Chapter 8 Flashcards
The First Wave of Feminism ( 1840s-1920s)
Included the temperance movement
* Focused on the probation of alcohol due to
devastating effects on women and children
* Women’s missionary and charitable
activities
* Provided women with an opportunity to be
involved in public life
* Suffragette movement
* The movement that allowed women the
right to vote
* In 1916 mother’s allowance was introduced
The Second Wave of feminism
( 1960s-1980s)
- “The person is political” – identified
the impact of sexism and patriarchy
on women’s lives - It had a profound impact on social
work - However, attention was mainly
focused on the concerns of white,
middle-class women (excluding
racialized women)
The Third Wave of
Feminism (1980s-2000s)
- Drew more attention to the
multiple forms of feminism - The idea of intersectionality
arose - This more inclusive approach
continues to influence social
work practice today.
(Devine, 2018)
The Fourth Wave of
Feminism (2000s- present)
- New technology has major
implications for social work
practice - New platforms are facilitating
participation in feminist
organizations and advocacy
Gender Pay-Gap
In developed countries all around the
world, women only earn about 70 cents
for every dollar that is earned by a man
for work of equal value.
* In the 1950s and onward, women
entered the workforce
* Women often work in jobs that are
considered less prestigious than men
* Women are often expected to carry a
double burden of childcare as well as
earn an income outside the home
Equal-Pay Policies
●From the 1950s till the
1960s, every Canadian
province enacted
legislation requiring equal
pay for similar or
substantially similar work
●In the 1970s, Quebec and
the federal government
introduced pay equity
legislation
●In the 1980s, most
jurisdictions followed suit.
●All Canadian provinces
have equal employment
legislation in place, and it
was introduced in the
1980s
Feminization of poverty
21% of single
mothers in Canada
are raising their
children in poverty
37% of Indigenous
women in Canada
live in poverty
28% of women that
are part of racialized
groups live in
poverty and face
additional stressors
and barriers, such as
difficulty obtaining
employment
33% of women living
in poverty are
recognized as have
a disability
16% of older women
in Canada live in
poverty
Problems Affecting
Women
Under-representation in management roles
* Part-time work
* Minimum-wage legislation
* Maternity and parental leave
* Dependent care
* Free trade and globalization
* Pension programs
* Recessions
* Employment insurance programs
Addressing the Feminization of
Poverty
Women’s poverty arises from factors such as
divorce, separation, and responsibilities as
mothers, homemakers, and caregivers.
* Some strategies could be employment,
childcare, old-age security, family law, social
assistance rates, and general income
security
* Investing in education for women, changes
in policy to address employment
discrimination for Indigenous women and
women that are part of minority groups
Affordable Childcare Why does it
matter?
- Childcare is expensive
- Long waiting lists
- Lack of staff
- Concerns about the quality of
childcare - $10 dollar-a-day daycare will be
implemented in Ontario by the end
of March 2026 - 92% of Ontario’s licensed children’s
care providers are opting into the
$10 program, and 7% of these
locations opted out of this service - Current inflation in the cost of living
- This makes it difficult for mothers to
be a part of the workforce since they
often bear the responsibility of
childcare.
Sexual assault:
any form of unwanted
sexual activity,
including fondling,
touching, and
penetration, that is
forced upon another
person without that
person’s consent.
Sexual harassment
is any unwanted
behaviour, comment,
gesture or contact of
a sexual nature that
treats the person
receiving it as a
sexual object (Mitchell, 2017)
Sexual Assault and Harassment statistics
● 92% of women are the reported
survivors of sexual offences
● However, most sexual assaults are
not reported. This is due to
multiple reasons, but some
common reasons are that women
feel afraid, don’t want to go to
court, and know that the
probability of conviction is low
● Sexual assault is often presumed
to be perpetrated by strangers,
but often it is people we know
(45% acquaintance) (37% perpetrated by family members)
How Social Workers Can Help Sexual Assault
Survivors
- Social workers play an important role in
sexual assault crisis centers, sexual
assault helplines, sexual assault and
domestic violence care and treatment
centers, sexual assault survivor centers,
and shelters or transition houses. - Social workers can arrange counselling,
legal and medical services that survivors
might need. - Can sometimes accompany the sexual
assault survivor to the hospital, police,
court proceedings, and appointments
with lawyers and financial aid workers. - Provide emotional support and advocacy
for their client, educate the public about
sexual violence, and campaign for policy
and systemic change.
Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention
- When working on a crisis line, the first step is to
make sure the caller is safe. - Crisis counselling aims to open a conversation
about treatment planning and intervention. - The primary goal of the social worker in
responding to cases of sexual assault is to
express belief in the survivor’s story, listen
attentively, and validate the woman’s feelings
and concerns. - You may need to provide follow-up referrals that
can offer support to your client.
Role of Social Worker in Supporting Survivors of Abuse
- Crisis intervention
- Emotional support
- Empowerment
- Support group
facilitation - Provision of information
- The social worker in a shelter will
often be the first person that the
survivor will meet after leaving a
violent situation. - This time is critical as it can be
necessary for the social worker to
explain the cycle of violence and
emphasize that the abuse will most
likely occur again. - Emphasize the abuse is not the
survivor’s fault. - After providing the survivor with
the relevant information they
need to make a decision, the
social worker should support the
survivor in whatever decision they
make. - Although it may be difficult to see
the survivor go back to an abusive
relationship, we need to allow the
survivor the power to make their
own decisions.
Role of Social Worker in Supporting Survivors
What happens if the survivor goes
back to her abuser
- Intervene in a crisis
- Facilitate an empowerment
approach with the survivor - Listen to what the survivor is saying
- Connect the survivor to a support
group of individuals with common
experiences. - Help make referrals
- Advise survivor of her legal rights and link to appropriate
resources - Keep accurate records and documentation per your
agency policies - Carefully write case notes to ensure that nothing will be
misinterpreted and used against the survivor - Complete crisis management and follow-up referrals
- Provide follow-up and counselling with the survivor to help
prevent the onset of isolation and depression
Shelter Services
1970s, the women’s
movement struggled for
the funding and
development of shelters
●Today they are the most
important resource for
protecting survivors of
abuse from their violent
partners
An Effective shelter should provide
○ Emergency access to a safe place
○ Counselling and emotional support
○ Information and referrals
○ Access to affordable and safe housing and to legal and
medical services
○ Employment and income support
○ Mental health and addiction services where required
○ Childcare, child support, and counselling for children to
overcome trauma
○ Safety planning
○ Assistance with the family law system
Violence Against Women
- During the late 19th century and early 20th century,
women were recognized as having legal and political
rights. - However, domestic violence occurred behind closed
doors and was considered no one else’s business. - The view at the time was that men should have
complete authority in the home. - Most assaults on women were not reported to the
authorities - In the 1980s, the police across Canada were mandated
to charge accused assailants
99,000 victims reported family violence in canada in 2010
Theorizing Violence Against Women
* Power theory
- Violence against women is a societal problem
which occurs because of the power
imbalance between men and women - Violence has continued because there has
been a historical acceptance of men’s right to
control women - In order to change, society must change its
attitudes, values, and responses with respect
to women if violence is to be eliminated.
Theorizing Violence Against Women
* Learning theory
- Violence is a behaviour learned in childhood
- Children in society are socialized to accept
violence - Children who witness violence in the home
are more likely to become abusers or be
abused - Changing behaviour will occur through
education and counselling
Theorizing Violence Against Women
* Anger-control theory
- Men must be held accountable for violent
behaviour - Learn to deal with and control their anger
- They theorize if men control their anger,
violence will stop - People who use this theory favour
criminalization and punishment-based social
work approach
Theorizing Violence Against Women
Cycle-of-Violence Theory
Phase one: Tension-building phase
* The woman sees tension is building and there is going to
be an explosion
Phase two: Acute battering incident
* Tension reaches a point where the man becomes
physically violent
Third-phase: the honeymoon period
* The Male says he is sorry and begs her not to leave
* Statistics show that a woman is usually bused and leaves
many times before she leaves for the final time.
Restorative Justice
● Individual who has experienced
abuse are invited to define what
justice means to them in this
context.
● The process is guided by the needs
and perspective of the person
affected by the abusive behaviour.
● The process also involves the partner
and the wider community in
addressing these actions to restore
the individual’s sense of safety,
respect and integrity.
Bridge Institute in Nova
Scotia identified components
to the therapeutic process of
restorative justice and
narrative therapy
1. Exploring values and ethics
2. Studying the abuse
3. Studying the full effects of
the abuse
4. Healing and repair(County of Marin, n.d)
● Restorative justice is not a
predictable approach.
● People begin this process by
meeting with their social worker
to determine safety issues.
● Individuals who do not wish
further contact but want their
partner to take responsibility can
communicate what they want
through counsellors or video-
conferencing
Some individuals speak directly with
their partner or former partners in a
controlled setting.
● These conversations hinge on safety
issues as assessed by the survivor
of abuse and the social workers
involved.
● The Individual who perpetrated the
abuser can take responsibility for
their behaviour by attending group,
family, and conjoint sessions if
conditions are deemed safe.
Incorporating Feminist Principles
- Challenging and ongoing commitment
- Requires an awareness of power
differences and how they affect the
therapeutic relationship and the
client’s life - Focusing on the client’s skills, agency,
and resilience fosters self-esteem and
a healthy and egalitarian client-
therapist relationship. - Giving voice to her experiences can
help the client heal from trauma - Listen and validating are the two most
important aspects of applying feminist
principles to social work practice
13 Components of Feminist Social
Work Practice
- Validating the social context
- Re-valuing positions enacted by women
- Recognizing differences in men’s and
women’s experiences - Readjusting perceptions of normality
and deviance - Taking an inclusive stance
- Heeding power dynamics in the client-
worker relationship - Recognizing how “ the personal is
political.” - Taking a deconstructive stance
- Taking a partnering stance
- Fostering inclusive scholarship
- Challenging reductionist models
- Adopting empowerment practice
- Countering the myth of neutral
psychotherapy
