Grounding Research, Teaching, and Practice in Innovative Theories of Social Justice

Social justice is integral to the mission and values of the social work profession. Yet, specific, explicit frameworks for conceptualizing social justice are often missing from social work research, teaching, and practice. Integrating social justice frameworks into research would help to ensure that social work is succeeding in its mission to operationalize social justice through such research. This roundtable session will provide an overview of four prevailing social justice frameworks and discuss avenues for integrating these frameworks into social work research, teaching, and practice. Social justice frameworks from the fields of economics, moral psychology, and social cognitive neuroscience will be presented; the capability approach, the social empathy model, the theory for complex equality and Honneth’s theory of recognition.

Sen’s capability approach moves beyond the traditional distributive justice focus on income and basic needs, to consider a person’s functionings and capabilities. The capability approach recognizes that income alone may not be sufficient as a resource, as individuals facing structural barriers such as racism, sexism or ableism may not be able to achieve valued functionings (Sen, 2009). The capability approach provides an ideal conceptual framework for examining the impact of chronic illness and disability. Segal's (2011) social empathy model provides a tripartite process for gaining understanding of people and the structural inequalities and oppressions they experience in order to form more empathetic communities. Social empathy emphasizes combating structural inequalities, particularly the need for the powerful and privileged to develop social empathy for the experiences of the marginalized. The social empathy model is an effective framework for understanding the social justice implications of the current crisis in American child care. The social empathy model is also highly applicable as a framework for examining racial justice and considering how society can combat racial oppression through empathy. Walzer’s (1983) theory of complex equality posits that justice can still be realized with some inequity, so long as and an advantage in one sphere does not privilege an individual in another. Additionally, Walzer (1983) stresses that justice is locally defined. The theory of complex equality highlights how intimate partner violence violates social justice and can provide insight into the development of community-based solutions. Honneth’s theory of recognition holds that social justice is advanced if individuals have access to three spheres of recognition (and related intrinsic attributes): affective recognition (self-confidence), rights and legal recognition (self-respect), and achievement recognition (self-esteem) (Rossiter, 2014). These spheres of recognition and intrinsic qualities work in tandem to develop a person's identity (Heidegren, 2002), establishing autonomy, and achieving self-realization (Pilapil, 2013). When individuals are unable to achieve these three types of recognition, they experience an insult to their dignity as equal members of society (Rossiter, 2014).  Social workers can apply social recognition theory to advance social justice among undocumented students.

The presenters aim to spark conversation regarding greater use of specific social justice frameworks as an avenue for advancing social work research, teaching, and practice.