Professional power in social work education and practice: a process of critical reflection and learning

Power is embedded within social work practice, yet many social workers are not provided with sufficient opportunities to critically examine or learn about professional power within educational and direct practice settings. Consequently, social workers may be unknowingly influenced by anti-power discourses that lead them towards avoiding professional power without meaningful critique of those discourses. However, power is neither a bad or good 'thing' but rather complex, fluid, and relational. Moreover, since power is inherent to the social work role, its disregard may be ill-advised as it then risks being used in unreflective and subversive manners. Social workers are instead encouraged to increase their understanding of power and learn to ethically integrate it into practice. Critical reflection on practice is a theory and process that can support this examination of power. This paper presents an example of using critical reflection within a social work graduate program to learn about power, and describes how the authors (a student and professor) used this tool to deconstruct, reconstruct, and debate their ideas. Contextual and relational aspects of power are also added alongside the authors' self-reflections and dialogue to describe the complexity of power. The paper concludes with recommendations for social work education and practice.