Gender Perspectives
in Social Work Practice
SPRING 2021
Kristýna Pešáková – pesakova@fss.muni.cz
Lucie Čechovská – 144430@mail.muni.cz
GROUP ACTIVITY
What have feminist theories brought to the critique
of social work practice?
the connections between postmodern feminism
and the objectives of critical social work
- The crisis of knowledge
- The crisis of identity
intersectionality
academic
theories, methodology,
empirical analysis
practice,
tools and approaches to
education, social work etc.
politics,
policy papers,
strategies etc.
intersectionality
academic
theories, methodology,
empirical analysis
Intersectionality has become the primary analytic tool that
feminist and anti-racist scholars deploy for theorizing
identity and oppression.
the concept of intersectionality was introduced by Kimberlé Williams
Cranshaw - American lawyer, professor at Columbia Law School (1989, paper:
“Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique
of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics")
the concept originally framed within the context of anti-racist feminists in the
USA (among a group of legal scholars)
the starting point for wider feminist theorizing and conceptualization - in order
to find a shared framework for negotiation and the most effective analytical
work
intersectionalityacademic
theories, methodology,
empirical analysis
intersectionalityacademic
theories, methodology,
empirical analysis
Kimberlé Crenshaw (American professor of law)
Marion Young (American political theorist and
socialist feminist)
STRUCTURALIST (SOCIAL JUSTICE)
Intersectional invisibility in anti-discrimination policy
- analysis of how power differentials around gender,
race and ethnicity are entangled with each other.
The systemic approach to highlight structural
inequalities, intersecting systems of domination and
subordination that are connected with the
categories of gender, race, ethnicity
Dorothe Staunæs (Danis social psychologist)
Baukje Prins (Dutch feminist, political philosopher)
POSTSTRUCTURALITS (SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST)
The structuralist approach fails when it comes to the
analysis of agency and subjectivity of people and the ways
in which individuals construct their social identifications.
Turn to subjectivity and agency - power as productive on a
subject level (to be able to grasp the complexity of life
experiences, social constructions of self, narratives of
gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality within own meaningmaking
process
GROUP ACTIVITY
the story of Mrs. T.
- In the communities of foreigners living in the Czech Republic, the
awareness of helping people at risk of domestic violence is low,
- the service is harder to reach for them,
- current practice dealing with domestic violence is difficult to apply to
foreigners,
- classic tools to help people of other ethnicities at risk of domestic
violence do not work perfectly,
- there is a need to create an approach that respects cultural differences.
GROUP ACTIVITY
the story of Mrs. T.
Some factors which may complicate access to the service for
foreigners (Spondea):
• fear of the police, which may be caused, for example, by bad
experiences from the country of origin or illegal residence,
• little knowledge of the language,
• religions and traditions transferred from the country of origin,
• economic dependence, limited access to social assistance benefits,
• increased dependence on a partner.
GROUP ACTIVITY
the story of Mrs. T.
These factors can lead, for example, to the following phenomena:
• communities and ethnicities of foreigners do not report domestic violence, victims do not seek help,
• endangered persons do not know where to seek help, in case of illegality they are afraid of the
connection of social services with the Police of the Czech Republic,
• a violent person from another culture does not respect the established patterns of social control, eg
expulsion of violent partner may be considered a disgrace that may lead to the need for revenge,
• there may be other people in the community who take on the role of violent person,
• consent (silent or public) to physical violence against women (for infidelity, alcohol abuse, ridicule of
a partner, family, etc.).
Solutions: multicultural empathy, cooperation with organizations working with foreigners, ...
GROUP ACTIVITY
the story of Mrs m.
VERTICAL GENDER SEGREGATION on LABOUR MARKET
Vertical segregation can be described as an unequal representation of women or men in different rungs of the employee hierarchy, for example, in leadership
positions, in middle positions management, in positions requiring a certain degree of responsibility and characterized by the ability to define the work of
subordinates, etc. In most European countries, women are at the bottom rungs of the employee ranking and less often than men hold leadership positions.
(VALENTOVÁ, ŠMÍDOVÁ, KATRŇÁK, Gender segregation of the labour market in the context of segregation educational: an international comparison, 2007)
HORIZONTAL GENDER SEGREGATION on LABOUR MARKET
Horizontal segregation can be defined as a high concentration of men or women in a given labour market sector or in certain professions. Among the horizontal
segregated work environments in the Czech Republic Republic, for example, includes education, where women strongly predominate among employees, or
construction, where, on the contrary, there is a strong predominance of men. Horizontal labour market segregation has an impact on the amount of salaries or
wages in the given fields. The so-called typically female or feminized fields of work as education or social services are substantial worse rated than the so-called
typically male fields.
(VALENTOVÁ, ŠMÍDOVÁ, KATRŇÁK, Gender segregation of the labour market in the context of segregation educational: an international comparison, 2007)
MULTIPLE DISCRIMINATION (based on gender, ethnicity, ...)
NEXT LESSON
31ST MARCH