Structural Social Work

Abstract

In rejecting a status quo orientation to social work, the late professor Maurice Moreau1 formulated a structural approach to practice which made a valuable contribution to progressive forms of social work in Canada. Drawing uoon Moreau's work, this article examines empowerment and progressive social work practice. More specifically, empowerment is examined with reference to the social worker's actions in: maximizing client resources; reducing power inequalities in client-worker relationships; unmasking the primary structures of oppression; facilitating a collective consciousness; fostering activism with social movements; and encouraging responsibility for feelings and behaviours leading to personal and political change.