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Social Justice as an Ethic of Social Work

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Social Justice Theory and Practice for Social Work

Abstract

Social justice has long been an important aim and driving aspiration for social work. The pursuit of social justice is enshrined in ethical codes, practice standards and social work literature around the world, and social work may be considered as an organised attempt at working for social justice. This chapter explains the historical background and meaning of social justice before exploring how social justice is understood in the discipline of social work. Particular emphasis will explore the conceptualisation of social justice in social work ethical codes and theory texts, noting the tension between structural and individual accounts of social justice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Bunbury, WA, Australia

    Lynelle Watts & David Hodgson

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  1. Lynelle Watts
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  2. David Hodgson
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Correspondence to Lynelle Watts .

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Watts, L., Hodgson, D. (2019). Social Justice as an Ethic of Social Work. In: Social Justice Theory and Practice for Social Work. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3621-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3621-8_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-3620-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-3621-8

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