Doing Knowing Ethically – Where Social Work Values Meet Critical Realism

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the injustices experienced by already marginalised groups when they are excluded from participation in society, specifically within the realms of knowledge production and transfer. In this sense they are wronged as ‘knowers’ and experience epistemic injustice, either as a consequence of perceived credibility deficits or due to a lack of understanding of their situation. As a result, their marginalisation and exclusion grows. This article argues that a values orientation of acceptance, awareness and virtue, combined with an analytical framework provided by critical realism, can better equip social work practitioners and policy makers in identifying and understanding sites of epistemic injustice.

KEYWORDS:

• Knowledge
• epistemic injustice
• critical realism
• social work
• acceptance
• awareness
• virtue

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Ian Dore is a Senior Lecturer within the Social Work department at the University of Brighton. He is a registered Social Worker and qualified Practice Educator. His research interests include the notion of ‘knowing’ in social work, evidence informed practice and the influence of emotion in social work.