that may be applied in practice as well as the social work classroom. Its aim is twofold. First, it seeks to develop one’s ability to identify and critique the unjust narratives underlying policies and practices that deepen the forces of marginalization and oppression (Gemignani & Hernandez-Albujar, 2015; Lofaro & Miller, 2021; Shamai, 2003; Viruell-Fuentes et al., 2012). Second, it aims to inculcate an understanding of the nature and makeup of socially just narratives characterized by such qualities as a commitment to human rights and dignity, an eschewal of all forms of exploitation, and a tolerance for difference. The narrative perspective fosters empathy by recognizing the value of all voices, particularly those of the marginalized and disenfranchised (Cleaveland, 2013; Pyles et al., 2012; Rolbiecki et al., 2016). Through the purposeful use of narrative strategies aimed at the creation of shared meaning as a means of furthering the aims of the social work profession, this approach can aid in the development of human relationships and the healing of conflict on levels ranging from the personal to the international. In the same way, it can assist us in the education of Social Workers who are deeply committed to and sophisticated proponents of social justice.