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CHAPTER 12
CRITICAL AND FEMINIST THEORIES
INTRODUCTION
• SOCIAL JUSTICE IS ONE OF THE TENETS OF THE NASW CODE OF ETHICS
• PEOPLE CAN FACE INEQUALITY ON A MACRO OR STRUCTURAL LEVEL
• STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES BECOME PART OF OUR SOCIAL FABRIC AND ALLOW OPPRESSION
TO OCCUR
• FEMINIST AND CRITICAL THEORIES SHARE COMMONALITIES BUT ALSO HAVE PROFOUND
DIFFERENCES
• BOTH ARE PHILOSOPHICAL, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL THEORIES
HISTORICAL FOUNDATION AND OVERVIEW OF
CRITICAL THEORY
• ORIGINATED IN GERMANY AT THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE 1920S
• IS LARGELY A SOCIAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL CRITIQUE OF HOW KNOWLEDGE IS PRODUCED IN THE MODERN
SOCIAL WORLD
• MAX HORKHEIMER AND HIS STUDENT JÜRGEN HABERMAS ARE TWO IMPORTANT THEORISTS
• INDIVIDUAL HUMAN INTERESTS AND VALUES ARE A PART OF AND HELP TO SHAPE OUR SOCIAL WORLD
• SCIENTIFIC REASONING HAD BEEN USED TO EXPLAIN MOST ASPECTS OF DAILY LIFE, REPLACING RELIGIOUS
SUPERSTITION THAT RELIED ON FAITH AND BELIEF
• SCIENTIFIC REASONING WAS MISUSED TO EXPAND THE POWER OF DOMINANT GROUPS, WHICH CAME AT THE
EXPENSE OF THE LESS POWERFUL, WHO UNCRITICALLY ACCEPTED THE STATUS QUO
HISTORICAL FOUNDATION AND OVERVIEW OF
CRITICAL THEORY, CONTINUED
• THE MORE POWERFUL GROUPS FOCUSED ON INSTRUMENTAL RATIONALITY, WHICH IS CONCERNED WITH
FINDING THE MOST EFFICIENT MEANS TO ANY END
• IT WAS OPPOSED BY SUBSTANTIVE RATIONALITY, WHICH CONSIDERS ETHICAL MEANS TO AN END
• AN EXAMPLE OF INSTRUMENTAL RATIONALITY WOULD BE THE GROWTH AND DOMINATION OF ADOLF
HITLER’S REGIME AND NAZISM
• SOCIAL THEORISTS RECOGNIZED THAT THAT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE SOCIAL WORLD WAS NOT VALUE-FREE
AS SCIENTIFIC REASONING PURPORTED
• CRITICAL THEORY ASKS US TO THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT SOCIAL AND CULTURAL MESSAGES, HOW THEY MIGHT
EMPOWER THE STATUS QUO, AND HOW THEY MIGHT MAINTAIN UNDESIRABLE SOCIAL CONDITIONS LIKE
POVERTY OR OTHER SOURCES OF INEQUALITY
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRITICAL THEORY
• CRITICAL THEORY ASSUMES THAT PEOPLE THINK RATIONALLY WHICH MEANS THAT PEOPLE ARE ABLE
TO CRITICIZE TAKEN-FOR-GRANTED MESSAGES THAT WE LEARN IN SOCIETY AND ACCEPT AS
TRUTH
• CRITICAL THEORY TRIES TO WAKE PEOPLE UP TO THE TRUE MEANING OF THEIR SOCIAL CONDITION
• IT DOES THIS BY DEVELOPING A CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS, THE ABILITY TO CRITIQUE SOCIETY
• FREIRE ARGUES THAT THIS IS NECESSARY TO RESTORE HUMANITY
• COMMUNICATION IS VITAL TO DEVELOPING A CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
• HABERMAS’S MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO CRITICAL THEORY WAS THE INCORPORATION OF
LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION INTO CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRITICAL THEORY, CONTINUED
• HABERMAS DEFINED THREE DOMAINS OF HUMAN INTEREST: TECHNICAL, PRACTICAL, AND
EMANCIPATORY
• TECHNICAL INTERESTS REPRESENT KNOWLEDGE THAT IS GAINED FROM EMPIRICAL FACTS AND
RESEARCH USED TO MAKE OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SOCIAL WORLD
• PRACTICAL INTERESTS INCLUDE KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM ONE’S SUBJECTIVE REALITY FOR THE
PURPOSE OF UNDERSTANDING HUMAN INSTITUTIONS
• EMANCIPATORY INTERESTS REFER TO KNOWLEDGE THAT IS GAINED FROM CRITICISM OF THE
SOCIAL WORLD, AND DEEP SELF-REFLECTION THAT CAN LEAD TO SOCIAL CHANGE
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRITICAL THEORY, CONTINUED
• THE TASK OF THE CRITICAL THEORIST IS TO UNCOVER THESE INTERESTS THROUGH COMMUNICATION, SELFREFLECTION, AND REFLEXIVITY
• IN DOING SO, PEOPLE DEVELOP THE ABILITY TO QUESTION THE LIFEWORLD, THE TAKEN-FOR-GRANTED SOCIAL
SYSTEMS, AND DISCOVER HOW ISSUES OF POWER SHAPE OUR PERCEPTION OF REALITY
• BECAUSE CRITICAL THEORISTS BELIEVE THAT FACTS AND VALUES ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED, THEY ADVOCATE
FOR PRAXIS, THE INTEGRATION OF THEORY AND POLITICAL ACTION
• COMMUNICATIVE ACTION BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND ACTION
• CRITICAL THEORISTS MAINTAIN THERE MUST BE AN IDEAL SPEECH SITUATION FOR THIS LEVEL OF MUTUAL
UNDERSTANDING TO OCCUR
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRITICAL THEORY, CONTINUED
• THE IDEAL SPEECH SITUATION HAS THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS
• EVERY SUBJECT ABLE TO SPEAK AND ACT IS ALLOWED TO TAKE PART IN A DISCUSSION
• EVERYONE IS ALLOWED TO QUESTION ANY ASSERTION, TO INTRODUCE ANY ASSERTION INTO THE
DISCUSSION, AND TO EXPRESS HIS OR HER ATTITUDES, DESIRES, AND NEEDS
• NO SPEAKER MAY BE PREVENTED, BY INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL COERCION, FROM EXERCISING HIS OR
HER RIGHTS TO SPEAK, EXPRESS HIMSELF OR HERSELF, QUESTION ASSERTIONS, OR PRESENT NEW
ASSERTIONS
• IT IS THROUGH THIS DIALECTIC PROCESS THAT OPPRESSED GROUPS CAN REALIZE THEIR OWN
OPPRESSION AND TRANSFORM SOCIETY
FOUNDATION AND OVERVIEW OF FEMINIST THEORY
• DEVELOPED IN THE 1960S ALONG WITH OTHER MAJOR POLITICAL MOVEMENTS; THIS WAS A PERIOD CALLED THE
SECOND WAVE OF FEMINISM
• CONTEMPORARY FEMINIST THEORISTS BEGAN TO CRITICALLY ANALYZE SEX ROLES AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS MORE
THAN THEIR FIRST WAVE COUNTERPARTS, WHO HAD FOCUSED ON WOMEN’S EXCLUSION FROM EDUCATION, THE
WORKFORCE, AND VOTING RIGHTS
• SECOND WAVE FEMINISTS SAW GENDER AS A TOOL OF SOCIAL HIERARCHY THAT PRIVILEGED MEN, AS EVIDENCED BY
MEN’S HIGHER PAY, INCREASED CAREER RECOGNITION, AND LACK OF RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE HOME
• PRIOR TO THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT, THESE WERE DISMISSED AS TRIVIAL ISSUES OR CONSIDERED TO BE THE NATURAL
ORDER
• THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL CAPTURES THE SENTIMENT THAT INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES OF INEQUALITY ARE A RESULT
OF POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC CAUSES
FOUNDATION AND OVERVIEW OF FEMINIST THEORY,
CONTINUED
• GENDER INEQUALITY WAS FRAMED ALMOST ENTIRELY AS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND
WOMEN, AND FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON WHITE, MIDDLE-CLASS, WESTERN WOMEN’S
EXPERIENCES AND IDEAS
• THUS, DIFFERENCES AMONG WOMEN WERE IGNORED, AND THERE WAS A NOTICEABLE
BACKLASH AS LESBIANS, WOMEN OF COLOR, AND WORKING-CLASS WOMEN WERE
EXCLUDED FROM THIS TYPE OF FEMINISM
• PATRICIA HILL COLLINS ADVOCATES FOR NONWHITE AND LESBIAN FEMINISTS TO PLACE THEIR
SOCIAL POSITION IN THE CENTER OF THE DISCUSSION AND HAVE ALL GROUPS EXAMINE
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN REFERENCE TO THEIR OWN POSITIONS
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FEMINIST THEORY
• THOUGH GENDER INEQUALITY IS CENTRAL TO FEMINIST THEORY, SOURCES OF GENDER
OPPRESSION VARY
• INTERSECTIONALITY IS A CONCEPT THAT SUGGEST RACIAL, SOCIAL, AND CLASS ISSUES SHAPE
ONE’S IDENTITY AND EXPERIENCES JUST AS MUCH AS, IF NOT MORE THAN, GENDER ALONE
• A KEY THEME OF INTERSECTIONALITY IS A FOCUS ON HOW POWER STRUCTURES BASED ON
GENDER, RACE, AND CLASS AFFECT ONE’S SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES
• WE HAVE ENTERED A NEW WAVE OF FEMINISM WHERE THE FOCUS IS ON PROBLEMATIZING AND
COMPLICATING CONTEMPORARY NOTIONS OF GENDER, RACE, AND SEXUAL IDENTITY BEYOND THE
SCOPE OF EARLIER FEMINISTS
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FEMINIST THEORY
• POSTMODERN THEORIES AND QUEER THEORIES REPRESENT AN EXTREME QUESTIONING AND
REFORMULATING OF COMMONLY ACCEPTED CATEGORIES OF GENDER
• THEY ARGUE THAT GENDER IS SHIFTING AND FLUID, THAT IT IS VIEWED AS A PERFORMANCE
AND IS ACTED OUT IN THE WAY WE DRESS, BEHAVE, MOVE, AND TALK
• THERE IS ALSO NOTICEABLE EMPHASIS ON THIRD-WORLD WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES AS THEY’VE
BEEN COLONIZED BY WESTERN FEMINISTS
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
• BOTH SHARE COMMON THEMES OF EXAMINING STRUCTURES AND CRITIQUING POWER
IMBALANCES
• BOTH SEEK TO UNDERSTAND OPPRESSION AND CONFRONT OPPRESSION
• BOTH HAVE ROOTS IN MARXISM, PRIMARILY HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
• THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT POINTS OUT HOW HISTORICAL AND MATERIAL CONDITIONS
HAVE SHAPED THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE ACROSS TIME; AN IDEOLOGY IS DEVELOPED AND
CHANGES
• THE MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE IS FEMINISM’S EMPHASIS ON PATRIARCHY
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES, CONTINUED
• CRITICAL THEORY VALUES QUANTITATIVE KNOWLEDGE ROOTED IN SOCIAL JUSTICE
• FEMINIST THEORY TENDS TO FOCUS ON MORE QUALITATIVE, SUBJECTIVE, AND RELATIONAL
APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE
• FEMINIST THEORY TAKES GREAT CARE NOT TO UNIVERSALIZE THE EXPERIENCES OF VARIOUS
GROUPS
• CRITICAL THEORY DOES NOT REJECT RESEARCH THAT AIMS TO GENERALIZE AS LONG AS IT IS
ROOTED IN EMANCIPATORY INTERESTS
KEY CONCEPTS
• INTERNALIZED OPPRESSION—KIND OF PSYCHOLOGICAL OPPRESSION WHERE ONE BECOMES HIS/HER OWN
OPPRESSOR
• SYMBOLIC VIOLENCE—A KIND OF UNCONSCIOUS DOMINATION THAT HAPPENS WHEN CULTURAL BELIEFS ARE
IMPOSED ON COMPLICIT GROUPS OF PEOPLE; THEY THEN SHAPE THE SOCIAL ORDER
• CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND COMMUNICATIVE ACTION—DEVELOPING AN AWARENESS OF INEQUALITY
• PROCESS BEGINS WITH
• OPENING UP ABOUT ONE’S FEELINGS IN A GROUP SETTING
• SHARING EXPERIENCES WITH OTHER WOMEN
• ANALYZING REASONS AND CAUSES OF OPPRESSION
• ABSTRACTING, OR FREELY THEORIZING
• PROCESS IS THERAPEUTIC BUT IS NOT CONSIDERED THERAPY
KEY CONCEPTS, CONTINUED
• COMMUNICATIVE ACTION DEALS WITH CRITICAL REFLECTION THAT RESULTS IN A DEEP
UNDERSTANDING OF ONE’S GOALS, ACTIONS, AND SELF
• SOCIAL WORKERS CAN USE THESE TWO TOOLS TO ASSIST CLIENTS TO EMPOWERMENT
• EMPOWERMENT AND EMANCIPATION—MEANS TO INCREASE THE STRENGTH OR CAPACITY
OF INDIVIDUALS OR COMMUNITIES IN ORDER TO BE LIBERATED FROM DISTORTED
COMMUNICATION AND DOMINATION FROM THE STATUS QUO
PRINCIPLES OF FEMINIST/CRITICAL THEORY WITHIN
SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
• BOTH ARE ANTIDISCRIMINATORY AND ANTIOPPRESSIVE PERSPECTIVES
• SOCIAL WORKERS SHOULD PRACTICE REFLEXIVITY—THINK ABOUT HOW YOU MAY
UNCONSCIOUSLY RE-CREATE DOMINANT CULTURAL BELIEFS THAT MAY BE OPPRESSIVE
• DO NOT RE-CREATE POWER HIERARCHIES
PRINCIPLES OF FEMINIST/CRITICAL THEORY WITHIN
SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE, CONTINUED
• SALAS, SEN, AND SEGAL OFFER SIX STEPS TO GUIDE SOCIAL WORKERS ON INCORPORATING
CRITICAL THEORY INTO THEIR PRACTICE
• EXAMINE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT
• CONSIDER THE ROLE OF POWER DISTRIBUTIONS
• ENGAGE IN SELF-REFLECTION
• PRACTICE NONJUDGMENTAL INQUIRY
• ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR CLIENT’S AND YOUR OWN VALUES
• ENCOURAGE HEIGHTENED AWARENESS THAT MAY SPUR ACTION
APPLICATION OF FEMINIST/CRITICAL THEORY WITHIN
SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
• IS A WAY OF BEING, AS MUCH AS A WAY OF BEHAVING
• RECOGNIZE AND RESPECT DIFFERENCES
• EXAMINE POWER, AND AVOID HIERARCHIES
• CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HOW THE WORLD OPERATES
• ENGAGEMENT—USE SELF-EXAMINATION TO UNCOVER YOUR OWN ASSUMPTIONS AND
BIASES BEFORE AND THROUGHOUT ENGAGEMENT; MAINTAIN AN EGALITARIAN RELATIONSHIP
APPLICATION OF FEMINIST/CRITICAL THEORY WITHIN
SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE, CONTINUED
• ASSESSMENT—IDEA OF ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSIS, IN PARTICULAR, IS HIGHLY CONTESTED
BECAUSE DIAGNOSES ARE SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED; FULLY INVOLVE CLIENTS IN MAKING
ASSESSMENT THAT IS MEANINGFUL TO THEIR LIVES AND SOCIAL AND CULTURAL EXPERIENCES;
INCORPORATE PARTS OF IDEAL SPEECH SITUATION
• INTERVENTION—INTRODUCE INTERVENTIONS THAT SEEK TO DEVELOP A DEEPER
UNDERSTANDING OF A CLIENT’S LIVED EXPERIENCE WITH OPPRESSION; SHOULD BE CREATIVE
• EVALUATION—MIGHT INCLUDE MORE QUALITATIVE OR CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES THAT
INTERVENTION HAS WORKED; PRACTICE OUTCOMES SHOULD BE CONTEXTUAL AND DEFINED
BY THE CLIENT, NOT THE WORKER
CRITICISMS OF FEMINIST AND CRITICAL THEORY
APPROACHES
• SOME MAY CONSIDER CRITICAL THEORY EXCESSIVELY NEGATIVE
• NOT ALL COMMUNICATION CAN BE “UNDISTORTED” EVEN WHEN THERE IS AN IDEAL SPEECH
SITUATION
• FINDING PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS IS ALSO IMPORTANT
• FEMINIST THEORY RUNS THE RISK OF REPLICATING INEQUALITY
• THE WORD “FEMINISM” HAS DIFFERING CONNOTATIONS AND CAN BE NEGATIVE
CONCLUSION
• CRITICAL THEORY OFFERS A LENS TO ASSESS TAKEN-FOR-GRANTED ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT
KNOWLEDGE, THE SOCIAL WORLD, AND OUR INTERACTIONS
• IT OFFERS A FRAMEWORK TO PROMOTE EMANCIPATION AND LIBERATION OF MARGINALIZED
POPULATIONS
• CRITICAL AND FEMINIST THEORIES EMPHASIZE SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ETHICS, AND THEY ALIGN
WELL WITH OUR PROFESSIONAL VALUES