Developmental social work: a strengths praxis for social development

Midgley (2001) claimed that "there is a need for a comprehensive formulation of what critical social development practice should involve". This paper is an attempt to respond to this challenge. While Midgley (2001) relates the critical perspective to Marxist-oriented practice, I suggest that the strengths perspective gives the radical edge needed for developmental social work practice. The purpose of this paper is to show how social work might develop a "development" praxis. Social workers have the knowledge and skills needed for empowering development practice and its values relating to social justice and human rights fit hand in glove with social development thinking. The main stumbling block, however is whether social workers see this as a valid form of practice for themselves tied as they are to individualistic 'psychosocial' approaches within service-oriented contexts. Developmental social work requires them to get out of this box into the neighbourhood and local community and to begin talking to clients as partners who know the solution to the challenges they encounter. Do social workers want to become facilitators of change or will they cling to their current practice? This question lies at the heart of finding a valid role for social work in social development.