Using Critical Reflection to Research Possibilities for Change

This paper discusses a social work research project that used critical reflection as the method of inquiry to explore the problem of sexual assault practitioners' sense of powerlessness to bring about change in the legal system. Using critical reflection as both an educational tool and a research methodology enabled the practitioners who participated in this Australian research to privilege narratives of empowerment and change, through uncovering possibilities for envisaging personal agency to respond to legal system injustices. Deconstruction and reconstruction of the participants' accounts of their practice with victims/survivors indicated that critical reflection unearthed new ways to think about change and new ways to enhance change practices with the legal system. It is contended that critical reflection, as it was used in this research project may have wider-ranging applicability to a broad spectrum of social work fields of practice and contexts, where structural factors appear to dominate and practitioners feel alienated from the means of social change.