Epistemic Ethics Justice in Social Work

Both the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) Codes of Ethics identify the promotion of social justice and a commitment to fighting social injustice as core values of social work. Yet, neither code clearly operationalizes justice. In response, this chapter examines (1) the theoretical underpinnings of how the social work profession defines justice, (2) the gaps in these definitions, and (3) how the concepts of epistemic injustice and critical consciousness fill the gaps. Against this backdrop, three specific tools (decentering, identifying biases, and conducting power analyses) are outlined to help social workers cultivate a critical consciousness that promotes anti-oppressive ethics, rounding out a clear operationalization of justice in anti-oppressive ethics praxis. Taken together, epistemic ethics justice and the cultivation of a critical consciousness fill the conceptual gaps in our profession&s;s operationalization of justice to create an epistemically just community.