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What Role Do Neoliberal Ideologies Play In Social Work

840 Words4 Pages

This essay explores the role that my personal values in the context of social work as a catalyst for social control or social change. I will reflect on the development of my personal values and how these values control and overshadow the values of human services such as social justice and equality. I will also investigate the potential challenges that neoliberal ideologies play in practicing justice-based social work.
In Australia, the human services sector includes a wide range of service delivery options. Services include child welfare, public health, psychological health, corrections, and community development (Finn 2020). Practice is guided by personal and organisational beliefs about how clients, staff, organisations, and the wider systems ought to behave are embedded in practises and regulations (Pithouse 2019). These ideals reflect the dominant social values in society. The AASW Code of Ethics (2020) outlines the fundamental values and expectations of social work practise. Social justice is a fundamental principle of Australian social work. The pursuit of social …show more content…

Neoliberal is a socio-political ideology that permeate human service practise through laws imposed on how professionals and organisations practice, make decisions, provide services, and interact with clients, as well as market-driven efforts to make the public sector more efficient and economically viable (Brown 2021). In a human services context, Neoliberal ideologies conflict with values that drive social work practice, including social justice and human rights. Practicing under a Neoliberal framework entails deregulation, standardised evidence-based methodologies, welfare service privatisation, distribution of resources under a free market, affordability over quality of care, and individual responsibility over collective action (Cummins

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