Anti-Oppressive Research in Group Work

ABSTRACT

Social justice and anti-oppression have emerged as the current force of practice in counseling and group work, however, anti-oppression has rarely been discussed in group work research. We identified critical issues involved in group work research, in relation to researcher/author statuses, participant characteristics, and methodological orientations. To address these issues, we approached anti-oppressive group work research, following Peters and Luke’s Principles of Anti-oppression. We discussed the application of the principles to anti-oppressive group work research, then broached critiques and implications involved in promoting anti-oppression practice, followed by our call for structural changes to facilitate anti-oppressive research in group work.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-oppression
• anti-oppressive research
• principles
• social justice
• group work

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yanhong Liu

Yanhong Liu, Ph.D., is an associate professor and Counseling and Counselor Education Doctoral Program Coordinator in the Department of Counseling and Human Services at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.

Dan Li

Dan Li, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas.