A New Perspective on Power in Social Work

A review essay on books by (1) Margaretha Jarvinen, Jorgen Elm Larsen, & Nils Mortensen (Eds), Det magtfulde moFde mellem system og klient ([The Powerful Meeting between System and Client] Aarhus, Aarhus U, 2002); & (2) Margaretha Jarvinen og Nanna Mik-Meyer (Eds), At skabe en klinet. Institutionelle identiteter i socialt arbejde ([Creating a Client. Institutional Identities in Social work] Kobenhavn, Hans Reitzels Forlag, 2003). The contributions made to these anthologies by numerous sociological researchers aim to focus on the role of power within social work. Utilizing critical frameworks stemming from Foucault, Bourdieu, & Goffman, these writers explore the power systems within social work, where power is combined with knowledge in a professional situation where a decision-making authority is held by the social worker over a social client. This relationship, the execution of power within it, & forms of resistance to this power are central issues taken up in these volumes. While the power structure inherent in social work as a field is explored in detail throughout these writings, this review essay argues that many of the power norms that come into play in the actual practice of social work from both above & below the social worker's position are not exhaustively accounted for. In addition, the need to account more fully for context as a major factor in the social work relationship within the problematization of power in social work as presented by these writings is underlined here as a key concern. 5 References. C. Brunski