Evaluate the importance of anti oppressive practice in social work. Illustrate your answer using the PCS model.

Within this essay the areas in which discrimination and oppression occur will be highlighted and then evaluated to show how ‘good’ anti oppressive/ discriminative practice within social work can ‘aid’ and empower service users who are in groups that experience oppression and discrimination to overcome their problems. Gil (1994) states that “the conditions that cause people to seek help from social services are usually direct or indirect consequences of social, economic, and political institutions, and... the profession of social work is ethically committed to promote social justice. Insights into oppression and social
Therefore to develop a strong anti racist social work practice base, social workers must first have a clear understanding of the concepts that underpin racism. Racism is “a social system in which one group of people exercises power over another group on the basis of skin colour” because of “an implicit set of beliefs, erroneous assumptions, and actions based on an ideology of inherent superiority of one racial group over another” (Henry, Tator, Mattis and Rees 1995: pg 10) (Thompson,1997).” Dalrymple and Burke, (1995) support this view as they suggest that “Oppression itself is a powerful force. On a personal level it can lead to demoralisation and lack of self-esteem, while at a structural level it can lead to denial of rights”.
Thompson’s PCS model also effectively stresses the complex nature surrounding the issue of racism within society and social work. Thompson’s ‘P’ level suggests that “personal prejudices… manifests itself much more subtly and we are not likely to be aware of it unless or until we are confronted”. (Thompson, 2001) Thompson further implies that social workers may sometimes unintentionally perform racist acts simply by “reflecting dominant cultural values or carrying out routine institutional practices” (Thompson, 2001). Macpherson (1999) draws attention to this point even further, suggesting that “collective failure of an organisation to provide an