Ateneo - UPO

The course is organised into three teaching modules.
Module 1: Critical Perspectives in Social Work: Theoretical Foundations.
This module traces the origins of critical and radical social work and explores the key definitions of the discipline and its position within welfare systems. It also addresses questions of social justice, as well as critical theories of power, care and recognition in the helping process, and the tools proper to critical reflective practice.
Module 2: 'Neoliberalism, managerialism and the political role of social work'.
This module examines the impact of New Public Management on the organisation of health and social care services, as well as the depoliticisation of social distress. It also analyses the use of professional discretion in situations of resource scarcity, as well as the political role of social workers within organisations.
Module 3: The Anti-Oppressive Approach in Social Work. Analysing needs, vulnerabilities, and processes of social categorisation.
The module provides an anti-oppressive interpretation of the definitions of need, vulnerability, and

social categorisation processes, and discusses the corresponding operational method and its application in various fields of social work intervention.

1. Webb, S. A. (Ed.). (2020). The Routledge handbook of critical social work. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351264402 — Preface, Introduction, Chapters 1, 6, 44, 46, 48.
2. Fook, J. (2023). Social Work: A Critical Approach to Practice. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036231279 (chapters indicated during lectures).
3. Sanfelici, M. (2024). Fondamenti del servizio sociale anti-oppressivo. Carocci.
4. Allegri, E., & Sanfelici, M. (2023). L'approccio anti-oppressivo nel servizio sociale: Teoria in azione. La Rivista di Servizio Sociale, LXIII(1), 10–21. https://doi.org/10.1400/290824
5. Rinaldi, C., & Benvenuti, M. (2023). Pratiche anti-oppressive e popolazione LGBTQAI+: riflessioni per la formazione in servizio sociale. La Rivista di Servizio Sociale, (1), 22–32.
6. Pavani, L., Allegri, E., & Sanfelici, M. (2025). Coping strategies against oppression in social workers' everyday practice: findings from a national study. European Journal of Social Work, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2025.2579966
7. Allegri, E., & Pavani, L. (2026). Fare lavoro ecosociale di comunità. In U. Nothdurfter & L. Fazzi (Eds.), Il lavoro ecosociale in Italia. Il Mulino.

At an advanced level, the course provides the theoretical and methodological tools for a critical analysis of perspectives in social work, with attention to the origins of critical perspectives in social work, to the definitions of the discipline, and to the positioning of the social work profession within welfare systems. Particular emphasis is placed on questions of social justice and on critical theories of power, care and recognition in the helping process.
The course further examines the impact of neoliberalism and managerialism on the organisation of health and social care services, the process of depoliticisation of social distress, the use of professional discretion under conditions of resource scarcity, and the political role (policy practice) of the social worker within organisations.
A final thematic strand is devoted to an anti-oppressive reading of needs, vulnerabilities and processes of social categorisation, with in-depth study of the anti-oppressive social work method as applied across different fields.

No specific prior knowledge or skills are required. There are no prerequisites.

The course adopts a mixed seminar structure, alternating lectures given by the lecturer with moments of active participation and presentations delivered by students, for a total of 60 hours.
The lecturer's lectures introduce the fundamental theoretical cores and provide the analytical lenses required to deconstruct traditional models of intervention.
Student presentations, either individual or in small groups, involve the classroom presentation of scientific articles or excerpts from texts previously assigned. Each presentation is followed by a question-and-answer session with the class and by detailed feedback from the lecturer.

The course further includes workshop-based activities such as simulations, role play and case analysis, aimed at building connections between theoretical references and the concrete forms of intervention.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage:
https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services- students-physical-or-learning-disabilities
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The final assessment will be based on a written report on the topics addressed in the course, structured according to an outline agreed with the professor.
The report must comply with the conventions of academic scientific writing, including coherent argumentation, specialist vocabulary and paratextual elements such as a title, table of contents, relevant notes, citations and a final bibliography.
The report should be around 15 pages long, excluding the bibliography, and written in 12-point Times New Roman font with 1.5 line spacing. It must be sent to the lecturer at least 15 days before the examination date.
The text must include a title page with the report's title, a table of contents on page two, and a structure organised into sections (introduction, numbered sections, conclusions). A complete bibliography must be included at the end.
The table of contents must first be sent to the lecturer by email as a Word file named with the student's surname and first name followed by the word 'index'. Only once the table of contents has been approved may the student proceed to write the report.
The table of contents submitted for approval must contain the title of the report and its division into sections. For each section, the main content to be covered must be indicated together with precise references to the relevant parts of the set texts (chapters or sections by different authors).
Once the table of contents has been approved, the student can register for the chosen examination date and send the written report to the lecturer. From that point onwards, the lecturer will not provide further guidance or corrections to drafts; the written report will replace the oral examination.
The mark will be out of thirty. The assessment criteria will cover the completeness and relevance of the content, formal correctness and lexical accuracy, the ability to construct a critical argument and the citation of sources and authors. The mark will be recorded online on the date of the examination for which the student is registered, and it will be accepted or declined. If it is declined, the student must either revise and improve the report they have already submitted or prepare a new one on a different topic. This will restart the entire process, including the approval of the table of contents, the submission of the written report and the registration for a subsequent examination date.

Module 1: Critical Perspectives in Social Work: Theoretical Foundations
• Definitions of social work and the profession's positioning within welfare systems, in dialogue with international definitions.
The origins of critical and radical social work from the social movements of the 1970s to the emergence

of critical theories and the deconstruction of the professional mandate between social control and emancipation.
- Questions of social justice between egalitarianism and the ethics of care.
Power and knowledge in social work: the institutional construction of definitions of need and normality, and power, care and recognition in the helping process.
In-depth study of the relationship between the personal and social dimensions in social work and the contested nature of the profession between social work, control, and critical perspectives.
Module 2: Neoliberalism, managerialism and the political role of social work
The impact of New Public Management on the organisation of health and social care services, including digitalisation, fragmentation, the marketisation of welfare and a culture of performance.
The depoliticisation of social distress and the transformation of structural problems into individual failings or psychological pathologies.
The political role of the social worker: policy engagement and policy practice within organisations, with an in-depth study of anti-poverty measures.
Module 3: The Anti-Oppressive Approach in Social Work. Analysing needs, vulnerabilities, and processes of social categorisation.
• Needs, vulnerability and autonomy from an anti-oppressive perspective, moving beyond the autonomy-dependence dichotomy.
Processes of cognitive and social categorisation, including stereotypes, discrimination, forms of oppression and the intersectional lens.
The social work method from an anti-oppressive perspective: relational engagement, social assessment, planning and evaluation of interventions.
Critical reflective practice as a tool for self-awareness and the prevention of professional burnout. Fields of application of the anti-oppressive approach:
- Migration, border regimes and institutional racism, with an in-depth study of the historical link between social work, colonialism and imperialism
- Ecosocial community work from the perspective of environmental justice
- The LGBTQAI+ population
- Strategies for coping with oppression in the everyday practice of social workers, drawn from national research

Knowledge and understanding
Knowledge and understanding of the different definitions of social work and of the positioning of the profession within welfare systems, as well as of the historical and theoretical origins of critical and radical perspectives in the discipline.
Knowledge and understanding of the principal theories of social justice and of critical perspectives on power, care and recognition in the helping process.
Applying knowledge and understanding
Ability to apply critical theories of power and knowledge to the analysis of institutional and organisational contexts in social work.
Ability to engage with the analysis of the impact of neoliberalism and managerialism on the organisation of health and social care services, and with the exercise of the political role and policy practice of the social worker.
Ability to apply the social work method from an anti-oppressive perspective, across the stages of relational engagement, social assessment, planning and evaluation of intervention.
Making judgements
Ability to recognise and critically deconstruct processes of social categorisation, stereotypes and forms of oppression present within helping contexts, including through the intersectional lens.
Ability to engage critically with the different fields of application of the anti-oppressive approach.

Communication skills
Ability to argue and discuss critically, in written and oral form, the topics addressed in the course, with appropriate use of specialist vocabulary.
Ability to present and discuss, in the classroom and in public, scientific articles and text excerpts, either individually or in small groups.
Learning skills
Ability to develop reflective practice and self-awareness, oriented towards the prevention of professional burnout.
Ability to independently keep up to date with critical and anti-oppressive research applied to social work, and to transfer the theoretical perspectives acquired to one's own professional practice.