Soziale Arbeit und Menschenrechte

Reflexion über Machtverhältnisse

Abstract

This article challenges the widespread assumption that social work can be
understood as a human rights profession. It begins with the premise that this characterisation
is not self-evident, but must be critically examined within the context of social
power relations and institutional frameworks. Drawing on theoretical and critical perspectives,
the article demonstrates that social work is itself embedded in contradictory
structures and therefore cannot be regarded as human rights-based per se. Instead, it
is understood as a field of practice whose human rights orientation must be continually
negotiated and critically examined.