Constructing Critical Conversations in Social Work Supervision: Creating Change

AbstractClinical social work supervision is not immune to enactments of racial and social injustice, prejudice, power and privilege rampant in our social environment and institutions. These dynamics are active in all social interactions. Most often felt on impact, these remain underground and unevenly experienced —though predominantly by people representing intersecting marginalized identities. Such real enactments can be misunderstood or avoided in social work supervision. Negative consequences not only impede learning for the supervisee and supervisor, and affect clinical understanding of client care the y also perpetuate injustice based on power and social locations. Social work supervision provides space for critical analysis to identify and alter dynamics of power, privilege, and social oppression. The critical conversations (CC) model provides a framework to illuminate and examine power dynamics in order to produce change with parallel insight and action—supervisee, supervisor, and client care. Supervisee and supervisor gain capacity to engage in reflection, examine personal and professional values, hold tension and tolerate ambiguity, use one self critically, articulate ideas and insigh ts thoughtfully and effectively, as well as inform clinical understanding of clients. The need for critical dialogue in social work supervision regarding dynamics of sameness, differences, intersectional identities, power and privilege is emphasized. Theoretical grounding is offered...
Source: Clinical Social Work Journal - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research