Political, economic and ideological forces that are influenced by neoliberalism and managerialism hinder social work and civic transformation (O’Brien, 2013). The key ideas behind the nature of neoliberalism and managerialism are the emphasis on individualism, individual choice and responsibility; denial of social structures that limit, create and manage ‘choice’; regard free market as the distributor of individual and social profit; understand unequal outcome as unfortunate but inevitable result of those market processes; prioritise measurable results and outcomes; and uphold the trickle-down effects of economic growth (O’Brien, 2013). Based on such neoliberal framework, poverty is regarded as individual failing and choice. It is disconnected from the economic structures, economic distribution and state responsibility. The emphasis on individualism is …show more content…
I disagree with the trickle-down effect of economic growth or leaving it to the free market to distribute wealth. However, at the same time I believe we still have responsibility for ourselves, agency and that choices that we make would lead to different outcomes. It makes me wonder how much of people’s problems lie in personal attributes and personal choices; and how much of their choices are restrained by social constructs. This is a question that I have to answer for myself so that I do not collude with the welfare system that uses monitoring approaches and punitive requirements for beneficiaries. (O’Brien, 2013) suggests that neglect of poverty occurs when practitioners solely focus on individuality, identity, diversity and difference without addressing or even